1984 Warner W. Hodgdon Carolina 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; existence unconfirmed; 1984)

Allison's car during the postrace inspection.

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

The 1984 Warner W. Hodgdon Carolina 500 was the 3rd race of the 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. Occurring on 4th March 1984 at North Carolina Speedway, the race would be won by Bobby Allison in a Buick, ending a bad start for his season. It was also alleged that the race was broadcast and syndicated by Special Events Television Network (SETN), which would have made it the first NASCAR race to have been broadcast by the network.

Background

The 1984 Warner W. Hodgdon Carolina 500 would be one of two races held at North Carolina Speedway for the 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, the other being the 1984 Warner W. Hodgdon American 500, held on 21st November. The North Carolina Speedway, under a new name of Rockingham Speedway, would host NASCAR races until 2004, when it was removed from the schedule as a consequence of the Ferko lawsuit. Heading into the race, defending Winston Cup champion Allison had endured misfortune in the opening two races, suffering a broken camshaft at the Daytona 500, and an engine failure at the Miller High Life 400. He therefore was seeking to properly start his title defence at the Carolina 500, having won three races at the Speedway previously.

Prior to the race, qualifying occurred, with Harry Gant in a Chevrolet winning the pole position ahead of fellow Chevrolet driver Darrell Waltrip and Ricky Rudd in a Ford. Allison could only manage 15th, with eventual 1984 Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte qualifying fifth in a Chevrolet. Notably, Daytona 500 winner Cale Yarborough was absent from the event, deciding to withdraw after experiencing two major crashes at both North Carolina Motor Speedway events, injuring his knee and shoulder at the 1983 Warner W. Hodgdon American 500. He refused to compete at the Speedway again until it was repaved; after learning about a track press release that claimed Yarborough did not want to compete because of too much younger competition, Yarborough vowed not to compete at the track again.

Nevertheless, the track was repaved prior to the race. Despite an unremarkable qualifying performance, Allison was able to climb the order to lead 118 of the 492 laps. Labonte did overtake Allison on lap 439, but Allison quickly repassed his opponent, and held on to win the race and earn $33,150 in prize money. Labonte finished second, with fellow Chevrolet driver Lake Speed taking third. Ford driver Dick Brooks led the most laps at 169, but retired on lap 384 following engine failure. There were six cautions throughout the race, resulting in 42 caution laps in total, with five drivers having retired because of accidents. One in particular saw an altercation between Lennie Pond and Earnhardt's relief driver Connie Saylor.

Availability

According to Ultimate Racing History, the race was broadcast on tape delay and syndicated by Special Events Television Network (SETN) for several networks, with Mike Joy as lead announcer and Benny Parsons providing colour commentary. NASCAR on TV claims this would make it the first NASCAR race to have aired on the network, but disputes that an airing was ever confirmed. As of the present day, no footage of the 1984 Warner W. Hodgdon Carolina 500 is currently available, not even as part of the recap for the subsequent race, the 1984 Coca-Cola 500. A few photos nevertheless are publicly accessible.

Gallery

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  Saylor (3) (above) and Pond (4) (beyond) involved in an altercation.

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  Neil Bonnett (12) going out from his car following a crash.

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  Connie Saylor's (3) car in a pitstop mid-way, switching driver to Dale Earnhardt.

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  Dale Earnhardt driving Connie Saylor's (3) car against Ricky Rudd (15).

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  Bobby Allison (22) and Richard Petty (43) dueling each other.

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  Bobby Allison (22) crosses the line.

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  Bobby Allison in victory circle after race ended.

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  Bill Elliott in victory circle after race ended.

See Also

• 1960 Daytona 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1960)
• 1960 Daytona Races (lost CBS and NBC televised footage of NASCAR prelude events to Daytona 500; 1960)
• 1961 Firecracker 250 (lost ABC footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1961)
• 1962 Daytona 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1962)
• 1962 Firecracker 250 (lost ABC footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1962)
• 1963 Firecracker 400 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1963)
• 1963 Richmond 250 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series qualifying session and race; 1963)
• 1964 Atlanta 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1964)
• 1964 National 400 (lost footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1964)
• 1964 Richmond 250 (lost footage of NASCAR Grand National Series qualifying session; 1964)
• 1965 Daytona 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1965)
• 1965 Rebel 300 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1965)
• 1966 National 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1966)
• 1966 Southern 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1966)
• 1967 Firecracker 400 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1967)
• 1967 Rebel 400 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1967)
• 1970 Alabama 500 (found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1970)
• 1970 National 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1970)
• 1970 Wilkes 400 (lost footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1970)
• 1970 World 600 (lost footage of NASCAR Grand National Series race; 1970)
• 1971 Atlanta 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1971)
• 1971 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1971)
• 1971 Myers Brothers 250 (lost footage and official documents of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1971)
• 1971 National 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1971)
• 1971 Rebel 400 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1971)
• 1971 Twin 125s (lost footage of NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying races; 1971)
• 1972 Atlanta 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1972)
• 1972 Bowman-Gray 100 (lost footage of NASCAR Grand American Series race; 1972)
• 1972 Carolina 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1972)
• 1972 Daytona 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1972)
• 1972 Firecracker 400 (lost ABC footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1972)
• 1972 National 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1972)
• 1972 Rebel 400 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1972)
• 1973 Atlanta 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1973)
• 1973 Medal of Honor Firecracker 400 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1973)
• 1974 Mason-Dixon 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1974)
• 1974 National 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1974)
• 1974 Twin 125s (lost footage of NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying races; 1974)
• 1975 Champion Spark Plug 400 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1975)
• 1975 Dixie 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1975)
• 1975 Firecracker 400 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1975)
• 1975 National 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1975)
• 1975 Twin 125s (lost footage of NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying races; 1975)
• 1975 World 600 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1975)
• 1976 Atlanta 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 Champion Spark Plug 400 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 Dixie 500 (lost CBS footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 Firecracker 400 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 National 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 Rebel 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 Riverside 400 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 Talladega 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 Winston 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1976 World 600 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1976)
• 1978 NAPA National 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1978)
• 1979 Daytona ARCA 200 (lost footage of ARCA Racing Series race; 1979)
• 1979 Dixie 500 (lost ABC footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; existence unconfirmed; 1979)
• 1979 Southeastern 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1979)
• 1981 Coca-Cola 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1981)
• 1981 CRC Chemicals 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1981)
• 1982 CRC Chemicals 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1982)
• 1982 Eastern 150 (lost footage of NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series race; 1982)
• 1982 Goody's Sportsman 300 (partially found footage of NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series race; 1982)
• 1982 Twin 125s race 1 (lost footage of NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying race; existence unconfirmed; 1982)
• 1982 Winston Western 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; existence unconfirmed; 1982)
• 1983 Goody's Sportsman 300 (partially found footage of NASCAR Budweiser Late Model Sportsman Series race; 1983)
• 1983 Mason-Dixon 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1983)
• 1983 Southern 500 (lost footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; existence unconfirmed; 1983)
• 1984 Delaware 500 (partially found footage of NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1984)
• 1984 Goody's Sportsman 300 (lost footage of NASCAR Busch Grand National Series race; 1984)
• 1985 Twin 125s (lost footage of NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying races; existence unconfirmed; 1985)
• 1986 Twin 125s (lost footage of NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying races; existence unconfirmed; 1986)
• 1989 Busch Clash (lost footage of pre-season NASCAR Winston Cup Series race; 1989)
• 1992 Atlanta 300 (lost footage of NASCAR Busch Grand National Series race; 1992)
• 1996 DeVilbiss SuperFinish 200 (partially found televised footage of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race; 1996)
• Jeff Gordon's 2008 UAW-Dodge 400 crash (lost on-board footage of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race crash; 2008)
• NASCAR (partially found uncut footage of stock car races; 1960-present)