1983 Daytona 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 30 in the 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway.
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| Date | February 20, 1983 | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02336 km) |
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| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 70 °F (21 °C); wind speeds approaching 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 155.979 miles per hour (251.024 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 115,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Richard Childress Racing | ||
| Qualifying race winners | |||
| Duel 1 Winner | Dale Earnhardt | Bud Moore Engineering | |
| Duel 2 Winner | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Joe Ruttman | Benfield Racing | |
| Laps | 57 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 28 | Cale Yarborough | Ranier-Lundy | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier and David Hobbs | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 8.7/26 (11 million viewers) |
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The 1983 Daytona 500, the 25th running of the event, was held February 20 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 1983 NASCAR Winston Cup season. A crowd of 115,000 people watched the lead change 58 times among 11 drivers. A total of six cautions were handed out by NASCAR officials for a duration of 36 laps.
Cale Yarborough was the first driver to run a qualifying lap of more than 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) at the 1983 Daytona 500 in his #28 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. However, on his second of two qualifying laps, Yarborough crashed and flipped his car in turn four. The car had to be withdrawn, and the lap did not count (unlike current rules). Despite the crash, Yarborough drove a back-up car (a Pontiac LeMans) in second-round qualifying and made the field.
Ricky Rudd wound up with the pole, driving Richard Childress' Chevrolet in what would become a breakthrough season for the longtime independent driver Childress. The early laps were a battle between Geoff Bodine, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Kyle Petty, and a resurgent Dick Brooks. Richard broke away from the field before his engine failed after 47 laps and the race became a showdown between Bodine, Yarborough, Joe Ruttman, Brooks, Neil Bonnett, Buddy Baker, and little-noticed Bill Elliott, while former Talladega 500 winner Ron Bouchard was also in contention.
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