02/19/1984 – Daytona 500 – Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL – Still basking in the glow of being the surprise winning brand at the 1983 Daytona 500 (Cale Yarborough with an improbable victory in a back-up Pontiac LeMans, detailed here) –
The Pontiac Showcar That Won The 1983 Daytona 500
Pontiac had high hopes for 1984’s race, alas, there was no Pontiac miracle story to be found this time.
All the Pontiac heavy-hitters (Richard Petty, Tim Richmond, Rusty Wallace) fell out due to crashes or mechanical problems, leaving Dean Roper to carry the Pontiac badge as he finished 16th in the Mueller Brothers Evinrude Grand Prix, Dean was the only Pontiac to finish the race. Who is Dean Roper? While Dean would only accumulate 5 career Cup starts (all in Pontiacs, and all with the Mueller Brothers), he had a very successful career in the USAC Stock Cars where he was the champion in 1981, 1982, and 1983. Dean was also the father of Tony Roper (the Craftsman Series truck driver who was killed in a crash at Fort Worth, Texas, in 2000), and the son of Jim Roper who won the first NASCAR Cup race (then called Strictly Stock) at the Charlotte Speedway (a 3/4-mile dirt track) in 1949 driving a Lincoln. Sadly, Dean passed away from a heart attack in in 2001 while competing in an ARCA race in Illinois.
Pontiac Racing 