On July 4, 1984, Richard Petty took his 200th win at Daytona with the President of the United States in the crowd. That Richard Petty 200th win came in the Firecracker 400, in the No. 43 Pontiac. It also turned out to be the last victory of his career.

Even so, the car didn’t stay in the race shop for long. Before the year was out, it belonged to the Smithsonian Institution. Here’s how the day played out, what the car was, and how it ended up in a national museum collection.

The details below come from the Smithsonian’s own catalog record for the car, along with race accounts from Motorsport.com, the NASCAR Hall of Fame and Pole Position magazine.

A president at the track

Ronald Reagan didn’t just watch. According to Pole Position magazine, he gave the command to start engines by phone from Air Force One while he was en route to the speedway. At the same time, about 80,000 fans were at Daytona International Speedway that day.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame calls Reagan “the first sitting President of the United States to watch a live NASCAR race.” Motorsport.com makes the same point, saying he was the first sitting president to attend a NASCAR race. After the race, Reagan also stayed for a picnic with the drivers and teams, and Kentucky Fried Chicken was on the menu.

How Richard Petty’s 200th win unfolded

In the end, the finish came down to Petty and Cale Yarborough. Petty drove the STP Pontiac, while Yarborough ran close behind in the Hardee’s Chevrolet. Then, on lap 158 of 160, Doug Heveron spun in turn one, which brought out the caution.

As a result, that set up a run of nearly 2.5 miles back to the caution flag. Motorsport.com calls it a one-lap finish between the two. Pole Position says Petty held off Yarborough “by inches” in a paint-trading finish. The Hall of Fame puts it simply: Petty “was able to just edge out Yarborough at the start-finish line.”

Then came a strange twist. Motorsport.com’s list of facts about the race says Yarborough “pulled on to pit road a lap early assuming the race was over.” So he finished third, and Harry Gant took second in the No. 33 Skoal Bandit Chevrolet. Meanwhile, Lake Speed finished last.

After the checkered flag

Petty didn’t head straight to Victory Lane. Instead, Motorsport.com says he went to the press box first to meet the President. By the time he reached Victory Lane, rain had started to fall.

The win paid just over $43,000, according to the same account. The Hall of Fame also notes that Reagan received an STP/Pontiac shirt. More importantly, both the Hall of Fame and Pole Position confirm that this was the final win of Petty’s career. He never won a 201st race.

The car and the people behind it

The Smithsonian’s catalog record lists Petty Enterprises of Randleman, North Carolina, as the maker. It describes a Pontiac numbered 43, built to 1984 NASCAR rules. That meant a tubular space frame, a custom body, racing wheels and safety equipment.

Ownership is another matter. The Smithsonian says Curb Motorsports owned the car. Similarly, Motorsport.com names record producer Mike Curb as the owner and Buddy Parrott as crew chief. It also says the engine came from DiGard Racing and that Robert Yates built it.

The engine used carburetors rather than fuel injection, the Smithsonian notes. However, it doesn’t give this car’s horsepower. Instead, the record says NASCAR engines of the 1980s made about 700 horsepower.

That figure comes with a twist. By then, the Smithsonian explains, NASCAR race cars “were no longer ‘stock’ at all, being entirely purpose-built.” In those 700-horsepower engines, only the stripped basic block was stock. Likewise, only the basic shape of the hand-made body had to follow the lines of the showroom model.

One more race, then a museum

The Firecracker 400 wasn’t the car’s last start. The Smithsonian says it ran the Talladega 500 on July 29, 1984. That day, though, it retired right after its first pit stop with a broken differential. In fact, the car keeps the setup and engine from that Talladega race.

Afterward, Petty Enterprises repainted the car. Then it went to the Smithsonian in late 1984, the same year it won. The museum’s credit line reads “Gift of Curb Motorsports,” and its catalog number is nmah_744295.

The Smithsonian’s record places the car in the bigger story of the sport. For example, it notes that Bill France of Daytona Beach had seen the popularity of pre-war beach racing. He went on to create NASCAR in 1948. It also says the sport “came of age in 1959” with the first Daytona 500, which Lee Petty won.

Where the car is now

The Smithsonian’s description says Petty’s 200 wins came “over his 35-year career.” It adds that no one is very likely ever to equal that record. Motorsport.com, meanwhile, says the No. 43 Pontiac is now owned by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Ownership and display are not the same thing, though. The museum’s online record lists the car as “Currently on loan,” and it does not list it as on view in Washington. So if you plan a trip to see it, check the Smithsonian’s listing first. The catalog still credits the gift to Curb Motorsports, more than 40 years after that July afternoon at Daytona.

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This article was created with the help of AI and was reviewed and edited by Fast Lane Only editors before publication.