The 1964 Firecracker 400 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and h ...

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...

event that was held on July 4, 1964, at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASC ...

in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the first NASCAR Grand National Series race to take place after

Fireball Roberts Edward Glenn "Fireball" Roberts Jr. (January 20, 1929July 2, 1964) was an American stock car racer. Background Roberts was born in Tavares, Florida, and raised in Apopka, Florida, where he was interested in both auto racing and baseball. He wa ...

died two months earlier in the infamous

1964 World 600 The ''1964 World 600'', the fifth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that took place on May 24, 1964, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. There was a 30-mile consolation race the day before this to ...

Race report

There were 33 American-born drivers on the official grid.''1964 Firecracker 400''
race information at Racing Reference

Fred Lorenzen Frederick Lorenzen Jr. (born December 30, 1934), nicknamed The Golden Boy, Fast Freddie, The Elmhurst Express and Fearless Freddy, is a former NASCAR driver from Elmhurst, Illinois. Active from 1958 to 1972, he won 26 races including 1965 Daytona ...

(employed by

Holman Moody Holman-Moody is an American racecar manufacturer, marine engine manufacturer and former auto racing team. The company currently operates out of Charlotte, North Carolina, but is no longer a race team. Holman-Moody continues to manufacture racing ...

) secured his last-place finish during the parade laps because he refused to start the race.

Paul Goldsmith Paul Goldsmith (born October 2, 1925) is a former USAC and NASCAR driver. He is an inductee of the Motorcycle Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and the USAC Hall of Fame. Later in life Goldsmith became a pilot and, flyi ...

also elected not to start the race; making Doug Moore the "legitimate" last-place finisher due to a

distributor A distributor is an enclosed rotating switch used in spark-ignition internal combustion engines that have mechanically timed ignition. The distributor's main function is to route high voltage current from the ignition coil to the spark p ...

issue on lap 1. Reb Wickersham spun on the first lap and very nearly took out Foyt. It took just more than two and a half hours for A. J. Foyt to defeat

Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was mos ...

by a single car length in front of more than 30000 spectators. There were 19 lead changes and five caution periods for 25 laps. Rodney Williams would make his NASCAR debut in this race.''1964 Firecracker 400''
race information at Race Database A.J. Foyt would appear in various races from the 1960s through the 1990s. His most notable future wins would come at the

1972 Daytona 500 The 1972 Daytona 500, the 14th running of the event, was held on February 20, 1972, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. A. J. Foyt, driving a 1971 Mercury, won the race. First Daytona 500 starts for David Sisco and W ...

and the

1972 Miller High Life 500 The 1972 Miller High Life 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on March 5, 1972, at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, California. Race report Two hundred laps took place on a paved track spanning ; the race was re ...

Larry Frank Larry Frank (April 29, 1929 – January 5, 2010)http://racing-reference.info/driver/Larry_Frank Larry Frank Racing Reference Stats was an American NASCAR Grand National Series driver. He is best known for winning the 1962 Southern 500. Career Bor ...

would carry two movie cameras in his car to record all the action being taken place. Attempts to record NASCAR history had already been attempted for the

1955 Southern 500 The 1955 Southern 500, the sixth running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event. The event was held on September 5, 1955, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. This race spanned 500 miles on a paved oval track ...

and the

1956 Southern 500 The 1956 Southern 500, the seventh running of the event, was a NASCAR Grand National Series event that was held on September 3rd, 1956, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. This race was considered to be the "Labor Day Classic ...

. For the final 56 laps, Isaac and Foyt dueled for the win, exchanging the lead 15 times between the two. Despite a blown engine African-American racer Wendell Scott brought his self-owned Ford home with a top-20. This race was run two days after President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

signed the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration req ...

into law. Ken Spikes didn't return to racing until the 1967 Daytona 500.Driver Ken Spikes Career Statistics
at Racing-Reference He was also hurt in the lap 88 wreck; going sideways on the outside of turn 4, slammed the inside wall broadside thankfully on the rightside of the car. He would probably have been killed if it had hit on the other side.

Top 10 finishers

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Richard Petty held the pole position as the first lap officially commenced, Paul Goldsmith and Fred Lorenzen refused to start the race. * Lap 3: Neil Castles noticed that his vehicle's fuel pump was acting up, forcing him to accept a meager 29th-place finish. * Lap 5: Oil pressure issues would end Rodney Williams' hopes of winning the event. * Lap 9: Problems involving the vehicle's distributor managed to knock out Marvin Panch from the event. * Lap 10: Reb Wickersham suddenly felt nasty vibrations coming out of his vehicle, exiting the race for safety purposes. * Lap 13: Bill McMahan had to leave the race because the oil temperature in his vehicle got too high. * Lap 17: Junior Johnson fell out with engine failure while racing at high speeds. * Lap 35: Ned Jarrett fell out with engine failure while racing at high speeds. * Lap 38: Oil on the track forced a caution that ended on lap 41. * Lap 40: Earl Balmer took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 41: Richard Petty took over the lead from Earl Balmer before losing it to Bobby Isaac on lap 104. * Lap 44: J.T. Putney's chances of winning the race ended with a problematic valve affecting his vehicle. * Lap 62: Tiny Lund's vehicle suffered from a faulty ignition, forcing him to accept a humiliating 21st-place finish. * Lap 69: Billy Wade fell out with engine failure while racing at high speeds. * Lap 88: Ken Spikes had a terminal crash, forcing him out of the race. * Lap 103: Wendell Scott fell out with engine failure while racing at high speeds. * Lap 104: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 105: A.J. Foyt took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 106: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from A.J. Foyt. * Lap 107: A.J. Foyt took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 111: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from A.J. Foyt before losing it to A.J. Foyt on lap 120; Larry Thomas had a terminal crash. * Lap 114: Bobby Johns fell out with engine failure while racing at high speeds. * Lap 121: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from A.J. Foyt before losing it to A.J. Foyt on lap 136. * Lap 130: Debris on the backstretch forced NASCAR to slow down the vehicle until racing was re-allowed on lap 132. * Lap 139: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from A.J. Foyt before losing it to A.J. Foyt on lap 146. * Lap 144: LeeRoy Yarbrough had to drop out of the race due to his vehicle having a faulty fuel pump. * Laps 146-148: A.J. Foyt and Bobby Isaac would take turns with the first-place position. * Lap 149: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from A.J. Foyt before losing it to A.J. Foyt on lap 156. * Lap 160: A.J. Foyt took over the lead from Bobby Isaac for the last time in this race. * Finish: A.J. Foyt was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

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Firecracker 400 The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series ci ...

NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway