Ronald Reagan Becomes First Sitting President to Attend NASCAR Race

• Ronald Reagan was in Daytona Beach on July 4, 1984 for what turned out to be one of NASCAR's most famous moments.

• Using a special phone and a video feed from perhaps 38,000 feet over South Carolina, the 40th President gave the “Gentlemen, start your engines” command.

• The Firecracker 400 was past halfway when Air Force One arrived.

NASCAR had presented 1,421 Cup Series races since 1949 before a sitting President finally showed up. Several candidates had campaigned at race venues and some had hosted drivers, owners, officials, and the media at White House functions. But Ronald Reagan was the first to attend a race.

Fortunately for him, he was in Daytona Beach on July 4, 1984 for what turned out to be one of racing’s most famous moments.

Reagan was in full re-election mode. He and vice-presidential candidate George H. W. Busch were running that summer against Walter Mondale and vice-presidential hopeful Geraldine Ferraro. The Republicans led every poll, and Mondale-Ferraro wasn’t given any chance of an upsets. This time, the experts were right.