Daytona International Speedway Home to NASCAR's Biggest Upset

Daytona International Raceway has been home to a lot of upset finishes in its 50 years of existence. Greg Biffle won his first race in the 2003 Pepsi 400 in dramatic fashion. John Andretti surprised the world in 1997 when he won his first race driving for Cale Yarborough in the 400 miler. 

None of these, however, were any bigger then the miracle that happened in the 1985 Pepsi Firecracker 400 when a 32-year-old man from Mattituck, New York shocked the NASCAR world.

Greg Sacks was a relatively unknown driver coming into Fourth of July weekend of 1985. Sacks had had only 40 career starts and one top-ten finish, which came at Bristol in 1984.

Sacks ran for his father in the Cup series before 1985, but was a very successful driver in NASCAR's Modified Series. In that series Sacks had 17 wins and won the Dogwood classic at Martinsville and The Race of Champions at Pocono.

Still, if you were going into the 1985 Pepsi Firecracker 400, no one really knew who Greg Sacks was. 

In that race Sacks was driving a research and development car for a team called DiGard Racing, who had had a lot of success in the sport, but really none in recent years.

Bobby Allison was in another one of their cars, and the plan for Sacks was that he would run a handful of laps and then they'd bring the car in and make shocks and a lot of adjustments then send him back out there and do the same thing over and over again.

With sponsors knowing that, the DiGard team was sponsor-less during this race.

As fans poured into the birthplace of speed, no one would have thought what they were about to witness. The favorites to win were guys like Elliott, Yarborough, Earnhardt, and Pearson, not an unknown driver from New York.

As the race began, Sacks had the No. 10 unsponsored Chevrolet running with the leaders. Bill Gardner, the owner of DiGard Racing, then said, well why not run the race as if we have a shot at it? And they did.

Sacks continued to impress, keeping up with the leaders and having the run of their life. Still no one thought Sacks had a shot at it. After all, he only had two crew men and they were running a car that was raced in the 1983 Firecracker 400 by Cale Yarborough.

Sacks still hung on and as the race got into its later stages, the DiGard team pulled crew members from other teams to help change tires. They continued to run well. They pitted at crazy times to help with fuel mileage and found themselves in perfect position with just a few to go. First place.

Sacks led 33 laps and went on to victory. He said he was shocked when he pulled into victory lane, and so were the rest of the 59,000 people at Daytona International Speedway that afternoon. 

A fan in the stands remembers he had no idea who was in the car until they announced the winner after the race. "Greg Sacks?? Who In The World is Greg Sacks?" people asked as they walked out of the track listening to MRN Radio.

Sacks ran the race of his life, and when DiGard's primary driver, Bobby Allison, quit to go on to a better ride days after the race, Sacks was the driver for the rest of 1985.

DiGard racing would claim bankruptcy in 1986 and Greg Sacks went on to have a mediocre career in NASCAR, having 263 starts and just that one win. But for one July afternoon, it was Greg Sacks on top of the NASCAR world and what an upset it was.