1972 World 600

The 1972 World 600, the 13th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on May 28, 1972, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Wendell Scott was promised a good car, what he actually got was a hunk of junk. In practice, the car was 9 miles per hour off the pace; this led to jeers from his fellow drivers that he just could not drive the best level of equipment that was available at the time. Bobby Allison climbed in the car afterward and went the same speed while Wendell did the best he could with it until the engine grenaded. This resulted in Wendell obtaining a result of 22nd place DNF on lap 283.[2]

1972 World 600
Race details[1][2][3]
Race 12 of 31 in the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway
Date May 28, 1972 (1972-May-28)
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.410 km)
Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching of 73.9 °F (23.3 °C); wind speeds of 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
Average speed 142.255 miles per hour (228.937 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Howard & Egerton Racing
Time 34.142
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Howard & Egerton Racing
Laps 239
Winner
No. 11 Buck Baker Petty Enterprises
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

South Carolina's blue laws were in full force during the era of the race.[4] The pace car driver was Robert "Bob" Colvin who nearly got arrested for violating the "blue laws" before he found out that they were for someone else's bad checks.[4]

In addition to watching the event live, NASCAR followers who either lived or visited the Concord, North Carolina region could listen to it on their transistor radios.

Race report

It took four hours and thirteen minutes to race 400 spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km) per lap.[2][3] Amateur home video helped capture the most important 49 minutes of this event. Three cautions were waved for 24 laps.[2][3] More than 80,000 spectators would see Buddy Baker defeat Bobby Allison by 24 seconds at speeds averaging 142.555 miles per hour or 229.420 kilometres per hour.[2][3] The pole position speed would be 158.162 miles per hour or 254.537 kilometres per hour.[2] Jim Vandiver would become the last-place finisher due to a transmission problem on lap 11.[2]

James Hylton became the lowest-finishing driver to finish this race.[2][3] Richard Petty would suffer an engine problem.[2][3] His first win from the World 600 (now Coca-Cola 600) series of racing events would come in 1975. Larry Smith, who would go on to become NASCAR's Rookie of the Year, finished sixth in this race.[2][3] A Rookie of the Year from 1957, Ken Rush, would make his final NASCAR Cup Series appearance in this event. He would make a 29th-place finish out of a 31st place start.[2]

Out of the 40-car grid, all except Formula 1 driver Jackie Oliver were born in the United States.[2] Oliver was born in Walton-on-Thames, England.[5]

Notable crew chiefs included Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver, Darrell Bryant, and Lee Gordon.[6]

Qualifying
Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Speed[7] Qualifying time[7] Owner
1 12Bobby Allison'72 Chevrolet158.16234.142Richard Howard
2 21David Pearson'71 Mercury158.05134.166Wood Brothers
3 71Bobby Isaac'72 Dodge156.10934.591Nord Krauskopf
4 31Jim Vandiver'70 Dodge155.88934.640O.L. Nixon
5 18Joe Frasson'71 Dodge155.70434.681Joe Frasson
6 11Buddy Baker'72 Dodge155.15034.805Petty Enterprises
7 14Coo Coo Marlin'72 Chevrolet155.14134.807H.B. Cunningham
8 16Dave Marcis'72 AMC Matador153.39635.203Roger Penske
9 43Richard Petty'72 Dodge153.06135.280Petty Enterprises
10 28Fred Lorenzen'72 Ford152.88335.321Hoss Ellington

Finishing order

Section reference: [2]

  1. Buddy Baker† (#11)
  2. Bobby Allison (#12)
  3. Charlie Glotzbach (#6)
  4. Benny Parsons† (#72)
  5. LeeRoy Yarbrough† (#45)
  6. Larry Smith† (#92)
  7. Buddy Arrington (#67)
  8. Cecil Gordon† (#24)
  9. Frank Warren (#79)
  10. Ben Arnold (#76)
  11. Elmo Langley† (#64)
  12. Ron Keselowski (#88)
  13. Raymond Williams (#47)
  14. Jabe Thomas (#25)
  15. Walter Ballard (#30)
  16. Jim Paschal*† (#27)
  17. Dean Dalton (#7)
  18. Fred Lorenzen* (#28)
  19. Richard Petty* (#43)
  20. James Hylton† (#48)
  21. Joe Frasson*† (#18)
  22. Wendell Scott*† (#34)
  23. Bobby Isaac*† (#71)
  24. John Sears*† (#4)
  25. David Pearson* (#21)
  26. Bill Champion*† (#10)
  27. Clarence Lovell* (#61)
  28. Coo Coo Marlin*† (#14)
  29. Ken Rush*† (#2)
  30. Richard D. Brown* (#91)
  31. Dave Marcis* (#16)
  32. Jackie Oliver* (#90)
  33. J.D. McDuffie*† (#70)
  34. Donnie Allison* (#15)
  35. Neil Castles* (#06)
  36. Dick Brooks*† (#73)
  37. Wayne Smith* (#33)
  38. David Ray Boggs* (#57)
  39. G.C. Spencer*† (#49)
  40. Jim Vandiver* (#31)

* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased

References
  1. "1972 World 600 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  2. "1972 World 600 information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  3. "1972 World 600 information (third reference)". Ultimate Racing History. Retrieved 2011-02-26.
  4. "1972 South Carolina "Blue Laws"". Legends of NASCAR. Archived from the original on 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  5. "Jackie Oliver information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  6. "1972 World 600 crew chief information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2018-06-14.
  7. "1972 World 600 qualifying information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
Preceded by
1972 Winston 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1972		 Succeeded by
1972 Mason-Dixon 500
Preceded by
1971		 World 600 races
1972		 Succeeded by
1973
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