1992 Coca-Cola 600

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, as well as the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

There were 42 drivers on the starting grid; almost half of them failed to finish the race. It took four and a half hours to resolve 400 laps. Dale Earnhardt defeated Ernie Irvan by nearly half a second. There were several crashes, some engine problems, and Stanley Smith's vehicle managed to lose all of its tires by lap 248. Jimmy Means legitimately blew his engine 8 laps in; the smoke was pouring out of his engine. He was one of the best of the very low budget owner/drivers at babying a car with poor equipment to a finish ahead of the attrition. Had Means' engine not blown early in the race, he would have probably finished anywhere between 15th to 20th, like Dave Marcis did in this race.[3]

There were 12 caution flags handed out by NASCAR officials throughout 62 laps of the race. Kyle Petty managed to develop a lengthy lead late in the race but could not prevent Dale Earnhardt from winning it. While Dale Earnhardt made his 400th start in this event, it would be his only win of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.[3] This would the final race for Travis Carter Enterprises until the 1994 Daytona 500.[3]

Bill Elliott qualified for the pole position with speeds reaching up to 175.479 miles per hour (282.406 km/h) in the solo qualifying session. Actual racing speeds would be 132.98 miles per hour (214.01 km/h); more than 40 miles per hour (64 km/h) slower than qualifying. Rusty Wallace, Bobby Hamilton, and Randy Porter would accomplish individually solid finishes despite not being able to finish the race.[3] The total prize purse for this racing event was $859,485 ($1,565,905 when adjusted for inflation). While the winner of the race received $125,100 of this total figure ($227,921 when adjusted for inflation), the last place finisher only received a meager $5,100 ($9,292 when adjusted for inflation).[4]

Gary Balough would make his final start in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.[5] Dave Mader III would make his 10th and final Cup Series start in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series; starting in 21st place but finishing in 39th place.[6]

This race finally broke Ford's winning streak going back to the Fall 1991 race at Charlotte. Ford took the circuit by storm in the 1992 season, winning every race until the Coca-Cola 600.[7]

Notable crew chiefs for this race included Kirk Shelmerdine, Tim Brewer, Jeff Hammond, Larry McReynolds, Andy Petree, Robin Pemberton, and Junie Donlavey.[8]