1992 Daytona 500

The 1992 Daytona 500, the 34th running of the event, was held February 16 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup season. Davey Allison of Robert Yates Racing won the race after leading 127 laps, including the final 30. Sterling Marlin won the pole, driving the No. 22 Ford for Junior Johnson & Associates. Richard Petty gave the command to start the engines from the cockpit of the famous #43 Pontiac for his team in his final appearance in the race as a driver. This would also be the final Daytona 500 start for 1972 winner A. J. Foyt, who would also start his final Indianapolis 500 later that year. Rick Wilson made his final start for the Stavola Brothers. This was Rahmoc Enterprises last race. It also marked the debut of Joe Gibbs Racing in the form of the green and black No. 18 Chevrolet, with Dale Jarrett as the driver.

1992 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 1 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway.
Date February 16, 1992 (1992-02-16)
Official name Daytona 500 by STP
Location Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds approaching 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1]
Average speed 160.256 miles per hour (257.907 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Junior Johnson & Associates
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Duel 2 Winner Bill Elliott Junior Johnson & Associates
Most laps led
Driver Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing
Laps 127
Winner
No. 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Ken Squier, Neil Bonnett and Ned Jarrett
Nielsen Ratings 9.2/25
(13.4 million viewers)

The start

The initial part of the race was clean, though Geoff Bodine and Morgan Shepherd touched exiting Turn 4 with no further incident. Brett Bodine and Ricky Rudd fell out in the first half of the race with separate engine failures, as the Junior Johnson cars of Sterling Marlin and Bill Elliott established themselves as the cars to beat. Davey Allison's crew gambled with a two-tire change, but caught a lucky break when Geoff Bodine was penalized for speeding, and gained a drafting partner.

The Big One

Rain fell after 80 laps, and when the race restarted Ernie Irvan went for the lead on lap 92. He came up in front of Sterling Marlin, but had not cleared him, and also moved him up the track into his teammate Bill Elliott who was on the outside. The ensuing mayhem collected polesitter Sterling Marlin, Ernie Irvan, Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, Ken Schrader and Dale Earnhardt. Also, Bobby Hillin Jr., Dale Jarrett, Alan Kulwicki, Chad Little, Richard Petty, Hut Stricklin, Rusty Wallace, and Darrell Waltrip were involved.

The wreck ended the race for Jarrett, Schrader, Marlin, Hillin, and Little, with their cars being terminally damaged.

The finish

On Lap 144 Rick Wilson was planning to pit the Stavola Brothers Ford, but Kerry Teague did not realize it and ran into him. This brought out the third yellow flag in the race. On Lap 166 Ernie Irvan's crippled car spun to bring out the fourth caution flag. Leaders Allison, Shepherd, and Michael Waltrip made their final stops. Waltrip fell back after the restart with an engine that was quitting. This left the two Ford Thunderbirds of Allison and Shepherd to race for the win, finishing in this order. This win made the Allisons the second father-son duo to win the Daytona 500, joining Lee and Richard Petty. Alan Kulwicki finished a quiet fourth which kicked off an unlikely championship run.

Results

Pos Grid Car Driver Team Make Laps Laps led Status
1 628Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord200127Running
2 421Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord2007Running
3 1615Geoff Bodine (W)Bud Moore EngineeringFord2000Running
4 417Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord2000Running
5 2875Dick TrickleRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile2000Running
6 3342Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac2000Running
7 3494Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile1990Flagged
8 4055Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsChevrolet1990Flagged
9 33Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1990Flagged
10 199Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFord1990Flagged
11 2447Buddy Baker (W)Close RacingOldsmobile1990Flagged
12 1133Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile1990Flagged
13 131Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile1990Flagged
14 941Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet1990Flagged
15 3716Wally Dallenbach, Jr. (R)Roush RacingFord1980Flagged
16 3243Richard Petty (W)Petty EnterprisesPontiac1980Flagged
17 2573Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile1980Flagged
18 1030Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac1973Flagged
19 3190Dorsey Schroeder (R)Donlavey RacingFord1960Flagged
20 2371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet1950Flagged
21 3914A. J. Foyt (W)B&B RacingChevrolet1950Flagged
22 3049Stanley Smith (R)BS&S MotorsportsChevrolet1950Flagged
23 388Rick WilsonStavola Brothers RacingFord1950Flagged
24 4212Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet1880Flagged
25 270Delma CowartH. L. Waters MotorsportsFord1880Flagged
26 1217Darrell Waltrip (W)Darrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet1801Flagged
27 211Bill Elliott (W)Junior Johnson & AssociatesFord17823Flagged
28 74Ernie Irvan (W)Morgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet1660Handling
29 56Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1620Flagged
30 2977Mike Potter (R)Kenova MotorsportsChevrolet1510Fuel Pump
31 172Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac1500Flagged
32 2268Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile1250Piston
33 2103Kerry Teague (R)KT MotorsportsOldsmobile1220Contact T4
34 2010Derrike Cope (W)Whitcomb RacingChevrolet1200Radiator
35 122Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord910Contact BS
36 3518Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet910Contact BS
37 1525Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet916Contact BS
38 2631Bobby Hillin, Jr.Team IrelandChevrolet910Contact BS
39 1466Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord900Contact BS
40 85Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet790Engine
41 1826Brett BodineKing RacingFord130Distributor
42 3695Bob Schacht (R)Sadler Brothers RacingOldsmobile70Engine
Failed to Qualify
99Brad TeagueBall MotorsportsChevrolet
59Andy Belmont (R)Rissi RacingFord
89Jim SauterMueller Brothers RacingPontiac
23Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobile
83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingChevrolet
13Dave Mader III (R)Seal-Tech MotorsportsChevrolet
98Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet
20Mike Wallace (R)Moroso RacingOldsmobile
62Ben HessGray RacingFord
13Mike Skinner (R)Mansion MotorsportsChevrolet
88Joe Booher88 RacingPontiac
50Clay Young (R)Young MotorsportsPontiac
48James HyltonHylton MotorsportsChevrolet
52Jimmy MeansMeans RacingPontiac
97Mark Gibson (R)Collins RacingOldsmobile
Source:[2]

Promotion and aftermath

  • Racing Champions ran a promotion for the race and gave out a 3-car gift set of the top 3 finishers, Davey Allison, Morgan Shepherd, and Geoff Bodine in a blister pack. There are some packs that came with errors that had Bodine listed in second but in the same order on the box. The package is considered rare today, but can still be found in some novelty shops.
  • Richard Petty ran a promotion where he ran a diecast car of each race he ran in 1992 season, including the Daytona 500.
  • A.J. Foyt ran diecast cars for both the Daytona 500 and his final Indy 500 that year.
  • The winning car Davey Allison used was auctioned off at Barrett-Jackson car auction complete with the winning driver's trophy and driving uniform.

Additional facts

  • Since this Daytona 500, the leader of lap 100 has never gone on to win the race.
  • Kyle Petty, son of Richard and grandson of Lee (both former winners), posted what would be his best Daytona 500 result (6th) in 27 starts.

References

  1. "Weather of the 1992 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  2. "1992 Daytona 500". Racing-Reference.info. 1993-02-16. Retrieved 2013-12-21.
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