1992 Hooters 500

Richard Petty

Since this was the last event of the season, it also marked the final stop on Richard Petty's "Fan Appreciation Tour." On October 1, 1991, Petty announced he would retire at the end of the 1992 season. He planned on running the entire season, not just selected events, and to that point, had managed to qualify for all 28 of the events in 1992. Media coverage of Petty's final race was extensive, and the weeks leading up to the race saw considerable pre-race hype and anticipation. Ticket sales were brisk, and a record sell-out crowd was expected at Atlanta to see "King Richard" in his final event.

Under the spotlight of attention during the 1992 season, Petty's on-track results had been so far unimpressive. He had scored zero top tens, and had a best finish of 15th (three times). His most notable race of the season came at Daytona during the July 4 Pepsi 400. With President George H. W. Bush in attendance, Petty was honored during the pre-race ceremonies. He qualified on the outside of the front row, and led the first five laps of the race.

At Atlanta, facing the intense pressure of a hectic schedule of appearances and honors, not to mention the actual on-track activities, Petty barely managed to qualify for the Hooters 500. He posted the 39th-fastest speed out of 41 cars. He would not have been eligible for the provisional starting position, and had to qualify on speed. Petty stood on his first round time, and sweated out second round qualifying. He slipped from 36th to 39th on the grid, but was not bumped from the lineup. With Petty safely in the field, the stage was set for a huge sendoff. Ceremonies to honor Petty were planned in the pre-race and post-race, and Petty was expected to take a ceremonial final lap around the track after the race to formally conclude his career. On the night before the race, Alabama held a concert honoring Petty at the Georgia Dome, with 45,000 in attendance.[13]

On the night before pole qualifying, Richard Petty's cousin and longtime crew chief and team manager Dale Inman was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of the Atlanta airport. The robber tried to grab a necklace from Inman's neck, but failed. He pointed his gun and pulled the trigger, but it did not fire, and no one was injured.

The first round of qualifying was held on Friday November 13. Rick Mast won his first career pole position in the #1 Skoal Oldsmobile for Richard Jackson Racing, the last ever pole for Oldsmobile as General Motors was withdrawing the brand from NASCAR after the race. (Mast, Gant, and Bob Schacht fielded the only Oldsmobiles in the race.)

Mast recorded a qualifying speed of 180.183 miles per hour (289.976 km/h) was the first-ever NASCAR qualifying speed over 180 mph at an intermediate length circuit. Previously that speed had only been achieved at Daytona and Talladega. He was joined on the front row by Brett Bodine, driving the #26 Quaker State Ford for King Racing.

Under the rules at the time, the first round of qualifying locked in only the top twenty cars. In first round qualifying, all of the six championship contenders except for Harry Gant qualified. Mark Martin (4th) was the highest of the six contenders. Richard Petty was not among the top twenty. A field of 40 cars (plus at least one provisional) was expected to comprise the starting grid. With Petty sitting 36th-fastest after Friday's first round, he was precariously close to being bumped from the field on Saturday.

• Source: The (Lexington, NC) Dispatch, Saturday, November 14, 1992, p. 2B.

Second round qualifying was held on Saturday November 14. Under the rules at the time, drivers who did not qualify during the first round moved on to second round qualifying. Each driver could elect to stand on his time from the first round, or erase their time and make a new attempt. Rookie Jeff Gordon bettered his time from the day before, and became the fastest qualifier of the second round. That entered him into the wild card drawing for the 1993 Busch Clash.

Most drivers stood on their times, including Richard Petty, who held on to qualify 39th. Jimmy Hensley elected to try again, and wound up losing eleven spots on the grid. Stanley Smith, who did not even make top 40 on Friday, made a big improvement, qualifying 33rd. Likewise, Jimmy Horton went from only 47th-fastest on Friday, to qualify 36th.

Qualifying cars SP No. Driver Speed 21 24 Jeff Gordon 177.735 22 55 Ted Musgrave 177.677* 23 25 Ken Schrader 177.665* 24 17 Darrell Waltrip 177.602* 25 30 Michael Waltrip 177.596* 26 45 Rich Bickle 177.343* 27 68 Bobby Hamilton 177.154* 28 57 Bob Schacht 176.823 29 33 Harry Gant 176.657* 30 16 Wally Dallenbach, Jr. 176.646* 31 90 Bobby Hillin, Jr. 176.339* 32 18 Dale Jarrett 176.327* 33 49 Stanley Smith 176.220 34 66 Jimmy Hensley 176.140 35 9 Chad Little 175.751* 36 32 Jimmy Horton 175.734 37 52 Jimmy Means 175.565* 38 88 Mike Wallace 175.318 39 43 Richard Petty 175.318* 40 23 Eddie Bierschwale 175.284 41 71 Dave Marcis Provisional *Stood on Friday time

Failed to qualify No. 77 Mike Potter No. 80 Dave Blaney No. 85 Mike Skinner No. 91 Kerry Teague No. 82 Mark Stahl No. 48 James Hylton No. 50 Clay Young No. 65 Jerry O'Neil No. 56 T. W. Taylor No. 08 Jeff Fuller Rookie Jeff Gordon

A record 160,000 fans, some with seats in temporary grandstands, arrived at Atlanta Motor Speedway to witness Richard Petty's final ride, and to watch the exciting championship battle. Country Western Band Alabama sang the national anthem, then Richard Petty's son Kyle along with his sisters gave Richard the command to fire his engine one final time, while Bruton Smith gave the command to the rest of the field. Before the start of the race, four Apache helicopters did a fly-by and circled the track to salute the field.

The green flag then flew with polesitter Rick Mast in the #1 Skoal Oldsmobile for Richard Jackson Motorsports and Brett Bodine in the #26 Quaker State Ford for King Racing, battling into turn one, with Bodine leading the first lap. On lap 2, the two cars tangled, and crashed in turn one. Dale Earnhardt, the defending series champion whose reign was ending that day and who was running third in his familiar #3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, slipped by, and took over the lead. Several other cars were collected in the crash, and five of the championship contenders got through unscathed. Davey Allison, however, slowed to avoid the crash, and was tagged from behind in the left rear by Hut Stricklin's #41 Chevrolet. The left rear fender was badly bent, but did not puncture the tire. Allison stayed out on the track, and the crew would be able to bend the bodywork away from the tire on the next pit stop. The cars of Rich Bickle, Wally Dallenbach Jr., and Bob Schacht were also involved but sustained only minor damage and were able to continue.

During the caution, Mark Martin ducked into the pits to change all four tires, because he was afraid he ran over debris from the incident, as well as flat-spotting the tires when he locked up the brakes and slid sideways to avoid it.

Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan, driving the #4 Kodak Chevrolet for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, traded the lead for the first 60 laps. Championship contenders Elliott, Allison, and Kulwicki ran near the top 10, while Gant, Martin, and Kyle Petty ran near the back of the pack. Richard Petty worked up to 30th.

By lap 60, entering the first round of green flag pit stops, the highest running of the championship contenders was Elliott in fifth. With the leaders in for service, Michael Waltrip spun out in the Bahari Racing #30 Pennzoil Pontiac and brought out the caution. Earnhardt and several other front runners lost a lap after being stuck on pit road. After the cycle completed under caution, four of the top five positions were filled by championship contenders. Elliott assumed the lead with Kulwicki second, Martin fourth, and Gant fifth.

The news was not all good for the #7 team. After his service was complete, Kulwicki attempted to shift into first gear and nothing happened. He was able to get the car started by shifting into fourth gear, but his crew would have to push him out. The gearbox attached to the transmission had malfunctioned and left the #7 without first gear. Since downshifting in this condition could put serious stress on the transmission and potentially result in engine failure, Kulwicki’s only choice was to keep the car in fourth gear the entire race.

However, Kulwicki had recent experience dealing with the same issue. Several races earlier, at the Mello Yello 500 at Charlotte, the same issue befell the #7. Kulwicki, who had qualified for that race on the pole, ended up running second with one of the faster cars on track that afternoon. On this day, the “Underbird” was running fast as well, so Kulwicki pressed on with the only concerns being the potential for slow pit stops and having to restart after cautions since the car could not climb through the gears as it normally would.

On lap 85, Bob Schacht stalled in turn 1 & another series of yellow flag pit stops had shuffled the field, bringing Allison to the lead. Martin took the lead on lap 91, which meant that now four of the championship contenders (Martin, Allison, Elliott, and Kulwicki) has secured five bonus points for leading a lap. Five of the six contenders were running well, with Gant running third behind Martin and Allison and Elliott and Kulwicki running in the top ten. Kulwicki’s car was performing extremely well despite having to run in fourth gear all day, and once up to speed it was the fastest on the track. Kyle Petty, however, was not as fortunate. The #42 developed terminal engine trouble that took him out of contention for the championship (as he would have needed to win the race and get help) and would result in his finishing near the rear of the field, multiple laps down.

On lap 95, the #25 Kodiak Chevrolet of Ken Schrader and the #8 Snickers Ford of Dick Trickle tangled on the frontstretch. The cars spun wildly to the inside. Darrell Waltrip's #17 Western Auto Chevrolet spun to avoid the crash, and ran into the #16 Keystone Beer Ford driven by Wally Dallenbach, Jr.. The #45 Terminal Trucking Ford of Rich Bickle was also collected, which led to Richard Petty running into him and destroying the front end of the car, breaking the oil cooler. The oil started a fire, and Petty's car coasted to the infield in flames. Petty (who was overheard on ESPN's in-car camera shouting to the rescue crews "BRING THE F***ING FIRE EXTINGUISHER!"[14]) was uninjured, however the car was badly damaged, and his return to the race was in question.[15]

At the 100 lap mark, Allison continued to hold the hypothetical lead in the points standings, with Kulwicki second, and Elliott close behind in third.

Alan Kulwicki

Around lap 118, rookie Jeff Gordon brought the #24 Chevrolet into the pits for service. The Ray Evernham-led "Rainbow Warriors" crew, which in later years would become famous for their pit stop efficiency, was nowhere near that level in this race and their errors caused Evernham to refer to them as the “Keystone Kops”.[16] During the stop, a roll of duct tape was left on the trunk lid. As Gordon left, the roll of tape rolled onto the track, where Davey Allison ran over it. The #28 suffered damage to the front air dam, which caused Allison to drop back from second place where he had been running; he would continue to battle handling issues for the rest of the race.[16] Gordon would eventually crash out of the race on lap 164, finishing 31st.[15]

As the race neared its halfway point, the battle for the championship began to consolidate. On lap 160, Martin was forced to retire from the event after the engine blew on the #6. Gant would also fall back in the field as the race progressed and never was able to get back up to the front. With Petty’s car barely running, this left the #28, #11, and #7 as the only cars that could still contend for the title. On lap 167, Elliott passed Ernie Irvan to retake the lead. Allison still managed to hold onto his points lead as he stayed up front, running seventh with an 11 point margin separating him from both Elliott and Kulwicki.

On lap 210, Kulwicki passed Elliott and took the lead for the second time of the race, and the first time since lap 80. Kulwicki took full advantage of this, beginning a long run at the front. Allison, however, was still running in the top ten, in sixth place and as long as he was able to stay there, he would score enough points to clinch the championship.

On lap 254,[12] Irvan, who was now running three laps down, lost control of the #4 and spun out on the front stretch and into the path of Davey Allison, who had nowhere to go and t-boned Irvan. Allison's car would suffer tie rod and steering damage as both cars came to rest on the inside wall on the front straightaway. Allison would make it back onto the track after spending a significant amount of time in the garage, but would finish 53 laps down in 27th place, finishing the lowest of the six championship contenders whose cars were still running,[15] and finishing ahead of only Mark Martin (who finished 32nd after blowing an engine).

Bill Elliott

With the race now under caution due to the Allison-Irvan wreck, race leader Kulwicki was now the points leader. Kulwicki and his crew chief Paul Andrews began to plot strategy for the remainder of the race. Initially, the idea was for him to come in for a pit stop during the caution and fill the fuel tank, but the two men decided not to because even taking into account the possibility of more caution periods, the crew would be counting on Kulwicki to run seventy laps on a single tank and that would prove unfeasible. Using his penchant for “thinking outside the box”, Kulwicki and Andrews decided the best bet was for them to maximize their position on the track and run for points. Since he and Elliott had already each gotten points for leading a lap, the goal was to lead enough laps to get the additional five points for leading the most laps. So, Kulwicki stayed on the track and when the green flag dropped on lap 258 he resumed his spot as the dominant car while the crew went to work on a late race strategy.

At lap 300, Kulwicki held about a two second lead on Elliott. Crew chief Andrews decided on a fuel-only stop and figured out that in order to get a full eleven gallon load of a fuel can into the car, six seconds were required. However, since they only needed to get Kulwicki to the checkered flag, a full can was not needed. Andrews calculated that just over five gallons, half a can, would get them to the end. The stop was supposed to occur on lap 306, and that Kulwicki needed to conserve fuel to make sure he reached that point. As Elliott began to catch him, Kulwicki was told to stay out for a few more laps to gain the five extra bonus points for leading the most laps regardless of what Elliott did the rest of the race. Kulwicki just needed to finish third or better at that point. Elliott tried and failed to pass Kulwicki, who finally pulled off track on lap 310. He had led the previous 101 laps, pushing his total to 103 for the race.

With the #11 now once again at the point, Kulwicki slowly brought the #7 to his pit stall.[17] Car chief and gas man Tony Gibson stood waiting for his boss as he would be the only crew member over the wall. The rest stood by just in case Kulwicki stalled again as he had earlier. After 3.4 seconds, Kulwicki took off and headed back onto the track. However, there was an issue with the fuel relay and Gibson was unsure he got enough gas into the tank.[17]

Meanwhile Elliott, who had been in control of the race for the five extra points before Kulwicki’s run at the front, suddenly found himself needing to do what Kulwicki did to keep his own championship hopes alive as the laps slowly ticked down. Since he too needed to top off his fuel, Elliott decided to stay out for four more laps and eventually came in on lap 314. Terry Labonte stretched his fuel and led the next lap and pitted on lap 315. Elliott got back on track and, on lap 316, passed Labonte for the lead again. If he was to remain in the lead for the rest of the event and bring home the victory, his total laps led count would be 102, one short of Kulwicki’s total. Had Elliott been able to stretch his fuel and not allow Labonte to lead a lap then his laps led count would have been 103 like Kulwicki's. If that had happened then both drivers would have received the five extra bonus points for leading the most laps. Thus, Kulwicki's margin of victory would have been just five points instead of ten in the final championship standings.

The word that Kulwicki had clinched the additional bonus points was relayed to him on lap 324. At the time, he had been running second and all he needed to do was hold his position or to finish in third place to win the Winston Cup. However, Andrews told him that the fuel stop they made might not have gotten him enough to get to the end of the race and that Kulwicki had to conserve fuel while holding his position; if he fell back to fourth in the final laps then the two drivers would tie in points and Elliott would be champion by virtue of having more wins than Kulwicki over the course of the season (5-2). Luckily for the “Underbird”, the only cars that were threats were the #15 Motorcraft Ford driven by Geoff Bodine and the #12 Raybestos Brakes Ford driven by Jimmy Spencer. Neither were close enough to be a factor in the outcome. Kulwicki conceded the victory to Elliott and did his best to keep himself running ahead of Bodine and Spencer while conserving fuel.

When the checkered flag fell, Elliott came across first and recorded his fifth victory of the season. Kulwicki's fuel held up, and he won the championship while finishing a distant second.[3] Kulwicki's final lead in the standings was just ten points,[3] the closest margin in NASCAR history until the 2011 season when Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards finished in a tie for first place, with the championship going to Stewart due to him winning 5 races to Edwards' 1.

Richard Petty's crew worked diligently all afternoon to get his car running again, and with two laps remaining, Petty pulled out of the pits. His car had no sheet metal on the front end[15] and no hood. He finished 35th, and was credited as running at the finish in his final race.[18] Commenting on the fire, Petty said, "I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory; I just forgot about the glory part." After the victory lane celebration, Petty climbed in the car for one final ceremonial lap to salute the fans. He waved out the window while the song "Richard Petty Fans" by Alabama was played on the public address system.

Immediately after taking the checkered flag, Alan Kulwicki drove back around to the frontstretch. He proceeded to stop at the flagstand and turn around, to drive what he referred to as a "Polish victory lap", clockwise (backwards) around the track, waving to fans. It mimicked a similar celebration he did at his first victory in 1988 at Phoenix. Kulwicki admitted after the race in his post-race and championship interview that he took his time coming down pit road on his final stop to make sure he didn't get a speeding penalty or stall the car again like he did on his first pit stop.

• Time of race – 3:44:20
• Average speed – 133.322 mph
• Margin of victory – 8.06 seconds
• Lead changes – 20 among 9 drivers
• Total purse: US$785,787 (winner's share $93,600)

[19]

• Busch Pole Award: Rick Mast
• Busch Beer Fastest Second round Qualifier: Jeff Gordon
• Gillette Halfway Challenge: Ernie Irvan
• Goody's Headache Award: Davey Allison[20]
• AP Parts Meet the Challenge Award:
• True Value Hard Charger Award: Bill Elliott
• Gatorade Circle of Champions Award: Bill Elliott
• Plasti-kote Winning Finish Award: Tim Brewer (Elliott)
• Western Auto Mechanic of the Race: Danny Glad (Kulwicki)
• Unocal 76 Challenge: $22,800 available to polesitter Rick Mast – not won (rollover)

1. Alan Kulwicki, 4078 points
2. Bill Elliott, −10
3. Davey Allison, −63
4. Harry Gant, −123
5. Kyle Petty, −133
6. Mark Martin, −191
7. Ricky Rudd, −343
8. Terry Labonte, −404
9. Darrell Waltrip, −419
10. Sterling Marlin, −475

Two of the principals in the championship chase that the Hooters 500 resolved would not survive the next season. On April 1, 1993, three days before the Food City 500 at Bristol, Alan Kulwicki was killed in a plane crash along with Hooters executives, while they were flying back from an appearance at a Hooters restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee.

A little over three months later on July 12, 1993, Davey Allison was flying his helicopter to Talladega Superspeedway to watch his friend David Bonnett (Neil Bonnett's son) test a Busch Series car. While trying to land the helicopter in a closed-in section of the Talladega infield, Allison crashed and suffered grave head injuries. He died the next morning.

Both Kulwicki and Allison were in the top five of the Cup series points at the time of their deaths, with Allison recording a victory at Richmond. Allison and Kulwicki were also invited to participate in IROC XVII based on their performances, with Kulwicki automatically qualifying as the NASCAR Winston Cup champion, and at the time of their deaths, both drivers were in the top five in IROC points. Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt took over for the deceased drivers and Labonte's effort in the final IROC race gave the series title to Allison posthumously.

To commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the race, Jeff Gordon served as grand marshal and Richard Petty the honorary starter for the 2007 Pep Boys Auto 500 that took place on October 28, 2007.