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1992 Hooters 500
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The 1992 Hooters 500 was the final race of the 1992 NASCAR season. The race is considered one of the greatest NASCAR races of all-time. It was held November 15 1992 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race marked the final NASCAR start for 7-time champion Richard Petty and the first Winston Cup start for future champion Jeff Gordon.
ng into the race, six drivers had a mathematical chance to win the title, and the points standings were led by Davey Allison.
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Encyclopedia
The 1992 Hooters 500 was the final race of the 1992 NASCAR season. The race is considered one of the greatest NASCAR races of all-time. It was held November 15 1992 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race marked the final NASCAR start for 7-time champion Richard Petty and the first Winston Cup start for future champion Jeff Gordon.
Prerace
Coming into the race, six drivers had a mathematical chance to win the title, and the points standings were led by Davey Allison. Allison needed to finish sixth or better to clinch the championship. Allison led second-place Alan Kulwicki by 30 points, Bill Elliott by 40, Harry Gant by 97 and Kyle Petty by 98. Mark Martin also had an outside chance.
Kulwicki received approval from NASCAR and Ford to change the "Thunderbird" lettering on his bumper by putting two Mighty Mouse patches on the "TH" in "THUNDERBIRD" because he felt like the underdog for winning the championship, and Kulwicki admired the character, which symbolised he and his team (many of whom later became champions themselves long after his death).
Rick Mast won his first career pole position in the #1 car. His qualifying speed of 180.183 mph 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.
Richard Petty entered the race, his final career start, at the conclusion of his year-long "Fan Appreciation Tour." Facing the intense pressure, Petty barely managed to qualify, posting 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.
Race
A record 160,000 fans arrived at Atlanta Motor Speedway to witness Petty's final ride, and to watch the exciting championship battle. The race was televised live on ESPN. At the start, polesitter, Rick Mast crashed with Brett Bodine (who led Lap 1) in Turn 1 on the second lap.
Kyle Petty and Mark Martin had engine problems that took them out of contention. Harry Gant finished, but was never a factor. Allison was in sixth place when Ernie Irvan's tire blew with 75 laps remaining. Allison T-boned Irvan's spinning car on Lap 254. The car had a broken right front tie rod. He eventually lost 43 laps repairing the tie rod, ending his championship hopes.
Kulwicki and Elliott were left to duel for the title. During his first pit stop, Kulwicki lost first gear. Kulwicki was known for being an intelligent driver who thought outside the box, and worked with crew chief Paul Andrews to plot the prime strategy late in the race. Their original plan was a "gas-and-go" stop at Lap 306. With about 20 laps to go final pit stops began, as Elliott was pressuring Kulwicki for the lead. Given the circumstances, Kulwicki's crew moved the pit stop by a few laps, telling him to pit at Lap 309. He stayed out. Kulwicki was thinking about the bonus points for leading the most laps (10 as opposed to 5), for which he was battling with title rival Bill Elliott. Kulwicki pitted at Lap 310, boosting his laps led total to 103. Kulwicki's pit crew did a "gas and go" stop. Not changing tires during the stop allowed the Paul Andrews-led group to help push the car, preventing it from stalling with only one remaining gear. Elliott pitted at lap 314, with an identical pit stop time, but had a quicker pit exit since he had first gear. Terry Labonte led the next lap, as he pitted the next lap. Elliott won the race, and Kulwicki finished second. By leading one more lap than Elliott, Kulwicki claimed the 5 bonus points for leading the most laps. Kulwicki became the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Champion by 10 points over Elliott. The championship would have ended in a tie if Elliott had led more laps than Kulwicki, and Elliott held the tie-breaker (most victories during the season). It was the closest title win in NASCAR Cup Series history until the implementation of the Chase for the Cup format 12 years later. Kulwicki celebrated with his second-ever Polish Victory Lap.
Richard Petty was caught up in Ken Schrader's wreck on Lap 95, and the front end of the car was destroyed. A fire broke out, but Petty escaped uninjured. The crew worked diligently all afternoon to get the car running again, and with two laps to go Petty brought out his car with no sheet metal on the front end. He finished 35th, and was credited as running at the finish in his final race. Commenting on the fire, Richard said, "I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory; I just forgot about the glory part."
This race also marked the Cup Series debut of Jeff Gordon, who raced with a loose race car all day. He hit the wall on Lap 164 and was unable to continue.
Results
Championship contenders in bold
- 11-Bill Elliott, led 102 of 328 laps
- 7-Alan Kulwicki, led 103 laps
- 15-Geoff Bodine, led 1 lap
- 12-Jimmy Spencer
- 94-Terry Labonte, led 1 lap
- 2-Rusty Wallace
- 22-Sterling Marlin, 1 Lap down
- 66-Jimmy Hensley*, 2 Laps down
- 55-Ted Musgrave, 2 Laps down
- 18-Dale Jarrett, 2 Laps down
- 21-Morgan Shepherd, 3 Laps down
- 68-Bobby Hamilton, 3 Laps down
- 33-Harry Gant, 4 Laps down
- 30-Michael Waltrip, 4 Laps down
- 10-Derrike Cope, 6 Laps down
- 42-Kyle Petty, 320 Laps Completed (Engine Failure)
- 9-Chad Little, 8 Laps down
- 83-Lake Speed, 8 Laps down
- 23-Eddie Bierschwale, 9 Laps down
- 88-Mike Wallace, 11 Laps down
- 52-Jimmy Means, 11 Laps down
- 71-Dave Marcis, 11 Laps down
- 17-Darrell Waltrip, 21 Laps down
- 32-Jimmy Horton, 25 Laps down
- 5-Ricky Rudd, 28 Laps down
- 3-Dale Earnhardt, 29 Laps down; led 26 laps
- 28-Davey Allison, 43 Laps down; led 5 laps
- 1-Rick Mast, 75 Laps down
- 4-Ernie Irvan, 251 Laps (Accident); led 24 laps
- 90-Bobby Hillin, 235 Laps (Engine Failure)
- 24-Jeff Gordon, 164 Laps (Accident)
- 6-Mark Martin, 160 Laps (Engine Failure); led 47 laps
- 57-Bob Schacht*, 120 Laps (Ignition)
- 45-Rich Bickle, 97 Laps (Accident)
- 43-Richard Petty, 233 Laps down
- 25-Ken Schrader, 94 Laps (Accident)
- 8-Dick Trickle, 94 Laps (Accident)
- 16-Wally Dallenbach, Jr., 94 Laps (Accident)
- 49-Stanley Smith, 60 Laps (Engine Failure)
- 26-Brett Bodine, 1 Lap (Accident); led 1 lap
- 41-Hut Stricklin, 1 Lap (Accident).
- No DNQ information is available.
Legacy
This race is considered the transition from the old age of NASCAR to the new age. As veteran Richard Petty retired, future champion Jeff Gordon made his debut. Gordon is one of the most popular drivers in NASCAR today. This is also the only race in NASCAR history to feature Petty, Gordon, and Dale Earnhardt taking the green flag together. All three are considered the best NASCAR drivers of all time.
Fifteenth Anniversary
To commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the race, Jeff Gordon served as Grand Marshall and Richard Petty the honorary starter for the 2007 Pep Boys Auto 500 that took place on October 28, 2007.
Additional reading
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