1972 Winston 500

Last updated
1972 Winston 500
Race details [1]
Race 11 of 31 in the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Talladega Superspeedway.png
Layout of Talladega Superspeedway
Date May 7, 1972 (1972-May-07)
Official name Winston 500
Location Alabama International Motor Speedway, Talladega, Alabama
Course Permanent racing facility
2.660 mi (4.280 km)
Distance 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures of 75 °F (24 °C); wind speeds of 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
Average speed 134.4 mph (216.3 km/h)
Pole position
Driver K&K Insurance Racing
Time 49.764 seconds [2]
Most laps led
Driver David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing
Laps 59
Winner
No. 21David PearsonWood Brothers Racing
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Keith Jackson
Chris Economaki

The 1972 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race on May 7, 1972, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama. This was the first start for three-time Cup Series Champion Darrell Waltrip.

Contents

Background

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Monster Energy Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66 miles (4.28 km), and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators. [3]

Race report

The grand marshal for the event was Auburn football head coach, Ralph "Shug" Jordan.

There were fifty drivers on the grid. It took three hours and forty-five minutes for 188 laps of racing. There were nine cautions for 62 laps with 53 lead changes. David Pearson defeated Bobby Isaac by almost five seconds. More than 71000 people would see 500.1 miles or 804.8 kilometres of racing action with an average speed of 134.4 miles per hour (216.3 km/h). [4]

Bobby Isaac would win the pole position at 192.498 miles per hour (309.796 km/h) during qualifying. There were many mechanical failures in the race including the rear end failures and an incident involving a windshield. [4] Marty Robbins, who was also a country music star, dropped out of the race after 179 laps; after his top speed proved to be substantially faster than that he achieved in qualifying and being in position to pass the leaders, he confessed to altering his restrictor plate and was disqualified and listed as finishing in last place, declining Rookie of the Race honors. [5] Other notable drivers were: Richard Petty, LeeRoy Yarbrough, Elmo Langley, Coo Coo Marlin, and Neil Castles. Darrell Waltrip would make his NASCAR debut in this race and finish in 38th after starting 25th. [4] Clarence Lovell would also make his introduction to NASCAR during this race.

Had Bobby Allison not had this one bad finish here at Talladega, he would've had 20 top-10 finishes in a row. [4] The only thing is, his cars had engine problems in the long races. All three engine failures occurred at the 500-mile races of Rockingham, Talladega, and Dover. [4] Even when his engines were being strained at the long races, he still did well, getting top-5 finishes at most of the 500+ mile races that season.

Notable crew chiefs for this race were Jake Elder, Steven Gray, Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver and Herb Nab. [6] Inman, Hyde, and Wood would help maintain the vehicles for the winner, the runner-up, and the fifth-place finisher of this race. [7]

James Hylton would lose his points lead to Richard Petty after this race. [7] The winner of the race would receive $23,745 in total winnings ($166,121 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher won $745 for a disqualification ($5,212 when adjusted for inflation). [8]

Qualifying

Grid [4] No.DriverManufacturerOwner
171Bobby Isaac'72 Dodge Nord Krauskopf
221David Pearson'71 Mercury Wood Brothers
343Richard Petty'72 Dodge Petty Enterprises
412Bobby Allison'72 Chevrolet Richard Howard
511Buddy Baker'72 Dodge Petty Enterprises
627Donnie Allison'72 Chevrolet Monty Myers
797Red Farmer'72 Ford Willie Humphries
879Frank Warren'70 Dodge Frank Warren
942Marty Robbins'72 Dodge Marty Robbins
1030Walter Ballard'71 Mercury Vic Ballard
113Jimmy Crawford'72 Plymouth Crawford Brothers
1231Jim Vandiver'70 Dodge O.L. Nixon
1305David Sisco'72 Chevrolet Charlie McGee
1424Cecil Gordon'71 Mercury Cecil Gordon
158Ed Negre'70 Dodge Ed Negre
1676Ben Arnold'71 Ford Ben Arnold
1792Larry Smith'71 Ford Harley Smith
1891Richard D. Brown'72 Chevrolet Ralph McNabb
197Dean Dalton'71 Mercury Dean Dalton
2093Buck Baker'72 Chevrolet Harold Furr

Top 20 finishers

Pos [4] No.DriverManufacturerLapsLaps ledTime/Status
121 David Pearson Mercury188593:43:15
271 Bobby Isaac Dodge18857+4.9 seconds
311 Buddy Baker Dodge18832Lead lap under green flag
428 Fred Lorenzen Ford1884Lead lap under green flag
543 Richard Petty Dodge18714+1 lap
618 Joe Frasson Dodge1860+2 laps
745 LeeRoy Yarbrough Mercury1850+3 laps
898 Dick Brooks Ford1850+3 laps
979 Frank Warren Dodge1850+3 laps
1072 Benny Parsons Dodge1840+4 laps
112 Dave Marcis Dodge1830+5 laps
1257 David Ray Boggs Dodge1820+6 laps
1325 Jabe Thomas Plymouth1820+6 laps
1424 Cecil Gordon Mercury1820+6 laps
158 Ed Negre Plymouth1820+6 laps
163 Jimmy Crawford Ford1810Terminal vehicle damage
1776 Ben Arnold Ford1800Out of gas
1888 Ron Keselowski Dodge1790Running
1930 Walter Ballard Mercury1790Running
2092 Larry Smith Ford1780Running

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References

  1. Weather information for the 1972 Winston 500 at The Old Farmer's Almanac
  2. Qualifying information for the 1972 Winston 500 at Racing Reference
  3. "Track Facts". talladegasuperspeedway.com. Talladega Superspeedway. November 1, 2012. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Racing information for the 1972 Winston 500 at Racing-Reference
  5. Marty Robbins Talks: The difference between illegal and cheating at YouTube
  6. 1972 Winston 500 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
  7. 1 2 1972 Winston 500 race information at Race-Database
  8. 1972 Winston 500 racing information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1972
Succeeded by
Preceded by Winston 500 races
1972
Succeeded by