The 1992 NASCAR Winston West Series was the 39th season of the series. The title was won by Bill Sedgwick,[1] his second in the series and second in succession.
Rick Carelli would get the lead from Bill Sedgwick late in the race, leading the final of his 187 total laps led en route to his first win of the season and the first of his career.
For the second race in a row, Rick Carelli would lead the most laps and win the event, beating Butch Gilliland by over 8 second. He headed into Sears Point with a 35 point advantage over Bill Schmitt and Gilliland.
Ernie Irvan started 2nd in this race, but jumped the start and was given a stop-and-go penalty in the pits. Irvan came through the entire field to win in the fastest Winston Cup race held on the 2.52-mile (4.06km) version of Sears Point. Irvan forged one of the most astonishing comebacks in NASCAR history. Irvan, qualifying second, was black-flagged for jumping the start of the race, relegating him to dead last on a road course with road course demons Rusty Wallace, Ricky Rudd and Terry Labonte leading the field. Irvan blazed through the backmarkers, picked off the middle of the pack, then steadily reeled in leader Labonte with 10 laps remaining. Finally, on lap 67 of the 74-lap event, Irvan retook the top spot and drove on to a 3.6-second win. Irvan dedicated the race to Bill France Sr., the founder of NASCAR who died the morning of the race.
Richard Petty's 21st-place finish made him the last car on the lead lap, the final race where he would finish on the lead lap.
Bill Sedgwick was the highest finishing West Series driver, coming home 19th overall and scoring points equivalent to a win. Rick Carelli finished 7th among West drivers, falling out of the race after 57 laps and finishing 37th overall. However, he would maintain the points lead by 7 points over Bill Schmitt and 11 points over Sedgwick.
Holiday Quality Foods 200
The Holiday Quality Foods 200 was held on June 13 at Shasta Speedway. Jim Bown won the pole.
In a close finish, Bill Sedgwick scored his second straight win, beating Bill Schmitt by just 0.25 seconds. Sedgwick would move into the points, 11 points ahead of Schmitt, while Rick Carelli dropped to third, 40 points back.
For the third race in a row, Bill Sedgwick would score the win, beating Winston Cup driver Sterling Marlin by 2 seconds. Sedgwick expanded his points lead over Schmitt to 40.
Ron Hornaday Jr. started on pole and led over half of the laps, but in the end would finish 2nd to Rick Carelli, who won by 6.5 seconds to score his third and final win of the season. Bill Sedgwick would maintain the points lead, 7 points over both Bill Schmitt and Carelli.
Bill Schmitt dominated the race, leading 181 of 200 laps and scoring his lone win of the season. Schmitt took the points lead from Bill Sedgwick, who stayed within 3 points of Schmitt.
NASCAR/ARCA Texas World Speedway Shootout
The NASCAR/ARCA Texas World Speedway Shootout was held on September 20 at Texas World Speedway, and was in combination with the ARCA SuperCar Series, the first time the two series raced together. Loy Allen Jr. won the pole.
In the first ARCA-NASCAR combination race to be held, Mickey Gibbs would score his third and final ARCA SuperCar Series win, while John Krebs was the highest finishing West Series driver, finishing 4th.
Points leader Bill Sedgwick would fall out of the race after just 4 laps with engine issues, finishing 10th among West drivers and 43rd overall. Bill Schmitt, however, was 4th among West drivers, good enough for 8th overall, and took the points lead from Sedgwick by 29 points.
Bill Sedgwick would lead 159 of the race's 300 laps, and would beat Rick Carelli by 5.6 seconds to score his fourth and final win of the season. Winning the race while Bill Schmitt finished 5th, Sedgwick cut the points deficit to 4 heading into the final race.
Smoke billowed from Bill Elliott's BudweiserFord, signaling an opportunity for the rest of the Winston Cup contenders. Davey Allison and Alan Kulwicki took full advantage. While Elliott's car suffered from a cracked cylinder head and overheating problems, which relegated him to a 31st-place finish, Allison patiently made his way to the front and won his second consecutive Pyroil 500. The emotional victory— Allison's first since an accident at Pocono (and penultimate), vaulted him back into the Winston Cup points lead. Kulwicki ran strong all day and finished fourth, also moving him past Elliott in the point standings. Heading into the final event of the Winston Cup season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Allison led Kulwicki by 30 points, Elliott by 40, Gant by 97, Petty by 98 and Martin by 113. It was the first time in the sport's history that six drivers were still in contention heading into the final event.
To mark Richard Petty's penultimate race, both of the cars sponsored by Skoal tobacco, Harry Gant's #33 Skoal Bandit Oldsmobile and Rick Mast's #1 Skoal Classic Oldsmobile sported "Thanks King Richard" messages on their quarterpanels and decklid.
The race was Whitcomb Racing's final top 10 finish, as the team would fold after the season ended.
For the second time in the season, John Krebs was the highest finishing West driver in a combination race, finishing 23rd overall. Bill Sedgwick, who scored 10 more points in the race than Bill Schmitt, would win the West Series title by 6 points.
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