The 1992 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 34th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 16, 1992, before an audience of 140,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.
Leading for over half of the race, Robert Yates Racing's Davey Allison managed to avoid a major wreck in the first half of the race that took out several contenders. Afterwards, Allison managed to dominate the latter stages of the race, leading the final 98 laps en route to his 14th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his first victory of the season, and his only career Daytona 500 victory. To fill out the top three, Wood Brothers Racing's Morgan Shepherd and Bud Moore Engineering's Geoff Bodine finished second and third, respectively.
Background
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMake0Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFord1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet03Kerry TeagueKT MotorsportsOldsmobile4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord8Rick WilsonStavola Brothers RacingFord9Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFord10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord12Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet13Dave Mader IIIFolsom RacingChevrolet13Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevrolet14A. J. FoytA. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobile15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet20Mike WallaceMoroso RacingOldsmobile21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord23Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobile25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Brett BodineKing RacingFord28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac31Bobby Hillin Jr.Team IrelandChevrolet33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile41Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac47Buddy BakerClose RacingOldsmobile48James HyltonHylton MotorsportsChevrolet49Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet50Clay YoungClay Young RacingPontiac52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobile59Andy Belmont (R)Pat Rissi RacingFord62Ben HessGray RacingFord66Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet73Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile75Dick TrickleRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile77Mike PotterBalough RacingChevrolet83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingChevrolet84Dave Pletcher Sr.Pletcher RacingPontiac88Joe BooherMalloch RacingPontiac89Jim SauterMueller Brothers RacingPontiac90Dorsey SchroederDonlavey RacingFord94Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile95Bob Schacht (R)Sadler Brothers RacingOldsmobile97Mark GibsonCollins RacingOldsmobile98Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet99Brad TeagueBall MotorsportsChevrolet
Qualifying Qualifying was set by the 1992 Gatorade Twin 125 Qualifiers. The top two positions were set by qualifying speeds held for the Twin 125 Qualifiers held on Sunday, February 9, with the top two qualifiers in the session earning the top two positions for the Daytona 500. The rest of the starting was set in the Twin 125 Qualifiers, held on Thursday, February 14, during two races. The top 14 finishers in the first race, excluding the pole position winner, set the inside row from rows two to 15, and the top 14 finishers in the second race, excluding the outside pole position winner, set the outside row from rows two to 15. The remaining non-qualifiers set positions 31-40 based on qualifying speeds from the first qualifying session held on Sunday. If needed, up to two extra provisionals were given to teams high enough in the previous season's owner's standings that did not qualify for the race by either qualifying speed or from the Twin 125 Qualifiers.
Sterling Marlin, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 46.823 and an average speed of in Sunday's session.
15 drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeReason122Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordQualified on pole211Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordQualified on outside pole33Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletFirst in Twin 125 #1421Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFordSecond in Twin 125 #256Mark MartinRoush RacingFordSecond in Twin 125 #1628Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordThird in Twin 125 #274Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevroletThird in Twin 125 #185Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevroletFourth in Twin 125 #2941Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevroletFourth in Twin 125 #11030Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacFifth in Twin 125 #21133Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobileFifth in Twin 125 #11217Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevroletSixth in Twin 125 #2131Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobileSixth in Twin 125 #11466Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFordSeventh in Twin 125 #21525Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletSeventh in Twin 125 #11615Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFordEighth in Twin 125 #2172Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiacEighth in Twin 125 #11826Brett BodineKing RacingFordNinth in Twin 125 #2199Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFordNinth in Twin 125 #12010Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevroletTenth in Twin 125 #22103Kerry TeagueKT MotorsportsOldsmobileTenth in Twin 125 #12268Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile11th in Twin 125 #22371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet11th in Twin 125 #12447Buddy BakerClose RacingOldsmobile12th in Twin 125 #22573Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobile12th in Twin 125 #12631Bobby Hillin Jr.Team IrelandChevrolet13th in Twin 125 #2270Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFord13th in Twin 125 #12875Dick TrickleRahMoc EnterprisesOldsmobile14th in Twin 125 #22977Mike PotterBalogh RacingChevrolet14th in Twin 125 #13049Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet15th in Twin 125 #23190Dorsey SchroederDonlavey RacingFordSpeed provisional (191.404)3243Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSpeed provisional (189.909)3342Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiacSpeed provisional (189.717)3494Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobileSpeed provisional (188.897)3518Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletSpeed provisional (188.644)3695Bob SchachtSadler Brothers RacingOldsmobileSpeed provisional (188.225)3716Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFordSpeed provisional (188.206)388Rick WilsonStavola Brothers RacingFordSpeed provisional (187.993)3914A. J. FoytA. J. Foyt RacingOldsmobileSpeed provisional (187.903)4055Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsChevroletSpeed provisional (187.336)417Alan KulwickiAK RacingFordOwner's points provisional4212Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevroletOwner's points provisionalFailed to qualify or withdrew4399Brad TeagueBall MotorsportsChevrolet15th in Twin 125 #14483Lake SpeedSpeed RacingChevrolet17th in Twin 125 #24559Andy Belmont (R)Pat Rissi RacingFord16th in Twin 125 #14689Jim SauterMueller Brothers RacingPontiac18th in Twin 125 #24723Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobile20th in Twin 125 #14820Mike WallaceMoroso RacingOldsmobile19th in Twin 125 #24913Dave Mader IIIFolsom RacingChevrolet28th in Twin 125 #15098Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet21st in Twin 125 #25162Ben HessGray RacingFord29th in Twin 125 #15213Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevrolet22nd in Twin 125 #25388Joe BooherMalloch RacingPontiac23rd in Twin 125 #25450Clay YoungClay Young RacingPontiac24th in Twin 125 #25548James HyltonHylton MotorsportsChevrolet25th in Twin 125 #25652Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac26th in Twin 125 #25797Mark GibsonCollins RacingOldsmobile27th in Twin 125 #2WD84Dave Pletcher Sr.Pletcher RacingPontiacLack of practice speedOfficial Twin 125 Qualifiers resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race Summary The start The initial laps of the race were free of incidents, although on lap 41 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.
Race results