The 1972 American 500 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. ...

racing event held on October 22, 1972, at

North Carolina Motor Speedway Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ...

in Rockingham,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. While not televised, the 1972 American 500 was covered by local radio stations WAYN-AM (900 AM) and WEEB-AM (990 AM).

Race report

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born drivers qualified for the race. Drivers who failed to qualify were

David Ray Boggs David Ray Boggs (born September 8, 1943) is an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he is a former competitor in the NASCAR Grand American Series, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, and the ARCA Racing Series. NASCAR career Boggs made ...

, Jimmy Crawford and

Elmo Langley Elmo Harold Langley (August 21, 1928 – November 21, 1996) was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number 64 on his race cars during his NASCAR career. Racing career Langley began his racing career racing modified cars in Vir ...

. Forty-two thousand people attended. The race's average speed was in this 253-minute race. David Pearson's qualifying speed of won the

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

. There were four cautions for a of 35 laps. 20 different drivers lead the race. Bobby Allison would defeat

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

by two laps; resulting in Richard Petty's 100th runner up finish.''1972 American 500''
racing information at Racing Reference Ron Hutcherson was the last-place finisher of this event; with a racing accident on lap 29 out of 492. Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and David Pearson dominated the closing laps of this race. Pete Hamilton scored his final top-5 finish. This was his final start of 1972 and he would only make two further starts in 1973, both of which ended in DNFs Hutcherson's racing career would last throughout the course of the 1970s; ending only after the

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

running of the

World 600 The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...

. Notable crew chiefs for this race were Harry Hyde,

Dale Inman Dale Inman (born August 19, 1936) is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series crew chief from Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina. He is best known for being the crew chief of Richard Petty at Petty Enterprises during three de ...

Tom Vandiver Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

Vic Ballard Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

, and

Herb Nab In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

. Rewards for this race were $19,400 for the winner ($ when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher brought home $550 ($ when adjusted for inflation). A grand total of $89,450 was offered to the race. ($ when adjusted for inflation). Bobby Allison's win at this event would become the tenth win of the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Due to the cash crunch of the 1970s, only five individual owners could afford to employ a NASCAR Cup Series driver for the rest; the rest were all "proper" NASCAR teams with more than one person running them.''1972 American 500''
racing information at Driver Averages

Qualifying

Finishing order

# Bobby Allison #

Buddy Baker Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker Jr. (January 25, 1941 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional stock car racing driver and commentator. Over the course of his 33-year racing career, he won 19 races in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the 198 ...

David Pearson David or Dave Pearson may refer to: * David Pearson (librarian) (born 1955), British librarian and scholar * David Pearson (racing driver) (1934–2018), American car racing champion * David Pearson (scientist) (born 1942), Canadian scientist, a ...

# Pete Hamilton #

Cale Yarborough William Caleb "Cale" Yarborough (born March 27, 1939) is an American former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner, businessman, and farmer. He is one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win three consecutive championships, winning in 1 ...

Dave Marcis David Alan Marcis (born March 1, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final ...

# Larry Smith #

David Sisco David Sisco (June 26, 1937 – July 25, 2016) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who ran 133 races from 1971 to 1977, and was the 1969 Nashville Fairgrounds track champion. Career Sisco also managed to earn $251,359 in his seven-year NASCAR ...

# Buddy Arrington # John Sears #

Clarence Lovell Clarence may refer to: Places Australia * Clarence County, New South Wales, a Cadastral division * Clarence, New South Wales, a place near Lithgow * Clarence River (New South Wales) * Clarence Strait (Northern Territory) * City of Clarence, a lo ...

# Ben Arnold #

Walter Ballard Walter Harvey Ballard Sr. (born January 12, 1933) is a former NASCAR driver from Houston, Texas. In 1971, he won the Rookie of the Year Award in the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand National Series (known as the NASCAR Cup Series as of 2021), in its fir ...

Dean Dalton Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Ed Negre Ed Negre (July 16, 1927June 4, 2014) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1955 to 1979.''E ...

Charlie Roberts Charles Roberts (6 April 1883 – 7 August 1939) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-half in the Football League for Grimsby Town, Manchester United and Oldham Athletic. He spent nine years at United, where he was capta ...

# James Hylton #

Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon (June 21, 1941 – September 19, 2012) was an American stock car racing driver. A competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series between 1968 and 1985, he competed in 449 events without winning a race. NASCAR Career as driver Gordon d ...

Joe Frasson Joseph "Joe" Frasson (September 3, 1935November 21, 2016) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver.' ...

Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contribu ...

# Jabe Thomas #

J.D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie Jr. (December 5, 1938 – August 11, 1991) was an American racing driver. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series from 1963 to 1991, collecting 106 top-10 finishes during his career, despite never finishing on the lead ...

# Frank Warren # Marty Robbins # Coo Coo Marlin # Bill Champion #

Roy Mayne Roy Mayne (May 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American professional stock car racing driver. He was a driver in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Au ...

# Jim Vandiver #

Neil Castles Henry Neil Castles (October 1, 1934 – August 4, 2022) was an American NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. He raced from 1957 to 1976, and won the NASCAR Grand National East Series in 1972. Early life Castles was born in Ma ...

Bill Dennis Bill Dennis (born December 9, 1935) is a former NASCAR driver and rookie of the year in the Winston Cup Series. Racing career Dennis made his debut at age 26 at the 1962 Capital City 300 in the No. 98 and finished 15th. After three part-time se ...

Ron Keselowski Ronald William Keselowski (born September 12, 1946) is a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Winston Cup driver who raced from 1970 in NASCAR, 1970 to 1974 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1974. He is the uncle of current and retired NASCAR Cup Series driv ...

Dick Brooks Richard Brooks (April 14, 1942 – February 1, 2006) was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500. Brooks held off veteran Buddy Baker b ...

# Benny Parsons # Bobby Isaac #

Henley Gray Clarence Henley Gray Jr. (born January 12, 1933) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977. Career Out of the 76045 laps committed in his career, Gray only led two of them. Gray's total career earnings ...

Tiny Lund DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund (November 14, 1929 – August 17, 1975) was an American stock car racer. He was a journeyman racer-for-hire in the top level NASCAR Grand National Series, running partial seasons for a number of years, including a vict ...

# Tommy Gale # Ron Hutcherson

Timeline

Section reference: * Start: David Pearson was the first driver to leave the start/finish line as the green flag was waved in the air. * Lap 32: First caution due to Ron Hutcherson's accident on turn 4, ended on lap 42. * Lap 33: Bill Dennis took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 34: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from Bill Dennis. * Lap 35: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 42: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 51: Buddy Baker took over the lead from Cale Yarborough. * Lap 66: Second caution due to Henley Gray's engine failure, ended on lap 75. * Lap 67: Dick Brooks took over the lead from Buddy Baker. * Lap 68: Bill Dennis took over the lead from Dick Brooks. * Lap 69: David Pearson took over the lead from Bill Dennis. * Lap 91: The third caution started due to Benny Parson's accident on turn 1, ended on lap 101. * Lap 92: Bobby Allison took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 97: David Pearson took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 100: Buddy Baker took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 167: David Pearson took over the lead from Buddy Baker. * Lap 187: Bobby Allison took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 213: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 250: The fourth caution started due to debris, ended on lap 256. * Lap 251: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 252: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 259: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 261: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 269: David Pearson took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 317: Bobby Allison took over the lead from David Pearson. * Lap 418: Jabe Thomas' engine stopped functioning in a normal manner. * Lap 428: The rear end of James Hylton's vehicle was removed in an unsafe manner. * Finish: Bobby Allison was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

{{authority control

American 500 The Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series event that took place in November at the North Carolina Motor Speedway from 1965 to 2003. It was the first NASCAR Cup Series victory for three drivers including Mark Martin in 1 ...

NASCAR races at Rockingham Speedway