The 1972 Northern 300 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 that took place on July 16, 1972, at

Trenton Speedway Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near Trenton, New Jersey at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway. Racing histor ...

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 to December 24, 1784.kidney bean The kidney bean is a variety of the common bean (''Phaseolus vulgaris''). It resembles a human kidney and thus is named after such. Red kidney beans should not be confused with other red beans, such as adzuki beans. Classification There are d ...

" shape with a 20° right-hand dogleg on the back stretch and a wider turn 3 & 4 complex than turns 1 & 2. The track closed in 1980 and the Fairgrounds itself closed 3 years later. The former site of the speedway is now occupied by the Grounds for Sculpture, a UPS shipping facility, and the housing development known as "Hamilton Lakes".

Summary

Bobby Allison defeated Bobby Isaac by 1.4 seconds after two hours and fifty-seven seconds of racing. There were nine lead changes and five cautions for 21 laps.''1972 Northern 300''
at Racing-Reference.info Notable crew chiefs at the race were Steve Gray, 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 ...

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): ...

, Lee Gordon, 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 ...

.1972 Northern 300 crew chiefs information
at Racing Reference Twenty thousand people attended this live event to witness average speeds of . Isaac qualified for 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 ...

with an impressive speed of on a paved oval track spanning . A.J. Cox received the last-place finish due to overheating while

Bill Shirey Bill Shirey (born February 28, 1932) is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver. Career Shirey accomplished three finishes in the "top ten" ( 1970 Richmond 500, 1971 Asheville 300, and 1971 Kingsport 300) and has driven for 9588 laps - the eq ...

was disqualified for entering pit road in reverse; he was involved in the first caution of the day, having spun on John Sears' oil and went to pit lane for repairs in the opposite direction of traffic flow. The other drivers in the top ten were:

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 ...

, Fred Lorenzen,

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 ...

, James Hylton, Larry Smith, Benny Parsons,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. While the complete purse of this racing event was an impressive $35,675 ($ when adjusted for inflation), the race winner actually received only $7,900 of that prize money ($ when adjusted for inflation).Official NASCAR Race Results for the ''1972 Northern 300''
at FantasyRacingCheatSheet.com The Plymouth Superbirds and

Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over seven generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. The Charger has ...

s that competed in this race were equipped with special wings to demonstrate their status as

muscle car Muscle car is a description according to ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' that came to use in 1966 for "a group of American-made two-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." The '' Britannica Dictionary'' ...

s. A 1972

Chevrolet Chevelle The Chevrolet Chevelle is a mid-sized automobile that was produced by Chevrolet in three generations for the 1964 through 1978 model years. Part of the General Motors (GM) A-body platform, the Chevelle was one of Chevrolet's most successful ...

would become the make and model to win this racing event; defeating a 1972 Dodge Charger in the process. Bob Greenley would compete in his only NASCAR Cup Series race here along with

Fred Drake Fred Drake (January 28, 1958 – June 20, 2002) was an American musician best known as a founding member of earthlings?. Drake is also renowned for having been co-owner (along with Dave Catching) of Rancho De La Luna, the setting for the colla ...

.''1972 Northern 300''
results at Race-Database.com

Qualifying

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Bobby Isaac began the event with the pole position. * Lap 2: A.J. Cox managed to overheat his vehicle. * Lap 8: Earle Canavan's vehicle suddenly was leaking oil onto the track. * Lap 15: John Sears fell out with engine failure. * Lap 19: Dave Marcis took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 20: Cecil Gordon took over the lead from Dave Marcis. * Lap 22: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from Cecil Gordon. * Lap 33: Henley Gray fell out with engine failure. * Lap 42: Bill Shirey was disqualified for entering pit road in reverse. * Lap 50: Ed Hessert had a terminal crash. * Lap 73: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 83: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 93: Fred Drake fell out with engine failure. * Lap 104: Dave Marcis had a terminal crash. * Lap 107: Bill Champion fell out with engine failure. * Lap 109: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Lap 127: David Ray Boggs' vehicle suddenly was leaking oil onto the track. * Lap 136: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty. * Lap 154: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from Bobby Allison. * Lap 176: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Bobby Isaac. * Finish: Bobby Allison was officially declared the winner of the event.

References

{{Northern 300

Northern 300 The Northern 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held in 1958, 1959, and from 1967 to 1972 at Trenton Speedway in Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer ...

NASCAR races at Trenton Speedway