The 1972 World 600, the 13th running of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

, 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 was held on May 28, 1972, at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...

. Wendell Scott was promised a good car, what he actually got was a hunk of junk. In practice, the car was 9 miles per hour off the pace; this led to jeers from his fellow drivers that he just could not drive the best level of equipment that was available at the time. Bobby Allison climbed in the car afterward and went the same speed while Wendell did the best he could with it until the engine grenaded. This resulted in Wendell obtaining a result of 22nd place DNF on lap 283. South Carolina's

blue law Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...

s were in full force during the era of the race. The pace car driver was Robert "Bob" Colvin who nearly got arrested for violating the "blue laws" before he found out that they were for someone else's bad

check Check or cheque, may refer to: Places * Check, Virginia Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Check'' (film), a 2021 Indian Telugu-language film * ''The Checks'' (episode), a 1996 TV episode of ''Seinfeld'' Games and sports * Check (chess), a thr ...

s. In addition to watching the event live, NASCAR followers who either lived or visited the Concord, North Carolina region could listen to it on their

transistor radio A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Following the invention of the transistor in 1947—which revolutionized the field of consumer electronics by introducing small but powerful, convenien ...

Race report

It took four hours and thirteen minutes to race 400 spanning per lap. Amateur home video helped capture the most important 49 minutes of this event. Three cautions were waved for 24 laps. More than 80,000 spectators would see

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 ...

defeat

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short track ...

by 24 seconds at speeds averaging . 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 ...

speed would be .

Jim Vandiver Jim Vandiver (December 13, 1939June 18, 2015) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1968 to 1983. As an independent driver, he had limited financial resources but enjoyed a level of success that relatively few independent drivers ...

would become the last-place finisher due to a

transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission *** ...

problem on lap 11.

James Hylton James Harvey Hylton (August 26, 1934 – April 28, 2018) was an American stock car racing driver. He was a two-time winner in NASCAR Winston Cup Series competition and was a long-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Hylton finished second i ...

became the lowest-finishing driver to finish this race.

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 ...

would suffer an

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

problem. His first win from the ''World 600'' (now ''Coca-Cola 600'') series of racing events would come in

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

. Larry Smith, who would go on to become NASCAR's Rookie of the Year, finished sixth in this race. A Rookie of the Year from 1957,

Ken Rush Kenneth Rush (September 14, 1931 – October 17, 2011) was a NASCAR Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1957 to 1972. Out of the 40-car grid, all except Formula 1 driver

Jackie Oliver Keith Jack "Jackie" Oliver (born 14 August 1942 in Chadwell Heath, Essex) is a British former Formula One driver and team-owner from England. He became known as the founder of the Arrows team as well as a racing driver, although during his dr ...

were born in the United States. Oliver was born in

Walton-on-Thames Walton-on-Thames, locally known as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey, England. Walton forms part of the Greater London built-up area, within the KT postcode and is served by a wide ran ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Notable crew chiefs included

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

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 ...

Darrell Bryant Darrell Bryant is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose claim to fame was his two "top ten" finishes in addition to racing 2389 laps - for a distance of . Bryant has driver for Chevrolet, Dodge, Oldsmobile, and Mercury during his drivi ...

, and Lee Gordon.

Qualifying

Finishing order

Section reference: #

† (#11) # Bobby Allison (#12) #

Charlie Glotzbach Charles Lee Glotzbach (June 19, 1938 – April 23, 2021) was an Auto Racing Club of America, ARCA and NASCAR Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, Winston Cup Series driver. He holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He has the record for fas ...

(#6) #

Benny Parsons Benjamin Stewart Parsons (July 12, 1941 – January 16, 2007) was an American NASCAR driver, and later an announcer/analyst/pit reporter on SETN, TBS, ABC, ESPN, NBC, and TNT. He became famous as the 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, and ...

† (#72) #

LeeRoy Yarbrough Lonnie "LeeRoy" Yarbrough (September 17, 1938 – December 7, 1984) was an American stock car racer. His best season was 1969 when he won seven races, tallied 21 finishes in the top-ten and earned $193,211 ($ when inflation is taken into accoun ...

† (#45) # Larry Smith† (#92) #

Buddy Arrington Buddy Rogers Arrington (July 26, 1938 – August 2, 2022) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. Racing career Arrington has the second-most starts without a win, and finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1 ...

(#67) #

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 ...

† (#24) # Frank Warren (#79) # Ben Arnold (#76) #

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 ...

† (#64) #

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 ...

(#88) #

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 ...

(#47) #

Jabe Thomas Cerry Ezra "Jabe" Thomas (May 12, 1930 – June 4, 2015) was a NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup Series driver who competed from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s. His son Ronnie was also a NASCAR Cup Series driver; competing from 1977 to 1989 ...

(#25) #

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 ...

(#30) #

Jim Paschal James Roy Paschal, Jr. (December 5, 1926 – July 5, 2004) was a Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver. Career summary Paschal won twenty-five races and twelve poles over his career. Elected to the "Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame" in 1 ...

*† (#27) # Dean Dalton (#7) #

Fred Lorenzen Frederick Lorenzen Jr. (born December 30, 1934), nicknamed The Golden Boy, Fast Freddie, The Elmhurst Express and Fearless Freddy, is a former NASCAR driver from Elmhurst, Illinois. Active from 1958 to 1972, he won 26 races including 1965 Daytona ...

* (#28) #

* (#43) #

† (#48) #

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

*† (#18) #

Wendell Scott Wendell Oliver Scott (August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990) was an American stock car racing driver. He was one of the first African-American drivers in NASCAR and the first African-American to win a race in the Grand National Series, NASCAR's h ...

*† (#34) #

Bobby Isaac Robert Vance Isaac (August 1, 1932 – August 14, 1977) was an American stock car racing driver. Isaac made his first NASCAR appearance in 1961, and quickly forged a reputation of one of the toughest competitors of the 1960s and 1970s. He was most ...

*† (#71) # John Sears*† (#4) # David Pearson* (#21) # Bill Champion*† (#10) # Clarence Lovell* (#61) #

Coo Coo Marlin Clifton Burton "Coo Coo" Marlin (January 3, 1932 – August 14, 2005) was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver who spent 14 years in the series. Local track history Marlin earned a name for himself at the short tracks in Tennessee and Alabama, running ag ...

*† (#14) #

Ken Rush Kenneth Rush (September 14, 1931 – October 17, 2011) was a NASCAR Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1957 to 1972.Richard D. Brown* (#91) #

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 ...

* (#16) #

* (#90) #

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 ...

*† (#70) #

Donnie Allison Donnie Allison (born September 7, 1939) is an American former driver on the NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup circuit, who won ten times during his racing career, which spanned from 1966 to 1988. He is part of the "Alabama Gang", and is the bro ...

* (#15) #

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 ...

* (#06) #

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 ...

*† (#73) # Wayne Smith* (#33) #

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 ...

* (#57) #

G.C. Spencer Grover Clifton "G. C." Spencer (July 9, 1925GC Spencer obituaryhttp://www.heartfeltconnections.net/memberEulogy.cfm?memberid=14734&sqry_rownum=1&CFTOKEN=39227896 . – September 20, 2007) was a NASCAR driver who competed in 415 Grand National/ ...

*† (#49) #

* (#31) ''* Driver failed to finish race''
''† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased''

References

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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 ...

NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway