The 1992 Coca-Cola 600, the 33rd 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 e ...

, 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 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. In 1971 ...

racing event that took place on May 24, 1992, 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 includin ...

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 ...

. For the first time in NASCAR history, the Stonewall Jackson Award was offered to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

veteran who demonstrated patriotism and sacrifice above the typical expectations of a soldier or commissioned officer. This award was named after

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Stonewall Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in nearl ...

for his meritorious devotion to service during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Background

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious

Coca-Cola 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 ...

on Memorial Day weekend and the

NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race The NASCAR All-Star Race, formerly known as The Winston from 1985 to 2003, the Nextel All-Star Challenge from 2004 to 2007, the Sprint All-Star Race from 2008 to 2016, and the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race from 2017 to 2019, is an annual NAS ...

, as well as the

Bank of America 500 The Bank of America Roval 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race that is held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the race. As of the 201 ...

. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

Race report

There were 42 drivers on the starting grid; almost half of them failed to finish the race. It took four and a half hours to resolve 400 laps. Dale Earnhardt defeated

Ernie Irvan Virgil Earnest "Ernie" Irvan (born January 13, 1959), occasionally referred to as Swervin' Irvan, is an American former professional stock car racing driver. A retired NASCAR competitor, he is best remembered for his comeback after a serious head ...

by nearly half a second. There were several crashes, some engine problems, and Stanley Smith's vehicle managed to lose all of its tires by lap 248.

Jimmy Means James Means (born May 29, 1950) is a retired American racing driver and owner, who competed in the Winston Cup Series as an owner-driver. He is currently an adviser for Front Row Motorsports and owns his own team, Jimmy Means Racing. He compe ...

legitimately blew his engine 8 laps in; the smoke was pouring out of his engine. He was one of the best of the very low budget owner/drivers at babying a car with poor equipment to a finish ahead of the attrition. Had Means' engine not blown early in the race, he would have probably finished anywhere between 15th to 20th, like Dave Marcis did in this race. There were 12 caution flags handed out by NASCAR officials throughout 62 laps of the race.

Kyle Petty Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver, and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash d ...

managed to develop a lengthy lead late in the race but could not prevent Dale Earnhardt from winning it. While Dale Earnhardt made his 400th start in this event, it would be his only win of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. This would the final race for Travis Carter Enterprises until the 1994 Daytona 500. Bill Elliott qualified for the pole position with speeds reaching up to in the solo qualifying session. Actual racing speeds would be ; more than slower than qualifying.

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

Bobby Hamilton Charles Robert Hamilton Sr. (May 29, 1957 – January 7, 2007) was an American stock car racing driver. A driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit and the winner of the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, Hamilt ...

, and

Randy Porter Randy Porter (born July 6, 1964) is a retired American stock car racing driver. Porter competed 73 NASCAR Busch Series races between 1986 and 1998, achieving 3 top ten finishes and 1 pole position. Porter also competed in two NASCAR Cup Series e ...

would accomplish individually solid finishes despite not being able to finish the race. The total prize purse for this racing event was $859,485 ($ when adjusted for inflation). While the winner of the race received $125,100 of this total figure ($ when adjusted for inflation), the last place finisher only received a meager $5,100 ($ when adjusted for inflation).

Gary Balough Gary Balough (born September 16, 1947) is a retired stock car racing driver who competed from 1979 to 1992. Career Throughout the 1970s, Balough expanded his racing across the entire East Coast. He moved from Late Models in the Southeast to Dirt ...

would make his final start in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Dave Mader III David Mader III (born June 30, 1955) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 63 Chevrolet SS for Spraker Racing Enterprises. He is a former competitor in all three of ...

would make his 10th and final Cup Series start in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series; starting in 21st place but finishing in 39th place. This race finally broke Ford's winning streak going back to the Fall 1991 race at Charlotte. Ford took the circuit by storm in the 1992 season, winning every race until the Coca-Cola 600. Notable crew chiefs for this race included

Kirk Shelmerdine Edward Kirk Shelmerdine V (born March 8, 1958) is an American stock car racing driver and former championship-winning crew chief for Dale Earnhardt. Crew chief After spending his early NASCAR career as an engineer for Hylton Engineering, in 1984 ...

Tim Brewer Timothy Ivan "Tim" Brewer (born February 4, 1955) is an American former stock car racing crew chief and television analyst for '' NASCAR on ESPN''. He was part of '' NASCAR Countdown'', the pre-race show, with host Brent Musburger and fellow anal ...

, Jeff Hammond,

Larry McReynolds Lawrence Joseph McReynolds III (born January 10, 1959) is a current NASCAR crew chief and current racing analyst on Fox Sports as well as a columnist on Foxsports.com. In the past, he has served as an advisor to Petty Enterprises, and as a mi ...

Andy Petree Joseph Andrew Petree III (born August 15, 1958), is a former NASCAR crew chief, driver, team owner, and broadcaster who has worked as the rules analyst for ''Fox NASCAR'' and the Vice President of Competition at Richard Childress Racing. After ra ...

, Robin Pemberton, and

Junie Donlavey Wesley Christian "Junie" Donlavey Jr. (April 8, 1924June 9, 2014), a native of Richmond, Virginia, was the owner of Donlavey Racing; he began fielding the team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers. Donlavey ...

Qualifying

Failed to qualify:

Eddie Bierschwale Eddie Bierschwale (born June 29, 1959) is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver from San Antonio, Texas. He made his Cup debut in 1983 in a car owned by his father Don. In 1985 he got a full-season ride with D.K. Ulrich and stayed with the team unti ...

(#23),

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 ...

(#48),

Delma Cowart Delma Cowart (July 6, 1941 – November 10, 2021) was an American stock car racing driver. While never achieving much success, Cowart achieved notoriety for being the "clown prince of racing" in the 1980s and 1990s. His jovial nature made him ...

(#0), Mike Potter (#77), Phil Barkdoll (#73), Mike Skinner (#85)

Top 20 finishers

Standings after the race

References

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NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway