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The 1992 Hooters 500 was the 29th and final race of the
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...
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 ...
season. It was held on November 15, 1992, at
Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series s ...
and is widely considered the greatest NASCAR race of all time, with three stories dominating the race: the debut of
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
in the Winston Cup Series, the final race of seven-time champion
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 notably ...
's thirty-five-year career, and the battle for the series points championship with six drivers mathematically eligible to win the title. The race was won by
Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racin ...
in the No. 11 Budweiser Ford for Junior Johnson and Associates. The championship was won by
Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional ...
, driving the No. 7 Hooters Ford for
AK Racing AK Racing was a championship-winning NASCAR Winston Cup Series team. It was originally owned by Bill Terry before he sold it to rookie driver Alan Kulwicki, who controlled and raced for the team until his death in 1993. Kulwicki won five races ...
, which he also owned. Kulwicki placed second in the race, and by virtue of leading one more lap than Elliott clinched the title by securing five bonus points for leading the most laps, which enabled him to maintain a ten-point cushion he had over Elliott entering the race. The 1992 Hooters 500 represented the 33rd running of the Atlanta fall race, and the sixth time the event was held as the NASCAR season finale.


Background

In 1992
Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series s ...
was one of eight intermediate tracks, a track between one and two miles in length, to hold a Winston Cup Series race. The layout at Atlanta Motor Speedway at the time was a four-turn traditional oval track that was long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five. The race, and its subsequent championship outcome, was run under the old NASCAR points system. The points system in place at the time had debuted 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. ...
, and the drivers would compete to accumulate the most points over the course of the entire season. The driver with the most points being awarded the series championship. This system would later be replaced by the playoff system at the start of the 2004 season. Since each driver's point total was cumulative, this meant that if a driver had a successful season leading up to the final race, he could have already mathematically guaranteed himself the championship either by having an insurmountable points lead or enough of a points lead that all he needed to do was start the final race to guarantee himself the title. For example,
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
, at that time a five-time series champion, had done this three times in his career already; his
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...
and 1987 points championships were both clinched before the season's last race and in
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...
he was only required to start the finale to win. Other seasons would regularly see two or three drivers mathematically eligible for the championship at the final race, as seen in Rusty Wallace's championship in
1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
and Earnhardt's championship in
1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...
which were both seasons in which the champion finished with a narrow margin over second place. Such a high number as six drivers was a rarity, and set a series record for most drivers eligible for the championship at the final race.


Media coverage


Television

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
broadcast the race to a nationwide television audience as part of its ''Speedworld'' motor racing series. Bob Jenkins was the lap-by-lap commentator with
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 Ned Jarrett as analysts in the booth.
Jerry Punch Gerald Punch (born August 20, 1953) is an American auto racing and college football commentator working for ESPN, as well as a physician. Punch also does local radio spots in Knoxville. Punch is currently a Principal Investigator for an award- ...
and John Kernan reported from pit road.


Radio

The race was also carried over radio by
Motor Racing Network Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of ...
. Barney Hall & Eli Gold manned the announce position in the booth. Joe Moore reported from turns one and two, with Allen Bestwick stationed in turns three and four. Jim Phillips, Winston Kelley, and former NASCAR driver Dick Brooks covered the action for MRN from the pit and garage areas.


Pre-race


Championship battle

Coming into the race, six drivers had a mathematical chance to win the title, the most ever.
Davey Allison David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
, driving the #28
Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an independent company unt ...
/
Havoline Havoline is a motor oil brand currently commercialized by Chevron. The brand had been previously owned by Texaco (since 1931), until the company was acquired by Chevron in 2001. History First introduced in 1904, the Havoline motor oil brand ...
Ford for Robert Yates Racing, entered the race as the points leader.
Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional ...
, an owner-driver fielding the #7 Hooters Ford for his team, was second, followed in third by
Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racin ...
, driving the #11 Budweiser Ford for Junior Johnson & Associates. Fourth place belonged to
Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...
, the driver of the #33
Skoal Bandit U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (formerly United States Tobacco Company) manufactures smokeless tobacco products, notably dipping tobacco, but also chewing tobacco, snus, and dry snuff and is a subsidiary of Altria. Its corporate headquarters are ...
Oldsmobile for Leo Jackson Motorsports. Fifth place was held by
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 ...
, driving the #42 Mello Yello Pontiac for Felix Sabates' Team SABCO. In sixth place, and in the last position to potentially become champion, was
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...
, behind the wheel of the #6 Valvoline Ford for
Roush Racing Roush is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Politics *Glenn Roush (1934–2020), American politician in Montana * J. Edward Roush (1920–2004), United States Representative for Indiana, namesake of: ** J. Edward Roush Lake, a re ...
.


Davey Allison (leader)

Allison, coming off of a 1991 season that saw him win five times and come in third place in the final standings, picked up where he had left off in 1992 and won the season opening
Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of thre ...
. After recording five consecutive top five finishes to open the season, Allison suffered the first of several big wrecks when he crashed out of the spring
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
race in April. While he rebounded the next week to win at North Wilkesboro and then two races after that at Talladega, Allison would crash out of The Winston in May, suffering a bruised lung and concussion, and then, at Pocono in July, he had a violent wreck on the back stretch where the car became airborne and rotated several times; he suffered another concussion and a severely broken arm in the accident but continued to race. While he continued to race well, including winning at Michigan in June, Allison also had several finishes of thirtieth or worse due to accidents; his crew chief,
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 m ...
, referred to this trend as “checkers or wreckers” years later. He also had to deal with a personal tragedy after his brother Clifford, driving in the Busch Series, was killed in a practice crash in August at Michigan. One of the places where his bad luck struck was at
Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underw ...
during the running of the
Southern 500 The Southern 500, officially known as the Cook Out Southern 500 for sponsorship reasons, is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina, United States. The race distance is and consists of 367 laps. Fro ...
. Allison was in contention for the Winston Million after having won the Daytona 500 and Winston 500, and if he managed to win either the Coca-Cola 600 (which he did not) or the Southern 500, he would receive a $1 million bonus. The race was run under questionable weather conditions and, thanks to a crew member misreading a radar screen, Allison pitted instead of staying out with the lead; the move cost him the victory and resulted in his finishing the race in fifth while
Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...
claimed his final Cup Series win. After a late season series of struggles by Elliott, Allison was able to rally back into contention and when he won second to last race of the season at Phoenix, his fifth victory of 1992, he reclaimed the points lead. Entering the Hooters 500, Allison was the only driver who controlled his own destiny. Still, Allison entered the race in control of his own destiny. Running fifth or better would clinch the title for him outright. If he led a lap, he would clinch the title with a seventh place finish or better. If Allison managed to lead the most laps, he only needed to finish eighth or better. Allison was attempting to become the second second-generation driver to win the Winston Cup Championship - his father Bobby won the title in 1983. At the time,
Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...
and
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 notably ...
were the only father-son duo to have won the championship.


Alan Kulwicki (—30)

Kulwicki entered the final race of the season with two victories, winning the spring Bristol race that Allison crashed out of and following that up with a victory in June at Pocono. Although he did not have as many wins as Allison, or for that matter Elliott who sat behind him, he also had largely been a model of consistency so far in 1992. Entering the race weekend, Kulwicki had recorded a total of ten top five finishes and sixteen top tens, and had only finished outside the top twenty a total of four times the entire season. Kulwicki also had personal reasons for wanting to win the championship, as his career had nearly been derailed by Elliott’s car owner Junior Johnson. After
Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A tw ...
left Johnson’s team following the 1989 season, Kulwicki was asked to drive the #11 car but did not accept the offer, feeling that he needed to stay independent and work for himself. Kulwicki ran the 1990 season with Zerex Antifreeze as his sponsor, but after the season Zerex opted to pull its sponsorship after running with Kulwicki for four years. Johnson came calling again shortly thereafter, offering Kulwicki a massive contract to partner with
Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Edwin Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise. Bodine lives in West Melbourne, Florid ...
, who replaced Labonte, in a second car for his team for 1991. Again, Kulwicki said no. Angry at being spurned twice, Johnson chose to retaliate. After signing
Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...
to drive his second car, Johnson went to
Kraft General Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...
and convinced the company to sponsor it with their
Maxwell House Maxwell House is an American brand of coffee manufactured by a like-named division of Kraft Heinz in North America and JDE Peet's in the rest of the world. Introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek, it was named in honor of the M ...
coffee brand. Kulwicki had been in negotiations with Maxwell House to score the sponsorship for his team, and when they backed out of the arrangement Kulwicki was forced to scramble. After a one-off sponsorship with the U.S. Army for the Daytona 500, Kulwicki qualified on pole for the spring Atlanta race in his unsponsored car. Just before the race, he made arrangements with Hooters, who had sponsored a car that did not qualify, to carry their logo on his car; this would eventually be parlayed into a long-term partnership after Kulwicki ran well. Kulwicki asked for and got approval from NASCAR to place two
Mighty Mouse Mighty Mouse is an American animated anthropomorphic superhero mouse character created by the Terrytoons studio for 20th Century Fox. The character was originally called Super Mouse, and made his debut in the 1942 short ''The Mouse of Tomorro ...
decals on the front of his car, covering the TH in “Thunderbird” so it read “Underbird”; he did this largely because he felt like, as the only driver in the championship mix running his own team, he was the underdog in the fight. Recent events would seem to support his theory; after he crashed out of the
Peak Antifreeze 500 The DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware in the spring. History The 2020 race was postponed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic and bec ...
at Dover, which resulted in a 34th place finish and relegated to a 278 point deficit, Kulwicki culled together a streak of five consecutive top fifteen finishes, four of which were top fives, and climbed back into contention as the drivers ahead of him began to falter, especially Elliott. Kulwicki, with a championship win, would become the first owner/driver since Lee Petty to win the Cup Series. In order to do this, he would have to not only outrun Allison, but keep himself ahead of the other contenders, especially Elliott; after Kulwicki ran fourth at Phoenix, he stood only ten points ahead of Elliott.


Bill Elliott (—40)

After spending his entire full-time NASCAR career with Melling Racing driving the #9 car, Elliott joined up with Junior Johnson for 1992. He was coming off of a season where he, for the first time since he became a full-time driver in Winston Cup, failed to finish in the top ten in points. The pairing bore fruit almost immediately, as the 1988 series champion added another record to his resumé. Despite running poorly at Daytona, Elliott went on to win the GM Goodwrench 500 at Rockingham, the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond, the Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 at Atlanta earlier, and the TranSouth 500 at Darlington in consecutive weeks. This tied the NASCAR Cup Series record, which had at the time only been done four other times, the most recently by Harry Gant one season earlier. Allison's inconsistent performance and injuries kept Elliott close enough to him in the standings and enabled him to take the championship lead into the summer months and build upon it. After the Daytona 500, Elliott did not finish outside of the top 20 in any event and recorded fourteen top tens prior to the
Peak Antifreeze 500 The DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware in the spring. History The 2020 race was postponed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic and bec ...
at Dover in September. He ran second there, improving on his result from the spring when he finished 13th, and opened up what was then a 154-point lead on second place driver Allison. After that, however, things took a bad turn. Elliott finished 31st in a 32 car field at Martinsville a week after the Dover race after an engine failure, followed that up with a 26th place run at North Wilkesboro finishing multiple laps down, and finished 30th at Charlotte after his sway bar broke. Elliott managed to finish in the top five at Rockingham again when the series returned there in late October, and entered Phoenix with a seventy point lead over Allison. There, he was forced to withdraw after a cracked cylinder head caused his engine to fail. Allison's win combined with Elliott's 31st place finish caused a 110-point swing in the standings; Elliott left Phoenix not only trailing Allison but also Kulwicki, whose ran fourth. Like Kulwicki, Elliott needed to run up front and keep as much distance as he could between himself and Allison. He also needed to outrace Kulwicki due to the small gap between them in the standings. As mentioned above, he did manage to win at Atlanta when the Winston Cup drivers races their in the spring.


Harry Gant (—97)

At 52 years of age,
Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...
was looking to become the oldest champion in Cup series history. Gant was in the middle of a late-career resurgence in 1991–1992. In September 1991, Gant won a record-tying four Cup races in a row (along with two Busch Series races), earning him the nickname "Mr. September". He finished 4th in points in 1991, and entered the 1992 season with considerable momentum. Entering the Hooters 500, Gant had recorded a total of ten top-five finishes and fifteen top-tens. He started the season off with eight top-fives in the first 11 races, giving him an early advantage in the points standings. Gant had two wins to his credit, winning the spring race at
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...
and the August race at
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...
. He was in the top four in the points standings from the spring race at
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...
through the fall race at Charlotte. After his win at Dover in June, he ranked as high as second. At the Mellow Yellow 500, despite recording another top ten finish, he was outpaced by three of his fellow contenders and slipped to fifth in points. After placing sixth at Rockingham in the penultimate race, he finished 14th at Phoenix.


Kyle Petty (—98)

Petty had an opportunity to do something no driver had ever done to that point, as if he managed to become champion Kyle would join grandfather
Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...
and father
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...
as champion and become the first third-generation driver to do so. Of the championship contenders, Petty's seventeen top 10 finishes were tied with Mark Martin for the most. He, like Gant and Kulwicki, had two wins to this point. The first was at Watkins Glen in August, and he won again at Rockingham in November. Nine of his finishes were in the top ten, and after he finished 29th at Dover in the spring, Petty managed to finish no lower than fourteenth in all the events he ran from Sears Point through his second win at Rockingham. Also, like Kulwicki, Petty got hot as Elliott began his downward slide and recorded five straight finishes within the top five, starting at Dover and ending at Rockingham. A 19th place finish at Phoenix cost him some ground, but had not ruined his chances.


Mark Martin (—113)

Martin, the furthest back of the championship contenders, was looking to win his first Winston Cup and had come close to doing so only two years earlier, finishing second to
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
. After only recording one win in 1991, Martin doubled that total in 1992 with wins at Martinsville and Charlotte. His seventeen top tens, as mentioned previously, were tied with Kyle Petty for the most in the series, and eleven of those finishes were in the top five. However, he had been tripped up by a late race crash at Rockingham and lost a significant amount of ground to the points leaders. Martin's second place run behind Allison at Phoenix allowed him to gain a significant amount of those points back, as he went from 178 points back to 113. Still, he and the other two drivers in front of him would need both a win and for Allison, Kulwicki, and Elliott to have problems that would make them backmarkers. Of the six championship contenders, the only one that was a former Winston Cup champion was Elliott, who was the 1988 series champion. The closest former champion to Elliott in points was eighth place
Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...
, the owner-driver of the #17
Western Auto Western Auto Supply Company—known more widely as Western Auto—was a specialty retail chain of stores that supplied automobile parts and accessories. It operated approximately 1200 stores across the United States. It was started in ...
Chevrolet who was not mathematically able to win the title.


Richard Petty's Fan Appreciation Tour

Since this was the last event of the season, it also marked the final stop on Richard Petty's " Fan Appreciation Tour." On October 1, 1991, Petty announced he would retire at the end of the 1992 season. He planned on running the entire season, not just selected events, and to that point, had managed to qualify for all 28 of the events in 1992. Media coverage of Petty's final race was extensive, and the weeks leading up to the race saw considerable pre-race hype and anticipation. Ticket sales were brisk, and a record sell-out crowd was expected at Atlanta to see "King Richard" in his final event. Under the spotlight of attention during the 1992 season, Petty's on-track results had been so far unimpressive. He had scored zero top tens, and had a best finish of 15th (three times). His most notable race of the season came at Daytona during the July 4 Pepsi 400. With
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
George H. W. Bush in attendance, Petty was honored during the pre-race ceremonies. He qualified on the outside of the front row, and led the first five laps of the race. Entering the Hooters 500, Petty entered qualifying with the possibility that he might not be able to start. Having used up all of his provisional race starts during the season, he would need to qualify on time. On his first lap, Petty managed the 36th fastest time. He elected to stand on that time and not run his second round qualifying attempt, hoping that he could outlast the other drivers who were otherwise not qualified. When qualifying concluded, Petty stood in 39th position, which was enough to get him into his final race. He started on the inside of the twentieth row. Ceremonies to honor Petty were planned in the pre-race and post-race, and Petty was expected to take a ceremonial final lap around the track after the race to formally conclude his career. On the night before the race,
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
held a concert honoring Petty at the
Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Center ...
, with 45,000 in attendance. On the night before pole qualifying,
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 notably ...
's cousin and longtime crew chief and team manager
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 ...
was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of the
Atlanta airport Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The robber tried to grab a necklace from Inman's neck, but failed. He pointed his gun and pulled the trigger, but it did not fire, and no one was injured.


Entry List

*(R) denotes rookie driver *(CC#) denotes championship contender and where they rank in the standings


Qualifying


Pole qualifying

The first round of qualifying was held on Friday November 13. Rick Mast won his first career
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 ...
in the #1 Skoal Oldsmobile for Richard Jackson Racing, the last ever pole for Oldsmobile as General Motors was withdrawing the brand from NASCAR after the race. (Mast, Gant, and
Bob Schacht Robert Earl Schacht (born January 24, 1950) is an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he is a native of Lombard, Illinois. He competed in 26 NASCAR events between 1981 and 1997 in the Winston Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Seri ...
fielded the only Oldsmobiles in the race.) Mast recorded a qualifying speed of was the first-ever
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 ...
qualifying speed over 180 mph at an intermediate length circuit. Previously that speed had only been achieved at Daytona and Talladega. He was joined on the front row by Brett Bodine, driving the #26 Quaker State Ford for King Racing. Under the rules at the time, the first round of qualifying locked in only the top twenty cars. In first round qualifying, all of the six championship contenders except for
Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...
qualified.
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...
(4th) was the highest of the six contenders.
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 notably ...
was not among the top twenty. A field of 40 cars (plus at least one provisional) was expected to comprise the starting grid. With Petty sitting 36th-fastest after Friday's first round, he was precariously close to being bumped from the field on Saturday. *Source:


Second round qualifying

Second round qualifying was held on Saturday November 14. Under the rules at the time, drivers who did not qualify during the first round moved on to second round qualifying. Each driver could elect to stand on his time from the first round, or erase their time and make a new attempt. Rookie
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
bettered his time from the day before, and became the fastest qualifier of the second round. That entered him into the wild card drawing for the 1993 Busch Clash. Most drivers stood on their times, including
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 notably ...
, who held on to qualify 39th. Jimmy Hensley elected to try again, and wound up losing eleven spots on the grid. Stanley Smith, who did not even make top 40 on Friday, made a big improvement, qualifying 33rd. Smith would make only one additional NASCAR start, suffering a career-ending crash at Talladega the following season. Jimmy Horton went from only 47th-fastest on Friday, to qualify 36th.
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 ...
also stood on his time (174.458 mph), but slipped out of the top-40. He made the field via a provisional. *Stood on Friday time


Race


Start

A record 160,000 fans, some with seats in temporary grandstands, arrived at
Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series s ...
to witness Richard Petty's final ride, and to watch the exciting championship battle. Country Western Band
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
sang the national anthem, then Richard Petty's son Kyle along with his sisters gave Richard the command to fire his engine one final time, while
Bruton Smith Ollen Bruton Smith (March 3, 1927 – June 22, 2022) was a promoter and owner/CEO of NASCAR track owner Speedway Motorsports, Inc. He was inducted into NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2016 and the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2007. He was bill ...
gave the command to the rest of the field. Before the start of the race, four Apache helicopters did a fly-by and circled the track to salute the field. The green flag then flew with polesitter Rick Mast in the #1 Skoal Oldsmobile for Richard Jackson Motorsports and Brett Bodine in the #26 Quaker State Ford for King Racing, battling into turn one, with Bodine leading the first lap. On lap 2, the two cars tangled, and crashed in turn one.
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
, the defending series champion whose reign was ending that day and who was running third in his familiar #3
GM Goodwrench GM Certified Service, formerly GM Goodwrench, is an auto repair service for General Motors. In 2011, GM replaced the Goodwrench brand in the US with Cadillac, Buick, Chevrolet, and GMC Certified Service brands (Canada followed in 2014). Backgro ...
Chevrolet for
Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard Ch ...
, slipped by, and took over the lead. Several other cars were collected in the crash, and five of the championship contenders got through unscathed.
Davey Allison David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
, however, slowed to avoid the crash, and was tagged from behind in the left rear by
Hut Stricklin Waymond Lane "Hut" Stricklin Jr. (born June 24, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Stricklin grew up in Calera, Alabama. He married Pam Allison, the daughter of NASCAR legend Donnie Allison after the ...
's #41
Kellogg's The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toa ...
Ford. The left rear fender was badly bent, but did not puncture the tire. Allison stayed out on the track, and the crew would be able to bend the bodywork away from the tire on the next pit stop. The cars of
Rich Bickle Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling **Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...
, Wally Dallenbach Jr., and
Bob Schacht Robert Earl Schacht (born January 24, 1950) is an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he is a native of Lombard, Illinois. He competed in 26 NASCAR events between 1981 and 1997 in the Winston Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Seri ...
were also involved but sustained only minor damage and were able to continue. During the caution,
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...
ducked into the pits to change all four tires, because he was afraid he ran over debris from the incident, as well as flat-spotting the tires when he locked up the brakes and slid sideways to avoid it.


Early race

Earnhardt and Ernie Irvan, driving the #4
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
Chevrolet for Morgan-McClure Motorsports, traded the lead for the first 60 laps. Championship contenders Elliott, Allison, and Kulwicki ran near the top 10, while Gant, Martin, and Kyle Petty ran near the back of the pack.
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 notably ...
worked up to 30th. By lap 60, entering the first round of green flag pit stops, the highest running of the championship contenders was Elliott in fifth. With the leaders in for service,
Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, and published author. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience. He is the younger brother ...
spun out in the
Bahari Racing Bahari Racing was a NASCAR Winston Cup and Busch team that operated from 1981 to 2001.The Busch team ran from 1989-1996 with Ronnie Sliver and Michael Waltrip driving, and one race with Johnny Benson at Homestead. The team's history of drivers inc ...
#30 Pennzoil Pontiac and brought out the caution. Earnhardt and several other front runners lost a lap after being stuck on pit road. After the cycle completed under caution, four of the top five positions were filled by championship contenders. Elliott assumed the lead with Kulwicki second, Martin fourth, and Gant fifth. However, the first significant issue for the main championship contenders struck during the pit stops. The gearbox on the #7’s transmission broke as Kulwicki tried to shift into first gear while exiting his pit stall. Thus, Kulwicki stalled on exit and had to get his crew to push him out of the box so he could get rolling. Fortunately for him, his engineering prowess and a recent incident enabled Kulwicki to adjust to at least minimize the potential issue. Several races earlier, at the Mello Yello 500 at Charlotte, Kulwicki had the same gearbox issue that he had just experienced. To correct the issue, he upshifted into fourth gear and ran the remainder of the event in the highest possible gear. Kulwicki, who had qualified for that race on the pole, ended up running second with one of the faster cars on track that afternoon. So, as he had at Charlotte, Kulwicki put the #7 in fourth gear and headed back out onto the track. On this day, the “Underbird” was running fast as well, so Kulwicki pressed on with the only concerns being the potential for slow pit stops and having to restart after cautions since the car could not climb through the gears as it normally would; in fact, even downshifting into second or third gear meant that pieces from the broken first gear could potentially cause damage to the transmission that might result in engine failure. On lap 85,
Bob Schacht Robert Earl Schacht (born January 24, 1950) is an American stock car racing driver. Now retired, he is a native of Lombard, Illinois. He competed in 26 NASCAR events between 1981 and 1997 in the Winston Cup, Busch Series, and Craftsman Truck Seri ...
stalled in turn 1 & another series of yellow flag pit stops had shuffled the field, bringing Allison to the lead. Martin took the lead on lap 91, which meant that now four of the championship contenders (Martin, Allison, Elliott, and Kulwicki) has secured five bonus points for leading a lap. Five of the six contenders were running well, with Gant running third behind Martin and Allison and Elliott and Kulwicki running in the top ten. Kulwicki’s car was performing extremely well despite having to run in fourth gear all day, and once up to speed it was the fastest on the track. Kyle Petty, however, was not as fortunate. The #42 developed terminal engine trouble that took him out of contention for the championship (as he would have needed to win the race and get help) and would result in his finishing near the rear of the field, multiple laps down.


Richard Petty crash

On lap 95, the #25 Kodiak Chevrolet of
Ken Schrader Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tra ...
and the #8
Snickers Snickers is a chocolate bar made by the American company Mars, Incorporated, consisting of nougat topped with caramel and peanuts that is encased in milk chocolate. The annual global sales of Snickers was over $3 billion . In the United ...
Ford of Dick Trickle tangled on the frontstretch. The cars spun wildly to the inside.
Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...
's #17
Western Auto Western Auto Supply Company—known more widely as Western Auto—was a specialty retail chain of stores that supplied automobile parts and accessories. It operated approximately 1200 stores across the United States. It was started in ...
Chevrolet spun to avoid the crash, and ran into the #16 Keystone Beer Ford driven by Wally Dallenbach Jr. The #45 Terminal Trucking Ford of
Rich Bickle Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling **Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...
was also collected, which led to
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 notably ...
running into him and destroying the front end of the car, breaking the oil cooler. The oil started a fire, and Petty's car coasted to the infield in flames. Petty (who was overheard on ESPN's in-car camera shouting to the rescue crews "BRING THE F***ING FIRE EXTINGUISHER!") was uninjured, however the car was badly damaged, and his return to the race was in question. At the 100 lap mark, Allison continued to hold the hypothetical lead in the points standings, with Kulwicki second, and Elliott close behind in third.


Jeff Gordon

Around lap 118, rookie
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
brought the #24 Chevrolet into the pits for service. The
Ray Evernham Raymond Donald Evernham Jr. (born August 26, 1957) is an American consultant for Hendrick Companies, formerly an auto racing crew chief for Bill Davis Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, owner of his own team Evernham Motorsports from 2001 to 2 ...
-led " Rainbow Warriors" crew, which in later years would become famous for their pit stop efficiency, was nowhere near that level in this race and their errors caused Evernham to refer to them as the “ Keystone Kops”. During the stop, a roll of
duct tape Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesi ...
was left on the trunk lid. As Gordon left, the roll of tape rolled onto the track, and it struck the front of points leader Allison’s Ford. The #28 suffered damage to the front air dam, which caused Allison to drop back from second place where he had been running; he would continue to battle handling issues for the rest of the race. Gordon would eventually crash out of the race on lap 164, finishing 31st.


Second half

As the race neared its halfway point, the battle for the championship began to consolidate. On lap 160, Martin was forced to retire from the event after the engine blew on the #6. Gant would also fall back in the field as the race progressed and never was able to get back up to the front. With Petty’s car barely running, this left the #28, #11, and #7 as the only cars that could still contend for the title. On lap 167, Elliott passed Ernie Irvan to retake the lead. Allison still managed to hold onto his points lead as he stayed up front, running seventh with an 11 point margin separating him from both Elliott and Kulwicki. On lap 210, Kulwicki passed Elliott and took the lead for the second time of the race, and the first time since lap 80. Allison, however, was still running in the top ten, in sixth place and as long as he was able to stay there, he would score enough points to clinch the championship. On lap 254, however, things changed. As the cars were completing the lap, a collision occurred near the start-finish line. Irvan, who had fallen three laps down since losing the lead to Elliott, lost control of the #4 entering turn four and spun out. He narrowly avoided hitting
Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A tw ...
as he spun initially, then came back up the track into the path of Rusty Wallace. Although Wallace was able to avoid hitting Irvan, the car behind him was not. That car was the #28, which T-boned the #4 and spun out into the inside wall. Allison tried to back the car up and get it moving again, but could not get it to move forward due to a broken
tie rod A tie rod or tie bar (also known as a hanger rod if vertical) is a slender structural unit used as a tie and (in most applications) capable of carrying tensile loads only. It is any rod or bar-shaped structural member designed to prevent the separa ...
and locked steering wheel. Although the team would begin working to get Allison back on track to finish the race once the #28 was brought back to the garage, and would eventually be successful in doing so, their championship hopes were now dashed.


Finish

The championship race was now down to a battle between the two frontrunning drivers, Kulwicki and Elliott. Although Kulwicki’s car was still running well, he and crew chief Paul Andrews also were aware of the bigger picture and thus the focus shifted away from winning the race and towards securing the championship. The best way for them to do this was to stay out in front long enough to secure the additional five bonus points Kulwicki would get if he led the most laps, and then make sure they kept the #7 as high up in the running order as they could to ensure Kulwicki would emerge as champion. Since the margin between the drivers entering the race was ten points, there was not a lot of room for error. Forty-two laps after the restart following the Allison-Irvan wreck, Andrews radioed to Kulwicki what his plan was for his boss. Both Kulwicki and Elliott did not have enough fuel to make it to the checkered flag, so a stop would be required for both cars (Andrews had initially wanted Kulwicki to come in during the caution following the lap 254 wreck, but changed his mind after realizing that Kulwicki would have to run at least seventy laps on a tank of gas and that was not feasible). Andrews called for a fuel-only pit stop, where he would only put enough fuel in the car to ensure the #7 made it to the end. He figured that it would take approximately half of a fuel can’s load, totaling five gallons, to achieve this. Originally, Andrews wanted Kulwicki to come in for his stop on lap 306. When word came to the team that they had almost clinched the most laps led bonus, the stop was pushed back. Kulwicki had held a two second lead over Elliott at this point, but began slowing down so he could save fuel and be sure he made it to pit road. Elliott did manage to catch Kulwicki and began racing him hard for the lead, but had trouble passing him. On lap 310, Kulwicki finally yielded and pulled off for the pits, allowing Elliott to resume the lead. With the #11 now once again at the point, Kulwicki slowly brought the #7 to his pit stall. Car chief and gas man Tony Gibson stood waiting for his boss as he and Peter Jellen, the team’s catch can man, would be the only two team members working on the car. The rest stood by just in case Kulwicki stalled again as he had earlier. After 3.4 seconds, Kulwicki took off and headed back onto the track. However, there was an issue with the fuel relay and Gibson was unsure he got enough gas into the tank. Meanwhile, Elliott was also in striking distance of leading the most laps. As he ran, he could not surpass Kulwicki’s total, which was 103 laps led. He could, however, equal it; if he did this, both drivers would receive the five additional points. The only way Elliott could do this is by leading every one of the remaining eighteen laps. If he did, it would force the #7 to remain within one position of the #11 if Kulwicki wanted to win the championship. Ultimately, an error in judgment rendered this scenario moot. Elliott’s crew chief,
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 ...
, made the same call that Andrews had done for Kulwicki; the #11 would come in, get a half-can’s worth of fuel, and get back out into the track. Elliott came in on lap 314, four laps after Kulwicki came in. The pit stop took the exact same amount of time that Kulwicki’s did, 3.4 seconds, and there were no issues. Brewer, however, had lost track of the car running behind Elliott and Kulwicki on track when the #7 pulled in for service. That car was the #94
Sunoco Sunoco LP is an American master limited partnership organized under Delaware state laws and headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that is a wholesale distributor of motor fuels. It distributes fuel to more than 5,500 Sunoco-branded gas stations ...
Chevrolet fielded by
Hagan Racing Billy Joe Hagan (March 22, 1932 – November 16, 2007) was a NASCAR owner/driver. He owned Hagan Racing and was known with winning the 1984 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship with Terry Labonte. Career He made three starts in NASCAR's Gr ...
and piloted by Terry Labonte, who as mentioned above had nearly been collected in the lap 254 crash that took Davey Allison out of contention and had also run the #11 for three years for Johnson. When Kulwicki came in for his pit stop, Labonte assumed second place. Elliott could not get back on track in time to pass Labonte once his pit stop was complete, and thus Labonte led lap 314 before Elliott regained the lead after he pitted. This meant that Elliott’s maximum laps led total would be 102, and that Kulwicki had clinched the five bonus points. On lap 324, with Kulwicki running second, Andrews informed him that he had earned the most laps led bonus. He also found out about the fuel relay issue from his pit stop and was told to conserve fuel while maintaining his position. Although he was comfortably ahead of the third place driver,
Geoff Bodine Geoffrey Edwin Bodine (born April 18, 1949) is a retired American motorsport driver and bobsled builder. He is the oldest of the three Bodine brothers (with Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine), and sister Denise. Bodine lives in West Melbourne, Florid ...
in
Bud Moore Engineering Bud Moore Engineering, later Fenley-Moore Racing, was a championship-winning NASCAR team. It was owned and operated by mechanic Bud Moore and ran out of Spartanburg, South Carolina. While the team was a dominant force in the 1960s and 1980s, th ...
's #15 Motorcraft Ford, Kulwicki’s position in the points standings was still tenuous; if he was unable to hold onto second for any reason, he could only afford to lose one position and stay in the points lead. If Bodine and the next driver in line, Jimmy Spencer, driving
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 tracks ...
's #12 Raybestos Ford, managed to pass Kulwicki and he finished in fourth with Elliott winning, the standings would result in a tie and Elliott would win based on the first tiebreaker, which was wins; Elliott had four wins entering the race to Kulwicki’s 2. Elliott would end up leading the last thirteen laps of the race and crossed the line first, getting win number five on the season and a season sweep at Atlanta. Kulwicki was able to maintain his position and conserve enough fuel to make it to the checkered flag, and he crossed the line in second to secure the championship. Kulwicki's final lead in the standings was just ten points, the closest margin in NASCAR history until the 2011 season when
Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is ...
and
Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. ...
finished in a tie for first place, with the championship going to Stewart due to him winning 5 races to Edwards' 1. After taking one additional lap around the track, Kulwicki stopped in front of the flagstone and turned his car around. Then, as he had done in his first victory at Phoenix in 1988, he began driving around the speedway in a clockise (backwards) manner, a maneuver Kulwicki referred to as a "Polish victory lap", so he could wave to the fans. Kulwicki admitted after the race in his post-race and championship interview that he took his time coming down pit road on his final stop to make sure he didn't get a speeding penalty or stall the car again like he did on his first pit stop. Richard Petty's crew worked diligently all afternoon to get his car running again, and with two laps remaining, Petty pulled out of the pits. His car had no sheet metal on the front end and no hood. He finished 35th, and was credited as running at the finish in his final race.Racing summary
at Racing-Reference.info, Retrieved September 19, 2007.
Commenting on the fire, Petty said, "I wanted to go out in a blaze of glory; I just forgot about the glory part." After the victory lane celebration, Petty climbed in the car for one final ceremonial lap to salute the fans. He waved out the window while the song " Richard Petty Fans" by
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
was played on the
public address A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
system. Davey Allison was also running at the finish of the race as the #28 crew was able to fix the steering and tie rod damage in order to enable him to finish. He finished 43 laps down in 27th position. Of the other contenders for the championship, Harry Gant finished the highest of them outside of Elliott and Kulwicki, finishing four laps down in thirteenth. Kyle Petty made it to lap 320 before his engine gave out, finishing sixteenth. Mark Martin’s day ended on lap 160 with a blown engine; he finished 32nd. Immediately after the race, Junior Johnson fired Tim Brewer as the crew chief for the #11. This would be the last serious championship opportunity for the veteran owner. Elliott stayed on for two more years, winning only one additional race in the #11 in 1994. Johnson would retire from NASCAR in 1995.


Box score


Race statistics

*Time of race – 3:44:20 *Average speed – 133.322 mph *Margin of victory – 8.06 seconds *Lead changes – 20 among 9 drivers *Total purse: US$785,787 (winner's share $93,600)


Selected awards

* Busch Pole Award: Rick Mast * Busch Beer Fastest Second round Qualifier:
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
*Gillette Halfway Challenge: Ernie Irvan * Goody's Headache Award:
Davey Allison David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
''The Official NASCAR 1993 Preview and Press Guide'': 1992 Hooter's 500 Recap. *AP Parts Meet the Challenge Award: * True Value Hard Charger Award:
Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racin ...
*Gatorade Circle of Champions Award:
Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racin ...
*Plasti-kote Winning Finish Award:
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 ...
(Elliott) *
Western Auto Western Auto Supply Company—known more widely as Western Auto—was a specialty retail chain of stores that supplied automobile parts and accessories. It operated approximately 1200 stores across the United States. It was started in ...
Mechanic of the Race: Danny Glad (Kulwicki) * Unocal 76 Challenge: $22,800 available to polesitter Rick Mast – not won (rollover)


Final points standings

#
Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional ...
, 4078 points #
Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racin ...
, −10 #
Davey Allison David Carl Allison (February 25, 1961 – July 13, 1993) was an American NASCAR driver. He was best known for driving the No. 28 Texaco-Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. Born in Hollywood, Florida, he was th ...
, −63 #
Harry Gant Harold Phil Gant"Harry P. Gant"
(born January 10, 1940), known for his many nicknames such as "The Ban ...
, −123 #
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 ...
, −133 #
Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...
, −191 #
Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was name ...
, −343 #
Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A tw ...
, −404 #
Darrell Waltrip Darrell Lee Waltrip (born February 5, 1947) is an American motorsports analyst, author, former national television broadcaster, and stock car driver. He raced from 1972 to 2000 in the NASCAR Cup Series (known as the NASCAR Winston Cup Series dur ...
, −419 #
Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...
, −475


Legacy

This race is considered the transition from the old age of
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 ...
to the new age. As veteran and 7 time champion
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 notably ...
retired, and the future 4 time champion
Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...
made his cup series debut. This is also the only race in NASCAR history to feature Petty, Gordon, and
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
taking the green flag together. All three are considered among the best NASCAR drivers of all time. In total, nine former or future NASCAR Winston Cup champions drove in the race; Morgan Shepherd was a former Late Model Sportsman Series champion; and Mike Skinner (who failed to qualify) would eventually win the 1995
Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of thr ...
championship – accounting for 11
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 ...
touring series champions entered in the event. The race took place on the old " classic oval" configuration of
Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series s ...
. Later, Atlanta was re-configured to a quad-oval layout, and the start/finish line was moved to the old backstretch. After coming up short in the championship battle,
Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racin ...
's crew chief
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 ...
was fired from Junior Johnson Motorsports. Had Elliott led the most laps, the season championship would have ended in a tie between Elliott and Kulwicki. Thus, Elliott would have been awarded the championship due to his having more wins during the season than Kulwicki (five to Kulwicki's two). This was perhaps Johnson's last hurrah as a team owner, as his cars never contended for a championship again. Despite Jimmy Spencer driving the team's #27 to two wins and Elliott recording a victory during the
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nels ...
season, the team recorded more failure than success. Following the loss of his primary driver, Elliott, and his two sponsors, Budweiser and McDonald's, after the 1994 season, Johnson released Spencer and signed
Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. (), often shortened to Lowe's, is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States and Canada. A ...
to sponsor the #11 for one more season. He sold the operation to driver Brett Bodine in 1996 and retired. The 1992 season was also considered
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
's worst season of his career, finishing outside of the top ten in points, with only one win all season. He led the race early, but pitted at a yellow and fell a lap down. After battling back to the lead lap, he brushed the wall and finished 26th. Capping off the season with an 8th-place finish, Jimmy Hensley locked up the 1992
Rookie of the Year award A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...
. The rookie race for 1992 was mostly uncompetitive, however, as Hensley won by a large margin. All of the eligible rookies ran only partial schedules in 1992. This was also the final race Dick Beaty served as the NASCAR director, as he retired after the 1992 season. It was also
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 unt ...
's final career start. The race broke the existing ESPN auto racing television audience record, registering a 4.1 rating and 2.5 million households. It fell just short of ESPN's all-time auto racing rating record (4.2 rating/1.8 million households for the 1987 Winston 500)."ESPN set viewer record for final race of season" – Mike Harris, AP Motorsports Writer, Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Sunday December 6, 1992 (page D9). Alan Kulwicki stood as the last owner-driver to win a series championship until
Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is ...
accomplished the feat in
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
. Like in 1992, the championship came down to the final race and was decided by a tiebreaker when Stewart won the race to tie
Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. ...
for the points lead and was awarded the title by virtue of his five victories versus Edwards' single victory.


Tragedy strikes in 1993

Two of the principals in the championship chase that the Hooters 500 resolved would not survive the next season. On April 1, 1993, three days before the
Food City 500 The Food City Dirt Race is an annual 250-lap, NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This is one of two NASCAR races held at Bristol, the other being the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. It was the ...
at
Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...
, Alan Kulwicki was killed in a plane crash along with Hooters executives, while they were flying back from an appearance at a Hooters restaurant in
Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the stat ...
. A little over three months later on July 12, 1993, Davey Allison was flying his helicopter to
Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...
to watch his friend David Bonnett (
Neil Bonnett Lawrence Neil Bonnett (July 30, 1946 – February 11, 1994) was an American NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. Bonnett was a member of the Alabama Gang, and started his career with the help of Bobby a ...
's son) test a
Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...
car. While trying to land the helicopter in a closed-in section of the Talladega infield, Allison crashed and suffered grave head injuries. He died the next morning. Both Kulwicki and Allison were in the top five of the Cup series points at the time of their deaths, with Allison recording a victory at Richmond. Allison and Kulwicki were also invited to participate in
IROC XVII IROC XVII was the seventeenth year of IROC competition, which took place in 1993. It was the fourth and final year the Dodge Daytona was used in competition, and continued the format introduced in IROC VIII. Race one took place on the Daytona Int ...
based on their performances, with Kulwicki automatically qualifying as the NASCAR Winston Cup champion, and at the time of their deaths, both drivers were in the top five in IROC points.
Terry Labonte Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A tw ...
and
Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt Sr. (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional stock car driver and team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notably dri ...
took over for the deceased drivers and Labonte's effort in the final IROC race gave the series title to Allison posthumously.


Fifteenth anniversary

To commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the race, Jeff Gordon served as grand marshal and Richard Petty the honorary starter for the 2007 Pep Boys Auto 500 that took place on October 28, 2007.


Further reading


Wheels of fortune: Kulwicki reigned supreme on a day when NASCAR's history took a right turn
Dave Kallmann; November 15, 2002
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently ...
; accessed October 2, 2007.
Six Races That Changed NASCAR: Part 3 – 1992 Hooters 500


Dave Kallmann (''Journal Sentinel''), accessed October 5, 2011.


References

{{NASCAR on ESPN Hooters 500 Hooters 500 NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway Hooters 500