1992 Budweiser 500
11th race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1992 Budweiser 500 was the 11th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 24th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, May 31, 1992, before an audience of 77,000 in Dover, Delaware at Dover Downs International Speedway , a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. Running on fumes, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would manage to save enough fuel to coast to the finish to take his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[ 1] [ 2] To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of Dover Downs International Speedway , the venue where the race was held.
Dover Downs International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover , Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series . The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval , with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports .
The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, May 29, at 3:00 PM EST . Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-40 meant to be determined the following day on Saturday, May 30.[ 3] However, due to rain, the second round was cancelled. As a result, the rest of the starting lineup was set using the results from the first round.[ 4]
Brett Bodine , driving for King Racing , would win the pole, setting a time of 24.422 and an average speed of 147.408 miles per hour (237.230 km/h).[ 5]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
15
33
Harry Gant
Leo Jackson Motorsports
Oldsmobile
500
41
running
180
$65,145
2
24
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
500
52
running
175
$43,720
3
14
2
Rusty Wallace
Penske Racing South
Pontiac
499
0
running
165
$25,795
4
9
4
Ernie Irvan
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
499
46
running
165
$29,445
5
4
17
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
Chevrolet
499
104
running
165
$25,140
6
13
5
Ricky Rudd
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
498
58
running
155
$21,215
7
23
12
Hut Stricklin
Bobby Allison Motorsports
Chevrolet
498
58
running
151
$26,490
8
12
66
Jimmy Hensley (R)
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Ford
498
0
running
142
$13,140
9
20
8
Dick Trickle
Stavola Brothers Racing
Ford
498
0
running
138
$14,340
10
7
21
Morgan Shepherd
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
498
52
running
139
$18,040
11
21
28
Davey Allison
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
497
0
running
130
$17,090
12
37
7
Alan Kulwicki
AK Racing
Ford
497
3
running
132
$14,590
13
8
11
Bill Elliott
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
496
0
running
124
$14,290
14
10
22
Sterling Marlin
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
496
0
running
121
$11,890
15
3
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
495
0
running
118
$11,690
16
26
55
Ted Musgrave
RaDiUs Motorsports
Ford
495
0
running
115
$11,390
17
5
15
Geoff Bodine
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
494
0
running
112
$10,940
18
29
68
Bobby Hamilton
TriStar Motorsports
Oldsmobile
494
0
running
109
$11,525
19
27
41
Greg Sacks
Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
491
0
running
106
$7,240
20
17
43
Richard Petty
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
489
0
running
103
$10,790
21
18
94
Terry Labonte
Hagan Racing
Oldsmobile
474
4
engine
105
$9,990
22
31
32
Jimmy Horton
Active Motorsports
Chevrolet
474
0
running
97
$5,090
23
6
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
470
0
running
94
$14,040
24
2
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
470
64
running
96
$13,890
25
19
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
435
0
crash
88
$6,690
26
25
9
Chad Little
Melling Racing
Ford
412
0
transmission
85
$7,890
27
28
18
Dale Jarrett
Joe Gibbs Racing
Chevrolet
308
0
engine
82
$6,490
28
33
77
Mike Potter
Balough Racing
Chevrolet
266
0
valve
79
$4,790
29
16
42
Kyle Petty
SABCO Racing
Pontiac
252
0
crash
76
$9,340
30
1
26
Brett Bodine
King Racing
Ford
247
18
engine
78
$12,765
31
32
52
Jimmy Means
Jimmy Means Racing
Pontiac
201
0
engine
70
$4,640
32
22
1
Rick Mast
Precision Products Racing
Oldsmobile
190
0
crash
67
$9,140
33
11
10
Derrike Cope
Whitcomb Racing
Chevrolet
145
0
crash
64
$6,065
34
30
16
Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Roush Racing
Ford
143
0
crash
61
$5,990
35
39
48
James Hylton
Hylton Motorsports
Pontiac
118
0
handling
58
$4,290
36
34
65
Jerry O'Neil
Aroneck Racing
Oldsmobile
59
0
brakes
55
$4,265
37
35
59
Andy Belmont (R)
Pat Rissi Racing
Ford
59
0
oil leak
52
$4,490
38
36
56
Jerry Hill
Hill Motorsports
Pontiac
39
0
ignition
49
$4,190
39
40
85
D. K. Ulrich
Aroneck Racing
Oldsmobile
21
0
vibration
46
$4,165
40
38
53
Graham Taylor
Jimmy Means Racing
Pontiac
14
0
vibration
43
$4,140
Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos
Driver
Points
1
Davey Allison
1,694
1
2
Harry Gant
1,624 (-70)
2
3
Dale Earnhardt
1,595 (-99)
2
4
Bill Elliott
1,577 (–117)
1
5
Alan Kulwicki
1,564 (–130)
6
Terry Labonte
1,483 (–211)
7
Morgan Shepherd
1,472 (–222)
1
8
Dick Trickle
1,383 (–311)
1
9
Geoff Bodine
1,360 (–334)
1
10
Ricky Rudd
1,346 (–348)
Official driver's standings
Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Higgins, Tom (June 1, 1992). "Gant literally coasts to Bud 500 title" . The Rock Island Argus . p. 22. Retrieved January 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Owen, Mike (June 1, 1992). "Ageless Gant coasts to Budweiser win" . Alabama Journal . p. 16. Retrieved January 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "NASCAR today" . The Charlotte Observer . May 29, 1992. p. 42. Retrieved January 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (May 31, 1992). "Rain postpones Grand National, threatens today's Winston Cup race" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 37. Retrieved January 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Harris, Mike (May 30, 1992). "Brett Bodine stays out of troubles, zips to top spot at Dover" . Messenger-Inquirer . p. 11. Retrieved January 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
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