1992 Mello Yello 500
Race details | |||||
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Race 26 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||||
Date | October 11, 1992 | ||||
Official name | 33rd Annual Mello Yello 500 | ||||
Location | Concord, North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway | ||||
Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.41 km) | ||||
Distance | 334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km) | ||||
Scheduled Distance | 334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km) | ||||
Average speed | 153.537 miles per hour (247.094 km/h) | ||||
Attendance | 162,500 | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | AK Racing | ||||
Time | 30.163 | ||||
Most laps led | |||||
Driver | Kyle Petty |
SABCO Racing | |||
Laps | 129 | ||||
Winner | |||||
No. 6 | Mark Martin |
Network | TBS | ||
Announcers | Ken Squier, Neil Bonnett | ||||
Radio in the United States | |||||
Radio | Performance Racing Network |
The 1992 Mello Yello 500 was the 26th
With poor finishes from the top two in the driver's championship standings, those being Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, the points battle had tightened to extreme margins, with the top five in the driver's championship all being within 100 points within the leader with three races left in the season, the first time of such an occurrence in NASCAR history.[3]
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
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, October 7, at 5:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Thursday, October 8, at 1:30 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,[4] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Alan Kulwicki, driving for his own AK Racing team, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.163 and an average speed of 179.027 miles per hour (288.116 km/h) in the first round.[5]
Five drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing
|
Ford | 334 | 107 | running | 180 | $101,500 |
2 | 1 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 334 | 63 | running | 175 | $89,000 |
3 | 20 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing
|
Pontiac | 334 | 129 | running | 175 | $68,600 |
4 | 24 | 12 | Jimmy Spencer
|
Bobby Allison Motorsports
|
Ford | 334 | 0 | running | 160 | $41,200 |
5 | 5 | 5 | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 0 | running | 155 | $35,550 |
6 | 3 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 2 | running | 155 | $34,150 |
7 | 2 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 334 | 13 | running | 151 | $32,500 |
8 | 18 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports
|
Oldsmobile | 334 | 8 | running | 147 | $25,800 |
9 | 17 | 8 | Dick Trickle | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 333 | 2 | running | 143 | $19,300 |
10 | 12 | 15 | Geoff Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 333 | 0 | running | 134 | $19,600 |
11 | 30 | 55 | Ted Musgrave | RaDiUs Motorsports
|
Ford | 333 | 0 | running | 130 | $16,200 |
12 | 13 | 94 | Terry Labonte | Hagan Racing
|
Chevrolet | 333 | 0 | running | 127 | $15,000 |
13 | 6 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 333 | 0 | running | 124 | $14,700 |
14 | 11 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 332 | 0 | running | 121 | $19,050 |
15 | 26 | 68 | Bobby Hamilton | TriStar Motorsports | Ford | 331 | 0 | running | 118 | $13,450 |
16 | 19 | 22 | Sterling Marlin | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 331 | 0 | running | 115 | $11,350 |
17 | 14 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing
|
Chevrolet | 331 | 0 | running | 112 | $16,100 |
18 | 9 | 66 | Jimmy Hensley (R) | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 330 | 0 | running | 109 | $8,450 |
19 | 22 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing
|
Ford | 329 | 0 | running | 106 | $15,375 |
20 | 35 | 16 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Roush Racing
|
Ford | 328 | 0 | running | 103 | $7,550 |
21 | 39 | 71 | Jim Sauter | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 326 | 0 | running | 100 | $6,595 |
22 | 37 | 57 | Bob Schacht (R) | Stringer Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 325 | 0 | running | 97 | $4,700 |
23 | 29 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 325 | 0 | running | 94 | $9,220 |
24 | 7 | 18 | Dale Jarrett | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 324 | 0 | clutch | 91 | $9,640 |
25 | 33 | 45 | Rich Bickle | Terminal Trucking Motorsports | Ford | 324 | 0 | running | 88 | $4,830 |
26 | 15 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing
|
Ford | 323 | 0 | clutch | 85 | $4,235 |
27 | 32 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 323 | 0 | running | 82 | $8,720 |
28 | 8 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Ford | 320 | 0 | running | 79 | $9,105 |
29 | 34 | 65 | Jerry O'Neil | Aroneck Racing | Oldsmobile | 314 | 0 | running | 76 | $3,965 |
30 | 16 | 11 | Bill Elliott | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 310 | 10 | sway bar | 78 | $13,880 |
31 | 27 | 97 | Hut Stricklin | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 305 | 0 | quit | 70 | $3,800 |
32 | 31 | 90 | Pancho Carter | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 297 | 0 | running | 67 | $3,735 |
33 | 25 | 9 | Chad Little | Melling Racing | Ford | 294 | 0 | overheating | 64 | $3,670 |
34 | 10 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 215 | 0 | engine | 61 | $13,350 |
35 | 23 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Oldsmobile | 168 | 0 | engine | 58 | $8,155 |
36 | 36 | 49 | Stanley Smith | BS&S Motorsports | Chevrolet | 141 | 0 | engine | 55 | $3,610 |
37 | 21 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South
|
Pontiac | 128 | 0 | engine | 52 | $11,600 |
38 | 38 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 89 | 0 | engine | 49 | $3,590 |
39 | 40 | 41 | Dave Marcis | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 57 | 0 | rear end | 46 | $5,085 |
40 | 28 | 31 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Team Ireland | Chevrolet | 332 | 0 | disqualified | 43 | $3,580 |
Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
41 | 77 | Mike Potter | Balough Racing | Buick | ||||||
42 | 05 | Ed Ferree | Ferree Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
43 | 85 | Mike Skinner | Mansion Motorsports | Chevrolet | ||||||
44 | 82 | Mark Stahl | Stahl Racing
|
Ford | ||||||
45 | 48 | James Hylton | Hylton Motorsports
|
Pontiac | ||||||
Official race results |
Standings after the race
|
References
- ^ Harris, Mike (October 12, 1992). "Mello Yello win thrusts Martin into points battle". The Anniston Star. p. 13. Retrieved February 7, 2023.