1972 American 500

The 1972 American 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on October 22, 1972, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina. While not televised, the 1972 American 500 was covered by local radio stations WAYN-AM (900 AM) and WEEB-AM (990 AM).

1972 American 500
Race details[1]
Race 30 of 31 in the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
Date October 22, 1972 (1972-October-22)
Official name American 500
Location North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.017 mi (1.636 km)
Distance 492 laps, 500 mi (804 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures of 71.1 °F (21.7 °C); wind speeds of 5.1 miles per hour (8.2 km/h)
Average speed 118.245 miles per hour (190.297 km/h)
Attendance 42,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Wood Brothers Racing
Time 26.621
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison Howard & Egerton Racing
Laps 217
Winner
No. 12 Bobby Allison Howard & Egerton Racing
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

Race report

40 American-born drivers qualified for the race. Drivers who failed to qualify were David Ray Boggs, Jimmy Crawford and Elmo Langley. Forty-two thousand people attended. The race's average speed was 118.275 miles per hour (190.345 km/h) in this 253-minute race. David Pearson's qualifying speed of 137.258 miles per hour or 220.895 kilometres per hour won the pole position. There were four cautions for a of 35 laps. 20 different drivers lead the race. Bobby Allison would defeat Richard Petty by two laps; resulting in Richard Petty's 100th runner up finish.[2]

Ron Hutcherson was the last-place finisher of this event; with a racing accident on lap 29 out of 492. Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and David Pearson dominated the closing laps of this race.[2] Pete Hamilton scored his final top-5 finish.[2] This was his final start of 1972 and he would only make two further starts in 1973, both of which ended in DNFs

Hutcherson's racing career would last throughout the course of the 1970s; ending only after the 1979 running of the World 600. Notable crew chiefs for this race were Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver, Vic Ballard, and Herb Nab.[3]

Rewards for this race were $19,400 for the winner ($135,723 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher brought home $550 ($3,848 when adjusted for inflation). A grand total of $89,450 was offered to the race. ($625,794 when adjusted for inflation).[4]

Bobby Allison's win at this event would become the tenth win of the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.[5] Due to the cash crunch of the 1970s, only five individual owners could afford to employ a NASCAR Cup Series driver for the rest; the rest were all "proper" NASCAR teams with more than one person running them.[6]

Qualifying
Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Qualifying speed[7] Qualifying time[7] Owner
1 21David Pearson'71 Mercury137.52826.621Wood Brothers
2 71Buddy Baker'72 Dodge136.20226.881Nord Krauskopf
3 43Richard Petty'72 Plymouth136.15726.889Petty Enterprises
4 9Pete Hamilton'72 Plymouth135.67826.984Jack Housby
5 12Bobby Allison'72 Chevrolet135.46727.026Richard Howard
6 28Cale Yarborough'72 Chevrolet134.66427.188Hoss Ellington
7 15Dick Brooks'72 Ford134.49127.223Bud Moore
8 17Bill Dennis'72 Chevrolet133.73027.377H.J. Brooking
9 27Bobby Isaac'71 Chevrolet133.04527.518Banjo Matthews
10 16Dave Marcis'72 AMC Matador132.83727.561Roger Penske

Finishing order
  1. Bobby Allison
  2. Richard Petty
  3. Buddy Baker
  4. David Pearson
  5. Pete Hamilton
  6. Cale Yarborough
  7. Dave Marcis
  8. Larry Smith
  9. David Sisco
  10. Buddy Arrington
  11. John Sears
  12. Clarence Lovell
  13. Elmo Langley
  14. Ben Arnold
  15. Walter Ballard
  16. Dean Dalton
  17. Ed Negre
  18. Charlie Roberts
  19. James Hylton
  20. Cecil Gordon
  21. Joe Frasson
  22. Raymond Williams
  23. Jabe Thomas
  24. J.D. McDuffie
  25. Frank Warren
  26. Marty Robbins
  27. Coo Coo Marlin
  28. Bill Champion
  29. Roy Mayne
  30. Jim Vandiver
  31. Neil Castles
  32. Bill Dennis
  33. Ron Keselowski
  34. Dick Brooks
  35. Benny Parsons
  36. Bobby Isaac
  37. Henley Gray
  38. Tiny Lund
  39. Tommy Gale
  40. Ron Hutcherson

Timeline

Section reference: [2]

  • Start: David Pearson was the first driver to leave the start/finish line as the green flag was waved in the air.
  • Lap 32: First caution due to Ron Hutcherson's accident on turn 4, ended on lap 42.
  • Lap 33: Bill Dennis took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 34: Bobby Isaac took over the lead from Bill Dennis.
  • Lap 35: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Bobby Isaac.
  • Lap 42: Cale Yarborough took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 51: Buddy Baker took over the lead from Cale Yarborough.
  • Lap 66: Second caution due to Henley Gray's engine failure, ended on lap 75.
  • Lap 67: Dick Brooks took over the lead from Buddy Baker.
  • Lap 68: Bill Dennis took over the lead from Dick Brooks.
  • Lap 69: David Pearson took over the lead from Bill Dennis.
  • Lap 91: The third caution started due to Benny Parson's accident on turn 1, ended on lap 101.
  • Lap 92: Bobby Allison took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 97: David Pearson took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 100: Buddy Baker took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 167: David Pearson took over the lead from Buddy Baker.
  • Lap 187: Bobby Allison took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 213: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 250: The fourth caution started due to debris, ended on lap 256.
  • Lap 251: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 252: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 259: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 261: Richard Petty took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 269: David Pearson took over the lead from Richard Petty.
  • Lap 317: Bobby Allison took over the lead from David Pearson.
  • Lap 418: Jabe Thomas' engine stopped functioning in a normal manner.
  • Lap 428: The rear end of James Hylton's vehicle was removed in an unsafe manner.
  • Finish: Bobby Allison was officially declared the winner of the event.

References
  1. Weather information for the 1972 American 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1972 American 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. 1972 American 500 crew chiefs information at Racing Reference
  4. 1972 American 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  5. 1972 American 500 Archived 2009-06-03 at the Wayback Machine at How Stuff Works
  6. 1972 American 500 Archived 2014-08-27 at the Wayback Machine racing information at Driver Averages
  7. 1972 American 500 qualifying information at Racing Reference
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