1992 Mello Yello 500
The 1992 Mello Yello 500 was the 26th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 11, 1992, before an audience of 162,500 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. At race's end, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would manage to make a late-race pass on eventual second-place finisher, owner-driver Alan Kulwicki with 32 laps to go to take his seventh career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty would finish third.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 26 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1992 Mello Yello 500 program cover, featuring Richard Petty. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. | |||
| 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 | Roush Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Neil Bonnett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Performance Racing Network | ||
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 Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.
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
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References
- Coble, Dom (October 12, 1992). "Martin makes a point in Mello Yello win". Florida Today. p. 21. Retrieved February 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Harris, Mike (October 12, 1992). "Mello Yello win thrusts Martin into points battle". The Anniston Star. p. 13. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
- Clarke, Liz (October 12, 1992). "Elliott woes tighten points race". The Charlotte Observer. p. 14. Retrieved February 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Race week schedule". The Charlotte Observer. October 7, 1992. p. 61. Retrieved February 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Foreman Jr., tom (October 8, 1992). "Kulwicki darkens pole position". Messenger-Inquirer. p. 13. Retrieved February 7, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.