1992 TranSouth 500
The 1992 TranSouth 500 was the fifth stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 36th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 8, 1992, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 367 laps to complete. In the final stages of the race, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott would make a late-race charge for the lead, passing for the lead with 45 to go to take his 38th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his fourth victory of the season, and his fourth consecutive victory.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Dale Jarrett and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1992 TranSouth 500 program cover, featuring Ricky Rudd. | |||
| Date | March 29, 1992 | ||
| Official name | 36th Annual TranSouth 500 | ||
| Location | Darlington, South Carolina, Darlington Raceway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km) | ||
| Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km) | ||
| Average speed | 139.364 miles per hour (224.285 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Junior Johnson & Associates | ||
| Time | 30.157 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Laps | 160 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 11 | Bill Elliott | Junior Johnson & Associates | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 27, at 3:00 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 Saturday, March 28, at 11:30 AM 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,[3] 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; which was usually two. 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.
Sterling Marlin, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.157 and an average speed of 163.067 miles per hour (262.431 km/h) in the first round.[4]
No drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 11 | Bill Elliott | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 367 | 93 | running | 180 | $64,290 |
| 2 | 11 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 367 | 88 | running | 175 | $40,715 |
| 3 | 14 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 367 | 0 | running | 165 | $29,375 |
| 4 | 5 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 366 | 160 | running | 170 | $35,315 |
| 5 | 18 | 5 | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 366 | 0 | running | 155 | $21,020 |
| 6 | 4 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Ford | 366 | 16 | running | 155 | $16,290 |
| 7 | 16 | 8 | Dick Trickle | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 365 | 0 | running | 146 | $14,160 |
| 8 | 12 | 15 | Geoff Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 365 | 0 | running | 142 | $13,130 |
| 9 | 21 | 94 | Terry Labonte | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 365 | 0 | running | 138 | $13,150 |
| 10 | 8 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 365 | 0 | running | 134 | $20,570 |
| 11 | 19 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Pontiac | 364 | 0 | running | 130 | $14,665 |
| 12 | 15 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 364 | 0 | running | 127 | $15,435 |
| 13 | 13 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 364 | 0 | running | 124 | $11,155 |
| 14 | 24 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 363 | 0 | running | 121 | $10,850 |
| 15 | 22 | 55 | Ted Musgrave | RaDiUs Motorsports | Pontiac | 363 | 0 | running | 118 | $10,745 |
| 16 | 26 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Chevrolet | 362 | 0 | running | 115 | $9,175 |
| 17 | 27 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Oldsmobile | 362 | 0 | running | 112 | $9,720 |
| 18 | 25 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 358 | 6 | engine | 114 | $10,385 |
| 19 | 32 | 95 | Bob Schacht (R) | Sadler Brothers Racing | Oldsmobile | 356 | 2 | running | 111 | $6,500 |
| 20 | 34 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 347 | 0 | running | 103 | $7,670 |
| 21 | 9 | 18 | Dale Jarrett | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 328 | 0 | running | 100 | $4,950 |
| 22 | 1 | 22 | Sterling Marlin | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 307 | 0 | running | 97 | $11,555 |
| 23 | 20 | 68 | Bobby Hamilton | TriStar Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 306 | 0 | engine | 94 | $9,460 |
| 24 | 6 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 264 | 0 | overheating | 91 | $13,950 |
| 25 | 33 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 260 | 0 | engine | 88 | $6,120 |
| 26 | 3 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 257 | 0 | head | 85 | $14,030 |
| 27 | 17 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 256 | 0 | overheating | 82 | $7,890 |
| 28 | 7 | 41 | Greg Sacks | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 249 | 0 | engine | 79 | $4,230 |
| 29 | 23 | 12 | Hut Stricklin | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Chevrolet | 233 | 2 | valve | 81 | $7,720 |
| 30 | 31 | 16 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Roush Racing | Ford | 187 | 0 | engine | 73 | $4,085 |
| 31 | 36 | 77 | Mike Potter | Balough Racing | Chevrolet | 183 | 0 | steering | 70 | $4,025 |
| 32 | 30 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 161 | 0 | piston | 67 | $7,540 |
| 33 | 29 | 66 | Chad Little | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 133 | 0 | valve | 64 | $5,455 |
| 34 | 10 | 9 | Dave Mader III | Melling Racing | Ford | 90 | 0 | engine | 61 | $7,645 |
| 35 | 39 | 56 | Jerry Hill | Hill Motorsports | Pontiac | 31 | 0 | handling | 58 | $3,860 |
| 36 | 28 | 98 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Chevrolet | 28 | 0 | head | 55 | $5,825 |
| 37 | 35 | 53 | John McFadden | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 17 | 0 | engine | 52 | $3,810 |
| 38 | 37 | 90 | Kerry Teague | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 15 | 0 | engine | 49 | $3,790 |
| 39 | 38 | 48 | James Hylton | Hylton Motorsports | Pontiac | 7 | 0 | brakes | 46 | $3,760 |
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- Higgins, Tom (March 30, 1992). "Elliott again follows plan into Victory Lane". Evansville Press. p. 18. Retrieved January 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Scoppe, Rick (March 30, 1992). "'Decent' sufficient for Elliott". The South Bend Tribune. p. 24. Retrieved January 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. March 27, 1992. p. 19. Retrieved January 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Scoppe, Rick (March 28, 1992). "1st run nets Marlin TranSouth 500 pole". The Item. p. 11. Retrieved January 25, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.