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| Championship contenders Davey Allison, Alan Kulwicki, Bill Elliott, Harry Gant, Kyle Petty, and Mark Martin |
Today marks 22 years since the race many consider to be the most epic in NASCAR history. Six of the sport's most famous (and popular) drivers came to the 1992 Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a legitimate shot at being crowned the Winston Cup Champion. The storyline didn't stop there, however. For the duration of the 1992 season, the singular focus of almost everyone involved in the sport was "King" Richard Petty's retirement at the end of the season. Far from being a headline-making story, a young future champion made his first Winston Cup start in the race as well.
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| Surprise front row Rick Mast and Brett Bodine |
The surprise front row featured a pair of hard-luck drivers that seemed to have the talent to get the job done, but struggled to find victory lane throughout their careers. True to form, pole-sitter Rick Mast and second place Brett Bodine raced door to door throughout the first lap of the 328-lap race. Bodine cut under Mast exiting turn 4 and the pair drag raced into turn one on the second lap. Suddenly, Bodine's car broke loose on the inside of Mast and both went hard into the wall. Several other cars were collected, but of the championship contenders, only Davey Allison suffered minor damage.
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| Jeff Gordon made his first-career start in this race |
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While everyone kept one eye on the championship battle and the other on Richard Petty, 21-year-old Jeff Gordon was quietly racing among the pack. Gordon had won the most poles in the 1992 Busch Grand National Series and have been victorious at the Spring Atlanta and both Charlotte races that season. Rick Hendrick controversially lured Gordon away from Bill Davis' Ford team, and Gordon was now making his first Winston Cup start. After a respectable showing early in the race, Gordon eventually found the wall and parked his car after 164 laps.
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| "King" Richard Petty made his final-career start in this race |
On lap 94, a crash erupted on the frontstretch between Darrell Waltrip, Ken Schrader, Wally Dallenbach, Dick Trickle, and... Richard Petty. As the cars skidded and crashed, through the smoke Petty's car was visible sailing into turn 1 in a massive fireball. The crash had knocked Petty's oil cooler off, and while the fire was easily contained, it proved to be a dramatic exit for greatest driver in the history of the sport. Petty's crew scrambled to get the car repaired, not wanting that crash to be the last memory of the King. Finally, with only a couple of laps remaining, Petty's battered Pontiac pulled out of the garage to rejoin the field. He finished the race.
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Ernie Irvan and Davey Allison were involved in a crash that
ended Allison's championship hopes. Ironically, Irvan would go
on to replace Allison as the driver of the #28 car the next season. |
As the laps wore on, it became obvious that Davey Allison was in the driver's seat to capture the championship. Only Bill Elliott and Alan Kulwicki had legitimate chances of taking the Cup away from Allison. Then, on lap 254, Ernie Irvan's Kodak Lumina broke loose coming off of turn 4... right in front of Davey Allison. Allison had nowhere to go and both cars crashed into the inside wall. For a moment it appeared that Allison's car wasn't damaged too badly, but as he tried to get going, it became obvious that the steering was too damaged for him to continue. With the favorite out of the running, the championship battle became a two car race.
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Alan Kulwicki and Bill Elliott fought it out for the championship
in the closing laps. |
Bill Elliott and Alan Kulwicki proved to be the dominant cars in the closing stages of the race, trading the lead in the closing laps. As it became obvious that the final round of pit stops would be under the green flag, the ever-cunning Kulwicki and his team figured out exactly how many laps they needed to lead to secure the 5-point bonus for leading the most laps. They were having transmission trouble and knew Elliott would gain the lead on the pitstop exchange, but with the bonus secured, Kulwicki only had to finish second to Elliott to win the championship. Their plan worked perfectly. While Elliott did go on to win the race, Kulwicki finished second and won the championship by a slim 10-point margin.
The changes that followed this race altered the future of the sport forever. Kulwicki, the underdog champion, would tragically die in an airplane crash the following April. Allison would sadly perish in a helicopter crash in July. Petty, though no longer behind the wheel, would remain a fixture in the sport for years to come. In fact, he is still the public figurehead of Richard Petty Motorsports today. Finally, Jeff Gordon, the young kid, would go on to win four Winston Cup championships, and at current count, 92 races. While he is now one of the senior competitors on the circuit, Gordon is looking as strong as he has in years. He is also the only active driver linked to Richard Petty and the early days of NASCAR.
It's hard to reflect on this race without being saddened at the loss of two stars that shone so brightly that day. However, taken in context, it is almost an honor to have seen them compete at such a high level. Kulwicki's story is one of inspiration, and Allison's is one of unfulfilled greatness. However, those two, along with Richard Petty and Jeff Gordon, and Rick Mast and Brett Bodine, and all of the the other drivers in the 41-car field did do something great that day. They took NASCAR to a completely new level, and for that we should all be eternally greatful.
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| 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion Alan Kulwicki |
All cars featured in this post were produced by Racing Champions in 1991-1993.
