1992 GM Goodwrench 500 explained

Type:NASWINSTON
Avg:126.125mph
Official Name:27th Annual GM Goodwrench 500
Announcers:Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett
Network:TNN
Radio:Motor Racing Network
Most Laps:260
Most Driver:Bill Elliott
First Driver:Bill Elliott
Most Team:Junior Johnson & Associates
First Team:Junior Johnson & Associates
Car:11
Pole Team:SABCO Racing
Pole Driver:Kyle Petty
Date:March 1
Location:Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Speedway
Course Km:1.637
Course Mi:1.017
Distance Km:805.257
Scheduled Km:805.257
Scheduled Mi:500.364
Scheduled Laps:492
Distance Laps:492
Season No:29
Race No:2
Race Name:GM Goodwrench 500
Year:1992
Pole Time:24.420
Distance Mi:500.364
Caption:The 1992 GM Goodwrench 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt.
Attendance:43,600

The 1992 GM Goodwrench 500 was the second stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 27th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 1, 1992, before an audience of 43,600 in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a 1.017miles permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 492 laps to complete. At race's end, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 35th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison and Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

North Carolina Motor Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.[3]

Entry list

DriverTeamMakeSponsor
0Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFordMasters Inn Economy
1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobileSkoal
2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiacMiller Genuine Draft
3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletGM Goodwrench Service Plus
4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevroletKodak
5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevroletTide
6Mark MartinRoush RacingFordValvoline
7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFordHooters
8Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFordSnickers
9Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFordMelling Racing
10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevroletPurolator Filters
11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordBudweiser
12Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevroletRaybestos
13Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevroletGlidden
15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft
16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFordKeystone
17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevroletWestern Auto
18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletInterstate Batteries
21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFordCitgo
22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordMaxwell House
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletKodiak
26Brett BodineKing RacingFordQuaker State
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordTexaco, Havoline
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacPennzoil
33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal Bandit
41Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevroletKellogg's Frosted Flakes
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiacMello Yello
43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP
49Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevroletAmeritron Batteries
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacJimmy Means Racing
53John McFaddenJimmy Means RacingPontiacJimmy Means Racing
55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobileJasper Engines & Transmissions
56Jerry HillHill MotorsportsPontiacHill Motorsports
59Andy Belmont (R)Pat Rissi RacingFordSlick 50
66Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFordPhillips 66 TropArtic
68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobileCountry Time
71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletAbilene Boots
87Randy BakerBuck Baker RacingChevroletBuck Baker Driving School
94Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobileSunoco
98Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevroletMoly Black Gold

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, February 28, at 2:30 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, February 29, 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,[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 provisionals 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.

Kyle Petty, driving for SABCO Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 24.420 and an average speed of 149.926mph in the first round.[5]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos.DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
142Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac24.420149.926
211Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord24.527149.272
36Mark MartinRoush RacingFord24.663148.449
426Brett BodineKing RacingFord24.808147.581
52Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac24.832147.439
64Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet24.909146.983
77Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord24.958146.694
83Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet24.978146.577
925Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet24.979146.571
1028Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord25.014146.366
118Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord25.014146.366
1215Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord25.023146.313
1333Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile25.062146.086
1430Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac25.082145.969
1512Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet25.089145.928
1641Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet25.158145.528
1771Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet25.177145.418
1818Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet25.184145.378
191Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile25.210145.228
2068Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile25.214145.205
Failed to lock in Round 1
2194Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile25.235145.084
2221Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord25.249145.004
235Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25.250144.998
2417Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet25.294144.746
2522Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord25.337144.500
2610Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet25.369144.318
2798Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet25.399144.147
2855Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobile25.431143.966
2943Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac25.533143.391
3066Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord25.582143.116
3149Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet25.599143.021
3213Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevrolet25.661142.676
339Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFord25.674142.603
3416Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord25.730142.293
3552Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac26.039140.604
360Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFord26.425138.551
3753John McFaddenJimmy Means RacingPontiac26.443138.457
3887Randy BakerBuck Baker RacingChevrolet26.467138.331
3959Andy Belmont (R)Pat Rissi RacingFord26.661137.324
4056Jerry HillHill MotorsportsPontiac27.219134.509
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings
1211Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord492260running185$57,800
21028Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord492190running175$48,875
31333Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile4920running165$31,600
41430Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac4910running160$18,650
5925Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet4910running155$21,650
636Mark MartinRoush RacingFord4900running150$20,575
72194Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile4900running146$15,200
8426Brett BodineKing RacingFord4900running142$14,700
91512Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet4900running138$14,400
102417Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet4900running134$19,900
1164Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet4890running130$18,400
12191Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile4890running127$13,300
132221Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord4891running129$13,000
141215Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord4890running121$12,600
152522Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord4890running118$12,150
162943Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac4880running115$11,700
172855Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobile4860running112$11,400
182068Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile4860running109$12,150
192610Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet4820running106$8,375
202798Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet4800running103$10,950
213416Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord4800running100$5,650
223066Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord4750running97$7,200
233213Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevrolet4700running94$6,150
2483Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4690running91$16,850
253887Randy BakerBuck Baker RacingChevrolet4590running88$8,700
2652Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac44217water pump90$13,100
274056Jerry HillHill MotorsportsPontiac4400running82$5,250
28235Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet4370running79$12,950
29142Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac43024camshaft81$12,375
30339Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFord3680running73$9,325
3177Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord3560running70$9,075
323149Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet3320running67$4,500
333552Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac2690engine64$5,850
341641Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet2320engine61$4,300
35360Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFord2100brakes58$4,200
36118Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord1130water pump55$4,125
371818Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet730camshaft52$4,075
383959Andy Belmont (R)Pat Rissi RacingFord270engine49$4,060
391771Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet220engine46$5,525
403753John McFaddenJimmy Means RacingPontiac80valve43$4,000
Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1Davey Allison360
2Morgan Shepherd304 (-56)
93Harry Gant292 (-68)
34Terry Labonte292 (–68)
15Geoff Bodine286 (–74)
116Michael Waltrip274 (–86)
207Bill Elliott272 (–88)
8Ted Musgrave254 (–106)
49Rick Mast251 (–109)
410Kyle Petty231 (–129)
Official driver's standings

Notes and References

  1. News: Higgins . Tom . March 2, 1992 . NASCAR mega-matchup is all Elliott . 23 . The Rock Island Argus . January 23, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: Harris . Mike . March 2, 1992 . Elliott 'great' in runaway win in Goodwrench . 21 . The Morning Call . January 23, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  3. Web site: Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc . July 16, 2012 . Fasttrackracing.com.
  4. News: February 28, 1992 . NASCAR today . 8 . . January 23, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: Harris . Mike . February 29, 1992 . King of the hill: Kyle Petty stays tough for qualifying . 17 . The Daily Item . January 23, 2023 . Newspapers.com.