1992 Peak Antifreeze 500 Explained

Type:NASWINSTON
Scheduled Km:804.672
Official Name:22nd Annual Peak Antifreeze 500
Caption:The 1992 Peak Antifreeze 500 program cover, featuring Harry Gant, Jeff Purvis, and Bill Elliott.
Radio:Motor Racing Network
Network:TNN
First Team:Hendrick Motorsports
Most Team:Junior Johnson & Associates
First Driver:Ricky Rudd
Most Driver:Bill Elliott
Pole Team:AK Racing
Pole Driver:Alan Kulwicki
Most Laps:261
Car:5
Distance Km:804.672
Location:Dover, Delaware, Dover Downs International Speedway
Scheduled Laps:500
Scheduled Mi:500
Distance Laps:500
Avg:115.289mph
Date:September 20
Pole Time:24.782
Course Km:1.6
Course Mi:1
Race Name:Peak Antifreeze 500
Year:1992
Season No:29
Race No:23
Distance Mi:500
Announcers:Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett
Attendance:80,000

The 1992 Peak Antifreeze 500 was the 23rd stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 22nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 20, 1992, before an audience of 80,000 in Dover, Delaware at Dover Downs International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. With a call from crew chief Gary DeHart, Hendrick Motorsports driver Ricky Rudd would decide to run the final 19 laps on old tires, pitting for fuel only on lap 481. The call managed to put Rudd ahead of the field, and Rudd would manage to hold off second-place finisher, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott to take his 13th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty would finish third.

Background

Dover Downs International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.

The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.

Entry list

DriverTeamMakeSponsor
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
9Chad LittleMelling RacingFordMelling Racing
10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevroletPurolator Filters
11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordBudweiser
12Jeff PurvisBobby Allison MotorsportsChevroletRaybestos
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
41Dick TrickleLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevroletKellogg's Frosted Flakes
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiacMello Yello
43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP
48James HyltonHylton MotorsportsPontiacMcElroy's Flower Shop
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacHurley Limo
53Graham TaylorJimmy Means RacingPontiacJimmy Means Racing
55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFordJasper Engines & Transmissions
66Jimmy Hensley (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFordPhillips 66 TropArtic
68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFordCountry Time
71Jim SauterMarcis Auto RacingChevroletMarcis Auto Racing
77Mike PotterBalough RacingBuickKenova Golf Course Construction
90Hut StricklinDonlavey RacingFordMaxx Race Cards
94Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobileSunoco

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 18, 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, September 19, 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 21-38 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; 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 24.782 and an average speed of 145.267mph in the first round.[4]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos.DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
17Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord24.782145.267
26Mark MartinRoush RacingFord24.852144.858
32Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac24.936144.370
494Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile25.016143.908
53Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet25.119143.318
65Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25.123143.295
78Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord25.143143.181
815Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord25.149143.147
925Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25.153143.124
101Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile25.162143.073
1118Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet25.181142.965
1241Dave MarcisLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet25.221142.738
1311Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord25.223142.727
1417Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet25.223142.727
1522Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord25.259142.523
1642Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac25.278142.416
1755Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord25.293142.332
1826Brett BodineKing RacingFord25.324142.158
194Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet25.336142.090
2090Hut StricklinDonlavey RacingFord25.337142.085
Failed to lock in Round 1
2121Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord24.976144.138
2233Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile25.015143.914
2368Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFord25.015143.914
2430Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac25.067143.615
2543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac25.184142.948
2666Jimmy Hensley (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord25.210142.800
2716Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord25.342142.057
2877Mike PotterBalough RacingBuick25.430141.565
2928Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord25.592140.669
3071Jim SauterMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet25.704140.056
3110Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet25.914138.921
329Chad LittleMelling RacingFord26.078138.047
3312Jeff PurvisBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet26.303136.867
3452Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac26.403136.348
3553Graham TaylorJimmy Means RacingPontiac27.790129.543
3648James HyltonHylton MotorsportsPontiac28.024128.461
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

FinStDriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings
165Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet50032running180$64,965
21311Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord500261running180$51,260
31642Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac5000running165$27,310
42928Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord4990running160$29,410
52121Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord4980running155$21,980
62233Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile49716running155$22,205
7494Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile4960running146$15,805
81755Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord4960running142$15,105
93110Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet4950running138$11,355
102368Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFord4930running134$16,805
11194Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet49316running135$16,905
121118Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet4900running127$12,505
132666Jimmy Hensley (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord4870running124$9,755
14815Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord4860running121$11,405
152090Hut StricklinDonlavey RacingFord4840running118$6,155
1632Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac4830running115$13,830
172430Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac4830running112$10,630
183071Jim SauterMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet4750running109$7,415
1926Mark MartinRoush RacingFord47092engine111$13,830
201417Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet4700running103$15,480
2153Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet47082running105$17,880
221826Brett BodineKing RacingFord4300running97$10,130
233452Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac3990engine94$5,230
24101Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile3980running91$9,930
252877Mike PotterBalough RacingBuick3820running88$5,130
261241Dave MarcisLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet3640handling85$6,730
2778Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord2760crash82$6,630
282543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac2720crash79$9,555
29329Chad LittleMelling RacingFord2710crash76$4,930
30925Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2630crash73$13,880
312716Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord2140engine70$11,260
323312Jeff PurvisBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet1790crash67$9,305
331522Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord1750engine64$9,230
3417Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord911crash66$17,180
353648James HyltonHylton MotorsportsPontiac890engine58$4,480
363553Graham TaylorJimmy Means RacingPontiac30engine55$$4,455
Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1Bill Elliott3,417
2Davey Allison3,263 (-154)
13Harry Gant3,178 (-239)
14Alan Kulwicki3,139 (–278)
5Mark Martin3,065 (–352)
16Kyle Petty3,029 (–388)
17Ricky Rudd3,002 (–415)
28Darrell Waltrip2,976 (–441)
9Dale Earnhardt2,911 (–506)
10Morgan Shepherd2,910 (–507)
Official driver's standings

Notes and References

  1. News: Higgins . Tom . September 21, 1992 . Rudd slips by Elliott to capture Peak 500 . 17 . . February 5, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: McKee . Sandra . September 21, 1992 . Rudd gases up, goes on to Dover victory . 32 . . February 5, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  3. News: September 18, 1992 . NASCAR today . 14 . . February 5, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
  4. News: Martin . Gerald . September 19, 1992 . Kulwicki, last off line, takes pole in backup car . 25 . . February 5, 2023 . Newspapers.com.