Alan Kulwicki won the title by 10 points after a final race decided by a five-point bonus, while Richard Petty retired and Davey Allison fought through injuries.
The 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series ran from 9 February to 15 November 1992 and was the 44th season of professional stock car racing in the United States. Alan Kulwicki, an independent owner-driver with AK Racing, took the title by 10 points ahead of Bill Elliott.
The 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was one of the most dramatic seasons in the sport's history, with Richard Petty's farewell tour, a quiet debut by Jeff Gordon and a title decided in the final race. Alan Kulwicki, an independent owner-driver, won it by 10 points after a finish that turned on a five-point bonus for leading the most laps.
The year was the 21st modern-era Cup season. Its championship battle narrowed to six drivers going into the last race, the most ever at that point.
When did the 1992 Winston Cup season run?
The 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series began on 9 February 1992 with the Busch Clash at Daytona International Speedway and ended on 15 November 1992 with the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The schedule included superspeedways, short tracks and road courses.
The Busch Clash was an exhibition for the 1991 Busch pole winners and one wild card, and it was the first held on a Saturday, a move made at the request of CBS, which wanted Sunday free for its coverage of the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France.
A title decided by 10 points, a farewell tour for Richard Petty and a quiet debut by Jeff Gordon.
Who won the 1992 championship?
Alan Kulwicki, who ran his own team as AK Racing, won the Winston Cup title. In the final race he finished second to Bill Elliott, but he led 103 laps to Elliott's 102 and collected the five bonus points that settled the championship.
Kulwicki had a strong but uneven year. He started 41st and finished fourth in the Daytona 500, won at Bristol, and won at Pocono in June, a victory that proved to be his last. He won twice in 1992, the only season in which he won more than once.
Only months later, Kulwicki and Davey Allison were both killed in separate aviation crashes, which left a sad footnote to the title.
How did the championship battle unfold?
Six drivers went into the final race with a mathematical chance of the title: Bill Elliott, Alan Kulwicki, Davey Allison, Kyle Petty, Harry Gant and Mark Martin. Allison, who had led the standings for much of the year, needed to finish sixth or better to clinch automatically.
Allison's lead was strong early on. He held a 48-point advantage over Elliott after Darlington in March and pushed it to 86 points after the First Union 400 in April. The lead then swung back and forth as injuries and mechanical trouble took their toll.
By the Pocono race in July, Elliott had taken the points lead for the first time all season, 9 points ahead of Allison. In Atlanta, a crash on lap 254 caused by Ernie Irvan's tyre failure took Allison out, and Elliott and Kulwicki fought for the title in the second half.
What was the Generation 4 car?
The Generation 4 car arrived in 1992, with body panels removed and teams spending hours in the wind tunnel to gain aerodynamic advantages. The led shot was replaced by the led ingot, and fuel mileage was cut so drivers would lead more laps.
The new bumpers, nose and tail were built from fibreglass composite, and the changes asked teams to rethink nearly every part of the car. The wind tunnel became a central part of preparation for the season's big races.
Why did Richard Petty's final season matter?
Richard Petty, the seven-time champion, retired at the end of 1992 after a year-long Fan Appreciation Tour. He appeared across the country for autographs, and diecast cars of his No. 43 were made for all 29 races he appeared in.
His final Daytona 500 ended in the Big One on lap 92, when 14 cars were collected in total, and he still finished 16th. At the Pepsi 400 on 4 July he qualified second, led the first five laps of the race, and dropped out in 36th place with heat-related fatigue.
At Pocono he qualified seventh and ran as high as fifth early before finishing 20th, a lap down. His last race at Atlanta included a multi-car crash on lap 95 that dumped oil on his engine and set it alight. A fire truck put out the flames, and he rejoined the field to finish 35th.
The season also brought a quiet debut. Jeff Gordon started the Hooters 500 21st in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, crashed out and finished 31st. He went on to compete in every Cup race from that day to the end of 2015, winning 93 races and four championships.
What happened to Davey Allison in 1992?
Davey Allison was hurt several times. He crashed hard at Bristol, then won the First Union 400 at North Wilkesboro while still recovering. A later crash at Martinsville aggravated his old rib and spine injuries and left him with a bruised lung.
The worst accident came at Pocono on 19 July, when Allison and Darrell Waltrip made contact in turn two. His car went airborne and rolled over the inside guardrail, leaving him with a broken right forearm, a dislocated wrist, a skull fracture and a severe concussion. He was hospitalised for four days.
He fought back anyway. Allison won the Winston 500 at Talladega a week after being injured in a crash, and he finished fourth in the Coca-Cola 600 after two days in hospital with a broken collarbone and re-injured ribs.
At Charlotte, Allison edged Kyle Petty by less than half a car length on the final lap of The Winston, then hit the outside wall. He spent the night in hospital instead of victory lane. Later, at Darlington, a pit call based on the weather went wrong, and Allison lost the chance at the Winston Million. He still won the Pyroil 500K at Phoenix on 1 November, his second straight win in that race, and earned a $100,000 bonus for winning two of the four crown jewel races.
What happened in the early races of 1992?
The early season opened at Daytona with the Busch Clash on 9 February, followed by the Gatorade 125 qualifiers on 13 February. In the qualifiers, Sterling Marlin and Bill Elliott started first, and Marlin won the pole for the Daytona 500 three days later.
The Busch Clash used a sprint format, with two 10-lap segments and the field inverted between them. Sterling Marlin won the first segment, Geoff Bodine won the second and took the overall victory, and the only caution was a two-lap competition yellow.
The second Gatorade 125 opened with a multi-car accident on lap 4 that caught Alan Kulwicki, Terry Labonte and A. J. Foyt, and Richard Petty was out by lap 8. All four still qualified for the Daytona 500, either on speed or by provisional, and Kulwicki later rallied to finish fourth in the big race after starting 41st.
Did NASCAR test at Indianapolis in 1992?
Yes, informally. Nine top Winston Cup teams were invited to Indianapolis on 22 and 23 June for a Goodyear tire test that, though not officially announced, was an unofficial feasibility test of whether stock cars could be competitive at the circuit.
An estimated 10,000 spectators watched the two days. On the second day, A. J. Foyt briefly drove Dale Earnhardt's car. ESPN covered the test, which was held on the way home from Michigan.
Which races defined the 1992 season?
Several races stood out. Allison won the Daytona 500, Bill Elliott took the GM Goodwrench 500 and the Hooters 500 finale, Dale Earnhardt won the Coca-Cola 600, and Alan Kulwicki won twice. The table lists ten key winners across the calendar.
| Race | Date | Track | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daytona 500 | 16 February | Daytona International Speedway | Davey Allison |
| GM Goodwrench 500 | 1 March | Rockingham | Bill Elliott |
| Food City 500 | 5 April | Bristol International Raceway | Alan Kulwicki |
| Hanes 500 | 26 April | Martinsville Speedway | Mark Martin |
| Coca-Cola 600 | 24 May | Charlotte Motor Speedway | Dale Earnhardt |
| Champion Spark Plug 500 | 14 June | Pocono Raceway | Alan Kulwicki |
| Miller Genuine Draft 500 | 19 July | Pocono Raceway | Darrell Waltrip |
| Champion Spark Plug 400 | 16 August | Michigan International Speedway | Harry Gant |
| Tyson Holly Farms 400 | 5 October | North Wilkesboro Speedway | Geoff Bodine |
| Hooters 500 | 15 November | Atlanta Motor Speedway | Bill Elliott |
The Food City 500 at Bristol on 5 April gave Kulwicki the win and gave Joe Gibbs Racing its first top-five finish. It was also the last asphalt race at Bristol, after which the surface was torn up and replaced with concrete.
Earnhardt's Coca-Cola 600 win was his only victory of 1992, apart from a qualifying race at Daytona. It was also the first win for General Motors that year, because Ford had taken every race before it.
Kulwicki won the Champion Spark Plug 500 at Pocono on 14 June, and that race was his last career victory. Harry Gant won the Champion Spark Plug 400 at Michigan on 16 August at the age of 52 years and 219 days, which made him the oldest winner in Cup history.
Geoff Bodine's win at North Wilkesboro was caution-free, with only two cars finishing on the lead lap. He won by 5.3 seconds, and the result allowed Ford to clinch its first manufacturers' title since 1969.
The Hooters 500 finale in Atlanta drew six drivers with a mathematical chance. Elliott led the rest of the way and took his fifth win of the season, but the five bonus points for leading the most laps went to Kulwicki, who had led 103 laps to Elliott's 102.
How did Ford and General Motors share the wins?
Ford dominated the early part of the season, winning every race before the Coca-Cola 600, and it went on to sweep the top three in points. That result gave Ford its first manufacturers' championship since 1969 and snapped General Motors' streak of 16 straight titles between Chevrolet and Buick.
Oldsmobile left the series after 1992, and Harry Gant's Michigan win was the last NASCAR victory for the brand. At Atlanta he finished 13th as Oldsmobile's top finisher in its final Cup start.
Jimmy Hensley was named Rookie of the Year after four top-ten finishes in 22 starts in Cale Yarborough's No. 66 Ford. Dale Earnhardt finished 12th in points and Rusty Wallace 13th, a disappointing year for both.
