1992 Peak Antifreeze 500

1992 Peak Antifreeze 500
Race details
Race 23 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1992 Peak Antifreeze 500 program cover, featuring Harry Gant, Jeff Purvis, and Bill Elliott.
The 1992 Peak Antifreeze 500 program cover, featuring Harry Gant, Jeff Purvis, and Bill Elliott.
Date September 20, 1992
Official name 22nd Annual Peak Antifreeze 500
Location Dover, Delaware, Dover Downs International Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1 mi (1.6 km)
Distance 500 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled Distance 500 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed 115.289 miles per hour (185.540 km/h)
Attendance 80,000
Pole position
Driver AK Racing
Time 24.782
Most laps led
Driver Bill Elliott Junior Johnson & Associates
Laps 261
Winner
No. 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network TNN
Announcers Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Neil Bonnett
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

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

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The layout of Dover Downs International Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

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

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile Skoal
2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac Miller Genuine Draft
3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service Plus
4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Kodak
5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Tide
6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Valvoline
7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford Hooters
8 Dick Trickle Stavola Brothers Racing Ford Snickers
9 Chad Little Melling Racing Ford Melling Racing
10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet Purolator Filters
11 Bill Elliott Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Budweiser
12 Jeff Purvis Bobby Allison Motorsports Chevrolet Raybestos
15 Geoff Bodine Bud Moore Engineering Ford Motorcraft
16 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Roush Racing Ford Keystone
17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet Western Auto
18 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Interstate Batteries
21 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford Citgo
22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Maxwell House
25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kodiak
26 Brett Bodine King Racing Ford Quaker State
28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford Texaco, Havoline
30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac Pennzoil
33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile Skoal Bandit
41 Dick Trickle Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac Mello Yello
43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
48 James Hylton Hylton Motorsports Pontiac McElroy's Flower Shop
52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac Hurley Limo
53 Graham Taylor Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac Jimmy Means Racing
55 Ted Musgrave RaDiUs Motorsports Ford Jasper Engines & Transmissions
66 Jimmy Hensley (R) Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford Phillips 66 TropArtic
68 Bobby Hamilton TriStar Motorsports Ford Country Time
71 Jim Sauter Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet Marcis Auto Racing
77 Mike Potter Balough Racing Buick Kenova Golf Course Construction
90 Hut Stricklin Donlavey Racing Ford Maxx Race Cards
94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile Sunoco

Qualifying

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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 145.267 miles per hour (233.785 km/h) in the first round.[4]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

[edit]
Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 24.782 145.267
2 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 24.852 144.858
3 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac 24.936 144.370
4 94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 25.016 143.908
5 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 25.119 143.318
6 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 25.123 143.295
7 8 Dick Trickle Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 25.143 143.181
8 15 Geoff Bodine Bud Moore Engineering Ford 25.149 143.147
9 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 25.153 143.124
10 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 25.162 143.073
11 18 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 25.181 142.965
12 41 Dave Marcis Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 25.221 142.738
13 11 Bill Elliott Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 25.223 142.727
14 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 25.223 142.727
15 22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 25.259 142.523
16 42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac 25.278 142.416
17 55 Ted Musgrave RaDiUs Motorsports Ford 25.293 142.332
18 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Ford 25.324 142.158
19 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 25.336 142.090
20 90 Hut Stricklin Donlavey Racing Ford 25.337 142.085
Failed to lock in Round 1
21 21 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 24.976 144.138
22 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 25.015 143.914
23 68 Bobby Hamilton TriStar Motorsports Ford 25.015 143.914
24 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 25.067 143.615
25 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 25.184 142.948
26 66 Jimmy Hensley (R) Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 25.210 142.800
27 16 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Roush Racing Ford 25.342 142.057
28 77 Mike Potter Balough Racing Buick 25.430 141.565
29 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 25.592 140.669
30 71 Jim Sauter Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 25.704 140.056
31 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 25.914 138.921
32 9 Chad Little Melling Racing Ford 26.078 138.047
33 12 Jeff Purvis Bobby Allison Motorsports Chevrolet 26.303 136.867
34 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 26.403 136.348
35 53 Graham Taylor Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 27.790 129.543
36 48 James Hylton Hylton Motorsports Pontiac 28.024 128.461
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 6 5 Ricky Rudd Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 32 running 180 $64,965
2 13 11 Bill Elliott Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 500 261 running 180 $51,260
3 16 42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac 500 0 running 165 $27,310
4 29 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 499 0 running 160 $29,410
5 21 21 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 498 0 running 155 $21,980
6 22 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Oldsmobile 497 16 running 155 $22,205
7 4 94 Terry Labonte Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 496 0 running 146 $15,805
8 17 55 Ted Musgrave RaDiUs Motorsports Ford 496 0 running 142 $15,105
9 31 10 Derrike Cope Whitcomb Racing Chevrolet 495 0 running 138 $11,355
10 23 68 Bobby Hamilton TriStar Motorsports Ford 493 0 running 134 $16,805
11 19 4 Ernie Irvan Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 493 16 running 135 $16,905
12 11 18 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 490 0 running 127 $12,505
13 26 66 Jimmy Hensley (R) Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 487 0 running 124 $9,755
14 8 15 Geoff Bodine Bud Moore Engineering Ford 486 0 running 121 $11,405
15 20 90 Hut Stricklin Donlavey Racing Ford 484 0 running 118 $6,155
16 3 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Pontiac 483 0 running 115 $13,830
17 24 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 483 0 running 112 $10,630
18 30 71 Jim Sauter Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 475 0 running 109 $7,415
19 2 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 470 92 engine 111 $13,830
20 14 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 470 0 running 103 $15,480
21 5 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 470 82 running 105 $17,880
22 18 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Ford 430 0 running 97 $10,130
23 34 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 399 0 engine 94 $5,230
24 10 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Oldsmobile 398 0 running 91 $9,930
25 28 77 Mike Potter Balough Racing Buick 382 0 running 88 $5,130
26 12 41 Dave Marcis Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 364 0 handling 85 $6,730
27 7 8 Dick Trickle Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 276 0 crash 82 $6,630
28 25 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 272 0 crash 79 $9,555
29 32 9 Chad Little Melling Racing Ford 271 0 crash 76 $4,930
30 9 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 263 0 crash 73 $13,880
31 27 16 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Roush Racing Ford 214 0 engine 70 $11,260
32 33 12 Jeff Purvis Bobby Allison Motorsports Chevrolet 179 0 crash 67 $9,305
33 15 22 Sterling Marlin Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 175 0 engine 64 $9,230
34 1 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 91 1 crash 66 $17,180
35 36 48 James Hylton Hylton Motorsports Pontiac 89 0 engine 58 $4,480
36 35 53 Graham Taylor Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 3 0 engine 55 $$4,455
Official race results

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ Higgins, Tom (September 21, 1992). "Rudd slips by Elliott to capture Peak 500". St. Lucie News Tribune. p. 17. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ McKee, Sandra (September 21, 1992). "Rudd gases up, goes on to Dover victory". The Baltimore Sun. p. 32. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. September 18, 1992. p. 14. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ Martin, Gerald (September 19, 1992). "Kulwicki, last off line, takes pole in backup car". The News and Observer. p. 25. Retrieved February 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
Previous race:
1992 Miller Genuine Draft 400 (Richmond)
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1992 season
Next race:
1992 Goody's 500