1992 Winston 500

1992 Winston 500

Race details
Race 9 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1992 Winston 500 program cover, featuring Harry Gant.
Date	May 3, 1992
Official name	23rd Annual Winston 500
Location	Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Average speed	167.609 miles per hour (269.741 km/h)
Attendance	142,500
Pole position
Driver	Ernie Irvan	Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Time	49.660
Most laps led
Driver	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing
Laps	110
Winner
No. 28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1992 Winston 500 was the ninth stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 2, 1992, before an audience of 142,500 in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. At race's end, Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 16th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, April 30, at 4:00 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, May 1, at 4:30 PM 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,^[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.

Ernie Irvan, driving for Morgan–McClure Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 49.660 and an average speed of 192.831 miles per hour (310.331 km/h) in the first round.^[4]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Davey Allison 1,399 2 2 Bill Elliott 1,332 (-67) 1 3 Harry Gant 1,289 (-110) 1 4 Alan Kulwicki 1,281 (–118) 1 5 Morgan Shepherd 1,257 (–142) 1 6 Dale Earnhardt 1,240 (–159) 4 7 Terry Labonte 1,228 (–171) 8 Geoff Bodine 1,176 (–223) 1 9 Mark Martin 1,148 (–251) 1 10 Dick Trickle 1,111 (–288) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.