1992 Pepsi 400
The 1992 Pepsi 400 was the 15th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 34th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 4, 1992, before an audience of 80,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 160 laps to complete. At race's end, Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Ernie Irvan would manage to dominate the majority of the race to take his fifth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Sterling Marlin and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Dale Jarrett would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 15 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1992 Pepsi 400 program cover, featuring Richard Petty. | |||
| Date | July 4, 1992 | ||
| Official name | 34th Annual Pepsi 400 | ||
| Location | Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Average speed | 170.457 miles per hour (274.324 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 80,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Junior Johnson & Associates | ||
| Time | 47.527 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ernie Irvan | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | |
| Laps | 117 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, July 2, 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 Friday, July 3, at 1:30 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 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.
Sterling Marlin, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 47.527 and an average speed of 189.366 miles per hour (304.755 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Three drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 117 | running | 185 | $86,300 |
| 2 | 1 | 22 | Sterling Marlin | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 160 | 2 | running | 175 | $50,025 |
| 3 | 10 | 18 | Dale Jarrett | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 160 | 26 | running | 170 | $37,200 |
| 4 | 17 | 15 | Geoff Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 160 | $26,075 |
| 5 | 20 | 11 | Bill Elliott | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 160 | 4 | running | 160 | $26,500 |
| 6 | 11 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | running | 150 | $22,625 |
| 7 | 5 | 5 | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 2 | running | 151 | $20,875 |
| 8 | 4 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 142 | $19,325 |
| 9 | 29 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Pontiac | 160 | 0 | running | 138 | $18,325 |
| 10 | 3 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 160 | 3 | running | 139 | $23,075 |
| 11 | 15 | 16 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Roush Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 130 | $8,915 |
| 12 | 7 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 127 | $14,350 |
| 13 | 13 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | running | 124 | $17,460 |
| 14 | 12 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 159 | 0 | running | 121 | $13,720 |
| 15 | 23 | 66 | Jimmy Hensley (R) | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 118 | $11,280 |
| 16 | 27 | 55 | Ted Musgrave | RaDiUs Motorsports | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | running | 115 | $13,090 |
| 17 | 19 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Oldsmobile | 159 | 0 | running | 112 | $12,675 |
| 18 | 24 | 12 | Hut Stricklin | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | running | 109 | $12,160 |
| 19 | 8 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 106 | $11,745 |
| 20 | 18 | 90 | Charlie Glotzbach | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 103 | $7,180 |
| 21 | 14 | 94 | Terry Labonte | Hagan Racing | Ford | 158 | 0 | running | 100 | $11,160 |
| 22 | 21 | 49 | Stanley Smith | BS&S Motorsports | Chevrolet | 158 | 0 | running | 97 | $6,140 |
| 23 | 16 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 158 | 0 | running | 94 | $15,970 |
| 24 | 32 | 9 | Chad Little | Melling Racing | Ford | 158 | 0 | running | 91 | $5,850 |
| 25 | 34 | 31 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Team Ireland | Chevrolet | 158 | 0 | running | 88 | $5,730 |
| 26 | 31 | 41 | Greg Sacks | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | running | 85 | $7,410 |
| 27 | 9 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 156 | 0 | running | 82 | $10,065 |
| 28 | 35 | 73 | Phil Barkdoll | Barkdoll Racing | Oldsmobile | 156 | 0 | running | 79 | $5,295 |
| 29 | 39 | 99 | Brad Teague | Ball Motorsports | Chevrolet | 147 | 0 | running | 76 | $5,200 |
| 30 | 26 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 144 | 1 | running | 78 | $13,105 |
| 31 | 37 | 59 | Andy Belmont (R) | Pat Rissi Racing | Ford | 133 | 0 | running | 70 | $5,300 |
| 32 | 40 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | engine | 67 | $6,670 |
| 33 | 25 | 68 | Bobby Hamilton | TriStar Motorsports | Chevrolet | 124 | 0 | crash | 64 | $10,590 |
| 34 | 30 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Chevrolet | 122 | 0 | crash | 61 | $6,535 |
| 35 | 33 | 8 | Dick Trickle | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 122 | 0 | crash | 58 | $6,480 |
| 36 | 2 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 84 | 5 | fatigue | 60 | $10,925 |
| 37 | 36 | 85 | Bobby Gerhart | Bobby Gerhart Racing | Chevrolet | 58 | 0 | fatigue | 52 | $4,870 |
| 38 | 38 | 23 | Eddie Bierschwale | B&B Racing | Oldsmobile | 45 | 0 | quit | 49 | $4,855 |
| 39 | 28 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 24 | 0 | wheel bearing | 46 | $7,045 |
| 40 | 22 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 7 | 0 | engine | 43 | $16,355 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 41 | 0 | Delma Cowart | H. L. Waters Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 42 | 48 | James Hylton | Hylton Motorsports | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 43 | 37 | Randy Porter | Porter Racing | Pontiac | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
- Goodall, Fred (July 5, 1992). "Irvan breaks up Petty's party". The Burlington Free Press. p. 22. Retrieved February 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Coble, Don (July 5, 1992). "Irvan cruises to easy win". Palladium-Item. p. 20. Retrieved February 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. July 2, 1992. p. 12. Retrieved February 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Long, Gary (July 3, 1992). "Pity Marlin, who topped The King". The Miami Herald. p. 165. Retrieved February 1, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.