1992 DieHard 500

The 1992 DieHard 500 was the 17th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 24th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 26, 1992, 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, Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Ernie Irvan would manage to come back from a lap deficit and best out Junior Johnson & Associates driver Sterling Marlin by 19 thousandths of a second to take his sixth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series and his third and final victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Sterling Marlin and Robert Yates Racing driver Davey Allison would finish second and third, respectively.

1992 DieHard 500

Race details
Race 17 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1992 DieHard 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt.
Date	July 26, 1992
Official name	24th Annual DieHard 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	176.309 miles per hour (283.742 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Sterling Marlin	Junior Johnson & Associates
Time	50.245
Most laps led
Driver	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	54
Winner
No. 4	Ernie Irvan	Morgan-McClure Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

With the help of relief driver Bobby Hillin Jr., Davey Allison would manage to retake the driver's championship lead after losing it in the previous race, leading second-place driver Bill Elliott by one point.^[3]

Background

The layout of Talladega Superspeedway, the venue where the race was held.

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.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

#	Driver	Team	Make	Sponsor
0	Delma Cowart	H. L. Waters Racing	Ford	Masters Inn Economy
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	Hut Stricklin	Bobby Allison Motorsports	Chevrolet	Raybestos
13	Stan Fox	Folsom Racing	Chevrolet	Carrier "We're The Inside Guys."
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
37	Randy Porter	Porter Racing	Pontiac	Porter Racing
41	Greg Sacks	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	Mello Yello
43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	STP
49	Stanley Smith	BS&S Motorsports	Chevrolet	Ameritron Batteries
52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing	Pontiac	Williams Service
55	Ted Musgrave	RaDiUs Motorsports	Chevrolet	Jasper Engines & Transmissions
56	T. W. Taylor	Tierney Racing	Pontiac	Bell Motors
59	Andy Belmont (R)	Pat Rissi Racing	Ford	FDP Brakes
66	Jimmy Hensley (R)	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Ford	Phillips 66 TropArtic
68	Bobby Hamilton	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	Country Time
71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	Southeastern Technology Group
85	Bobby Gerhart	Bobby Gerhart Racing	Chevrolet	Thomas Chevrolet
90	Charlie Glotzbach	Donlavey Racing	Ford	SplitFire
94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Ford	Sunoco

*Due to injuries sustained in a crash at the 1992 Miller Genuine Draft 500, Allison would be replaced by relief driver Bobby Hillin Jr. for qualifying.^[4] During the race, Allison would manage to start the race, before being replaced by Hillin Jr. As a result of starting the race, Allison is credited with the finish.^[5]

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 24, 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, July 25, at 10:00 AM 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,^[6] 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 50.245 and an average speed of 190.586 miles per hour (306.718 km/h) in the first round.^[7]

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	22	Sterling Marlin	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	50.245	190.586
2	5	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.298	190.385
3	28	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	50.332	190.257
4	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	50.438	189.857
5	26	Brett Bodine	King Racing	Ford	50.472	189.729
6	42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	50.500	189.624
7	4	Ernie Irvan	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.611	189.208
8	18	Dale Jarrett	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	50.740	188.727
9	30	Michael Waltrip	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	50.742	188.720
10	21	Morgan Shepherd	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	50.836	188.370
11	49	Stanley Smith	BS&S Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.837	188.367
12	9	Chad Little	Melling Racing	Ford	50.854	188.304
13	17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	50.862	188.274
14	15	Geoff Bodine	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	50.868	188.252
15	11	Bill Elliott	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	50.905	188.115
16	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	50.918	188.067
17	1	Rick Mast	Precision Products Racing	Oldsmobile	50.931	188.019
18	7	Alan Kulwicki	AK Racing	Ford	50.937	187.997
19	90	Charlie Glotzbach	Donlavey Racing	Ford	50.972	187.868
20	66	Jimmy Hensley (R)	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Ford	51.064	187.529
Failed to lock in Round 1
21	94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Ford	51.112	187.353
22	16	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Roush Racing	Ford	51.139	187.254
23	12	Hut Stricklin	Bobby Allison Motorsports	Chevrolet	51.178	187.112
24	10	Derrike Cope	Whitcomb Racing	Chevrolet	51.342	186.514
25	55	Ted Musgrave	RaDiUs Motorsports	Chevrolet	51.350	186.485
26	25	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	51.409	186.271
27	52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing	Pontiac	51.428	186.202
28	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Pontiac	51.535	185.815
29	41	Greg Sacks	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	51.541	185.794
30	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	51.601	185.578
31	68	Bobby Hamilton	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	51.605	185.563
32	33	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports	Oldsmobile	51.739	185.083
33	8	Dick Trickle	Stavola Brothers Racing	Ford	51.955	184.313
34	85	Bobby Gerhart	Bobby Gerhart Racing	Chevrolet	51.991	184.186
35	71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	52.154	183.610
36	13	Stan Fox	Folsom Racing	Chevrolet	52.617	181.994
37	59	Andy Belmont (R)	Pat Rissi Racing	Ford	53.014	180.632
38	0	Delma Cowart	H. L. Waters Racing	Ford	53.081	180.404
39	37	Randy Porter	Porter Racing	Pontiac	53.187	180.044
40	56	T. W. Taylor	Tierney Racing	Pontiac	53.874	177.748
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

Fin	St	#	Driver	Team	Make	Laps	Led	Status	Pts	Winnings
1	7	4	Ernie Irvan	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	41	running	180	$81,815
2	1	22	Sterling Marlin	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	188	34	running	175	$54,760
3	3	28	Davey Allison	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	188	30	running	170	$42,845
4	2	5	Ricky Rudd	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	54	running	170	$32,195
5	15	11	Bill Elliott	Junior Johnson & Associates	Ford	187	6	running	160	$27,965
6	6	42	Kyle Petty	SABCO Racing	Pontiac	187	0	running	150	$20,840
7	9	30	Michael Waltrip	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	187	0	running	146	$18,640
8	12	9	Chad Little	Melling Racing	Ford	187	0	running	142	$10,990
9	26	25	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	0	running	138	$18,960
10	5	26	Brett Bodine	King Racing	Ford	187	7	running	139	$17,530
11	28	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Pontiac	187	3	running	135	$17,220
12	25	55	Ted Musgrave	RaDiUs Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	0	running	127	$15,640
13	10	21	Morgan Shepherd	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	187	0	running	124	$14,520
14	22	16	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Roush Racing	Ford	187	0	running	121	$8,550
15	4	43	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	187	0	running	118	$14,325
16	23	12	Hut Stricklin	Bobby Allison Motorsports	Chevrolet	187	0	running	115	$13,740
17	32	33	Harry Gant	Leo Jackson Motorsports	Oldsmobile	186	0	running	112	$18,075
18	21	94	Terry Labonte	Hagan Racing	Ford	186	0	running	109	$13,170
19	29	41	Greg Sacks	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	186	0	running	106	$9,790
20	16	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	186	0	running	103	$16,250
21	8	18	Dale Jarrett	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	186	13	running	105	$12,270
22	24	10	Derrike Cope	Whitcomb Racing	Chevrolet	186	0	running	97	$9,090
23	13	17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	186	0	running	94	$16,460
24	31	68	Bobby Hamilton	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	185	0	running	91	$12,630
25	18	7	Alan Kulwicki	AK Racing	Ford	185	0	running	88	$14,700
26	17	1	Rick Mast	Precision Products Racing	Oldsmobile	185	0	running	85	$11,275
27	11	49	Stanley Smith	BS&S Motorsports	Chevrolet	185	0	running	82	$6,555
28	33	8	Dick Trickle	Stavola Brothers Racing	Ford	185	0	running	79	$8,085
29	35	71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	184	0	running	76	$7,990
30	19	90	Charlie Glotzbach	Donlavey Racing	Ford	184	0	running	73	$6,345
31	20	66	Jimmy Hensley (R)	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Ford	184	0	running	70	$8,575
32	27	52	Jimmy Means	Jimmy Means Racing	Pontiac	181	0	running	67	$7,730
33	39	37	Randy Porter	Porter Racing	Pontiac	180	0	running	64	$6,135
34	34	85	Bobby Gerhart	Bobby Gerhart Racing	Chevrolet	179	0	running	61	$6,090
35	40	56	T. W. Taylor	Tierney Racing	Pontiac	138	0	piston	58	$6,045
36	36	13	Stan Fox	Folsom Racing	Chevrolet	102	0	engine	55	$6,010
37	38	0	Delma Cowart	H. L. Waters Racing	Ford	100	0	running	52	$5,985
38	14	15	Geoff Bodine	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	76	0	engine	49	$10,450
39	37	59	Andy Belmont (R)	Pat Rissi Racing	Ford	53	0	engine	46	$6,155
40	30	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	52	0	engine	43	$18,140
Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Davey Allison 2,501 1 2 Bill Elliott 2,500 (-1) 3 Alan Kulwicki 2,381 (-120) 4 Harry Gant 2,372 (–129) 5 Mark Martin 2,208 (–293) 2 6 Ricky Rudd 2,202 (–299) 7 Terry Labonte 2,142 (–336) 2 8 Dale Earnhardt 2,142 (–359) 9 Morgan Shepherd 2,111 (–390) 3 10 Sterling Marlin 2,106 (–395) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

1. Higgins, Tom (July 27, 1992). "Irvin wins DieHard 500 by just .019". Santa Maria Times. p. 17. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. Harris, Mike (July 27, 1992). "Irvan learning how to win". Alabama Journal. p. 13. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. Higgins, Tom (July 27, 1992). "Hillin helps hobbled Allison with a 3rd-place showing". The Charlotte Observer. p. 13. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Sims, Tommy; Archibold, Hunt (July 25, 1992). "Davey takes big step towards DieHard 500 drive". The Montgomery Advertiser. p. 43. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Romano, John (July 27, 1992). "For a switch, Hillin finishes". Tampa Bay Times. p. 19. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. July 23, 1992. p. 14. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Harris, Mike (July 25, 1992). "Marlin takes DieHard pole". The Evening Sun. p. 17. Retrieved February 2, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.

Previous race: 1992 Miller Genuine Draft 500

NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1992 season

Next race: 1992 Budweiser at The Glen