1992 Pontiac Excitement 400 Explained
| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Race No: | 3 |
| Distance Mi: | 300 |
| Year: | 1992 |
| Pole Time: | 22.252 |
| Race Name: | Pontiac Excitement 400 |
| Course Mi: | 0.75 |
| Scheduled Km: | 482.803 |
| Distance Km: | 482.803 |
| Course Km: | 1.21 |
| Distance Laps: | 400 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 400 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 300 |
| Official Name: | 38th Annual Pontiac Excitement 400 |
| Location: | Richmond, Virginia, Richmond International Raceway |
| Avg: | 104.378mph |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Date: | March 8 |
| Car: | 11 |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | TBS |
| Announcers: | Ken Squier, Neil Bonnett |
| Most Laps: | 348 |
| First Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| First Team: | Junior Johnson & Associates |
| Most Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Pole Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Pole Team: | Junior Johnson & Associates |
| Most Team: | Junior Johnson & Associates |
| Caption: | The 1992 Pontiac Excitement 400 program cover, with artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. |
| Attendance: | 65,200 |
The 1992 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the third stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 38th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 8, 1992, before an audience of 65,200 in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In a close finish, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott would manage to complete a dominant performance by besting challenger Alan Kulwicki by 18inches at the finish line to take his 36th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would finish third.
Background
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 6, at 2:30 PM EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-40 meant to be determined the following day on Saturday, March 7.[3] However, due to rain, the second round was cancelled. As a result, the rest of the starting lineup was set using the results from the first round.[4]
Bill Elliott, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 22.252 and an average speed of 121.337mph.[5]
Two drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|
| 1 | 1 | 11 | Bill Elliott | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 400 | 348 | running | 185 | $272,700 |
|---|
| 2 | 5 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 400 | 0 | running | 170 | $36,525 |
|---|
| 3 | 6 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 400 | 48 | running | 170 | $31,950 |
|---|
| 4 | 2 | 28 | Davey Allison | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 400 | 1 | running | 165 | $25,100 |
|---|
| 5 | 18 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 3 | running | 160 | $21,775 |
|---|
| 6 | 27 | 5 | Ricky Rudd | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | running | 150 | $16,050 |
|---|
| 7 | 4 | 22 | Sterling Marlin | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 146 | $13,700 |
|---|
| 8 | 19 | 94 | Terry Labonte | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 399 | 0 | running | 142 | $12,250 |
|---|
| 9 | 8 | 12 | Hut Stricklin | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 138 | $11,950 |
|---|
| 10 | 11 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 134 | $13,600 |
|---|
| 11 | 29 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 130 | $16,600 |
|---|
| 12 | 16 | 98 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | running | 127 | $10,650 |
|---|
| 13 | 21 | 18 | Dale Jarrett | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | running | 124 | $4,800 |
|---|
| 14 | 13 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 397 | 0 | running | 121 | $13,700 |
|---|
| 15 | 10 | 4 | Ernie Irvan | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 397 | 0 | running | 118 | $14,360 |
|---|
| 16 | 14 | 15 | Geoff Bodine | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 115 | $12,225 |
|---|
| 17 | 12 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Pontiac | 396 | 0 | running | 112 | $12,425 |
|---|
| 18 | 17 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Oldsmobile | 396 | 0 | running | 109 | $9,875 |
|---|
| 19 | 26 | 10 | Derrike Cope | Whitcomb Racing | Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | running | 106 | $5,550 |
|---|
| 20 | 3 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 395 | 0 | running | 103 | $9,325 |
|---|
| 21 | 25 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 395 | 0 | running | 100 | $9,875 |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | 8 | Dick Trickle | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 394 | 0 | running | 97 | $9,100 |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | 66 | Chad Little | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 393 | 0 | running | 94 | $5,925 |
|---|
| 24 | 31 | 16 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Roush Racing | Ford | 393 | 0 | running | 91 | $4,150 |
|---|
| 25 | 32 | 55 | Ted Musgrave | RaDiUs Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 393 | 0 | running | 88 | $8,750 |
|---|
| 26 | 35 | 90 | Charlie Glotzbach | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 392 | 0 | running | 85 | $5,675 |
|---|
| 27 | 34 | 49 | Stanley Smith | BS&S Motorsports | Chevrolet | 392 | 0 | running | 82 | $4,050 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 389 | 0 | running | 79 | $5,600 |
|---|
| 29 | 30 | 88 | Jeff Fuller | Bandzul Racing | Pontiac | 386 | 0 | water pump | 76 | $4,000 |
|---|
| 30 | 15 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 363 | 0 | running | 73 | $11,970 |
|---|
| 31 | 24 | 68 | Bobby Hamilton | TriStar Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 353 | 0 | rear end | 70 | $9,500 |
|---|
| 32 | 20 | 41 | Greg Sacks | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 342 | 0 | running | 67 | $3,925 |
|---|
| 33 | 9 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Ford | 267 | 0 | axle | 64 | $9,435 |
|---|
| 34 | 7 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 259 | 0 | engine | 61 | $8,400 |
|---|
| 35 | 33 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 93 | 0 | engine | 58 | $4,400 |
|---|
| Failed to qualify |
|---|
| 36 | | 59 | Andy Belmont (R) | Pat Rissi Racing | Ford | |
|---|
| 37 | 32 | Randy Porter | Porter Racing | Pontiac |
|---|
| Official race results | |
|---|
Standings after the race
- Drivers' Championship standings
- Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
Notes and References
- News: Harris . Mike . March 9, 1992 . Another win for Elliott . 21 . The Morning Call . January 24, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . March 9, 1992 . Elliott ekes out rich win at Richmond . 20 . The Dispatch . January 24, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: March 6, 1992 . NASCAR today . 8 . . January 24, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: March 8, 1992 . Rain washes out NASCAR qualifying . 23 . The Dispatch . January 24, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Harris . Mike . March 7, 1992 . Elliott takes the pole at Richmond . 11 . The Item . January 24, 2023 . Newspapers.com.
