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1992 Mello Yello 500


Race details
Race 26 of 29 in the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1992 Mello Yello 500 program cover, featuring Richard Petty. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
October 11, 1992
33rd Annual Mello Yello 500
Concord, North Carolina, Charlotte Motor Speedway
Permanent racing facility
1.5 miles (2.41 km)
334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km)
334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km)
153.537 miles per hour (247.094 km/h)
162,500
.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}Alan KulwickiAK Racing
30.163
Kyle PettySABCO Racing
129
Mark MartinRoush Racing
TBS
Ken Squier, Neil Bonnett
Performance Racing Network

The 1992 Mello Yello 500 was the 26th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 11, 1992, before an audience of 162,500 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. At race's end, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would manage to make a late-race pass on eventual second-place finisher, owner-driver Alan Kulwicki with 32 laps to go to take his seventh career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty would finish third.

With poor finishes from the top two in the driver's championship standings, those being Bill Elliott and Davey Allison, the points battle had tightened to extreme margins, with the top five in the driver's championship all being within 100 points within the leader with three races left in the season, the first time of such an occurrence in NASCAR history.

Bobby Hillin Jr. was disqualified after the race after his car was found to have illegal engine in post-race inspection. It was the last time a disqualification was levied in the Cup Series for technical infringement until 2019, when Erik Jones was disqualified from the 2019 Federated Auto Parts 400. The disqualification affected the team Hillin drove for, which opted to shut down after it was unable to pay for the fines levied for the inspection failure.

The layout of Charlotte Motor Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMake
1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile
2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac
3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet
5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
05Ed FerreeFerree RacingChevrolet
6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord
7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord
8Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord
9Chad LittleMelling RacingFord
10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet
11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord
12Jeff PurvisBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet
15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord
16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord
17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet
18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet
21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord
22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
26Brett BodineKing RacingFord
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac
31Bobby Hillin Jr.Team IrelandChevrolet
33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile
41Dick TrickleLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac
43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac
45Rich BickleTerminal Trucking MotorsportsFord
48James HyltonHylton MotorsportsPontiac
49Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac
55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord
57Bob Schacht (R)Stringer MotorsportsOldsmobile
65Jerry O'NeilAroneck RacingOldsmobile
66Jimmy Hensley (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord
68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFord
71Jim SauterMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet
77Mike PotterBalough RacingBuick
82Mark StahlStahl RacingFord
83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFord
85Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevrolet
90Pancho CarterDonlavey RacingFord
94Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile
97Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, October 7, at 5:00 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 Thursday, October 8, 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, 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, won the pole, setting a time of 30.163 and an average speed of 179.027 mph (288.116 km/h) in the first round.

Five drivers would fail to qualify.

Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord30.163179.027
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet30.204178.784
4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet30.429177.462
6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord30.438177.410
5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet30.578176.598
21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord30.590176.528
18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet30.623176.338
26Brett BodineKing RacingFord30.657176.142
66Jimmy Hensley (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord30.673176.051
17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet30.703175.879
3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30.742175.655
15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord30.749175.615
94Terry LabonteHagan RacingChevrolet30.772175.484
10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet30.777175.456
83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFord30.780175.439
11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord30.789175.387
8Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord30.799175.330
33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile30.821175.205
22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord30.878174.882
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac30.885174.842
2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac30.924174.622
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord30.964174.396
1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile30.964174.396
12Jimmy SpencerBobby Allison MotorsportsFord30.992174.239
9Chad LittleMelling RacingFord31.019174.087
68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsFord31.079173.751
97Hut StricklinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord31.130173.466
31Bobby Hillin Jr.Team IrelandChevrolet31.138173.422
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac31.166173.266
55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsFord31.177173.205
90Pancho CarterDonlavey RacingFord31.275172.662
43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac31.283172.618
45Rich BickleTerminal Trucking MotorsportsFord31.626172.381
65Jerry O'NeilAroneck RacingOldsmobile31.371172.133
16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord31.468171.603
49Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet31.514171.352
57Bob Schacht (R)Stringer MotorsportsOldsmobile31.556171.124
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac31.582170.983
71Jim SauterMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet31.591170.935
41Dave MarcisLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet31.645170.643
77Mike PotterBalough RacingBuick-*-*
05Ed FerreeFerree RacingChevrolet-*-*
85Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevrolet-*-*
82Mark StahlStahl RacingFord-*-*
48James HyltonHylton MotorsportsPontiac-*-*
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