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 at the finish line to take his 36th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would finish third.
Background
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a D-shaped, asphalt racetrack located just outside Richmond, Virginia, in Henrico County. It is known as "America's premier short track."
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMake1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord8Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord12Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Brett BodineKing RacingFord28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac32Randy PorterPorter RacingPontiac33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile41Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac49Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobile59Andy Belmont (R)Pat Rissi RacingFord66Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet88Jeff FullerBandzul RacingPontiac90Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFord94Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile98Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet
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. 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.
Bill Elliott, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 22.252 and an average speed of .
Two drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed111Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord22.252121.337228Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord22.394120.568342Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac22.463120.198422Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord22.473120.14457Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord22.476120.128633Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile22.502119.989730Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac22.530119.840812Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet22.547119.750926Brett BodineKing RacingFord22.548119.745104Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet22.551119.7291121Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord22.567119.644122Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac22.568119.6381325Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.573119.6121415Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord22.592119.511156Mark MartinRoush RacingFord22.602119.4581698Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet22.640119.258171Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile22.649119.2111817Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet22.668119.1111994Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile22.709118.8962041Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.710118.8902118Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet22.758118.640228Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord22.793118.4572366Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord22.816118.3382468Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile22.829118.2712543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac22.842118.2032610Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet22.854118.141275Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.861118.1052871Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet22.890117.955293Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.954117.6273088Jeff FullerBandzul RacingPontiac23.082116.9743116Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord23.103116.8683255Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobile23.129116.7373352Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac23.158116.5903449Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet23.361115.577Provisional3590Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFord23.373115.518Failed to qualify3659Andy Belmont (R)Pat Rissi RacingFord24.372110.7833732Randy PorterPorter RacingPontiac - -Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings1111Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord400348running185$272,700257Alan KulwickiAK RacingFord4000running170$36,5253633Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobile40048running170$31,9504228Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFord4001running165$25,10051817Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet4003running160$21,7756275Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet4000running150$16,0507422Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord3990running146$13,70081994Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobile3990running142$12,2509812Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevrolet3990running138$11,950101121Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord3990running134$13,60011293Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet3990running130$16,600121698Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevrolet3980running127$10,650132118Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet3980running124$4,800141325Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3970running121$13,70015104Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet3970running118$14,360161415Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFord3970running115$12,22517122Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiac3960running112$12,42518171Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobile3960running109$9,875192610Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevrolet3960running106$5,55020342Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac3950running103$9,325212543Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac3950running100$9,87522228Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFord3940running97$9,100232366Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord3930running94$5,925243116Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFord3930running91$4,150253255Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobile3930running88$8,750263590Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFord3920running85$5,675273449Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevrolet3920running82$4,050282871Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet3890running79$5,600293088Jeff FullerBandzul RacingPontiac3860water pump76$4,00030156Mark MartinRoush RacingFord3630running73$11,970312468Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobile3530rear end70$9,500322041Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet3420running67$3,92533926Brett BodineKing RacingFord2670axle64$9,43534730Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac2590engine61$8,400353352Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiac930engine58$4,400Failed to qualify3659Andy Belmont (R)Pat Rissi RacingFord3732Randy PorterPorter RacingPontiacOfficial race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Davey Allison 525 1 2 Harry Gant 462 (-63) 3 3 Bill Elliott 457 (-68) 2 4 Morgan Shepherd 438 (–87) 1 5 Terry Labonte 434 (–91) 1 6 Geoff Bodine 401 (–124) 4 7 Alan Kulwicki 400 (–125) 8 8 Darrell Waltrip 384 (–141) 4 9 Hut Stricklin 367 (–158) 1 10 Rick Mast 360 (–165)Official driver's standings
Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References