1972 Carolina 500
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| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 31 in the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Layout of Rockingham Speedway | |||
| Date | March 12, 1972 | ||
| Official name | Carolina 500 | ||
| Location | North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina | ||
| Course length | 1.636 km (1.017 miles) | ||
| Distance | 492 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures of 48.7 °F (9.3 °C); wind speeds of 13.00 miles per hour (20.92 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 113.895 miles per hour (183.296 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | K&K Insurance Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bobby Isaac | K&K Insurance Racing | |
| Laps | 210 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Bobby Isaac | K&K Insurance Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers | Keith Jackson, Chris Economaki | ||
The 1972 Carolina 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on March 12, 1972, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina.
ABC tape-delayed coverage of this race until March 18, 1972, when it was shown as ABC Championship Auto Racing and abbreviated to 90 minutes including commercials.[3]
Qualifying
The race took place on a paved track spanning 1.017 miles (1.637 km), it took four hours and twenty-three minutes to complete all 492 laps of the race.[2] Bobby Isaac defeated Richard Petty by at one lap in front of 42500 people; marking his final career win.[2] Isaac would earn the pole position with a qualifying speed of 137.539 miles per hour (221.348 km/h).[2][4] Meanwhile, the average race speed was 113.895 miles per hour (183.296 km/h).[2] Eight cautions slowed the race for 57 laps.[2] Jimmy Vandiver finished in 3rd place with a ragtag crew of repairmen who had never worked a NASCAR race before and were assembled just hours before the race began; he improved on his qualifying position of 16th place even though he was unable to lead any laps.[2]
Baker only added this race at the last minute because there were so few other big teams. Baker broke a valve Spring in his 426 wedge and fell out early. Allison dominated the first half of the race and then blew up. Petty had several cut tires and finally broke a rear spring. That left Issac who was running a highly restricted 426 Hemi a clear path to the win.
British-born competitor Jackie Oliver finished in last place due to an engine issue on the first lap while Canadian-born Les Covey would fail to finish due to a clutch problem on lap 127. The rest of the 40-car grid was American-born drivers.[2][5] NASCAR noticed that Allison's car had right side tires on the left side and vice versa after qualifying and told Junior to switch them, he wouldn't because NASCAR didn't even look at any other team, so they put the car in the back to start.
Neil Castles would record his final top ten in his NASCAR Cup Series career.[6]
Notable crew chiefs at this race; included Harry Hyde, Dale Inman, Tom Vandiver and Lee Gordon.[7]
| Grid[2] | No. | Driver | Manufacturer | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Bobby Isaac | '72 Dodge | Nord Krauskopf |
| 2 | 43 | Richard Petty | '72 Plymouth | Petty Enterprises |
| 3 | 72 | Benny Parsons | '71 Ford | L.G. DeWitt |
| 4 | 11 | Buddy Baker | '72 Dodge | Petty Enterprises |
| 5 | 2 | Dave Marcis | '70 Dodge | Dave Marcis |
| 6 | 93 | Buck Baker | '72 Chevrolet | Harold Furr |
| 7 | 18 | Joe Frasson | '70 Dodge | Joe Frasson |
| 8 | 64 | Elmo Langley | '71 Ford | Elmo Langley |
| 9 | 45 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | '71 Ford | Bill Seifert |
| 10 | 90 | Jackie Oliver | '71 Ford | Junie Donlavey |