| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 31 of 31 in the 1972 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
| Date | November 12, 1972 | ||
| Location | Texas World Speedway (College Station, Texas) | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi (3.218 km) |
||
| Distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Avg Speed | 147.059 miles per hour (236.669 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | A.J. Foyt | Wood Brothers | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Buddy Baker | Nord Krauskopf | |
| Laps | 133 | ||
| Winner | |||
| 71 |
Buddy Baker |
Nord Krauskopf | |
| Television | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1972 Texas 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on November 12, 1972 at Texas World Speedway in the American community of College Station, Texas.[1][2]
250 laps were done on a paved track spanning 2 miles (3.2 km) in front of 33000 live spectators.[1][2] It took exactly three hours and twenty-four seconds for Buddy Baker to defeat A.J. Foyt by ½ of a car length.[1] Foyt had earned the pole position with a speed of 170.273 miles per hour (274.028 km/h) during the qualifying runs even though the actual race speeds approached 147.059 miles per hour (236.669 km/h).[1][2] Five cautions were given out by NASCAR for 29 laps.[1][2] All the 44 drivers on the racing grid were American-born males.[1] Bill Seifert of the famous Giachetti Brothers (headed by Richard Giachetti) finished the race in last place due to a clutch problem in the first lap of the race.[1]
Unfortunately, this race broke Bobby Allison's streak of leading a lap from the 1971 Southern 500 all the way to the 1972 American 500. This streak would be known as the "Joe DiMaggio Streak" after the famous baseball player, and it has not been attempted by any driver after this date.