1972 Texas 500

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1972 Texas 500
Race details
Race 31 of 31 in the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season

Texas World Speedway
Date November 12, 1972 (1972-November-12)
Location Texas World Speedway (College Station, Texas)
Course Permanent racing facility
2.000 mi (3.218 km)
Distance 250 laps, 500 mi (804.68 km)
WeatherTemperatures up to 75.9 °F (24.4 °C); wind speeds up to 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h)[1]
Average speed 147.059 miles per hour (236.669 km/h)
Pole position
Driver A.J. Foyt Wood Brothers Racing
Most laps led
Driver Buddy Baker K&K Insurance Racing
Laps 133
Winner
No. 71
 Buddy Baker
 K&K Insurance Racing
Television in the United States
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.[2][3]

Summary

Two hundred and fity laps were done on a paved track spanning 2 miles (3.2 km) in front of 33,000 live spectators.[2][3] It took exactly three hours and twenty-four seconds for Buddy Baker to defeat A.J. Foyt by ½ of a car length.[2] 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).[2][3] Five cautions were given out by NASCAR for 29 laps.[2][3] All the 44 drivers on the racing grid were American-born males.[2] 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.[2]

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.

Individual prize winnings for each driver ranged from the winner's share of $14,920 ($83,264.76 in today's money) to the last-place finishers' share of just $705 ($3,934.43 in today's money). The total prize purse for this racing event was locked in at $88,270 ($492,612.61 in today's money).[4]

Top twenty finishers

  1. Buddy Baker
  2. A.J. Foyt
  3. Richard Petty
  4. Bobby Allison
  5. Hershel McGriff
  6. Benny Parsons
  7. Coo Coo Marlin
  8. Cecil Gordon
  9. Cale Yarborough
  10. Joe Frasson
  11. James Hylton
  12. Dave Marcis
  13. Ramo Stott
  14. J.D. McDuffie
  15. Ben Arnold
  16. John Sears
  17. Dick Brooks
  18. Walter Ballard
  19. Jim Whitt
  20. Dean Dalton

References

  1. ↑ "1972 Texas 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-09-07. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "1972 Texas 500 race information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2011-04-03. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "1972 Texas 500 race information (second reference)". Database Racing. Retrieved 2011-04-04. 
  4. ↑ "1972 Texas 500 prize winnings information". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-11-10. 
Preceded by
1972 American 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Races
1972-73 		Succeeded by
1973 Winston Western 500
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