1972 Talladega 500

1972 Talladega 500

Race details
Race 21 of 31 in the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Map of the Talladega Superspeedway
Date	August 6, 1972 (1972-08-06)
Location	Talladega Superspeedway (Talladega, Alabama)
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.660 mi (4.280 km)
Distance	188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 87.1 °F (30.6 °C); wind speeds up to 5.1 miles per hour (8.2 km/h)[1]
Average speed	148.728 miles per hour (239.355 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Bobby Isaac	K&K Insurance Racing
Most laps led
Driver	James Hylton	James Hylton
Laps	106
Winner
No. 48	James Hylton	James Hylton
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

The 1972 Talladega 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on August 6, 1972, at Talladega Superspeedway in the American community of Talladega, Alabama.

The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend's race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.

Summary

Bobby Isaac won the pole position award for the race while breezing through the solo qualifying session at speeds up to 190.677 miles per hour (306.865 km/h). Taking place on August 6, 1972, at Talladega Superspeedway in the American community of Talladega, Alabama, it took three hours and twenty-two minutes to resolve the event.

I was going with the old tire anyway.

—James Hylton

James Hylton won the race;^[2] his reward for a long day's work would involve collecting a $24,865 prize ($140,189.54 when adjusted for inflation).^[3] This is a very controversial race because NASCAR used threaded tires and was disastrous for most teams. Hylton won because he didn't have the money to buy the new tires and used old nonthreaded tires.^[4] Darrell Waltrip would lead his first laps in the race that would kickstart his nascent NASCAR Winston Cup Series career.

Many drivers were out of the race by lap 5 because of a big crash. By the days end, only 18 cars finished the race and only two cars finished on the lead lap. One lap 188, Hylton and ARCA legend Ramo Stott battled to the finish. Hylton won the race by less than one second. 3rd place Bobby Allison was five laps down. It was Hylton's 2nd and final win in NASCAR.

Top ten finishers^[5]

1. James Hylton – #48
2. Ramo Stott – #90
3. Bobby Allison – #12 (5 laps down)
4. Red Farmer – #97 (8 laps down)
5. Buddy Arrington – #67 (9 laps down)
6. Ben Arnold – #76 (10 laps down)
7. Richard Petty – #43 (11 laps down)
8. Henley Gray – #19 (13 laps down)
9. Raymond Williams – #47 (15 laps down)
10. Jim Hurtubise – #56 (17 laps down)

References