1992 Coca-Cola 600


The 1992 Coca-Cola 600 was the 10th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 24, 1992, in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to make a late-race pass with 54 to go for the lead to take his 53rd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Ernie Irvan and SABCO Racing driver Kyle Petty would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. with Marcus G. Smith as track president.

Entry list

' denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMakeSponsor
0Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFordMasters Inn Economy
1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingOldsmobileSkoal
2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthPontiacMiller Genuine Draft
3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevroletGM Goodwrench Service Plus
4Ernie IrvanMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevroletKodak
5Ricky RuddHendrick MotorsportsChevroletTide
6Mark MartinRoush RacingFordValvoline
7Alan KulwickiAK RacingFordHooters
8Dick TrickleStavola Brothers RacingFordSnickers
9Dave Mader IIIMelling RacingFordMelling Racing
10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevroletPurolator Filters
11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordBudweiser
12Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevroletRaybestos
15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft
16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFordKeystone
17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevroletWestern Auto
18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletInterstate Batteries
20Joe RuttmanMoroso RacingOldsmobileOrkin
21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFordCitgo
22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordMaxwell House
23Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobileSplitFire
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletKodiak
26Brett BodineKing RacingFordQuaker State
27Gary BaloughLinro MotorsportsChevroletLinro Motorsports
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordTexaco, Havoline
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacPennzoil
31Bobby Hillin Jr.Team IrelandChevroletTeam Ireland
32Randy PorterPorter RacingPontiacPorter Racing
33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal Bandit
41Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevroletKellogg's Frosted Flakes
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiacMello Yello
43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP
48James HyltonHylton MotorsportsPontiacRumple Furniture
49Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevroletAmeritron Batteries
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacJimmy Means Racing
55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobileJasper Engines & Transmissions
66Jimmy Hensley 'Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFordPhillips 66 TropArtic
68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobileCountry Time
71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletFood Lion
73Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobileX-1R
77Mike PotterBalough RacingChevroletKenova Trucking
83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingFordPurex
85Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevroletGlidden
89Jim SauterMueller Brothers RacingPontiacEvinrude
90Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFordDonlavey Racing
94Terry LabonteHagan RacingFordSunoco
95Bob Schacht Sadler Brothers RacingChevroletGlidden
98Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevroletMoly Black Gold

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, May 20, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Thursday, May 21, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time, and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Bill Elliott, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.773 and an average speed of in the first round.
Six drivers would fail to qualify.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings
  • Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.