1992 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500


The 1992 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 15, 1992, in Hampton, Georgia at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 328 laps to complete. With the help of a late caution, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott would manage to pull away on the final restart with 40 to go to take his 37th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his third victory of the season, and his third consecutive victory. To fill out the top three, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Atlanta Motor Speedway is a 1.522-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of where before it was. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Entry list

' - denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMakeSponsor
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
9Dorsey SchroederMelling RacingFordMelling Racing
10Derrike CopeWhitcomb RacingChevroletPurolator Filters
11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordBudweiser
12Hut StricklinBobby Allison MotorsportsChevroletRaybestos
13Dave Mader IIIFolsom RacingChevroletFolsom Racing
15Geoff BodineBud Moore EngineeringFordMotorcraft
16Wally Dallenbach Jr.Roush RacingFordKeystone
17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevroletWestern Auto
18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletInterstate Batteries
20Mike WallaceMoroso RacingOldsmobile1st Ade
21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFordCitgo
22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordMaxwell House
23Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobileAuto Finders
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletKodiak
26Brett BodineKing RacingFordQuaker State
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordTexaco, Havoline
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacPennzoil
31Bobby Hillin Jr.Team IrelandChevroletTeam Ireland
32Jimmy HortonActive MotorsportsChevroletActive Motorsports
33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal Bandit
41Greg SacksLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevroletKellogg's Frosted Flakes
42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiacMello Yello
43Richard PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiacSTP
47Buddy BakerClose RacingOldsmobileClose Racing
49Stanley SmithBS&S MotorsportsChevroletAmeritron Batteries
50Clay YoungClay Young RacingPontiacAflac
52Jimmy MeansJimmy Means RacingPontiacJimmy Means Racing
55Ted MusgraveRaDiUs MotorsportsOldsmobileJasper Engines & Transmissions
66Chad LittleCale Yarborough MotorsportsFordPhillips 66 TropArtic
68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobileCountry Time
71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletAbilene Boots
77Mike PotterBalough RacingChevroletKenova Trucking
83Lake SpeedSpeed RacingChevroletPurex
85Mike SkinnerMansion MotorsportsChevroletGlidden
90Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFordSplitFire
94Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobileSunoco
95Bob Schacht 'Sadler Brothers RacingOldsmobileShoney's
98Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesChevroletMoly Black Gold

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 13, at 2:30 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 Saturday, March 14, at 10:30 AM 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; which was usually two. 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.
Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.453 and an average speed of in the first round.
Four drivers would fail to qualify.

Standings after the race

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