1992 Pepsi 400


The 1992 Pepsi 400 was the 15th stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 34th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 4, 1992, before an audience of 80,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 160 laps to complete. At race's end, Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Ernie Irvan would manage to dominate the majority of the race to take his fifth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Sterling Marlin and Joe Gibbs Racing driver Dale Jarrett would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

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
9Chad LittleMelling 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
21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFordCitgo
22Sterling MarlinJunior Johnson & AssociatesFordMaxwell House
23Eddie BierschwaleB&B RacingOldsmobileSplitFire
25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevroletKodiak
26Brett BodineKing RacingFordQuaker State
28Davey AllisonRobert Yates RacingFordTexaco, Havoline
30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiacPennzoil
31Bobby Hillin Jr.Team IrelandChevroletSpam
33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsOldsmobileSkoal Bandit
37Randy PorterPorter RacingPontiacPorter Racing
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
59Andy Belmont 'Pat Rissi RacingFordFDP Brakes
66Jimmy Hensley Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFordPhillips 66 TropArtic
68Bobby HamiltonTriStar MotorsportsOldsmobileCountry Time
71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevroletWehrs Chevrolet
73Phil BarkdollBarkdoll RacingOldsmobileX-1R
85Bobby GerhartBobby Gerhart RacingChevroletThomas Chevrolet
90Charlie GlotzbachDonlavey RacingFordSplitFire
94Terry LabonteHagan RacingOldsmobileSunoco
99Brad TeagueBall MotorsportsChevroletTraffic Engineering Services

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, July 2, 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 Friday, July 3, at 1:30 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 provisionals 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.
Sterling Marlin, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 47.527 and an average speed of in the first round.
Three drivers would fail to qualify.

Standings after the race

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