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On November 15, 1992, NASCAR's season-finale Hooters 500 was held at Atlanta. It remains one of the most historic races.
Since the anniversary falls on a Sunday with no racing, we'll do a thread of race clips posted from the moment they happened.
(Thread)
Since the anniversary falls on a Sunday with no racing, we'll do a thread of race clips posted from the moment they happened.
(Thread)
12:30 p.m. - ESPN's broadcast of the Hooters 500 begins
12:38 p.m. - Richard Petty's family gives the command to start engines
12:46 p.m. - A group of Apache helicopters flew over the track on the pace laps. Richard Petty leads the field one last time
12:50 p.m. - Polesitter Rick Mast leads the field to the green flag. After one lap, Dale Earnhardt bumps Brett Bodine and the leaders crash. Bodine suffers a concussion. Points leader Davey Allison gets minor damage
12:57 p.m. - Still under caution, the damage to Davey Allison's car is examined. The left-rear is bent out after contact with Hut Stricklin. The crew knows it will hurt them aerodynamically but will wait to fix it later
1:06 p.m. - After 9 laps under caution, the race restarts with Dale Earnhardt leading. Quickly, title contenders Bill Elliott and Alan Kulwicki fight for position
1:25 p.m. - With the points as they run 40 laps into the race, Davey Allison still holds a 4 point margin over Alan Kulwicki, only 9 points over Bill Elliott. Dale Earnhardt continues to lead but the battle for 1st is tight.
1:33 p.m. - While leading, Dale Earnhardt runs out of fuel. Geoff Bodine leads for 1 lap before pitting which hands 1st to Bill Elliott, the first championship contender to claim bonus points for leading.
1:35 - During green flag pit stops on lap 65, Michael Waltrip spins on the backstretch to bring out the 2nd caution. Elliott, Kulwicki, and Allison have not yet pitted.
1:37 p.m. - The championship contenders make their pit stops under caution. Elliott comes out with the lead... but trouble for Kulwicki. Alan damages the trasmission leaving the pits. For the rest of the day, he must keep the car in 4th gear at all times
1:46 p.m. - Lap 72: Bill Elliott restarts the race as the leader but has traffic in front of him with several cars restarting on the tail end of the lead lap because of when the caution came out
1:48 p.m. - Battle for the lead... Kulwicki leads a lap by 3 feet, giving him 5 bonus points.
1:52 pm. - Battle for the lead, Kulwicki inside of Elliott, Mark Martin inside both to take the lead. Then Bob Schacht stalls to bring out the 3rd caution
2:01 p.m. - The race restarts on lap 90. Davey Allison took the lead with a two tire pitstop but is quickly passed by Kyle Petty
2:04 pm - "And Richard Petty is flaming going into turn one!"
Lap 95: A crash on the frontstretch takes out several cars, including King Richard
Lap 95: A crash on the frontstretch takes out several cars, including King Richard
2:15 pm - Under caution we hear about Davey Allison's good luck charm in the pits, a pumpkin they got at a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix.
2:23 pm - Richard Petty is interviewed. The crew will try to fix the car so Richard can finish his final race
2:50 pm - After leading 47 laps, Mark Martin falls out of the race with engine trouble. Minutes later, Jeff Gordon hits the wall and pits to repair damage.
2:57 pm - Jeff Gordon's crew left a roll of duct tape sitting on the car making repairs which fell off once he returned to the track. The roll was hit by Davey Allison who radio'ed his crew saying he might have a flat tire.
2:58 pm - Allison updates the crew that he doesn't have a flat, but the big hole in the nose has ruined his handling
3:13 pm - Lap 204: Dale Earnhardt crashed in turn 2 to bring out the 5th caution.
3:17 pm - Davey Allison pits and the crew tries to fix all the damage. A sledgehammer repairs the left-rear damage and a patch panel on the nose fixes the damage done by Jeff Gordon's duct tape.
3:21 pm - Alan Kulwicki and Bill Elliott fight HARD for the lead. Alan takes 1st and leads for the next 101 laps
3:38 pm - As the points run, Davey Allison still leads the standings by 5 over Kulwicki. Then Bobby Hillin blows an engine to bring out the 6th caution
3:51 pm - Lap 254/328: Davey Allison's championship hopes end when Ernie Irvan spins in front of him. The wreck is the seventh caution of the day
4:03 pm - Davey Allison is released from the care center. His interview:
4:19 pm - Davey Allison returns to the track after repairs are made
4:28 pm - Lap 311/328 Alan Kulwicki hits pit road for his final stop. Bill Elliott pits a lap later and overtakes Kulwicki for the lead
4:37 pm - Lap 327/328: Richard Petty comes back on track to finish his career.
Bill Elliott takes the win, Alan Kulwicki wins the championship
Bill Elliott takes the win, Alan Kulwicki wins the championship
4:39 pm - Alan Kulwicki takes his "Polish victory lap."
4:44 pm - Alan Kulwicki climbs from his car as the champion
4:50 pm - Richard Petty and Bill Elliott are interviewed.
And that ends one of auto racing's most emotional, dramatic, and historic days ever.
And that ends one of auto racing's most emotional, dramatic, and historic days ever.
