1992 Pontiac Excitement 400
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}{{Short description|Third race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}
{{Infobox NASCAR race report|Type=NASWINSTON|Race_No=3|Distance_mi=300|Year=1992|Pole_Time=22.252|Race_Name=Pontiac Excitement 400|Course_mi=0.75|Scheduled_km=482.803|Distance_km=482.803|Course_km=1.21|Distance_laps=400|Scheduled_laps=400|Scheduled_mi=300|Official_name=38th Annual Pontiac Excitement 400|Location=Richmond, Virginia, Richmond International Raceway|Avg={{convert|104.378|mph|km/h}}|Season_No=29|Date=March 8|Car=11|Radio=Motor Racing Network|Network=TBS|Announcers=Ken Squier, Neil Bonnett|Most_laps=348|First_Driver=Bill Elliott|First_Team=Junior Johnson & Associates|Most_Driver=Bill Elliott|Pole_Driver=Bill Elliott|Pole_Team=Junior Johnson & Associates|Most_Team=Junior Johnson & Associates|Caption=The 1992 Pontiac Excitement 400 program cover, with artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.|Image=1992_Pontiac_Excitement_400.jpeg|Attendance=65,200}}
The 1992 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the third stock car race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 38th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 8, 1992, before an audience of 65,200 in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In a close finish, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott would manage to complete a dominant performance by besting challenger Alan Kulwicki by {{Convert|18|in|cm}} at the finish line to take his 36th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Mike |date=March 9, 1992 |title=Another win for Elliott |pages=21 |work=The Morning Call |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117118841/another-win-for-elliott/ |access-date=January 24, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=March 9, 1992 |title=Elliott ekes out rich win at Richmond |pages=20 |work=The Dispatch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117119017/elliott-ekes-out-rich-win-at-richmond/ |access-date=January 24, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} To fill out the top three, Leo Jackson Motorsports driver Harry Gant would finish third.
Background
File:Richmond_International_Speedway.png, the venue where the race was at.]]
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
= Entry list =
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
!# !Driver !Team !Make !Sponsor |
| 1 |
| 2 |
| 3 |
| 4 |
| 5
|Tide |
| 6
|Ford |
| 7
|Ford |
| 8
|Ford |
| 10 |
| 11
|Ford |
| 12 |
| 15
|Ford |
| 16
|Ford |
| 17 |
| 18 |
| 21
|Ford |
| 22
|Ford |
| 25 |
| 26
|Ford |
| 28
|Ford |
| 30 |
| 32 |
| 33 |
| 41 |
| 42 |
| 43
|STP |
| 49 |
| 52 |
| 55 |
| 59
|Andy Belmont (R) |Ford |
| 66
|Ford |
| 68 |
| 71 |
| 88 |
| 90
|Ford |
| 94 |
| 98 |
Qualifying
Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 6, at 2:30 PM EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21-40 meant to be determined the following day on Saturday, March 7.{{Cite news |date=March 6, 1992 |title=NASCAR today |pages=8 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117119400/nascar-today/ |access-date=January 24, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} However, due to rain, the second round was cancelled. As a result, the rest of the starting lineup was set using the results from the first round.{{Cite news |date=March 8, 1992 |title=Rain washes out NASCAR qualifying |pages=23 |work=The Dispatch |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117119859/rain-washes-out-nascar-qualifying/ |access-date=January 24, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}
Bill Elliott, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 22.252 and an average speed of {{Convert|121.337|mph|km/h}}.{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Mike |date=March 7, 1992 |title=Elliott takes the pole at Richmond |pages=11 |work=The Item |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117119958/elliott-takes-the-pole-at-richmond/ |access-date=January 24, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}
Two drivers would fail to qualify.
= Full qualifying results =
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
!Pos. !# !Driver !Team !Make !Time !Speed |
| 1
|11 |Ford |22.252 |121.337 |
|---|
| 2
|28 |Ford |22.394 |120.568 |
| 3
|42 |22.463 |120.198 |
| 4
|22 |Ford |22.473 |120.144 |
| 5
|7 |Ford |22.476 |120.128 |
| 6
|33 |22.502 |119.989 |
| 7
|30 |22.530 |119.840 |
| 8
|12 |22.547 |119.750 |
| 9
|26 |Ford |22.548 |119.745 |
| 10
|4 |22.551 |119.729 |
| 11
|21 |Ford |22.567 |119.644 |
| 12
|2 |22.568 |119.638 |
| 13
|25 |22.573 |119.612 |
| 14
|15 |Ford |22.592 |119.511 |
| 15
|6 |Ford |22.602 |119.458 |
| 16
|98 |22.640 |119.258 |
| 17
|1 |22.649 |119.211 |
| 18
|17 |22.668 |119.111 |
| 19
|94 |22.709 |118.896 |
| 20
|41 |22.710 |118.890 |
| 21
|18 |22.758 |118.640 |
| 22
|8 |Ford |22.793 |118.457 |
| 23
|66 |Ford |22.816 |118.338 |
| 24
|68 |22.829 |118.271 |
| 25
|43 |22.842 |118.203 |
| 26
|10 |22.854 |118.141 |
| 27
|5 |22.861 |118.105 |
| 28
|71 |22.890 |117.955 |
| 29
|3 |22.954 |117.627 |
| 30
|88 |23.082 |116.974 |
| 31
|16 |Ford |23.103 |116.868 |
| 32
|55 |23.129 |116.737 |
| 33
|52 |23.158 |116.590 |
| 34
|49 |23.361 |115.577 |
| colspan="7" |Provisional |
| 35
|90 |Ford |23.373 |115.518 |
| colspan="7" |Failed to qualify |
| 36
|59 |Andy Belmont (R) |Ford |24.372 |110.783 |
| 37
|32 | - | - |
| colspan="7" |[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117113432/pontiac-400/ Official first round qualifying results] |
| colspan="7" |[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117113528/nascar-lineup/ Official starting lineup] |
Race results
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
!Fin !St !# !Driver !Team !Make !Laps !Led !Status !Pts !Winnings |
| 1
|1 |11 |Ford |400 |348 |running |185 |$272,700 |
|---|
| 2
|5 |7 |Ford |400 |0 |running |170 |$36,525 |
| 3
|6 |33 |400 |48 |running |170 |$31,950 |
| 4
|2 |28 |Ford |400 |1 |running |165 |$25,100 |
| 5
|18 |17 |400 |3 |running |160 |$21,775 |
| 6
|27 |5 |400 |0 |running |150 |$16,050 |
| 7
|4 |22 |Ford |399 |0 |running |146 |$13,700 |
| 8
|19 |94 |399 |0 |running |142 |$12,250 |
| 9
|8 |12 |399 |0 |running |138 |$11,950 |
| 10
|11 |21 |Ford |399 |0 |running |134 |$13,600 |
| 11
|29 |3 |399 |0 |running |130 |$16,600 |
| 12
|16 |98 |398 |0 |running |127 |$10,650 |
| 13
|21 |18 |398 |0 |running |124 |$4,800 |
| 14
|13 |25 |397 |0 |running |121 |$13,700 |
| 15
|10 |4 |397 |0 |running |118 |$14,360 |
| 16
|14 |15 |Ford |397 |0 |running |115 |$12,225 |
| 17
|12 |2 |396 |0 |running |112 |$12,425 |
| 18
|17 |1 |396 |0 |running |109 |$9,875 |
| 19
|26 |10 |396 |0 |running |106 |$5,550 |
| 20
|3 |42 |395 |0 |running |103 |$9,325 |
| 21
|25 |43 |395 |0 |running |100 |$9,875 |
| 22
|22 |8 |Ford |394 |0 |running |97 |$9,100 |
| 23
|23 |66 |Ford |393 |0 |running |94 |$5,925 |
| 24
|31 |16 |Ford |393 |0 |running |91 |$4,150 |
| 25
|32 |55 |393 |0 |running |88 |$8,750 |
| 26
|35 |90 |Ford |392 |0 |running |85 |$5,675 |
| 27
|34 |49 |392 |0 |running |82 |$4,050 |
| 28
|28 |71 |389 |0 |running |79 |$5,600 |
| 29
|30 |88 |386 |0 |water pump |76 |$4,000 |
| 30
|15 |6 |Ford |363 |0 |running |73 |$11,970 |
| 31
|24 |68 |353 |0 |rear end |70 |$9,500 |
| 32
|20 |41 |342 |0 |running |67 |$3,925 |
| 33
|9 |26 |Ford |267 |0 |axle |64 |$9,435 |
| 34
|7 |30 |259 |0 |engine |61 |$8,400 |
| 35
|33 |52 |93 |0 |engine |58 |$4,400 |
| colspan="11" |Failed to qualify |
| 36
! rowspan="2" | |59 |Andy Belmont (R) |Ford ! colspan="5" rowspan="2" | |
| 37
|32 |
| colspan="11" |[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117112554/sundays-results/ Official race results] |
Standings after the race
{{col-start}}
{{col-2}}
;Drivers' Championship standings
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" |
| ! Pos
! Driver ! Points |
|---|
| align="left"| 10px
| style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 525 |
| align="left"| 10px 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 462 (-63) |
| align="left"| 10px 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 457 (-68) |
| align="left"| 10px 2
| style="text-align:center;"| 4 | style="text-align:center;"| 438 (–87) |
| align="left"| 10px 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 5 | style="text-align:center;"| 434 (–91) |
| align="left"| 10px 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 6 | style="text-align:center;"| 401 (–124) |
| align="left"| 10px 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 7 | style="text-align:center;"| 400 (–125) |
| align="left"| 10px 8
| style="text-align:center;"| 8 | style="text-align:center;"| 384 (–141) |
| align="left"| 10px 4
| style="text-align:center;"| 9 | style="text-align:center;"| 367 (–158) |
| align="left"| 10px 1
| style="text-align:center;"| 10 | style="text-align:center;"| 360 (–165) |
| class="sortbottom"
!colspan="9"|[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117120295/winston-cup/ Official driver's standings] |
- Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
{{col-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}{{NASCAR next race|Previous_race=1992 GM Goodwrench 500|Next_race=1992 Motorcraft Quality Parts 500|Monsteryear=1992|Series=NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}
{{NASCAR on TBS}}{{1992 Winston Cup}}
Category:1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Category:NASCAR races at Richmond Raceway