1972 Carolina 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 31 in the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
Layout of Rockingham Speedway
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| Date | March 12, 1972 | ||
| Official name | Carolina 500 | ||
| Location | North Carolina Motor Speedway, Rockingham, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.636 km) |
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| Distance | 492 laps, 500 mi (804 km) | ||
| Weather | Cold with temperatures averaging around 48.7 °F (9.3 °C); wind speeds approaching 13.00 miles per hour (20.92 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 113.895 miles per hour (183.296 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | K&K Insurance Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bobby Isaac | K&K Insurance Racing | |
| Laps | 210 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Bobby Isaac | K&K Insurance Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | untelevised | ||
| Announcers | none | ||
The 1972 Carolina 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on March 12, 1972, at North Carolina Motor Speedway in Rockingham, North Carolina.
For most of the 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, Bobby Allison and Richard Petty were considered to be the most dominant of the full-time drivers. David Pearson and Buddy Baker were strong performers who unfortunately didn't compete in enough race to have a chance for championship glory.
While the race took place on a paved track spanning 1.017 miles (1.637 km), it took four hours and twenty-three minutes to complete all 492 laps of the race.Bobby Isaac defeated Richard Petty by at least one lap in front of 42500 people. Isaac would earn the pole position with a qualifying speed of 137.539 miles per hour (221.348 km/h). Meanwhile, the average race speed was 113.895 miles per hour (183.296 km/h). Eight cautions were given out for 57 laps. Baker only added this race at the last minute because there were so few other big teams. Baker broke a valve Spring in his 426 wedge and fell out early. Allison dominated the first half of the race and then blew up. Petty had several cut tires and finally broke a rear spring. That left Issac who was running a highly restricted 426 hemi a clear path to the win.
British-born competitor Jackie Oliver finished in last place due to an engine issue on the first lap while Canadian-born Les Covey would fail to finish due to a clutch problem on lap 127. The rest of the 40-car grid would have American-born drivers. NASCAR noticed that Allison's car had right side tires on the left side and vice versa after qualifying and told Junior to switch them, he wouldn't because NASCAR didn't even look at any other team, so they put the car in the back to start.
Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.
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