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Date May 28, 1972 (1972-May-28) Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 mi (2.410 km) Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965 km) Weather Temperatures reaching up to 73.9 °F (23.3 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) Average speed 142.255 miles per hour (228.937 km/h) | ||
The 1972 World 600, the 13th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on May 28, 1972, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the American community of Concord, North Carolina.
Contents
South Carolina's blue laws were in full force during the era of the race and bull-baiting was considered to be illegal on a Sunday along with several other things that were considered to be prohibited. The pace car driver was Robert "Bob" Colvin who nearly got arrested for violating the "blue laws" before he found out that they were for someone else's bad checks.
In addition to watching the event live, NASCAR followers who either lived or visited the Concord, North Carolina region could watch it on their transistor radios; a key to following the major NASCAR races prior to ESPN and Twitter.
Summary
It took four hours and thirteen minutes to resolve 400 laps of action spanning 1.500 miles (2.414 km) per lap. Amateur home video helped to capture the most important 49 minutes of this racing event. Three cautions were handed by NASCAR for 24 laps. More than 80,000 live spectators would see Buddy Baker defeat Bobby Allison by almost 24 seconds while going at speeds of up to 142.555 miles per hour or 229.420 kilometres per hour. The pole position speed would be 158.162 miles per hour or 254.537 kilometres per hour. Jim Vandiver would become the last-place finisher due to a transmission problem on lap 11.
James Hylton became the lowest-finishing driver to finish this race. Even the mighty Richard Petty would suffer an engine problem. His first win from the World 600 (now Coca-Cola 600) series of racing events would come in 1975. Larry Smith, who would go on to become NASCAR's Rookie of the Year, finished sixth in this race. A Rookie of the Year from 1957, Mr. Ken Rush, would make his final NASCAR Cup Series appearance in this racing event. He would only make a 29th-place finish out of a 31st place start.
Out of the 40-car grid, all except one (Jackie Oliver) were born in the United States. Oliver was born in Walton-on-Thames, England. More notable for his Formula One appearances, he was like the Juan Pablo Montoya of the late 1960s and the early 1970s.
Finishing order
* Driver failed to finish race
† signifies that the driver is known to be deceased