1972 Daytona 500

Auto race run in Florida in 1972 February 2025 1972 NASWINSTON 2 31 1972_Daytona_500_program_cover_and_logo.jpg 1972 Daytona 500 program cover 1972 2 20 200 500 804.672 Temperatures reaching up to 57 F C; wind speeds approaching 15.9 mph km/hhttp://www.almanac.com/weather/history/FL/Daytona%20Beach/1972-02-20 Weather of the 1972 Daytona 500 The Old Farmers' Almanac 2014-03-09 161.55 mi/h Bobby Isaac Nord Krauskopf Bobby Isaac Nord Krauskopf Bobby Allison Richard Howard A. J. Foyt Wood Brothers Racing 167 21 A. J. Foyt Wood Brothers Racing ABC Wide World of Sports Keith Jackson, Chris Economaki The 1972 Daytona 500, the 14th running of the event, was held on February 20, 1972, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. A. J. Foyt, driving a 1971 Mercury, won the race. It was the first Daytona 500 starts for David Sisco and Walter Ballard. It was the only Daytona 500 start for Richard D. Brown, George Altheide, David Ray Boggs, Ed Hessert, Larry Dickson, Jimmy Finger, Mark Donohue, and Raymond Williams. It was the last Daytona 500 starts for Vic Elford, Henley Grey, Ben Arnold, Bill Seifert, Elmo Langley, and Bill Champion. Summary Foyt drove his number 21 to victory after starting the race from the outside front-row position. There were three cautions flags which slowed the race for a total of 17 laps.http://www.racing-reference.info/race?id=1972-02&series=W 1972 Daytona 500 racing-reference.info 2009-08-16 Foyt dominated the event, winning by almost two laps over his closest competitor.http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/season-recaps/1970s/1972-nascar.htm 1972 NASCAR Grand National Recap HowStuffWorks, Inc.; Publications International, Ltd. 1 2009-08-16 2009-06-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20090603100110/http://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-racing/nascar/season-recaps/1970s/1972-nascar.htm dead The victory over Charlie Glotzbach was Foyt's first win of the season.Fleischman Bill Al Pearce The Unauthorized NASCAR Fan Guide: 2004 Checkered Flag Press; Visible Ink Press Canton, MI 2004 10 2004 229 of 576 Race Results: 1949–2002; 1960 0-681-27587-1 registration https://archive.org/details/unauthorizednasc00/page/229 The 1972 Daytona 500 has the distinction of being the event which had the fewest leaders for a NASCAR race held at Daytona International Speedway; with only Foyt, Richard Petty, and Bobby Allison recorded as leading a lap during the competition.http://www.frontstretch.com/kdehaven/6987/ Frontstretch Folio: Daytona 500 DeHaven Kim February 16, 2007 The Frontstretch 2009-11-02 https://web.archive.org/web/20090930100844/http://www.frontstretch.com/kdehaven/6987/ 2009-09-30 dead The Daytona 500 was the second event held during the 1972 season,http://www.racing-reference.info/raceyear?yr=1972&series=W 1972 Winston Cup Results racing-reference.info 2009-11-03 2012-10-18 https://web.archive.org/web/20121018201851/http://www.racing-reference.info/raceyear?yr=1972&series=W dead and completed in three hours and five minutes with an average speed of 161 mph. There were a total of 13 lead changes between Foyt, Allison, and Petty throughout the race.http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/News/DAYTONA-500-History/DAYTONA-500-Winners/1972-Daytona-500-Results.aspx 1972 Daytona 500 Results Daytona International Speedway 2009-11-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20101228072511/http://www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com/News/DAYTONA-500-History/DAYTONA-500-Winners/1972-Daytona-500-Results.aspx 2010-12-28 dead Foyt's victory would earn him a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first time for a reigning Daytona 500 champion. Walter Ballard had a serious crash in this race on lap 16 as a result of colliding with Buddy Baker in the tri-oval. Baker himself would retire from the race on lap 18. Ballard went upside down after climbing the nose of Baker's car. He rolled into the tri-oval grass and barrel rolled 3 times before coming back onto all fours. Both drivers were uninjured. Raymond Williams earned the dubious honor of being the only driver ever to both begin and finish in last-place in the same Daytona 500. Also, attrition was through the roof in this race, as only 26 cars even made it 200 miles, just 22 cars ran at least half the race, and just 19 made it 110 laps. Also, the distances between some of the leading finishers were just astounding. Third-place finisher Jim Vandiver (and fourth-place Benny Parsons) was six laps/15 miles behind the winner, fifth-place James Hylton was 9 laps/22.5 miles behind, sixth-place Cale Yarborough was 12 laps/30 miles or 6% of the race distance behind, and 10th-place finisher Vic Elford was 18 laps/45 miles or 9% of the race distance behind Foyt. Bobby Isaac won the pole but A.J. Foyt overtook him right at the start although the two fought for the lead on the first lap. As Foyt pulled away Issac's day turned out to be a short one as engine problems put the K&K Insurance Dodge on the trailer before the 10 percent mark of the race. Race results Pos Grid No. Car number Driver Entrant Manufacturer Laps Laps completed Winnings Laps led Laps as the lead driver Time/Status 1 2 21 A. J. Foyt Wood Brothers Racing 1971 Mercury 200 $45,400 167 3:05:42 2 6 6 Charlie Glotzbach Cotton Owens 1971 Dodge 199 $16,250 0 +1 Lap 3 8 31 Jim Vandiver O. L. Nixon 1970 Dodge 194 $10,475 0 +6 Laps 4 33 72 Benny Parsons L. G. DeWitt 1970 Mercury 194 $7,150 0 +6 Laps 5 35 48 James Hylton James Hylton 1971 Ford 191 $5,925 0 +9 Laps 6 16 3 Cale Yarborough Ray Fox 1971 Plymouth 188 $4,660 0 +12 Laps 7 23 05 David Sisco Charlie McGee 1972 Chevrolet 186 $4,215 0 +14 Laps 8 21 25 Jabe Thomas Don Robertson 1970 Plymouth 184 $4,365 0 +16 Laps 9 15 4 John Sears J. Marvin Mills 1970 Plymouth 183 $4,145 0 +17 Laps 10 13 23 Vic Elford Don Robertson 1970 Plymouth 182 $3,445 0 +18 Laps 11 26 03 Tommy Gale Frank Vasko 1971 Mercury 182 $2,405 0 +18 Laps 12 38 64 Elmo Langley Elmo Langley 1971 Ford 181 $2,700 0 +19 Laps 13 5 91 Richard D. Brown Ralph McNabb 1972 Chevrolet 179 $3,525 0 +21 Laps 14 37 19 Henley Gray Henley Gray 1971 Ford 179 $2,395 0 +21 Laps 15 34 0 George Altheide George Altheide 1970 Dodge 177 $1,750 0 +23 Laps 16 4 12 Bobby Allison Richard Howard 1972 Chevrolet 177 $4,900 2 +23 Laps 17 20 76 Ben Arnold Ben Arnold 1971 Ford 176 $1,760 0 +24 Laps 18 7 79 Frank Warren Frank Warren 1970 Dodge 170 $2,300 0 Engine 19 25 57 David Ray Boggs David Ray Boggs 1970 Dodge 165 $1,630 0 +35 Laps 20 27 86 Ed Hessert Neil Castles 1970 Dodge 107 $1,170 0 Distributor 21 30 44 Larry Dickson Richard Giachetti 1971 Ford 103 $1,535 0 Engine 22 9 56 Jim Hurtubise Richard Hammond 1970 Chevrolet 100 $1,700 0 Engine 23 14 90 Bill Dennis Donlavey Racing 1972 Ford 85 $2,120 0 Valve 24 19 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing 1971 Chevrolet 84 $2,010 0 Oil pressure 25 3 14 Coo Coo Marlin H. B. Cunningham 1972 Chevrolet 81 $1,975 0 Valve 26 32 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises 1972 Plymouth 80 $5,060 31 Valve 27 12 2 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing 1972 Dodge 57 $2,025 0 Engine 28 28 88 Ron Keselowski Roger Lubinski 1970 Dodge 44 $1,370 0 Piston 29 36 45 Bill Seifert Bill Seifert 1971 Ford 44 $1,830 0 Steering 30 18 97 Red Farmer Willie Humphries 1972 Ford 32 $1,375 0 Engine 31 17 61 Jimmy Finger Don Bierschwale 1971 Ford 26 $1,350 0 Head gasket 32 22 67 Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington 1970 Plymouth 21 $1,300 0 Crash 33 1 71 Bobby Isaac Nord Krauskopf 1972 Dodge 19 $10,230 0 Engine 34 31 11 Buddy Baker Petty Enterprises 1972 Dodge 18 $2,300 0 Crash 35 10 16 Mark Donohue Penske Racing 1972 Matador 18 $1,375 0 Push rod 36 29 30 Walter Ballard Vic Ballard 1971 Ford 16 $1,660 0 Crash 37 24 9 Ramo Stott Jack Housby 1972 Dodge 13 $1,165 0 Oil pressure 38 39 10 Bill Champion Bill Champion 1971 Ford 13 $1,585 0 Crank 39 11 24 Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon 1971 Mercury 11 $1,725 0 Valve 40 40 47 Raymond Williams Raymond Williams 1971 Ford 4 $800 0 Steering Source:1972 Daytona 500 References 1971 Daytona 500 1973 Daytona 500 Daytona 500 races 1959-present Daytona 500 Category:NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway Daytona 500 Daytona 500