1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series - Mountain Dew Southern 500

Mountain Dew Southern 500

The Mountain Dew Southern 500 was held September 6 at Darlington Raceway. The #22 of Sterling Marlin won the pole. The focus again turned to Davey Allison and the Texaco team. It was his last shot at the coveted Winston Million. As the gloomy day progressed, it became evident Allison would be in contention for the bonus. Allison remained in the top three more than anyone all day long and led at the halfway point. Allison had only two worries, hard-charging Mark Martin and Mother Nature. Again, Lady Luck turned on Allison. Allison and Martin both pitted under green on lap 292 of the 367-lap event. Just five laps later, the skies opened and the rain that had threatened all day, finally came. Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott and Brett Bodine were among half the field that had not yet pitted. When the red flag was displayed on lap 298, Waltrip was the leader. Shortly thereafter, the race was called and Waltrip was declared the winner. It was Darrell's second consecutive win, but most notably, his first career Southern 500 victory. Martin was second, Elliott — who had been running out of the top 10 all day — finished third, Bodine fourth and Allison fifth. Elliott stretched his lead over Allison to 119 points.

• In the thick of the 1992 election season, Bill Clinton was the grand marshal for this race.
• This race was shortened to 298 laps due to rain.
• This was Darrell Waltrip's 84th, and final, Winston Cup victory.
• Davey Allison was dominant as he looked to win the Winston Million. The caution came out at lap 278 for rain. Crew chief Larry McReynolds sent a crew member to the NASCAR hauler to look at the weather radar. The crew member's inability to properly read the radar led to Allison pitting under the caution for four tires as raindrops were beginning to fall. Allison settled for the $100,000 consolation prize for winning 2 of the 4 Winston Million races.
• Bill Elliott' s point lead grew to 119 over the dejected Davey Allison. Alan Kulwicki was still in striking distance at 161 points behind.