1992 Hooters 500

The 1992 Hooters 500 was the final race of the 1992 NASCAR season, and effectively decided the 1992 Winston Cup Championship. It was held November 15, 1992 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and was televised live on ESPN. The race is widely considered one of the greatest NASCAR races of all-time. The race is further noteworthy in that it marked the final NASCAR start for seven-time champion Richard Petty and the first Winston Cup start for future champion Jeff Gordon.

Bill Elliott won the race, his fifth victory of the 1992 season. However, second place finisher Alan Kulwicki led the most laps, and clinched the 1992 Winston Cup championship by a mere 10 points, the closest margin in NASCAR history at the time. Kulwicki was the most recent owner/driver to win a championship until Tony Stewart in 2011.

The race marks a somber memory in the NASCAR family, as two of the key fixtures of the race were killed a short time afterwards. Kulwicki would be killed in a plane crash on April 1, 1993, and Davey Allison died from injuries suffered in a helicopter crash on July 13, 1993.

Richard Petty who retired at the conclusion of the race, crashed in a fiery accident early in the going. However, he was uninjured, and his team was able to repair his car such that he was running at the finish of his final race.