1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series - Motorcraft Quality Parts 500

Motorcraft Quality Parts 500

The Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was held March 15 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The #6 of Mark Martin won the pole. It became evident late in the race that hometown favorite Elliott would not be victorious on this day. They had missed on the set-up and he was muddled near 15th all day. Late in the race, leaders Allison, Kulwicki and Gant pitted under green for what would be their final pit stop of the day. Every car on the lead lap had pitted for tires and fuel for the final run, except Elliott, whose Budweiser Ford has always enjoyed remarkable fuel mileage. Suddenly, Mike Wallace spins his Dick Moroso Oldsmobile in turn two, bringing out a caution with 40 laps to go. Astonishingly, the result left Elliott on a lap by himself. Elliott cruised the next 40 circuits for his third straight victory. Perhaps crew chief Tim Brewer said it best when he quipped, "Maybe we should have backed into Victory Lane, that's sure how we got here!" Gant, Eamhardt, Allison and Trickle rounded out the top five.

Top Ten Results

1. 11-Bill Elliott
2. 33-Harry Gant
3. 3-Dale Earnhardt
4. 28-Davey Allison
5. 8-Dick Trickle
6. 15-Geoff Bodine
7. 7-Alan Kulwicki
8. 42-Kyle Petty
9. 94-Terry Labonte
10. 21-Morgan Shepherd

• Bill Elliott won this race as a result of superior fuel mileage (due to an ill-handling car, which did not allow a desirable race pace) and a lucky caution flag that fell at Lap 285 (for Hut Stricklin's blown engine) after everyone else had already made a green-flag pit stop. This put Elliott on a lap of his own and he easily kept the lead while he pitted under the yellow. 13 cars restarted on the tail end of the lead lap as they passed Bill when he pitted. Bill's handling evidently improved, as he easily defeated Harry Gant by 18 seconds. Elliott and Gant became tied for second in points, 58 behind Davey Allison.