1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series in Encyclopedia

The 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season began on Sunday January 23 and ended on Sunday November 12. Richard Petty won his second consecutive Winston Cup Championship and third overall. Larry Smith was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year.

This season is considered to be the first of NASCAR's "modern era". The number of races was reduced from 48 to 31, all dirt tracks were removed from the schedule, and a minimum race distance of 250 miles (402 km) was established for oval tracks.

Season recap

Date	Event	Circuit	Winner
January 23	Winston Western 500	Riverside International Raceway	Richard Petty
February 20	Daytona 500	Daytona International Speedway	A.J. Foyt
February 27	Richmond 500	Richmond International Raceway	Richard Petty
March 5	Miller High Life 500	Ontario Motor Speedway	A.J. Foyt
March 12	Carolina 500	North Carolina Speedway	Bobby Isaac
March 26	Atlanta 500	Atlanta International Raceway	Bobby Allison
April 9	Southeastern 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	Bobby Allison
April 16	Rebel 500	Darlington Raceway	David Pearson
April 23	Gwyn Staley 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Richard Petty
April 29	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway	Richard Petty
May 7	Winston 500	Talladega Superspeedway	David Pearson
May 28	World 600	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Buddy Baker
June 4	Mason-Dixon 500	Dover Downs International Speedway	Bobby Allison
June 11	Motor State 400	Michigan International Speedway	David Pearson
June 18	Golden State 400	Riverside International Raceway	Ray Elder
June 25	Lone Star 500	Texas World Speedway	Richard Petty
July 4	Firecracker 400	Daytona International Speedway	David Pearson
July 9	Volunteer 500	Bristol Motor Speedway	Bobby Allison
July 16	Northern 300	Trenton Speedway	Bobby Allison
July 23	Dixie 500	Atlanta International Raceway	Bobby Allison
August 6	Talladega 500	Talladega Superspeedway	James Hylton
August 20	Yankee 400	Michigan International Speedway	David Pearson
August 27	Nashville 420	Nashville Speedway	Bobby Allison
September 4	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway	Bobby Allison
September 10	Capital City 500	Richmond International Raceway	Richard Petty
September 17	Delaware 500	Dover Downs International Speedway	David Pearson
September 24	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway	Richard Petty
October 1	Wilkes 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway	Richard Petty
October 8	National 500	Charlotte Motor Speedway	Bobby Allison
October 22	American 500	North Carolina Speedway	Bobby Allison
November 12	Texas 500	Texas World Speedway	Buddy Baker

1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

Contents

Season recap

Final Point Standings

References

External links