1972 Daytona 500 - NASCAR Race

Name of Race:	1972 Daytona 500
Name of Track:	Daytona International Speedway
Date:	February 20th

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway is a superspeedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is a 2.5 mile (4 km) tri-oval race track facility with a seating capacity of 168,000 spectators.

It hosts races of motor vehicles of various kinds, including go-karts, dirt bikes, motorcycles, sports cars, modified pickup trucks, and stock cars. The facility also includes a 3.56 mile (5.7 km) road course and a 180-acre infield, including the 29 acre Lake Lloyd.

NASCAR Begins At Daytona

NASCAR was founded by William France Sr. at Daytona Beach, Florida in 1947. The original premiere event in the series was held at the Daytona Beach Road Course. France began planning a new track for the premiere event in his fledgling series in 1953. On August 16, 1954 he signed a contract with city officials to create this new track that would become famous as the Daytona International Speedway. Ground was broken on November 25, 1957 The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track, and the large hole in the infield was filled with water and is now known as Lake Lloyd. The speedway opened on February 22, 1959 to a crowd of 41,000 people.

Daytona 500

The NASCAR Championship's most important race, the Daytona 500, is held annually at Daytona International Speedway. It is a 200-lap, 500 mile (805 km) stock car race. The list of Daytona 500 winners is very long dating back to the inaugural race in 1959, and includes "The King" Richard Petty, and Dale Earnhardt.

More Daytona Races

NASCAR, the premier stock car organization in the United States, holds some of its most important races on this track. These include competitions in its Craftsman Truck Series (where pickup trucks are raced), Busch Series (the stock car junior league), and Nextel Cup series. The Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona is also held at Daytona.

The racing season begins at Daytona starting with the testing sessions. The year's racing begins with the 24 Hours of Daytona race in the Grand American Sports Car series. Then the racing begins for the Nextel Cup with the Budweiser Shootout and the Gatorade Duel. The Craftsman Truck Series begins with the GM Flex Fuel 250. The Busch Series begins with the Hershey's Kissables 300, and then it is back to the Nextel Cup in "The Great American Race," the Daytona 500. The Nextel Cup also features the Pepsi 400 in July at Daytona.

Daytona International Speedway Under The Lights

Lights were installed in 1998 so that the Pepsi 400 could be held at night. However, the race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires that summer. The Pepsi 400 has been held under lights ever since.

It also contains an attraction called Daytona USA The winning car from the Daytona 500 is placed in front of the attraction building each year.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

1972 Daytona 500 NASCAR Race Results

Below are the race results for 1972 Daytona 500, in order of finishing place.

Fin	Driver	Num	Start	Money	Laps	Status	Sponsor
1	A.J. Foyt	21	2	$45,400	200	running	Wood Brothers
2	Charlie Glotzbach	6	6	$16,250	199	running	Cotton Owens
4	Benny Parsons	72	33	$7,150	194	running	L.G. DeWitt
5	James Hylton	48	35	$5,925	191	running	Hylton Engineering
6	Cale Yarborough	3	16	$4,660	188	running	Ray Fox
10	Vic Elford	23	13	$3,445	182	running	Don Robertson
11	Tommy Gale	3	26	$2,405	182	running	Frank Vasko
12	Elmo Langley	64	38	$2,700	181	running	Elmo Langley
13	Richard D. Brown	91	5	$3,525	179	running	Ralph McNabb
14	Henley Gray	19	37	$2,395	179	running	Henley Gray
15	George Altheide	0	34	$1,750	177	running	George Altheide
16	Bobby Allison	12	4	$4,900	177	running	Richard Howard
17	Ben Arnold	76	20	$1,760	176	running	Ben Arnold
19	David Ray Boggs	57	25	$1,630	165	running	David Ray Boggs
20	Ed Hessert	86	27	$1,170	107	distrib	Neil Castles
21	Larry Dickson	44	30	$1,535	103	engine	Giachetti Brothers
22	Jim Hurtubise	56	9	$1,700	100	engine	Richard Hammond
23	Bill Dennis	90	14	$2,120	85	valve	Junie Donlavey
26	Richard Petty	43	32	$5,060	80	valve	Petty Enterprises
27	Dave Marcis	2	12	$2,025	57	engine	Dave Marcis
28	Ron Keselowski	88	28	$1,370	44	piston	Roger Lubinski
30	Red Farmer	97	18	$1,375	32	engine	Willie Humphries
31	Jimmy Finger	61	17	$1,350	26	h gasket	Bierschwale-Haverlah
32	Buddy Arrington	67	22	$1,300	21	crash	Buddy Arrington
33	Bobby Isaac	71	1	$10,230	19	engine	K & K Insurance
34	Buddy Baker	11	31	$2,300	18	crash	Petty Enterprises
35	Mark Donohue	16	10	$1,375	18	push rod	Roger Penske
36	Walter Ballard	30	29	$1,660	16	crash	Ballard Racing
38	Bill Champion	10	39	$1,585	13	crank	Bill Champion
39	Cecil Gordon	24	11	$1,725	11	valve	Cecil Gordon