Today is the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Hooters 500 from Atlanta Motor Speedway. What is the significance of this you ask? It was on this day in 1992 that several things that were relevant to the history of Nascar all occurred.
First of which, it was the day Nascar's king left his throne as Richard Petty finished his final race as a driver. The conclusion of a 35 year career in Nascar's top series. This for me was saying goodbye to an old friend because Richard was my first "favorite" Nascar driver. I dare say that if you grew up a Nascar fan at any point from the late 60's to the early 90's, there isn't one person out there who at the very least didn't include Richard among their favorite drivers. He may not have been your top choice but if your driver couldn't win that day, then you wanted to see Richard win. Richard Petty was my favorite from the time I was old enough to really know what was going on(circa 1990) and was gradually replaced by Davey Allison who also factored into the significance of this day in 1992. Richard's final lap after the race ended was one of the best tributes to any driver that's ever been done and even today, I get a little teary eyed when I watch it.
Secondly, it was also the debut race of Jeff Gordon. Many people consider this race when the "torch was passed" from Richard Petty to Jeff Gordon and I disagree with that statement for the simple fact it completely negates what Dale Earnhardt would do for the next few years. I personally consider 1996 to be when the torch was passed to Gordon but it came from Earnhardt, not Petty. Gordon has gone on to be arguably the most successful driver in the post-Richard Petty era.
Thirdly, before the gimmicked system came in, it was the closest points race in Nascar history. At the start of the race, 6 drivers were mathematically capable of winning the championship. Davey Allison, Bill Elliott, Alan Kulwicki, Kyle Petty, Harry Gant, and Mark Martin. It was also significant in that Dale Earnhardt was not only out of the championship hunt, he wasn't even in the top 10. This was the 2nd of only 2 times Earnhardt wouldn't finish a season in the top 10 in points in his career as a full time driver.
In the end, Alan Kulwicki would go on to be the last owner/driver to win a championship in Nascar's top series(sorry folks, Tony Stewart's 2011 abortion doesn't count). He would win his championship by a mere 10 points. Regrettably, Alan would not get to properly defend his title as he would be killed a few months later in April 1993 after his plane crashed just outside of Bristol Tennessee. Davey Allison would arguably be robbed of the title after being caught up in a wreck by Ernie Irvan. In a case of irony, Irvan would later become the full time replacement in the Robert Yates #28 car after Davey's untimely passing a few months later in July 1993. Kyle Petty, Bill Elliott and Harry Gant would never again come so close to a championship.
Many fans consider this to be the official transition from the old guard to the new guard in Nascar. I'm not sure I fully agree with that. I think there have been many eras and transitions in Nascar history and I don't think this to really be one of them because I consider these transitions to be when becomes obvious that a driver who had previously been the top driver has been replaced as the top driver. Earnhardt was still the top driver at the time and he would win the next 2 championships before, in my opinion, the official transition took place in 1996. I might make a list sometime of when I consider these transitions to have taken place. A few I can think of would be:
1976: Cale Yarborough officially overtakes Richard Petty
1981: Darrell Waltrip officially overtakes Cale Yarborough
1986: Dale Earnhardt officially overtakes Darrell Waltrip
1996: Jeff Gordon officially overtakes Dale Earnhardt
2006: Jimmie Johnson officially* overtakes Jeff Gordon
For the record, yes, the asterisk is there on purpose. In regards to different "eras" of Nascar, those are much more easily defined. Honestly, in reminiscing about this race and its significance, I have to say it was lost on me at the time. All I thought about was Richard's retirement and Davey Allison not winning the title. It's only as I've gotten older that I've realized where this race ranks in the history of Nascar. I don't believe we would see another race with this level of importance until the 2001 Daytona 500 and that race was important for all the wrong reasons.
