Racing History Minute - March 12, 1972
Stock Car Racing History
By the time the Cup teams rolled into the sandhills of Rockingham, NC in mid-March of 1972, they'd already been to California - twice, south to Daytona and to the mid-Atlantic area of Richmond. A roadie, a high banked superspeedway, the flat Indy of the west, and the Virginia bullring - all before spring officially arrived!
The race was a bit surprisingly thin on heavy hitters. Laying out of the race were teams such as the Wood Brothers, Bud Moore and Cotton Owens as well as drivers such as David Pearson, Donnie Allison, Dick Brooks & Charlie Glotzbach. Most apparently didn't like the size of the purse being offered. But the race went on as scheduled.
As the teams got ready for qualifying, Papa Lee apparently gave The King (or perhaps to him Richard was still "the kid") a pointer or two. - Spartanburg Herald
Bobby Allison won the pole in his Junior Johnson-owned, Herb Nab-maintained Coca-Cola Chevy. Bitter rival King Richard lined up alongside him in his STP Plymouth - one of last remaining ones before the Pettys switched the 43 over to Dodge. The surprise of qualifying had to be Buck Baker. The old man belted into a Chevy owned by Harold Furr that supposedly had been parked since the previous summer when it may have been last raced by Dub Simpson in the Talladega 500.
From Gadsden Times
Starting line-up from Jack Carter
Alison was forced to move, however, from the penthouse to the outhouse when NASCAR officials discovered he'd bolted left side tires to the right side of his car. He was forced to start shotgun on the field. Bobby Isaac was moved from his 3rd qualifying spot on the inside of the second row to the top spot alongside Petty.
When the green fell, Allison let it be known he had qualified up front for a reason. The #12 Monte Carlo cut through the field like a hot knife through butter. On lap 68 of the 492-lap race, he took the lead from Isaac. From that point, he led big chunks of the race at a time and surrendering the lead only on occasion. Despite starting last, he managed to race his way past everyone - twice . But after lapping the field and leading 260 laps, *poof* a blown engine put the Coke Machine on the trailer early after only 345 laps.
Buddy Baker had a good track record at Rockingham and figured the trend would continue - especially with a Maurice Petty hemi under the hood. He led 10 laps early (before Allison blew by everyone), but Buddy's engine broke a valve spring and was done for the day after only 90 laps. He finished 34th - only 2 spots better than his dad. After a strong qualifying run, Buck parked his car with engine woes after only 59 laps.
Raymond Williams finished one spot lower than Buck after losing a water pump. He was then summoned to Joe Frasson's pit to drive a while in relief. But he didn't last long!
Perry Allen Wood writes in his book Declarations of Stock Car Independents :
With Allison and Baker out, the race boiled down to the 2 Mopars of Isaac and Petty. Once Allison exited, Petty managed to lead 3 laps. Otherwise, it was all Isaac the rest of the way. Except for the 3 circuits Petty led, Isaac paced the field for 144 of the race's final 147 laps. He took the checkers with a 1-lap win over the 43. RR member Jim Vandiver finished third - matching the great finish he had in the Daytona 500 three races earlier.
From Lexington NC's The Dispatch
It's often hard for me to believe Isaac didn't win on the superspeedways any more often than he did - especially when paired with Harry Hyde. His win at The Rock was only his 4th superspeedway win of his career - the others being a 1964 Daytona 500 qualifier, the 1969 Texas 500, and the 1971 Firecracker 400. The win also turned out to be the final GN/Cup victory of his NASCAR HOF-deserving career.
About 18 months later, Isaac pulled off the track at Talladega and said he was done with racing. He returned to run a few more Cup races though was rarely in the hunt for a top finish. And 5+ years after his Rockingham win, he was gone.
Race report from Spartanburg Herald
Needless to say, Allison was down in the dumps. I hope he and Buddy Baker were buds because as is often said "misery loves company". Buddy exited early in his #11 STP Petty Enterprises Dodge. - Spartanburg Herald
| Fin | Driver | Car |
| 1 | Bobby Isaac | '72 Dodge |
| 2 | Richard Petty | '72 Plymouth |
| 3 | Jim Vandiver | '70 Dodge |
| 4 | LeeRoy Yarbrough | '71 Ford |
| 5 | Dave Marcis | '70 Dodge |
| 6 | James Hylton | '71 Mercury |
| 7 | Benny Parsons | '71 Ford |
| 8 | Buddy Arrington | '70 Dodge |
| 9 | Elmo Langley | '71 Ford |
| 10 | Neil Castles | '70 Dodge |
| 11 | Larry Smith | '71 Ford |
| 12 | Joe Frasson | '70 Dodge |
| 13 | Jabe Thomas | '70 Plymouth |
| 14 | Ed Negre | '70 Dodge |
| 15 | Ben Arnold | '71 Ford |
| 16 | John Sears | '70 Plymouth |
| 17 | David Ray Boggs | '70 Dodge |
| 18 | Dean Dalton | '71 Mercury |
| 19 | Frank Warren | '70 Dodge |
| 20 | Henley Gray | '71 Ford |
| 21 | H.B. Bailey | '72 Ford |
| 22 | George Altheide | '70 Dodge |
| 23 | Richard D. Brown | '72 Chevrolet |
| 24 | Charlie Roberts | '71 Ford |
| 25 | Ron Keselowski | '70 Dodge |
| 26 | Cecil Gordon | '71 Ford |
| 27 | Bobby Allison | '72 Chevrolet |
| 28 | Johnny Halford | '70 Plymouth |
| 29 | Bill Champion | '71 Ford |
| 30 | G.C. Spencer | '70 Plymouth |
| 31 | Bill Shirey | '70 Plymouth |
| 32 | Walter Ballard | '70 Chevrolet |
| 33 | Les Covey | '70 Chevrolet |
| 34 | Buddy Baker | '72 Dodge |
| 35 | Raymond Williams | '71 Ford |
| 36 | Buck Baker | '72 Chevrolet |
| 37 | Richard Childress | '70 Chevrolet |
| 38 | Dub Simpson | '70 Chevrolet |
| 39 | Bobby Mausgrover | '70 Dodge |
| 40 | Jackie Oliver | '71 Ford |
updated by @tmc-chase: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM
