1972 Daytona 500
Introduction The '''1972 Daytona 500''', the 14th running of the event, was held on February 20, 1972, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. A. J. Foyt, driving a 1971 Mercury, won the race.First Daytona 500 starts for David Sisco and Walter Ballard. Only Daytona 500 start for Richard D. Brown, George Altheide, David Ray Boggs, Ed Hessert, Larry Dickson, Jimmy Finger, Mark Donohue, and Raymond Williams. Last Daytona 500 starts for Vic Elford, Henley Grey, Ben Arnold, Bill Seifert, Elmo Langley, and Bill Champion.
Summary Foyt drove his number 21 to victory after starting the race from the outside front-row position. There were three cautions flags which slowed the race for a total of 17 laps. Foyt dominated the event, winning by almost two laps over his closest competitor. The victory over Charlie Glotzbach was Foyt's first win of the season.The 1972 Daytona 500 has the distinction of being the event which had the fewest leaders for a NASCAR race held at Daytona International Speedway; with only Foyt, Richard Petty, and Bobby Allison recorded as leading a lap during the competition. The Daytona 500 was the second event held during the 1972 season, and completed in three hours and five minutes with an average speed of 161 mph. There were a total of 13 lead changes between Foyt, Allison, and Petty throughout the race.Foyt's victory would earn him a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated, the first time for a reigning Daytona 500 champion.Walter Ballard had a huge crash in this race on lap 16 as a result of getting together with Buddy Baker in the tri-oval. Baker himself would disappear from the race on lap 18.Ballard went upside down after climbing the nose of Baker's car. He rolled into the tri-oval grass and barrel rolled 3 times before coming back onto all fours. Both drivers were uninjured.Raymond Williams earned the dubious honor of being the only driver ever to both begin and finish in last-place in the same Daytona 500.Also, attrition was through the roof in this race, as only 26 cars even made it 200 miles, just 22 cars ran at least half the race, and just 19 made it 110 laps. Also, the distances between some of the leading finishers were just astounding. Third-place finisher Jim Vandiver (and fourth-place Benny Parsons) was six laps/15 miles behind the winner, fifth-place James Hylton was 9 laps/22.5 miles behind, sixth-place Cale Yarborough was 12 laps/30 miles or 6% of the race distance behind, and 10th-place finisher Vic Elford was 18 laps/45 miles or 9% of the race distance behind Foyt.Bobby Isaac won the pole but A.J. Foyt overtook him right at the start although the two fought for the lead on the first lap. As Foyt pulled away Issac's day turned out to be a short one as engine problems put the K&K Insurance Dodge on the trailer before the 10 percent mark of the race.
Statistics Reference: Finish Start Car no. Driver Owner/Sponsor Car make 1 2 21 A. J. Foyt Purolator   (Wood Brothers) 1971 Mercury 2 6 6 Charlie Glotzbach American Brakeblok / Signal Stat (Cotton Owens) 1971 Dodge 3 8 31 Jim Vandiver O.L. Nixon 70 Dodge 4 33 72 Benny Parsons L.G. DeWitt 1970 Mercury 5 35 48 James Hylton Pop Kola   (James Hylton) 1971 Ford 6 16 3 Cale Yarborough Ray Fox 1971 Plymouth 7 23 5 David Sisco Charlie McGee 1972 Chevrolet 8 21 25 Jabe Thomas Don Robertson 1970 Plymouth 9 15 4 John Sears J. Marvin Mills Heating & Air   (J. Marvin Mills) 1970 Plymouth 10 13 23 Vic Elford Don Robertson 1970 Plymouth 11 26 3 Tommy Gale Frank Vasko 1971 Mercury 12 38 64 Elmo Langley Elmo Langley 1971 Ford 13 5 91 Richard D. Brown Ralph McNabb 1972 Chevrolet 14 37 19 Henley Gray Henley Gray 1971 Ford 15 34 0 George Altheide George Altheide 1970 Dodge 16 4 12 Bobby Allison Coca-Cola   (Richard Howard) 1972 Chevrolet 17 20 76 Ben Arnold Ben Arnold 1971 Ford 18 7 79 Frank Warren Frank Warren 1970 Dodge 19 25 57 David Ray Boggs David Ray Boggs 1970 Dodge 20 27 86 Ed Hessert Neil Castles 1970 Dodge 21 30 44 Larry Dickson Giachetti Brothers   (Richard Giachetti) 1971 Ford 22 9 56 Jim Hurtubise Richard Hammond 1970 Chevrolet 23 14 90 Bill Dennis Junie Donlavey 1972 Ford 24 19 70 J. D. McDuffie J. D. McDuffie 1971 Chevrolet 25 3 14 Coo Coo Marlin Cunningham-Kelley   (H.B. Cunningham) 1972 Chevrolet 26 32 43 Richard Petty STP   (Petty Enterprises) 1972 Plymouth 27 12 2 Dave Marcis Dave Marcis 1972 Dodge 28 28 88 Ron Keselowski Roger Lubinski 1970 Dodge 29 36 45 Bill Seifert Bill Seifert 1971 Ford 30 18 97 Red Farmer Willie Humphries 1972 Ford 31 17 61 Jimmy Finger Bierschwale-Haverlah   (Don Bierschwale) 1971 Ford 32 22 67 Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington 1970 Plymouth 33 1 71 Bobby Isaac K & K Insurance   (Nord Krauskopf) 1972 Dodge 34 31 11 Buddy Baker STP   (Petty Enterprises) 1972 Dodge 35 10 16 Mark Donohue American Motors   (Roger Penske) 1972 Matador 36 29 30 Walter Ballard Ballard Racing   (Vic Ballard) 1971 Ford 37 24 9 Ramo Stott Housby Racing   (Jack Housby) 1972 Dodge 38 39 10 Bill Champion Bill Champion 1971 Ford 39 11 24 Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon 1971 Mercury 40 40 47 Raymond Williams Raymond Williams 1971 Ford
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