NASCAR / mark martin

By Zane Miller First round (8) #21 Morgan Shepherd v. (1) #11 Bill Elliott (7) #3 Dale Earnhardt v. (2) #28 Davey Allison (6) #42 Kyle Petty v. (3) #7 Alan Kulwicki (5) #6 Mark Martin v. (4) #33 Harry Gant At Darlington, Bill Elliott took the first win of the series over competitor Morgan Shepherd, finishing third while Shepherd ended up out of the race in 31st after a crash. Speaking of being out of the race, Dale Earnhardt was forced to go behind the wall due to a burned-up clutch. Though he would eventually return to the race, he finished nearly 50 laps down in 29th before the race was called following a rain shower, with Davey Allison solidly in fifth at the red flag. The closest battle was between Kyle Petty and Alan Kulwicki, with Petty hanging onto the seventh spot with Kulwicki in tow in eighth. Meanwhile, Harry Gant struggled despite leading the most laps, winding up a lap down in 16th while Mark Martin nabbed the runner-up spot behind race winner Darrell Waltrip. As the series turned to Richmond, Martin continued to set a furious pace with another second-place finish, taking out Gant with the latter coming home eighth. Also not moving on would be Kulwicki, who finished a lap down in 15th. Although Petty did not do much better in 12th, it would still be enough to secure the semifinal appearance. Shepherd was able to keep his title hopes afloat with a seventh-place run to Elliott’s 14th, while Earnhardt rebounded from his tough day at Darlington to finish fourth while Allison lagged behind in 19th. The two remaining series would be determined at Dover, but Earnhardt did not last long despite a promising start as more mechanical woes led to him finishing several laps down. Allison picked up a fourth-place run while all eyes fell on the Petty-Shepherd series. Both were inside the top-five, though Petty had a significant advantage. When the checkered flag fell after 500 grueling laps, Petty came home third while Shepherd finished two laps down in fifth. Semifinal (6) #42 Kyle Petty v. (1) #11 Bill Elliott (5) #6 Mark Martin v. (2) #28 Davey Allison The semifinal round got underway at Martinsville Speedway, where “Awesome Bill” was less than awesome as he suffered a blown engine before the halfway mark, enabling Petty to cruise to the opening round win with a fourth-place result. Meanwhile, Allison also struggled throughout the afternoon, going four laps down. Martin also was unable to remain on the lead lap by the race’s end, though he still managed a top-10 in eighth to set up an elimination race at North Wilkesboro. While the race in the small North Carolina town was pushed back a day due to rain, both Martin and Petty would put on a show for the Monday matinee. The pair took turns at the front at points in the race, and both were a constant presence among the top five while Allison and Elliott struggled to find consistent speed. Martin came in second to advance past Allison in 11th, while Elliott again had a lackluster run in 26th while Petty grabbed the third spot to move onto the finals as well. Just like that, it was time for the championship bout. Final (6) #42 Kyle Petty v. (5) #6 Mark Martin At Rockingham, Petty would show that he was not messing around as he started on the pole and led 484 of the race’s 492 laps. Leaving absolutely no room for anyone else to steal the spotlight, Petty grabbed the race win, though he didn’t need to do so as Martin crashed out after a single-car incident with just 56 laps to go. However, the drivers’ fortunes would flip at Phoenix, as Petty was shuffled to the mid-pack as Martin climbed his way into the top-five. Martin scored another runner-up finish while Petty went three laps down to finish 19th. With the series now even, the final would be settled at Atlanta Motor Speedway. While the race would be the final Cup Series start for three-time champion Richard Petty, the fanfare would come to an abrupt halt as The King was caught up in a multi-car crash, eventually leading to his #43 ride catching fire. Despite clearly being disappointed with what had just transpired, Richard watched on with enthusiasm as his son had a chance to bring a championship to the Petty name for the first time since 1971. He wouldn’t have to wait long to see firsthand the biggest shock of the season. On lap 160, Martin brought his ailing car down pit road and into the garage, as the engine had let go just short of the race’s halfway point. The elation could be felt throughout the pit area, as Richard joined in the celebration with the #42 team. With the championship victor no longer in doubt, Richard’s team worked feverishly to get the #43 back on track, as Richard wanted to be on track to see Kyle officially capture his first championship, along with the possibility of collecting a timeless photo of Richard and Kyle crossing the start-finish line side-by-side. However, any such plans were thwarted as Kyle would also sustain a blown engine with just eight laps to go in the race. While this did little to dampen the mood as Martin had already long retired from the race and would finish 32nd, as a symbolic gesture Richard allowed Kyle to jump into his finally repaired car to finish out his spectacular championship run. Now in the 43 car, Kyle drove the final two laps of the race as he was credited with a 16th-place finish. For the first and only time in Cup Series history, two cars would be in the championship circle as both the 42 and 43 were pulled in for the trophy presentation. Kyle Petty’s stats for 1992 included a pair of wins, nine top-fives and 17 top-10s, ending up fifth in the final standings behind real-life champion Alan Kulwicki. 1992 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/1992-nascar-cup-series-season-recap