HARRISBURG, N.C. — It’s been 30 years since the NASCAR fraternity gathered at Atlanta Motor Speedway for what ended up being one of the most significant events in motorsports history.
The season-ending Hooters 500 on Nov. 15, 1992, was highlighted by a terrific championship battle in which Alan Kulwicki edged Bill Elliott by 10 points, while Richard Petty ran his final NASCAR Cup Series race and Jeff Gordon made his first series start.
In addition, the garage area was overflowing with news that weekend and we’ve dug into the archives in order to share a few of the interesting items we penned for the Nov. 18 issue of National Speed Sport News.
– Lost among the hoopla of the championship battle and Richard Petty’s final race was the fact that Sunday’s Hooters 500 was the last for Dick Beaty as director of Winston Cup racing.
Beaty is retiring after 12 years as NASCAR’s top man in the garage area.
“We’re making him emeritus Winston Cup director,” said Les Richter, NASCAR’s director of competition, prior to Beaty’s final drivers’ meeting. “We appreciate everything he’s done for NASCAR. He’s been like a father to many of you and sometimes he’s had to spank you, but that’s the way it is.
“He has been responsible for bringing peace and tranquility to the garage area.”
“We’ve had a lot of fun and you’re one damn nice bunch of people,” Beaty told the gathering.
– The white lettering on Goodyear’s stock car tires was replaced by yellow letters here for the first time. Goodyear began changing its colors from blue and white to blue and yellow nearly a year ago.
“We’ve got a boss now who really loves yellow,” said Goodyear field director Phil Holmer. “Everybody probably will like it, unless you’re in a green car.”
– Young USAC open-wheel ace Tony Stewart has aspirations of following Jeff Gordon’s career path into the stock cars and was touring the Atlanta garage area, talking with numerous members of the NASCAR fraternity.
Stewart told NSSN he will once again drive Ben Leyba’s Silver Crown car next season while splitting his midget time between cars owned by Ralph Potter and Rollie Helmling. Stewart said he is still working on his 1993 sprint car program.
– It was ironic that Rick Mast earned his first pole in Oldsmobile’s final NASCAR Cup Series start.
– Dale Inman, veteran team manager for Petty Enterprises, had the scare of his life Wednesday night.
Inman, his wife Mary and daughter Tina, who is about seven months pregnant, were in their motel parking lot near the Atlanta airport, when they were approached by a man with a gun.
After the robber couldn’t get a gold necklace off Inman’s neck, Inman said the guy turned to run, then turned back around, pointed the gun at him, pulled the trigger and the gun didn’t fire. “It (the gun) clicked,” Inman said.
“Mary had already kicked her purse under the car and Tina kept telling me to give the guy my necklace. He took my wallet and Tina’s pocketbook. I guess he got us for $300 or so.”
When the gun didn’t fire, Inman chased the robber to a waiting car and tried to get him in a headlock, but couldn’t reach him well enough to get him out of the car before it sped away.
“There were two of them, one waiting in the car. The police said the car was stolen,” Inman said.
– Bill Elliott and motorsports photographer Cindy Karam will walk the aisle in December.
– Alan Kulwicki deleted the T and the H from the “Thunderbird” lettering on the front air dam of his Hooters Ford to highlight his underdog, or “underbird,” role in the title chase.
“I sort of have represented the little guy and taken a non-conventional path to get here,” Kulwicki said. “The fact that I did it and did it without really being independently wealthy or anything like that might be a bit of an inspiration to the other guys out there.”