|| *Comments on the 1972 Daytona 500:* View the most recent comment <#58> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Fish posted: 01.07.2005 - 11:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Walter Ballard had a huge crash in this race on lap 16... he hit the infield grass, and flipped 10 or 15 times before landing on its wheels... Walter exited his smoldering car quickly uninjured 2. JC posted: 07.30.2005 - 9:14 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) AJ Foyt wins the Daytona 500. His sixth of seven victories in NASCAR racing. 3. James W. McLaughlin posted: 04.18.2007 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Beginning this year, the 125s are no longer counted as points races. 4. jackie posted: 06.04.2007 - 12:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) This was the weakest lineup ever for the 500 5. jeff posted: 03.29.2008 - 1:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Walter Ballard had a huge crash in this race on lap 16... he hit the infield grass, and flipped 10 or 15 times before landing on its wheels... Walter exited his smoldering car quickly uninjured" I think you're thinking of a different crash. I have a clip of Ballard's flip and he only rolls it 3 times near the pit road entrance in the tri-oval grass. 6. JCS posted: 08.26.2008 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Independent driver Friday Hassler was killed in a one of the Twin 125's before this race. His red No. 39 Chevrolet was a fixture on the circuit for years. 7. The Real Biffle16 posted: 09.08.2008 - 6:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) R.I.P Friday Hassler. :( 8. Anonymous posted: 11.17.2008 - 2:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I think this is the race when A.J. came into the pits (the crew were napping on the stacks of tires) and scared the pit crew half to death. They thought the car had problems, but A.J. leaned out and asked, "Do you guys need me for anything?", and he sped away, laughing. You're right, jackie; weak lineup. Only about 10 "name drivers" in the field. 9. jp posted: 03.02.2009 - 8:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Can someone put the Ballard flip on youtube, or is it already on there? 10. Sébastien posted: 07.26.2009 - 10:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Glotzbach #6 was sponsored by American Brakeblok / Signal Stat. Donohue #16 was sponsored by American Motors. 11. J Louis Frey posted: 09.22.2009 - 1:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Walter Ballard got together with Buddy Baker in the tri oval. Ballard rolled onto his roof, slid upside down thru the tri oval and when he hit the infield grass, the car rolled several times. Also, the first Daytona 500 for Mark Donohue. 12. I was there posted: 02.15.2010 - 1:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was the first race I ever attended. Spent the night before the race on the infield with three friends. 13. jessie henry posted: 02.08.2011 - 12:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) good race but not the best 14. Turd Ferguson posted: 02.26.2011 - 9:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Walter Ballard was sponsored by Hekimian's Foreign Car Sales. 15. cjs3872 posted: 05.09.2011 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) A few other notes from this race: This was probably the weakest lineup in race history, if 1965 wasn't (due to the Chrysler Corporation's boycott of NASCAR racing that year). as a result, the 1972 race set a record for the fewest leaders with just three (A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, and Bobby Allison). Raymond Williams earned the dubious honor being the only driver ever to both start 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 was 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. Despite this (and maybe because of this), Foyt's speed of 161.551 MPH was a new world record for 500 miles (Jeff Gordon's 1999 victory was run at the exact same speed). That record, however, didn't last long, as Mark Donohue, who placed 35th in this race in Roger Penske's Daytona 500 debut, would break that record in the Indianapolis 500 that May with an average speed of 162.962 MPH. Foyt's race record for the Daytona 500 would, of course, last until Buddy Baker obliterated it in 1980 with the record that still stands and will probably never be broken (177.602 MPH). 16. Jim posted: 02.17.2012 - 9:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jim Huturbise blew an engine in his Miller High Life Chevelle and spun coming out of 2. Foyt was behind him and came in for windshield cleaning. 17. RaceFanX posted: 03.22.2012 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) USAC Sprint Car champion Larry Dickson makes his only NASCAR Cup start, he later raced in CART. 18. Schroeder51 posted: 07.12.2012 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQs: #32 Johnny Halford, #34 Wendell Scott, #84 Dick May, #5 Doc Faustina, #39 Friday Hassler, #18 Joe Frasson, #49 G. C. Spencer, #94 Verlin Eaker, #7 Dean Dalton, #54 Jimmy Crawford, #59 Dr. Don Tarr, #80 Phil Finney, #83 Lem Blankenship, #8 Ed Negre, #06 Neil Castles, #95 Leonard Blanchard, #99 LeeRoy Yarbrough, #50 Dave Chase, #89 Les Covey, #53 Rod Eulenfeld, #74 Bill Shirey, #78 Jackie Oliver, #55 Ron Grana, #82 Darwin Sandstrom, #92 Larry Smith, #68 Dick Beinlich, #65 Dick Poling, #87 Bobby Johns, #35 Bub Strickler. 19. Anonymous posted: 08.19.2012 - 1:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Charlie Roberts was another DNQ. According to a MRN radio broadcast of the Miller High Life 500 from that year, which was held a few weeks later, he had a very bad crash in practice, so probably was not able to even attempt to qualify for this race. 20. dozierthegreat posted: 08.21.2012 - 9:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #3 Ray Fox car driven by Cale Yarborough was sponsored by Woolco. 21. Schroeder51 posted: 09.24.2012 - 6:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'd presume Charlie Roberts' car was #77 since that was the number he usually drove in NASCAR. 22. CBASS posted: 12.06.2012 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Highlights of the race, includes Walter Ballard's flip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFMJ7PfRfs0 23. Anonymous posted: 12.14.2012 - 12:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Buck Baker withdrew. He was planning to drive a Chevrolet. 24. RaceFanX posted: 12.31.2012 - 2:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 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 engien problems put the K&K Insurance Dodge on the trailer before the 10 percent mark of the race. Defending 500 champion Richard Petty had issues in his 125 and started deep in the field. The #43 was a good piece and the King started moving up with his teammate, and 1971 500 runner-up, Buddy Baker doing the same. This would not be a good day for Petty Enterprises though as Baker was eliminated in Ballard's early crash. Petty would fight his way to the front and was the only driver after lap 5 other than Foyt to lead the race. After the King suffered a mechanical failure while leading the #43 Plymouth was done and Supertex sent sail for an easy win minus the brief risk from the previously-metioned Hurtubise spin. The only other driver besides Foyt, Petty and Isaac to see the number 1 position all day was Bobby Allison who led two of the opening laps. The Coca-Cola car must have had a problem somewhere along the way as Bobby finished 23 laps down in 16th behind the obscure George Altheide in the latter's only 500 start. The second half of this race was so uneventful for Foyt even the offical '50th Anniversary Daytona 500' DVD boxset largely iced over it. 25. Binkerbo posted: 05.04.2013 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) #03 Tommy Gale's sponsor was Alray Tires 26. Binkerbo posted: 05.04.2013 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) More sponsors #19 Henley Gray Cayuga Speedway #91 Richard D. Brown Dogwood Valley Golf Course #48 James Hylton Madden Food Systems #72 Benny Parsons Carolina 500 (The Pop-Kola deal came about in March http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19720320&id=l34sAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1MwEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6121,4179421 27. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 08.13.2013 - 7:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larry Dickson's sponsor was Custom Trim Products. http://www.floridastockcars.com/gallery3/v/Daytona/Larry+Dickson+-+1972+Daytona+500.jpg.html 28. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 08.14.2013 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Frank Warren's sponsors were Talladega 500/SSP http://www.floridastockcars.com/gallery3/v/Daytona/First+Twin-125+in+1972+-+Frank+Warren+%2379+and+David+Pearson+%2315.jpg.html 29. VoteGillilandNotDanica2014 posted: 11.13.2013 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #05 David Sisco: De Long #23 Vic Elford: Nolen's Restaurant #88 Ron Keselowski: Messina Trucking 30. DozierTheGreat posted: 01.19.2014 - 10:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #90 Bill Dennis sponsor Truxmore 31. Jeff posted: 02.10.2014 - 12:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For those speaking of this being a weak field, here are a few numbers for you to digest. 10 of the 40 starters were in their first Daytona 500 and only 2 of those drivers competed in a future 500. And of the 40 drivers in the field, 14 of them were in their final Daytona 500. Compare that to the 1971 Daytona 500 where only 6 of the 40 drivers were first time starters and only 7 drivers (of 40) competed in their final 500. 32. Paul posted: 06.25.2014 - 8:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #0 George Altheide - Rossmeyer Dodge (http://hostingbytes.us/images/2/3429891.jpg) #24 Cecil Gordon - Casa Linda Motel (https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1474534_10152590623486542_797435261_n.jpg) 33. Jim posted: 08.12.2014 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Comment # 8 I can't imagine the Wood Bros. sleeping on stacks of tires during the race ! haha I also love Cale's sponsor Woolco 34. RaceFanX posted: 11.06.2014 - 10:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Monte Carlo Rally winner "Quick Vic" Elford makes his final NASCAR start and scores his career best finish in 10th. 35. Anonymous posted: 11.09.2015 - 1:17 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) ARCA ran the Royal Triton 300 Sunday before the 500 and the winner was Andy Hampton in a '69 Ford Torino Talladega out of Tom Bowsher's shop, Iggy Katona was second and Red Farmer was third. On Friday NASCAR's Grand American series ran the Citrus 250 on the road course and the winner was Bobby Allison in a Ford Mustang, Tiny Lund was second and eventual series champion Wayne Andrews was third in a Mustang borrowed from Red Farmer. Saturday was the Permatex 300 for Nascar Late Model Sportsman, won by Bill Dennis in a '68 Mercury for Junie Donlavey, Grand Adcox was second followed by Joe Thurman, Dave Marcis, and Jerry Cook. This would be the 1st of 3 in a row at Daytona for Bill Dennis and Junnie. With A.J. winning the 500 in the Wood Brothers Mercury this was a pretty good weekend for the FoMoCo folks. 36. Anonymoose posted: 12.31.2015 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Points after race 2: 1) James Hylton 595 2) Bobby Allison 575.5 3) Elmo Langley 564 A.J. Foyt would be 4th with 529.75 points, but did not receive points 4) Henley Gray 510.25 5) Frank Warren 450 6) Richard Petty 436.25 7) J.D. McDuffie 385 8) Benny Parsons 374.75 9) Charlie Glotzbach 346.75 10) Jim Vandiver 338.5 11) Bobby Isaac 338.25 12) Cale Yarborough 325 13) David Sisco 320.5 14) Jabe Thomas 316 15) John Sears 312.75 16) Vic Elford 309.5 17) Tommy Gale 307.5 18) Richard D. Brown 299.75 19) George Altheide 293.25 20) Cecil Gordon 291 37. Anonymoose posted: 01.01.2016 - 12:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ah, seems as though I've already made a mistake. Vic Elford did not receive points for this race. 20th place in points is Walter Ballard with 289. 38. Brian S. posted: 02.03.2016 - 9:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul Finney Sponsor - Bill Hedleston Chevrolet Owner - Wallace Finney Car - Chevrolet 39. David posted: 03.15.2016 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Ah, seems as though I've already made a mistake. Vic Elford did not receive points for this race. 20th place in points is Walter Ballard with 289." Where do you get that information? I'm doing a little calculating of my own. 40. Paul posted: 05.06.2016 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrawn: #00 Bobby Mausgrover Sponsor: American Jetway Corp. - Owner: Bobby Mausgrover - Make: '70 Dodge #01 Earle Canavan Sponsor: River Oaks Chrysler-Plymouth - Owner: Earle Canavan - Make: '72 Plymouth #04 Mark Saunders Sponsor: N/A - Owner: Mark Saunders - Make: '70 Mercury #15 David Pearson Sponsor: Palm Coast - Owner: Bud Moore - Make: '72 Ford #17 Ramo Stott Sponsor: N/A - Owner: Bill Moyer - Make: '72 Dodge #26 Earl Brooks Sponsor: N/A - Owner: Earl Brooks - Make: '71 Ford #33 Wayne Smith Sponsor: N/A - Owner: Wayne Smith - Make: '71 Chevrolet #37 Don Tarr Sponsor: Pepsi of Johnson City - Owner: Don Tarr - Make: '70 Dodge #40 Dick Kranzler Sponsor: Millwee Construction Co. - Owner: Dick Kranzler - Make: '72 Chevrolet #41 Ken Meisenhelder Sponsor: N/A - Owner: Ken Meisenhelder - Make: '72 Chevrolet #46 Roy Mayne Sponsor: Hunter's Garage - Owner: Tom Hunter - Make: '72 Chevrolet #51 Dub Simpson Sponsor: N/A - Owner: W.S. Strong - Make: '70 Chevrolet #67 Donnie Allison Sponsor: Kosin's Auto Parts - Owner: James Mason - Make: '71 Mercury #75 Jimmy Vaughn Sponsor: N/A - Owner: Wayne Vaughn - Make: '72 Chevrolet #81 A.J. Cox Sponsor: Cox Auto Sales - Owner: A.J. Cox - Make: '72 Dodge #93 Buck Baker Sponsor: Harold Furr Engineering - Owner: Harold Furr - Make: '71 Chevrolet #96 Ray Elder Sponsor: Olympia Brewery - Owner: Fred Elder - Make: '72 Dodge Source: http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/342024sl160072a.jpg / http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/893447sl160072b.jpg 41. bayley01 posted: 06.16.2016 - 8:26 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Your calling it weak cuz Aj had a car that dominated. Sorry... does not compute. 42. Bullet posted: 08.11.2016 - 5:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) That Mercury was one of the best looking cars in nascar history 43. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 08.31.2016 - 6:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution 1: Lap 20-26: #11,30,67 accident turn 4 Caution 2: Lap 96-99: #70 stalled entrance to pit road Caution 3: Lap 115-120: #56 engine 44. Rob posted: 01.09.2017 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR had several years of races where you could take three or four cars and give somebody the rest of the field and you would win nearly every time. 45. Siple posted: 03.03.2017 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: 47 Raymond Williams - Jet Way Products 56 Jim Hurtubise - Miller High Life 57 David Ray Boggs - Sponsor Wanted (yes, that was actually on the car) 67 Buddy Arrington - Kentucky Fried Chicken/Bacon Enterprises 76 Ben Arnold - Jack Dykstra Ford/Taylor Speed Sport Center 46. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.02.2018 - 2:17 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) 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, and Bill Champion. 47. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 06.02.2018 - 2:18 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Last 500 start for Elmo Langley as well. 48. JollyMeanGiant posted: 07.31.2019 - 2:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: Bobby Mausgrover, #00 American Jetway Corp. Dodge (Owner: Bobby Mausgrover) Earle Canavan, #01 River-Oaks Chrysler-Plymouth Plymouth (Owner: Earle Canavan) Mark Saunders, #04 Mercury David Pearson, #15 Palm Coast Ford (Owner: Bud Moore) Ramo Stott, #17 Dodge (Owner: Bill Moyer) Earl Brooks, #26 Ford (Owner: Earl Brooks) Wayne Smith, #33 Chevrolet (Owner: Wayne Smith) Dr. Don Tarr, #37 Pepsi of Johnson City Dodge (Owner: Dr. Don Tarr) Dick Kranzler, #40 Millwee Construction Co. Chevrolet (Owner: Dick Kranzler) Ken Meisenhelder, #41 Chevrolet (Owner: Ken Meisenhelder) Roy Mayne, #46 Hunter's Garage Chevrolet (Owner: Tom Hunter) Dub Simpson, #51 Chevrolet (Owner: W. S. Strong) Donnie Allison, #67 Kosin's Auto Parts Mercury (Owner: James Mason) Jimmy Vaughn, #75 Chevrolet (Owner: Wayne Vaughn) A. J. Cox, #81 Cox Auto Sales Dodge (Owner: A. J. Cox) Buck Baker, #93 Harold Furr Engineering Chevrolet (Owner: Harold Furr) Ray Elder, #96 Olympia Beer Dodge (Owner: Fred Elder) 49. A.J. posted: 07.31.2019 - 2:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) That's an awful lot of alleged withdrawals. Are you sure they ever showed up and/or were on an official entry list? Or is it just which cars some magazine published way in advance of the event figured _might_ show up? 50. JollyMeanGiant posted: 07.31.2019 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) They were on the official entry list and may have shown up and practiced but never qualified or participated in the qualifying races. It was not uncommon at all back then for a bunch of cars to enter the 500 but not qualify or compete in the 125s-not sure why, but that was often the case. Pearson may have actually participated in qualifying as there are supposedly photos of the starting grid of the first qualifying race showing the #15 on the grid, but for whatever reason he didn't participate in it. 51. ScottB posted: 07.31.2019 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ken Meisenhelder ran the ARCA race in a #41 Chevy and DNF'ed. That was 4 days before the twins. I suspect some of these cases may have been independents who cross-entered the ARCA and NASCAR events with one car, and had to drop out of the twins/500 for lack of a backup. Wouldn't happen today, but in this era the cars were still capable of crossing over. 52. ScottB posted: 07.31.2019 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Upon further research... looks unlikely that this was the case. Meisenhelder ran the ARCA race with 1969 Chevelle sheet metal, that would not be legal for the 1972 NASCAR season (3-year limit on body styles). 53. JSPorts posted: 07.31.2019 - 6:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How do you find entry lists this far back? 54. RaceFanX posted: 03.05.2020 - 12:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) George Altheide's 15th-place finish matched his career-best NASCAR Cup effort. 55. RaceFanX posted: 03.05.2020 - 12:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Buddy Arrington's #67 Plymouth for this race was nicknamed for this race as the "Kentucky Fried Chicken Special." Unfortunately his hopes of victory dashed when he went out in the Ballard/Baker crash early in the race. 56. SweetRich posted: 03.05.2020 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Keith Jackson and Chris Economaki. 57. Rich posted: 01.01.2021 - 7:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Economaki was the sole pit road reporter. Jackson was the studio host. 58. Seb posted: 03.14.2021 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQed Yarbrough #99 was sponsored by L&M. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: