April 23, 1972
“Gwyn Staley 400”
Top 5 finishers.....
The cover of the 1972 Gwyn Staley looked like this. At the bottom of the picture, it reads, “TOP THREATS FOR ‘GWYN STALEY 400’” Bobby Allison and Richard Petty are on the cover.
Although Allison’s car was behind Petty’s at the end of the race, the program basically predicted the future. The “TOP THREATS” finished 1-2. Richard Petty took the checkered flag 2 seconds ahead of Bobby Allison. What was even more amazing was Allison started the race from the outside pole and Petty started third—with identical qualifying times of 21.280seconds/105.733mph. Petty led 84 laps in the race, Allison led 79. Petty and Allison finished 1-2 at North Wilkesboro 5 different times. Petty had a slight edge, winning 3 of the races.
The 3rd place finisher also finished on the lead lap. He did what he did so often in the past, start on the pole and lead the most laps, 237 in this race. Bobby Isaac’s qualifying lap was 20.929seconds/107.506mph. In the fall race of ’71 at NWS, Isaac’s streak of 5 straight poles came to an end—he did not run in the event. So this marked 6 straight NWS poles in the races in which Isaac participated....pretty impressive.
The 4th place finisher was James Hylton. Hylton started the race from the tenth position (21.796seconds/103.230mph). He completed 392 of the 400 laps. Hylton would go on to run another 20 races at NWS, but this was the last of his 5 top five finishes. In 2006, Hylton participated in several ARCA races, along with a Busch Series race at Milwaukee. The 2006 season has been labeled as the “White Flag Tour” for Hylton..........the white flag means “one to go.” Something tells me James Hylton isn’t quite sure that this will be his last season of competitive racing.
Benny Parsons finished 8 laps down in 5th place. Parsons qualified at 21.543second/104.442mph and started from the fifth spot. The former taxi cab driver went on to finish 5th in the points standings. It was his third of seven straight top 5 finishes at NWS. Parsons cracked the top five at NWS 16 times in his career. I’m sure Tyson Chicken “fueled” him in many of those races.
Petty completed the race in 2 hours, 53 minutes, 19 seconds. The three lap leaders exchanged the lead 17 different times. 45 laps were run under caution during 5 different caution periods. All 30 cars qualified over 100mph. There were 21 cars running at the finish. Dean Dalton gained 15 spots during the race. Dalton started 30th and finished 15th. Richard Childress made his first Cup debut at NWS, as an owner—of a car he drove. Childress finished 27th in his number 96 Chevrolet. Some drivers making their last appearance at NWS in a Cup race included Buck Baker, Eddie Yarboro and LeeRoy Yarbrough. Baker’s first race at NWS was in 1950. He raced 32 times at the speedway and had 2 wins, 8 top fives and 16 top tens. As far as Eddie Yarboro, LeeRoy Yarbrough and Cale Yarborough (who we haven’t heard the last of yet)—the three of them ran in the same NWS race on two different occasions. I’m sure the announcers and the crowd had fun with that one.
LeeRoy Yarbrough was named as one of NASCAR’s Top 50 Drivers of All-Time. He had 14 victories in 198 career starts, along with 65 top five finishes. At North Wilkesboro, he made nine starts and finished in the top five 6 times, often in contention during those races. Sadly, Yarbrough disappeared from the sport even quicker than he burst onto it. I choose not to put into words the hardship Yarbrough experienced. I found this article instead-- http://home.flash.net/~dralstin/stories/Yarbrough.htm