1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1972 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 24th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 1st modern-era NASCAR Cup series season. The season began on Sunday January 23 and ended on Sunday November 12. Richard Petty won his second consecutive Winston Cup Championship and fourth overall. Larry Smith was named NASCAR Rookie of the Year.
This season is considered to be the first of NASCAR's "modern era". The number of races was reduced from 48 to 31, all dirt tracks were removed from the schedule, and a minimum race distance of 250 miles was established for oval tracks.Season recap
Notes:
- Winston Western 500: Petty makes his debut under STP sponsorship.
- Texas World Speedway held two NASCAR races for the only time.
Race summaries
Petty won the Grand National title over Allison by 128 points.Final point standings
- -Richard Petty 8701
- -Bobby Allison 8573
- -James Hylton 8158
- -Cecil Gordon 7326
- -Benny Parsons 6844
- -Walter Ballard 6781
- -Elmo Langley 6656
- -John Sears 6298
- -Dean Dalton 6295
- -Ben Arnold 6179
