SEASON IN REVIEW
Greensboro, North Carolina driver Mark Whitaker picked up his first LASTCAR Busch Grand National Series Championship in 1992, scoring three last-place finishes in five starts during a thirty-one race season.
Whitaker was competing in his first Busch Grand National Series season, driving a self-prepared #61 Diveer Dental Pontiac. He scored his first two last-place finishes in his first two starts early in the 1992 season. In the Goodwrench 200 on February 29, Whitaker’s #61 fell out with handling woes after ten laps. During his next attempt in the Roses Stores 300 at Orange County Speedway on June 6, handling problems were again to blame for his exit after 17 laps. His third finish came at Martinsville on October 18, where yet another handling problem ended his run after 49 laps of the Winston Classic.
Whitaker made just one more Busch Grand National Series start at Orange County Speedway on October 2, 1993, coming home 21st in the Polaroid 300 due to yet another handling problem. The finish was just one spot short of his career-best 20th during the 1992 running of the event, one of just two series starts where he finished under power.
After his Busch Grand National Series career, Whitaker made 35 starts in the X-1R Pro Cup Series. His best finish in that series was one of his most recent starts at the Ace Speedway in Altamahaw, North Carolina, where he finished 11th in the White’s International Trucks 250. As in the Busch Grand National Series, Whitaker still carried sponsorship from dental companies such as Universal Dental and Glaze Toothpaste.
OTHER LASTCAR HEADLINES
Robert Pressley enjoyed one of the best seasons of his Busch Grand National Series career in 1992, scoring five victories and finishing fifth in points. On March 7, Pressley scored his first last-place finish at Richmond when his #59 Alliance Training Centers Oldsmobile crashed after 78 laps of the Hardee’s 250. He finished last a second time at Talladega on July 25 due to an engine failure after seven laps of the Fram Filter 500k. That race marked the final career start of Clifford Allison before his fatal practice wreck at Michigan nineteen days later. Pressley scored the last three of his ten career wins in 1993.
Two future stars of the Busch Grand National Series scored their first last-place finishes in their series debuts early in the 1992 season. 25-year-old Tim Fedewa finished last when his #55 D-R Racing Ford lost the engine after 12 laps of the March 28 running of the Mark III Vans 200 at Darlington. On April 25, 22-year-old Jason Keller’s #54 Kel Racing Buick overheated after 34 laps of the Nestle 300 at Lanier Speedway. Fedewa went on to race in fourteen seasons, scoring four victories in 333 starts through 2005. Keller raced for two decades, picking up ten victories, scoring a career-best 2nd in points to Jeff Green in 2000, and making his 519th and final start in the Ford 300 at Homestead on November 20, 2010.
1991 Daytona 500 Champion Ernie Irvan picked up his first Busch last-place finish on May 5 when his #4 Kodak Chevrolet broke a transmission without completing a single lap of the Pontiac 200 at the Nazareth Speedway. He won the last two of his three Busch victories later that year at Watkins Glen and Talladega.
Driving in his fifth Busch season, Kenny Wallace scored his third series victory at Martinsville on March 22. His first last-place finish came later that year on July 4 at the Volusia County Speedway in Barberville, Florida when his #36 Dirt Devil Pontiac fell out with handling woes after 143 laps of the X-1R Firecracker 200. Wallace and Dirt Devil moved to the Felix Sabates’ Cup Series operation in 1993, but after losing Rookie of the Year to Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte, he returned to the Busch Grand National Series. He continued to switch between both divisions for more than a decade, picked up the 1998 LASTCAR Cup title, and is now a TV commentator for the SPEED Channel.
1988 NASCAR Cup Series Champion Bill Elliott only competed in 43 Busch Grand National Series races, including eleven in 1992, but picked up his first and only last-place finish that season at Darlington. On September 5, Elliott’s #11 Budweiser Ford lost the engine after 35 laps of the Gatorade 200. Michael Waltrip, at the time still winless in seven Cup Series seasons, won the race.
Controversy surrounded the May 5 running of the Granger Select 200, the final race run at the New River Valley Speedway in Dublin, Virginia. Race winner Jeff Burton’s #8 TIC Financial Systems Oldsmobile led the final seven laps, but Burton was stripped of the victory due to an illegal rear end carrier assembly. Burton was disqualified, giving him his fourth series last-place finish and giving runner-up Bobby Dotter his only Busch Grand National Series victory. It was the first time a Busch Grand National Series driver finished last due to disqualification.
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
1st) Mark Whitaker (3)
2nd) Jeff Burton, Tommy Ellis, Jeff Green, Tommy Houston, Robert Pressley, Shawna Robinson (2)
3rd) Ed Berrier, Babe Branscome, Bill Elliott, Tim Fedewa, Scott Herberg, Robert Huffman, Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, Jason Keller, Richard Lasater, Mike Porter, Lonnie Rush, Jr., Elton Sawyer, Mike Urciuoli, Kenny Wallace, Mike Weeden (1)
