Sunday 20th February 1972

A.J. Foyt won the NASCAR Daytona 500 at Daytona Beach, Florida, US. Foyt drove his number 21 to victory in more than three hours after starting the race outside front-row position. There were three cautions flags which slowed the race for a total of 17 laps. Foyt dominated the event, winning by almost two laps over his closest competitor.The victory over Charlie Glotzbach was Foyt’s first win of the season.

The 1972 Daytona 500 has the distinction of being the event which had the fewest number of leaders for a NASCAR race held at Daytona International Speedway; with only Foyt, Richard Petty, and Bobby Allison recorded as leading a lap during the competition. The Daytona 500 was the second event held during the 1972 season, and completed in three hours and five minutes with an average speed of 161 mph. There were a total of 13 lead changes between Foyt, Allison, and Petty throughout the race.

Foyt’s victory would earned him a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated the first time that happened to a reigning Daytona 500 champion.

The race car drivers still had to commute to the races using the same stock cars that competed in a typical weekend’s race through a policy of homologation (and under their own power). This policy was in effect until roughly 1975. By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore.