By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

Billed as “One Hot Night” in prerace publicity, the 1992 all-star race gained renown as the first superspeedway race run under the lights. The event itself did not disappoint; it featured an electrifying finish in which Davey Allison won in a shower of sparks after he and Kyle Petty tangled as they approached the finish line.

Allison was driving the same Robert Yates Racing chassis—nicknamed “007”—he had powered to victory in the 1991 all-star race, but 007 ended the first all-star show under the lights as a mangled carcass of sheet metal. Together, Allison and Petty led 57 of 70 laps (31 and 26, respectively), but it was Dale Earnhardt who was out front late in the final 10-lap segment.

In the third corner of the final lap, however, contact from Petty sent Earnhardt spinning out of control, with Allison trailing the action. Allison shot past Petty into the lead, but Petty mounted a final challenge off Turn 4. Contact between the cars as they crossed the stripe sent Allison’s Ford hard into the outside wall.

Unconscious after the wreck, Allison was airlifted to a nearby hospital, while members of his team celebrated in victory lane. When Allison awoke, crew chief Larry McReynolds was at his bedside. McReynolds recalls that Allison’s first words upon regaining consciousness were, “Did we win?”

The 1992 race also was noteworthy as the last time Kyle Petty and his father, seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty, would race together in the all-star event. Richard retired from competition at the end of the 1992 season.