The 1972 Daytona 500 was won by A.J. Foyt driving a 1971 Mercury

Mercury (automobile)

Mercury was an automobile marque of the Ford Motor Company launched in 1938 by Edsel Ford, son of Henry Ford, to market entry-level luxury cars slotted between Ford-branded regular models and Lincoln-branded luxury vehicles, similar to General Motors' Buick brand, and Chrysler's namesake brand...

 on February 20, 1972.

Summary

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

Charlie Glotzbach

Charles "Charlie: Glotzbach is a former ARCA and was a NASCAR Sprint Cup driver. Charlie holds one of the oldest race records in NASCAR. He was also known as "The Chargin' Comet" and "Chargin' Charlie"....

 was Foyt's first win of the season.

The 1972 Daytona 500

Daytona 500

The Daytona 500 is a -long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule....

 has the distinction of being the event which had the fewest number of leaders for a NASCAR race held at Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...

; with only Foyt, Richard Petty

Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...

, and Bobby Allison

Bobby Allison

Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....

 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.

Statistics

Reference:

Finish	Start	Car no.	Driver	Owner/Sponsor	Car make
1	2	21	A.J. Foyt	Purolator (Wood Brothers Wood Brothers Wood Brothers may refer to the following:* Wood Brothers Racing, an American auto racing team* The Wood Brothers, musical siblings Chris and Oliver Wood* Wood Brothers TV, tv presenter siblings Danny, Ben and Sam Wood... )	'71 Mercury
2	6	6	Charlie Glotzbach	American Brakeblok / Signal Stat (Cotton Owens Cotton Owens Everett "Cotton" Owens "the King of the Modifieds" was a NASCAR driver. For five straight years , Owens captured at least one Grand National series win.-Modified driving career:... )	'71 Dodge
3	8	31	Jim Vandiver	O.L. Nixon	70 Dodge
4	33	72	Benny Parsons	L.G. DeWitt L.G. DeWitt L.G. DeWitt was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car owner from 1965 to 1980.-Career summary:His ownership career consists of employing the famous names in NASCAR history like John Sears, Henley Gray, Elmo Langley, LeeRoy Yarborough, Benny Parsons, and Joe Millikan...	'70 Mercury
5	35	48	James Hylton	Pop Kola (James Hylton James Hylton James Harvey Hylton is a part-time race car driver. He is a two-time winner in NASCAR and competes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series,finishing 16th in points in 2006. He made headlines while attempting to qualify for the 2007 Daytona 500 at age 72... )	'71 Ford
6	16	3	Cale Yarborough	Ray Fox Ray Fox Raymond Lee Fox, Sr. is a retired American engine builder, NASCAR car owner and NASCAR engine inspector. His cars won fourteen NASCAR Grand National events and sixteen pole positions....	'71 Plymouth
7	23	5	David Sisco	Charlie McGee Charlie McGee Charlene Roberta "Charlie" McGee is a fictional character in the book and films, Firestarter and Firestarter 2: Rekindled. She was created by Stephen King. In the first film, she is portrayed by Drew Barrymore...	'72 Chevrolet
8	21	25	Jabe Thomas	Don Robertson Don Robertson Don Robertson was an American songwriter and pianist, mostly in the country and popular music genres. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. As a performer, he hit the US Top 10 with "The Happy Whistler" in 1956. The track reached #8 in the UK Singles Chart the same...	'70 Plymouth
9	15	4	John Sears	J. Marvin Mills Heating & Air (J. Marvin Mills)	'70 Plymouth
10	13	23	Vic Elford	Don Robertson Don Robertson Don Robertson was an American songwriter and pianist, mostly in the country and popular music genres. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. As a performer, he hit the US Top 10 with "The Happy Whistler" in 1956. The track reached #8 in the UK Singles Chart the same...	'70 Plymouth
11	26	3	Tommy Gale	Frank Vasko	'71 Mercury
12	38	64	Elmo Langley	Elmo Langley Elmo Langley Elmo Langley was a NASCAR driver and owner. Langley primarily used the number "64" on his race cars during his NASCAR career.-Racing career:...	'71 Ford
13	5	91	Richard D. Brown	Ralph McNabb	'72 Chevrolet
14	37	19	Henley Gray	Henley Gray Henley Gray Henley Gray is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1964 to 1977.-Summary:...	'71 Ford
15	34	0	George Altheide	George Altheide	'70 Dodge
16	4	12	Bobby Allison	Coca-Cola (Richard Howard Richard Howard Richard Howard is an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a graduate of Columbia University, where he studied under Mark Van Doren, and where he now teaches... )	'72 Chevrolet
17	20	76	Ben Arnold	Ben Arnold	'71 Ford
18	7	79	Frank Warren	Frank Warren Frank Warren (NASCAR driver) Frank Warren is a retired NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver who raced from 1963 to 1980.Out of 88863 laps finished in his career, Warren had led 72 of them. Warren's total career earnings were $625,886 and while his average finish was 20th place in his entire career. The total amount of miles...	'70 Dodge
19	25	57	David Ray Boggs	David Ray Boggs	'70 Dodge
20	27	86	Ed Hessert	Neil Castles Neil Castles Neil "Soapy" Castles is a retired NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series driver that participate from 1957 to 1976.-History:...	'70 Dodge
21	30	44	Larry Dickson	Giachetti Brothers (Richard Giachetti Richard Giachetti Richard Giachetti is a former NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car owner and one half of the Giachetti Brothers. He is from Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.-Summary:... )	'71 Ford
22	9	56	Jim Hurtubise	Richard Hammond Richard Hammond Richard Mark Hammond is an English broadcaster, writer, and journalist most noted for co-hosting car programme Top Gear with Jeremy Clarkson and James May, as well as presenting Brainiac: Science Abuse on Sky 1.-Early life:...	'70 Chevrolet
23	14	90	Bill Dennis	Junie Donlavey Junie Donlavey W.C. "Junie" Donlavey , is a former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car owner with a team based in Richmond. Rarely fielding a car without his familiar #90, he began fielding his team in 1950. He drove for his team at first, but soon gave way to other drivers...	'72 Ford
24	19	70	J.D. McDuffie	J.D. McDuffie J.D. McDuffie John Delphus McDuffie was a NASCAR Winston Cup driver. He raced in the top division of NASCAR from 1963 to 1991. McDuffie had 106 top-tens in his Cup Series career...	'71 Chevrolet
25	3	14	Coo Coo Marlin	Cunningham-Kelley (H.B. Cunningham)	'72 Chevrolet
26	32	43	Richard Petty	STP (Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises was a NASCAR racing team based in Randleman, North Carolina, USA. The team was owned by Richard Petty, his son Kyle Petty, and Boston Ventures. At the time of its folding the team operated the #43 and #45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Petty Enterprises ran from... )	'72 Plymouth
27	12	2	Dave Marcis	Dave Marcis Dave Marcis Dave Marcis is a retired driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final win in 1982...	'72 Dodge
28	28	88	Ron Keselowski	Roger Lubinski	'70 Dodge
29	36	45	Bill Seifert	Bill Seifert Bill Seifert Bill Seifert is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series who raced from 1966 to 1979.-Summary:Seifert raced 41,875 laps for . His grand total for race winnings is $147,831 USD . Seifert's average career start is 21st and his average career finish is 19th...	'71 Ford
30	18	97	Red Farmer	Willie Humphries	'72 Ford
31	17	61	Jimmy Finger	Bierschwale-Haverlah (Don Bierschwale)	'71 Ford
32	22	67	Buddy Arrington	Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington Buddy Arrington is a retired NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup driver.- Biography :...	'70 Plymouth
33	1	71	Bobby Isaac	K & K Insurance (Nord Krauskopf Nord Krauskopf Nord Krauskopf was a former NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car owner whose career spanned from 1966 to 1977. He was the owner of K&K Insurance and a part of the business since its foundation in 1952. This was a position that he kept in the corporate world while having a second career in the... )	'72 Dodge
34	31	11	Buddy Baker	STP (Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises was a NASCAR racing team based in Randleman, North Carolina, USA. The team was owned by Richard Petty, his son Kyle Petty, and Boston Ventures. At the time of its folding the team operated the #43 and #45 Dodge Chargers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Petty Enterprises ran from... )	'72 Dodge
35	10	16	Mark Donohue	American Motors (Roger Penske Roger Penske Roger S. Penske is the owner of the automobile racing team Penske Racing, the Penske Corporation, and other automotive related businesses. A winning racer in the late 1950s, Penske was named 1961's Sports Car Club of America Driver of the Year by Sports Illustrated... )	'72 Matador
36	29	30	Walter Ballard	Ballard Racing (Vic Ballard)	'71 Ford
37	24	9	Ramo Stott	Housby Racing (Jack Housby)	'72 Dodge
38	39	10	Bill Champion	Bill Champion Bill Champion Buford Billy Champion , is a retired American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher who played in 202 games in the Major Leagues from -. He would play for the Milwaukee Brewers and Philadelphia Phillies.-External links:...	'71 Ford
39	11	24	Cecil Gordon	Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon Cecil Gordon was a NASCAR driver. He is not related to Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon although the two drivers drove in car number 24....	71 Mercury
40	40	47	Raymond Williams	Raymond Williams Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...	'71 Ford