The 1972 Delaware 500 was a 500-lap NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on October 15, 1972, at Dover Downs International Speedway in Delaware. A crowd of 25,000 fans watched a full 40-car field take the green flag on the one-mile concrete oval.
Bobby Allison captured the pole position with a speed of 133.323 mph. The race was slowed by two cautions for 22 laps and produced an average speed of 120.506 mph. David Pearson, driving the #21 Wood Brothers Mercury, dominated the event by leading 350 laps and winning by a commanding three full laps over Richard Petty. Ramo Stott finished third, followed by James Hylton in fourth and Cecil Gordon in fifth. Pearson earned $13,250 for the victory.
The race was extremely tough on equipment — only 15 cars finished all 500 laps, with the 10th-place car finishing a staggering 52 laps behind the winner. Following the race, Richard Petty left Dover with a 153.9-point lead over Bobby Allison in the championship standings.
