STOCK CAR HALL OF FAME BANQUET IN LOS ANGELES APPROACHES ... 1972 REMEMBERED

The Longest Season: 1972 
The final points standings had Elder 40 points ahead of McGriff, and an unprecedented fourth championship.
Plymouth won the Manufacturer’s Championship with 15 wins, while Dodge captured the other 12 events. Only six cars had been able to start all 30 races.
Elder won an amazing $56,000, which included $10,000 Championship money from Winston, and a sizeable purse and winnings of the Golden State 400 at Riverside International Raceway. McGriff weighed in at $37,700, with Dick Bown $20,000 and Jack McCoy $21,700.
Remember this was 1972, when the average yearly income was $11,800. A new home cost a little over $27,000 and new cars averaged $3,853.
This was the first year of competition for the Grand National East, when the Winston Cup division had separated the short tracks off their schedule. And their first champion was Neil “Soapy” Castles.
The longest season was over now, and ageless 45-year-old Hershel McGriff had a fantastic season battling Ray Elder for the championship right down to the wire and winning 12 races, bringing his Winston West Total to 18.
Elder had a fantastic year as we, doing what most people considered impossible: winning his fourth straight GNW title-the first man to ever do so. Elder won seven races during the year, to bring his career total to 31, second only to Jack McCoy’s 35.
Carl Adams, billed s the 30-year-old bachelor from Lemon Grove, California, was Rookie of the Year (6th overall in points), after starting 28 of 30 races, barely edging out Bill Butts of El Cajon and Sonny Easley of Van Nuys.