The Winston VIII

The 1992 edition of The Winston was held on May 16, 1992, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It was also better known as One Hot Night because it was the first ever all-star race that was held at night.

Temperatures hovered around the 74 °F (23 °C) mark throughout the event while winds were gusting in at up to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h).

At the very end of the race, Kyle Petty and Dale Earnhardt were battling for the lead, and heading into turn three, Petty spun Earnhardt and Davey Allison stalked Petty at the final corner. They were side-by-side and Allison beat him at the line, and then was spun out and crashed into the wall hard and slid all the way into turn one. Allison was taken to the hospital and did not celebrate in victory lane. It was considered one of the most memorable moments in all-star race history. That was also Allison's second straight victory in the event. In the Winston Open, Michael Waltrip won the race. It was also the first time that past champions were eligible, even though they did not win (Richard Petty and Terry Labonte). The race was broadcast on TNN with Mike Joy, Neil Bonnett, and Buddy Baker.

Allison won the pole for the all-star event and the accompanying $50,000 bonus from Winston on Friday evening during the unique three-lap, two-tire pit stop qualifying run. When the green flag flew for the first 30-lap segment, Allison jumped out to the early lead and showed the field his heels for the entire 30 circuits, earning him another $50,000 bonus. During the 10-minute break between segments, the fan balloting on whether or not to invert the field for the second 30-lap segment was unveiled. The fans had spoken and the result flashed on the Winston Cup scoreboard — INVERT! Allison and his lightning-fast Ford was sent to the rear of the field, while Geoff Bodine assumed the point. Two laps into the second segment, Richard Petty moved into second and worked on Bodine in a valiant effort for the lead. But four laps into the second segment, Kyle Petty blew by both his father and Bodine to take over first. After a spirited battle with Ernie Irvan and Dale Earnhardt. Petty cruised on to a two-second victory over Irvan to collect the $50,000 bonus for winning the second segment. Allison had charged all the way back to sixth. So, the final stage was set. When Doyle Ford showed the green flag for the final 10-lap shootout, Earnhardt muscled his way past Irvan for second. That close racing allowed Petty to sprint out to a substantial lead. With Kyle pulling away, it appeared nobody would be able to catch him, but on the third lap, Darrell Waltrip was tapped from the rear, sending him dirt-tracking through the tri-oval grass in front of the main grandstand. Waltrip nearly corrected his Chevrolet, but stalled momentarily at the end of pit road, prompting the first and only caution of the final segment. The caution erased a 3.5 second Petty lead. Caution flag laps do not count in the final segment, setting up a seven-lap dash. During all the action, Allison had moved into third, making it Petty, Earnhardt and Allison at the restart. On the restart, Petty held his own for one lap. But with five laps remaining, Earnhardt drove past Petty for the lead.

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