The 1992 Vons 300 was the first race of the 1992 NASCAR Winston West Series season. The race was held on Sunday, May 17, 1992, at Mesa Marin Raceway, a 0.500 mile (0.805 km) oval shaped racetrack in Bakersfield, California. The race took the scheduled 300 laps to complete. The race was won by Rick Carelli, his first win of the season and first of his career. In a late race pit stop, Carelli's team changed right side tires, and came off pit road second to Bill Sedgwick, whose team changed left side tires.[2] With fresh right side tires, Carelli was able to get the lead in the final laps en route to victory. Sedgwick finished second, thee laps ahead of third place Bill Schmitt. John Krebs and Butch Gilliland would round out the top five.
Mesa Marin Raceway was a 0.500 mi (0.805 km) paved oval race track, located near the junction of CA 178 and CA 184 (Kern Canyon Road), east of Bakersfield, California. It opened in 1977 and was owned by Marion Collins throughout its existence. The 1992 Vons 300 was one of 45 NASCAR Winston West Series races to be held at the track during its existence.
With a track record of 18.978 seconds at 94.847 mph, Gary Collins would win the pole, although due to an injury he'd be replaced by Dirk Stephens for the race.[2]
