36°30′58″N 82°15′25″W / 36.516172°N 82.256945°W / 36.516172; -82.256945

1982 Busch 500
Race details[1]
Race 21 of 30 in the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Map of the Bristol Motor Speedway
Map of the Bristol Motor Speedway
Date August 28, 1982 (1982-August-28)
Official name Busch 500
Location Bristol International Raceway, Bristol, Tennessee
Course Permanent racing facility
0.533 mi (0.857 km)
Distance 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.8 km)
Weather Temperatures of 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds of 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)
Average speed 94.318 miles per hour (151.790 km/h)
Attendance 30,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Jim Stacy Racing
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison DiGard Motorsports
Laps 169
Winner
No. 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

The 1982 Busch 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on August 28, 1982, at Bristol International Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee.

Background

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Bristol International Speedway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.[3]

Race report

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It took almost two hours and fifty minutes for Darrell Waltrip to defeat Bobby Allison and 29 other American-born drivers in front of an audience of 30,000 spectators.[2] This would make him equal to Cale Yarborough in the number of wins at Bristol Speedway up to this point.[4] Notable crew chiefs attending this race included Larry McReynolds, Dale Inman, Kirk Shelmerdine, Jeff Hammond, Jabe Thomas, Waddell Wilson, Jake Elder and Junie Donlavey.[5]

Kyle Petty scored a last-place finish due to an engine problem on the second lap of this 500-lap race.[2] Tim Richmond earned the pole position with a speed of 112.507 miles per hour (181.062 km/h).[2] Almost ¾ of a second would separate Allison from Waltrip at the finish. Three cautions occurred for 15 laps.[2] Only seven vehicles would fail to finish the race.[2] Other notable drivers in this race included J.D. McDuffie, Dale Earnhardt, and D.K. Ulrich.[2]

The first pole of Tim Richmond's career would occur at this race while Al Loquasto would end his NASCAR racing career after this race.[6] After the end of this race, Bobby Allison would take a slim lead over Terry Labonte for championship points.[7]

Qualifying

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Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 2 Tim Richmond Buick Jim Stacy
2 44 Terry Labonte Buick Billy Hagan
3 98 Morgan Shepherd Buick Ron Benfield
4 75 Joe Ruttman Buick RahMoc Enterprises
5 28 Buddy Baker Pontiac Harry Ranier
6 3 Ricky Rudd Pontiac Richard Childress
7 33 Harry Gant Buick Hal Needham
8 11 Darrell Waltrip Buick Junior Johnson
9 88 Bobby Allison Chevrolet DiGard Racing
10 71 Dave Marcis Buick Dave Marcis
11 50 Geoffrey Bodine Pontiac Cliff Stewart
12 15 Dale Earnhardt Ford Bud Moore
13 02 Mark Martin Pontiac Bud Reeder
14 43 Richard Petty Pontiac Petty Enterprises
15 26 Brad Teague Chevrolet Charlie Henderson
16 40 D.K. Ulrich Buick D.K. Ulrich
17 17 Lake Speed Buick Roger Hamby
18 86 Darryl Sage Chevrolet Lee Sage
19 52 Jimmy Means Chevrolet Jimmy Means
20 4 Connie Saylor Buick G.C. Spencer

Top 10 finishers

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Pos[2] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps led Points Time/Status
1 8 11 Darrell Waltrip Buick 500 38 180 2:49:32
2 9 88 Bobby Allison Chevrolet 500 169 180 +0.70 seconds
3 7 33 Harry Gant Buick 500 47 170 Lead lap under green flag
4 2 44 Terry Labonte Buick 499 4 165 +1 lap
5 3 98 Morgan Shepherd Buick 499 85 160 +1 lap
6 12 15 Dale Earnhardt Ford 499 74 155 +1 lap
7 6 3 Ricky Rudd Pontiac 498 0 146 +2 laps
8 24 90 Jody Ridley Ford 495 0 142 +5 laps
9 5 28 Buddy Baker Pontiac 494 0 138 +6 laps
10 11 50 Geoffrey Bodine Pontiac 494 0 134 +6 laps

Timeline

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Section reference:[2]

  • Start of race: Tim Richmond started out as the first-place driver, holding it for 81 laps.
  • Lap 2: Kyle Petty had engine problems; making him the last-place finisher.
  • Lap 28: Rick Newsom's oil pump stopped working properly.
  • Lap 30: Ronnie Thomas overheated his vehicle, ending his day on the track.
  • Lap 45: Al Loquasto developed major engine problems, forcing him off the track.
  • Lap 50: Richard Petty's issues with his steering forced him out of the race.
  • Lap 82: Morgan Shepherd took over the lead from Tim Richmond.
  • Lap 83: Tim Richmond's engine acted up, bringing his race weekend to a premature end.
  • Lap 166: Joe Ruttman took over the lead from Morgan Shepherd.
  • Lap 168: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Joe Ruttman.
  • Lap 169: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt.
  • Lap 171: Terry Labonte took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 173: Dale Earnhardt took over the lead from Terry Labonte, eventually losing it to Harry Gant on lap 246.
  • Lap 246: Harry Gant took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt, eventually losing to Darrell Waltrip on lap 293.
  • Lap 259: Joe Ruttmann had to end the day because his vehicle's rear end came off in an unsafe manner.
  • Lap 293: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Harry Gant.
  • Lap 303: Morgan Shepherd took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 304: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Morgan Shepherd.
  • Lap 472: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 476: Terry Labonte took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 478: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Terry Labonte.
  • Lap 480: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 481: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Finish: Darrell Waltrip was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race

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Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1   Bobby Allison 3142 0
2   Terry Labonte 3077 -65
3   Darrell Waltrip 3022 -120
4   Buddy Arrington 2639 -503
5   Harry Gant 2630 -512
6   Richard Petty 2622 -520
7   Dave Marcis 2539 -549
8   Dale Earnhardt 2540 -602
9   Ron Bouchard 2516 -626
10   Morgan Shepherd 2472 -670

References

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  1. ^ Weather information for the 1982 Busch 500 at the Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 1982 Busch 500 racing information at Racing Reference
  3. ^ Gragg, Joe (August 25, 2011). "It's Official: Bristol Is The Loudest NASCAR Track". WCYB.com. Retrieved June 3, 2012. [dead link]
  4. ^ Memorable Moments at BMS at Google News Archive Search
  5. ^ 1982 Busch 500 crew chiefs at Racing Reference
  6. ^ 1982 Busch 500 results at Race-Database
  7. ^ NASCAR Race Results at Bristol - August 28, 1982 Archived 2015-12-26 at the Wayback Machine at Driver Averages
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1982
Succeeded by