1982 Virginia National Bank 500

The 1982 Virginia National Bank 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was set on April 25, 1982, at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. During the early 1980s, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series was plagued with top teams running big engines and finishing in third place to avoid inspection.

1982 Virginia National Bank 500
Race details[1]
Race 8 of 30 in the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway
Date April 25, 1982 (1982-April-25)
Official name Virginia National Bank 500
Location Martinsville Speedway, Martinsville, Virginia
Course Permanent racing facility
0.525 mi (0.844 km)
Distance 500 laps, 262.5 mi (442.4 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures of 74.8 °F (23.8 °C); wind speeds of 12.8 miles per hour (20.6 km/h)
Average speed 75.073 miles per hour (120.818 km/h)
Attendance 36,500[2]
Pole position
Driver
Hagan Enterprises
Most laps led
Driver Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing
Laps 167
Winner
No. 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing
Television in the United States
Network untelevised
Announcers none

By 1980, NASCAR had completely stopped tracking the year model of all the vehicles and most teams did not take stock cars to the track under their own power anymore. Only manual transmission vehicles were allowed to participate in this race; a policy that NASCAR has retained to the present day.

Background

Martinsville Speedway is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races.[3] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn short track oval that is 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at eleven degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at zero degrees. The back stretch also has a zero degree banking.[4]

Race report

A total starting grid of 31 drivers competed for three and a half hours in this 500-lap racing competition. D.K. Ulrich was involved in a crash on lap 14; leading to his last-place finish. An audience consisting of 36,500 live spectators eventually got to see Harry Gant defeat Butch Lindley by a distance of slightly more than a lap.[2]

The majority of the field was driving Buick vehicles while participating in the event. Terry Labonte and Ricky Rudd would dominate the first one hundred laps of this race while Harry Gant would monopolize the closing laps of this race with a 1-lap lead over everyone else. Joe Ruttman would be the lowest finishing driver to complete the race; albeit more than 50 laps behind the only driver on the lead lap, who was Harry Gant.[2] This would be his first victory ever in the NASCAR Cup Series.[5]

The pole position earned was Terry Labonte with his amazing solo qualifying speed of 89.998 miles per hour (144.838 km/h); actual racing speeds for this event averaged around 75.073 miles per hour (120.818 km/h).[2] Brad Teague's 11th place finish in this race was also the highest finishing position in the Cup series for team owner, Charlie Henderson.[2] Winnings for this event ranged from the winner's share of $26,795 ($70,988 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $1,300 ($3,444 when adjusted for inflation). The overall prize purse for this racing event added up to $170,500 ($451,707 when adjusted for inflation).[6]

Qualifying
Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 44Terry LabonteChevroletBilly Hagan
2 28Benny ParsonsPontiacHarry Ranier
3 33Harry GantBuickHal Needham
4 3Ricky RuddPontiacRichard Childress
5 50Geoffrey BodinePontiacCliff Stewart
6 98Morgan ShepherdBuickRon Benfield
7 88Bobby AllisonChevroletDiGard Racing
8 2Tim RichmondBuickJim Stacy
9 21Neil BonnettFordWood Brothers
10 02Mark MartinPontiacBud Reeder
11 75Joe RuttmanBuickRahMoc Enterprises
12 11Darrell WaltripBuickJunior Johnson
13 47Ron BouchardBuickJack Beebe
14 01Butch LindleyBuickEmanuel Zervakis
15 15Dale EarnhardtFordBud Moore

Top 10 finishers
Pos[2] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Laps led Points Time/Status
1 333Harry GantBuick5001671853:30:01
2 1401Butch LindleyBuick499163175+1 lap and 1 second
3 921Neil BonnettFord4970165+3 laps
4 43Ricky RuddPontiac49655165+4 laps
5 1211Darrell WaltripBuick49625160+4 laps
6 1671Dave MarcisChevrolet4940150+4 laps
7 1002Mark MartinPontiac4920146+8 laps
8 2467Buddy ArringtonDodge4890142+11 laps
9 2140Jimmy HensleyBuick4850138+15 laps
10 2848Slick JohnsonPontiac4840134+16 laps

Standings after the race
Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Terry Labonte 1235 0
2 Darrell Waltrip 1155 -80
3 Benny Parsons 1134 -101
4 Harry Gant 1122 -113
5 Bobby Allison 1069 -139
6 Dale Earnhardt 1039 -199
7 Morgan Shepherd 1029 -206
8 Richard Petty 1019 -216
9 Buddy Arrington 1015 -220
10 Dave Marcis 950 -285
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References
  1. Weather information for the 1982 Virginia National Bank 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. Race information for the 1982 Virginia National Bank 500 at Racing Reference
  3. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on September 12, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  4. "NASCAR Tracks—The Martinsville Speedway". Martinsville Speedway. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
  5. Racing information for the 1982 Virginia National Bank 500 at Race Database
  6. Racing information for the 1982 Virginia National Bank 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Preceded by
1982 Northwest Bank 400		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1982		 Succeeded by
1982 Winston 500
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