1982 Winston Western 500

The 1982 Winston Western 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on November 21, 1982, at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California.

1982 Winston Western 500
Race details[1]
Race 30 of 30 in the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Riverside International Raceway (1969-1988 version)
Date November 21, 1982 (1982-November-21)
Official name Winston Western 500
Location Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2.700 mi (4.345 km)
Distance 119 laps, 311.8 mi (501.7 km)
Weather Cold with temperatures reaching of 59 °F (15 °C); wind speeds of 2.9 miles per hour (4.7 km/h)
Average speed 99.823 miles per hour (160.650 km/h)
Attendance 38,000[2]
Pole position
Driver
Junior Johnson & Associates
Most laps led
Driver Tim Richmond Jim Stacy Racing
Laps 92
Winner
No. 2 Tim Richmond Jim Stacy Racing
Television in the United States
Network TBS
Announcers Buddy Baker
Ken Squier

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.

Background

Riverside International Speedway was a race track or road course in Moreno Valley, California. The track was in operation from September 22, 1957, to July 2, 1989. The original course design proved to be dangerous, and it was partially reconfigured in 1969.

Race report

Tim Richmond would defeat Ricky Rudd after more than three hours (119 laps) of racing in front of 38000 people.[2] Seven seconds would end up separating the winner from the second-place finisher.[2] Darrell Waltrip would qualify for the race with the pole position driving at a speed of 114.995 miles per hour (185.067 km/h) in his individual qualifying session.[2] Dale Earnhardt, would record a last-place finish on lap 8 due to an oil leak.[2] There would be 42 drivers on the grid; two of them would be Canadian while the other 40 were born in the United States.[2] Only one Chevrolet vehicle would participate in the race; driven by Jim Reich and owned by Ivan Baldwin.[2]

Clive Skipton was the only non-qualifier for this event.[2] Trevor Boys and Derrike Cope would make their introduction into NASCAR during this race while Reich, Jim Lee, and Terry Herman would retire after this race.[3]

The total purse of the race would be $203,745 ($539,784 when adjusted for inflation), the winner of the race would receive $24,730 of the purse ($65,517 when adjusted for inflation) while 41st place finisher Kevin Terris would receive $525 of that same amount ($1,391 when adjusted for inflation). Terris makes his first Cup start in more than a decade but goes out early with a blown engine. He would only make one further Cup start.[4]

Qualifying
Grid[2] No. Driver Manufacturer Owner
1 11Darrell WaltripBuickJunior Johnson
2 88Bobby AllisonPontiacDiGard
3 28Joe RuttmanPontiacHarry Ranier
4 2Tim RichmondBuickJim Stacy
5 3Ricky RuddPontiacRichard Childress
6 50Geoffrey BodinePontiacCliff Stewart
7 15Dale EarnhardtFordBud Moore
8 17Lake SpeedPontiacRoger Hamby
9 33Harry GantBuickHal Needham
10 75Jimmy InsoloPontiacRahMoc Enterprises

Failed to qualify: Clive Skilton (#61)[5]

Top 10 finishers
Pos[2] Grid No. Driver Manufacturer Laps Winnings Laps led Points Time/Status
1 42Tim RichmondBuick119$24,730921853:07:24
2 53Ricky RuddPontiac119$16,9801175+7 seconds
3 111Darrell WaltripBuick119$25,1008170Lead lap under green flag
4 1321Neil BonnettFord119$6,1001165Lead lap under green flag
5 2002Mark MartinBuick118$7,7600155+1 lap
6 1557Ron BouchardBuick117$10,1200150+2 laps
7 2955Benny ParsonsBuick117$2,8500146+2 laps
8 1698Morgan ShepherdBuick116$5,3000142+3 laps
9 2590Jody RidleyFord115$9,8500138+4 laps
10 2316Jim BownBuick115$2,5500134+4 laps

Timeline

Section reference:[2]

  • Start of race: Darrell Waltrip had the pole position as the green flag was waved.
  • Lap 5: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 8: A sudden oil leak from Dale Earnhardt's vehicle made him the last-place finisher of the event.
  • Lap 9: Tim Richmond took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 12: Kevin Terris' vehicle suddenly developed engine troubles.
  • Lap 14: Ricky Rudd took over the lead from Tim Richmond.
  • Lap 15: J.D. McDuffie took over the lead from Ricky Rudd.
  • Lap 16: Don Waterman took over the lead from J.D. McDuffie.
  • Lap 17: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Don Waterman.
  • Lap 20: The transmission on Joe Ruttman's vehicle stopped working properly.
  • Lap 21: Tim Richmond took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 31: Randy Becker's vehicle suddenly developed engine troubles.
  • Lap 40: John Krebs had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 42: An oil leak came out of Derrike Cope's vehicle.
  • Lap 46: Bobby Allison took over the lead from Tim Richmond.
  • Lap 48: Tim Richmond took over the lead from Bobby Allison.
  • Lap 62: Rick McCray's vehicle suddenly developed engine troubles.
  • Lap 72: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Tim Richmond.
  • Lap 76: Harry Gant took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip.
  • Lap 81: Tim Richmond took over the lead from Harry Gant.
  • Lap 92: The transmission on Hershel McGriff's vehicle stopped working properly.
  • Lap 94: Terry Labonte had a terminal crash.
  • Lap 95: An oil leak came out of Harry Gant's vehicle.
  • Lap 97: Neil Bonnett took over the lead from Tim Richmond.
  • Lap 98: Tim Richmond took over the lead from Neil Bonnett.
  • Lap 111: Bobby Allison's vehicle suddenly developed engine troubles.
  • Finish: Tim Richmond was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race
Pos Driver Points[2] Differential
1 Darrell Waltrip 4489 0
2 Bobby Allison 4417 -72
3 Terry Labonte 4211 -278
4 Harry Gant 3877 -612
5 Richard Petty 3814 -675
6 Dave Marcis 3666 -823
7 Buddy Arrington 3642 -847
8 Ron Bouchard 3545 -944
9 Ricky Rudd 3542 -947
10 Morgan Shepherd 3451 -1038
gollark: There are tons of the CDs just sitting unused in school basements along with BBC micro:bits and such.
gollark: It was nicknamed CD because the instructions were all distributed on CDs, because the government isn't very competent.
gollark: There is no chance of you maintaining sufficient coherency for the gueßing event at this rate.
gollark: Yes they do. I think I would know.
gollark: You know what they say; beware apioforms, they strike at night, you will never see them coming.

References
  1. Weather information for the 1982 Winston Western 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. 1982 Winston Western 500 information at Racing Reference
  3. 1982 Winston Western 500 information at Race-Database
  4. 1982 Winston Western 500 information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
  5. Qualifying information for the 1982 Winston Western 500 at Racing Reference
Preceded by
1982 Atlanta Journal 500		 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1982-3		 Succeeded by
1983 Daytona 500
Preceded by
1981		 Winston Western 500 races
1982		 Succeeded by
1983
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.