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.
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.[1]
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.[3] Notable crew chiefs attending this race included Larry McReynolds, Dale Inman, Kirk Shelmerdine, Jeff Hammond, Jabe Thomas, Waddell Wilson, Jake Elder and Junie Donlavey.[4]
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 112.507mph.[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.[5] After the end of this race, Bobby Allison would take a slim lead over Terry Labonte for championship points.[6]
| Grid | 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 |
| Pos | Grid | Driver | Manufacturer | Time/Status | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | 11 | Buick | 500 | 38 | 180 | 2:49:32 | ||
| 2 | 9 | 88 | 500 | 169 | 180 | +0.70 seconds | |||
| 3 | 7 | 33 | Buick | 500 | 47 | 170 | Lead lap under green flag | ||
| 4 | 2 | 44 | Buick | 499 | 4 | 165 | +1 lap | ||
| 5 | 3 | 98 | Buick | 499 | 85 | 160 | +1 lap | ||
| 6 | 12 | 15 | 499 | 74 | 155 | +1 lap | |||
| 7 | 6 | 3 | Pontiac | 498 | 0 | 146 | +2 laps | ||
| 8 | 24 | 90 | 495 | 0 | 142 | +5 laps | |||
| 9 | 5 | 28 | Pontiac | 494 | 0 | 138 | +6 laps | ||
| 10 | 11 | 50 | Pontiac | 494 | 0 | 134 | +6 laps |
Section reference:[2]
| Pos | Driver | Points | Differential | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bobby Allison | 3142 | 0 | |
| 2 | 3077 | -65 | ||
| 3 | 3022 | -120 | ||
| 4 | 2639 | -503 | ||
| 5 | 2630 | -512 | ||
| 6 | 2622 | -520 | ||
| 7 | 2539 | -549 | ||
| 8 | 2540 | -602 | ||
| 9 | 2516 | -626 | ||
| 10 | 2472 | -670 |