1982 Daytona 500

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1982 Daytona 500
Race details [1]
Race 1 of 30 in the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1982 Daytona 500 program cover and logo.jpg
1982 Daytona 500 program cover
Date February 14, 1982 (1982-02-14)
Location Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures of 72 °F (22 °C); wind speeds of 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Average speed 153.991 miles per hour (247.824 km/h)
Attendance 120,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver Harry Ranier
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Allison DiGard Motorsports
Laps 147
Winner
No. 88Bobby AllisonDiGard Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Ken Squier
David Hobbs
Ned Jarrett
Larry Nuber

The 1982 Daytona 500, the 24th running of the event, was the first race of the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup season. It was the first time that the Daytona 500 was the first race of the season. [3]

Contents

Bobby Allison would take the win in the #88 Gatorade-sponsored Buick Regal. [2] Allison holds the distinction of leading the most laps in consecutive Daytona 500s in 1981 and 1982, and then win the next year. A live audience of 120,000 patrons was there for the 194-minute race in which five cautions would slow the field for 34 laps; there were a total of 31 lead changes over the course of the 200 laps. Allison's margin of victory over Cale Yarborough was 23 seconds, more than half a lap. [2]

No Chevrolet vehicles were in this race; the last time this happened was at the 1971 Space City 300 at Meyer Speedway in Texas. [4]

This event marked the first Daytona 500 starts for Joe Ruttman, Ron Bouchard, Jim Sauter, Rick Wilson, Tom Sneva, Mark Martin, Delma Cowart, Rusty Wallace, and Lake Speed, [2] the only Daytona 500 start for Lowell Cowell, [2] and the last Daytona 500 starts for Roy Smith, Gary Balough, Tighe Scott, Stan Barrett, Bobby Wawak, Donnie Allison, Billie Harvey, and Joe Millikan. [2]

Bumpergate

Allison's win drew controversy after his rear bumper fell off very early in the race. On lap 4, Harry Gant led Terry Labonte, with Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough battling nose-to-tail for third. Going through turns three and four, Allison's rear bumper fell off and flew high into the air before landing back on the racing surface. Several cars took evasive action to avoid it, before it was run over by Joe Millikan (running in 20th position), causing him to veer to the outside wall coming out of turn four. This triggered a much larger crash, involving several cars towards the back of the pack, and brought out the first caution of the race. Three cars were out of the race (Millikan, Lake Speed, and Geoffrey Bodine), while others suffered minor damage.

After the bumper was off Allison's car, it was consistently faster than the competition allowing him to pull away to a significant lead despite other drivers working together in the draft. Yarborough's crew chief, Tim Brewer, later intimated that Allison's team had intended for the bumper to come off because they knew it would offer a major aerodynamic advantage, either using hollow bolts or very thin wire to attach it superficially to the car. Other observers also believed that the bumper was manipulated by the team to intentionally fall off, possibly by using simple tack welds, because the result would have the car underweight and give the car improved handling. [5] Allison's crew chief Gary Nelson denied that and continues to deny it to this day. On The Dale Jr. Download , Nelson stated that crew members pop-riveted the bumper to the fenders due to the NASCAR officials stating that the bumper needed to be lower on the car instead of welding brackets to hold it on. Allison himself also denied the allegations until his death in 2024.

Results

PosGridNo.DriverCar MakeLapsStatusLaps
led
Points
1788 Bobby Allison Buick Regal200Running147185
2327 Cale Yarborough Buick Regal200Running5175
382 Joe Ruttman Buick Regal200Running0165
4544 Terry Labonte Buick Regal199Running3165
5209 Bill Elliott Ford Thunderbird198Running0155
62247 Ron Bouchard Buick Regal198Running0150
7233 Harry Gant Buick Regal198Running12151
841 Buddy Baker Buick Regal198Running3147
92390 Jody Ridley Ford Thunderbird197Running0138
103830 Roy Smith Pontiac Grand Prix196Running0134
113175 Gary Balough Pontiac Grand Prix196Running0130
12175 Jim Sauter Buick Regal193Running5132
133370 J. D. McDuffie Pontiac Grand Prix193Running0124
143617 Lowell Cowell Buick Regal191Running0121
153967 Buddy Arrington Chrysler Imperial191Running0118
164264 Tommy Gale Ford Thunderbird185Running0115
174052 Jimmy Means Buick Regal185Running0112
181362 Rick Wilson Oldsmobile Cutlass182Engine0109
192498 Morgan Shepherd Buick Regal161Engine0106
20611 Darrell Waltrip Buick Regal151Engine9108
21951 A. J. Foyt Oldsmobile Cutlass145Vibration0100
222537 Tom Sneva Buick Regal144Transmission097
231242 Kyle Petty Pontiac Grand Prix131Engine799
241171 Dave Marcis Buick Regal131Piston396
251421 Neil Bonnett Ford Thunderbird104Crash088
26128 Benny Parsons Pontiac Grand Prix103Crash085
272143 Richard Petty Pontiac Grand Prix103Crash082
281896 Elliott Forbes-Robinson Buick Regal101Crash079
293059 Tighe Scott Buick Regal81Crash076
302602 Mark Martin Buick Regal75Valve073
31416 Stan Barrett Buick Regal65Engine070
322894 Bobby Wawak Buick Regal56Engine067
33370 Delma Cowart Buick Regal55Engine064
342918 Donnie Allison Buick Regal53Oil Pressure061
35163 Ricky Rudd Pontiac Grand Prix51Engine058
361015 Dale Earnhardt Ford Thunderbird44Engine660
371972 Rusty Wallace Buick Regal40Engine052
381513 Dick Brooks Ford Thunderbird24Piston049
393531 Billie Harvey Buick Regal6Valve046
402750 Joe Millikan Pontiac Grand Prix3Crash043
413266 Lake Speed Buick Regal3Crash040
423423 Geoffrey Bodine Buick Regal3Crash037
Source [6]

Consolation race

Fourteen cars competed in a consolation race for non-qualifiers. Slick Johnson started from the pole in the event; he finished second, with Tim Richmond winning the 30-lap race. Ronnie Thomas, Bill Meazel and James Hylton rounded out the top five. [7]

Richmond's race-winning car would later be used as a throwback scheme driven by Tyler Reddick in the 2024 Goodyear 400.

References

  1. "Weather of the 1982 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved June 24, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "1982 Daytona 500 results". Racing-reference. Archived from the original on March 11, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  3. "1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-reference. Archived from the original on March 23, 2016. Retrieved August 1, 2009.
  4. 1971 Space City 300 racing information at Racing-Reference.info
  5. Anderson, Lars (July 25, 2007). "Pushing the envelope: NASCAR has a proud history of tweaking the rules". SI.com. Time. Archived from the original on June 17, 2009. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
  6. "Race Results".
  7. Hinshaw, Lydia (February 13, 1982). "Richmond Slips By Slick For Win". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, FL. p. 4B. Retrieved March 13, 2013.
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1981–82
Succeeded by