1982 Daytona 500 Explained

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.^[2]

Bobby Allison would take the win in the #88 Gatorade-sponsored Buick Regal.^[3] 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.^[3]

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,^[3] the only Daytona 500 start for Lowell Cowell,^[3] and the last Daytona 500 starts for Roy Smith, Gary Balough, Tighe Scott, Stan Barrett, Bobby Wawak, Donnie Allison, Billie Harvey, and Joe Millikan.^[3]

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, Yarborough apparently tapped the rear of Allison's car. Allison's rear bumper peeled off and flew high into the air before landing back on the racing surface. Several cars took evasive action to avoid it, before it hit the windshield of 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

Pos	Grid		Driver	Car Make	Laps	Status	Laps led	Points
1	7	88		Buick Regal	200	Running	147	185
2	3	27		Buick Regal	200	Running	5	175
3	8	2		Buick Regal	200	Running	0	165
4	5	44		Buick Regal	199	Running	3	165
5	20	9		Ford Thunderbird	198	Running	0	155
6	22	47		Buick Regal	198	Running	0	150
7	2	33		Buick Regal	198	Running	12	151
8	4	1		Buick Regal	198	Running	3	147
9	23	90		Ford Thunderbird	197	Running	0	138
10	38	30		Pontiac Grand Prix	196	Running	0	134
11	31	75		Pontiac Grand Prix	196	Running	0	130
12	17	5		Buick Regal	193	Running	5	132
13	33	70		Pontiac Grand Prix	193	Running	0	124
14	36	17		Buick Regal	191	Running	0	121
15	39	67		Chrysler Imperial	191	Running	0	118
16	42	64		Ford Thunderbird	185	Running	0	115
17	40	52		Buick Regal	185	Running	0	112
18	13	62		Oldsmobile Cutlass	182	Engine	0	109
19	24	98		Buick Regal	161	Engine	0	106
20	6	11		Buick Regal	151	Engine	9	108
21	9	51		Oldsmobile Cutlass	145	Vibration	0	100
22	25	37		Buick Regal	144	Transmission	0	97
23	12	42		Pontiac Grand Prix	131	Engine	7	99
24	11	71		Buick Regal	131	Piston	3	96
25	14	21		Ford Thunderbird	104	Crash	0	88
26	1	28		Pontiac Grand Prix	103	Crash	0	85
27	21	43		Pontiac Grand Prix	103	Crash	0	82
28	18	96		Buick Regal	101	Crash	0	79
29	30	59		Buick Regal	81	Crash	0	76
30	26	02		Buick Regal	75	Valve	0	73
31	41	6		Buick Regal	65	Engine	0	70
32	28	94		Buick Regal	56	Engine	0	67
33	37	0		Buick Regal	55	Engine	0	64
34	29	18		Buick Regal	53	Oil Pressure	0	61
35	16	3		Pontiac Grand Prix	51	Engine	0	58
36	10	15		Ford Thunderbird	44	Engine	6	60
37	19	72		Buick Regal	40	Engine	0	52
38	15	13		Ford Thunderbird	24	Piston	0	49
39	35	31		Buick Regal	6	Valve	0	46
40	27	50		Pontiac Grand Prix	3	Crash	0	43
41	32	66		Buick Regal	3	Crash	0	40
42	34	23		Buick Regal	3	Crash	0	37
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.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Weather of the 1982 Daytona 500 . The Old Farmers' Almanac . 2013-06-24 . https://archive.today/20240526175438/https://www.webcitation.org/6HnshL16A?url=http://m.almanac.com/weather/history/FL/Daytona%20Beach/1982-02-14 . 2024-05-26 . live .
2. Web site: 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Results. Racing-reference. 2009-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20160323190002/http://racing-reference.info/raceyear?yr=1982&series=W. 2016-03-23. dead.
3. Web site: 1982 Daytona 500 results. Racing-reference. 2009-08-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20070311014152/http://www.racing-reference.info/race?id=1982-01&series=W. 2007-03-11. dead.
4. http://racing-reference.info/race/1971_Space_City_300/W 1971 Space City 300 racing information
5. Web site: Lars . Anderson . Pushing the envelope: NASCAR has a proud history of tweaking the rules . https://web.archive.org/web/20090617131553/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/lars_anderson/06/26/nascar.cheating2/index.html . SI.com . Time . July 25, 2007 . June 17, 2009 . May 13, 2009 . dead .
6. Web site: Race Results.
7. News: Hinshaw. Lydia. Richmond Slips By Slick For Win. March 13, 2013. The Daytona Beach News-Journal. February 13, 1982. Daytona Beach, FL. 4B.