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1982 Virginia National Bank 500
Race details
Race 8 of 30 in the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
	A map showing the layout of Martinsville Speedway
Date	April 25, 1982
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
Pole position
Driver	Terry Labonte;
Most laps led
Driver	Harry Gant
Laps	167
Winner
No. 33	Harry Gant
Television in the United States
Network	untelevised
Announcers	none

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.

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 ($84,598 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $1,300 ($4,104 when adjusted for inflation). The overall prize purse for this racing event added up to $170,500 ($538,310 when adjusted for inflation).^[6]

Qualifying

Grid^[2]	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Owner
1	44	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Billy Hagan
2	28	Benny Parsons	Pontiac	Harry Ranier
3	33	Harry Gant	Buick	Hal Needham
4	3	Ricky Rudd	Pontiac	Richard Childress
5	50	Geoffrey Bodine	Pontiac	Cliff Stewart
6	98	Morgan Shepherd	Buick	Ron Benfield
7	88	Bobby Allison	Chevrolet	DiGard Racing
8	2	Tim Richmond	Buick	Jim Stacy
9	21	Neil Bonnett	Ford	Wood Brothers
10	02	Mark Martin	Pontiac	Bud Reeder
11	75	Joe Ruttman	Buick	RahMoc Enterprises
12	11	Darrell Waltrip	Buick	Junior Johnson
13	47	Ron Bouchard	Buick	Jack Beebe
14	01	Butch Lindley	Buick	Emanuel Zervakis
15	15	Dale Earnhardt	Ford	Bud Moore

Top 10 finishers

Pos^[2]	Grid	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Laps led	Points	Time/Status
1	3	33	Harry Gant	Buick	500	167	185	3:30:01
2	14	01	Butch Lindley	Buick	499	163	175	+1 lap and 1 second
3	9	21	Neil Bonnett	Ford	497	0	165	+3 laps
4	4	3	Ricky Rudd	Pontiac	496	55	165	+4 laps
5	12	11	Darrell Waltrip	Buick	496	25	160	+4 laps
6	16	71	Dave Marcis	Chevrolet	494	0	150	+4 laps
7	10	02	Mark Martin	Pontiac	492	0	146	+8 laps
8	24	67	Buddy Arrington	Dodge	489	0	142	+11 laps
9	21	40	Jimmy Hensley	Buick	485	0	138	+15 laps
10	28	48	Slick Johnson	Pontiac	484	0	134	+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