1982 Virginia National Bank 500

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]

A starting grid of 31 drivers competed for three and a half hours in this 500-lap race. D.K. Ulrich was involved in a crash on lap 14; leading to his last-place finish. An audience of 36,500 saw Harry Gant defeat Butch Lindley by a distance of slightly more than a lap.^[2]

The majority of the field was driving Buick vehicles. 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, Gant.^[2] This would be his first victory ever in the NASCAR Cup Series.^[5]

The pole position was won by Terry Labonte with his a qualifying speed of 89.998 miles per hour (144.838 km/h); racing speeds for this event averaged 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 ($87,306 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $1,300 ($4,236 when adjusted for inflation). The overall prize purse for this race was $170,500 ($555,536 when adjusted for inflation).^[6]