July 10, 1982 - 250 Miles - Purse $126,935

 

 Darrell Waltrip celebrates with his Junior Johnson teammates in victory lane after winning the 1982 Busch Nashville 420. Crew Chief and future television announcer Jeff Hammond is pictured to the left of Waltrip.

Waltrip led all but 20 laps and lapped the field.  It was his eight win in the last 11 NASCAR short track races.

For the two 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup Series races contested at Nashville, Waltrip would lead 819 of 840 laps ran.  This calculates to a dominating 97.5%

   Darrell Waltrip cruised to his third straight victory at historic Fairgrounds Speedway.  The Franklin, Tennessee-based driver led 400 laps en route to a one-lap victory over second place finisher Terry Labonte.

The car driven by Murfreesboro, Tennessee driver Daryl Sage was the same car raced by the D.B. Cooper of NASCAR, L.W. Wright.  The mysterious Wright purchased the car from Sterling Marlin, then proceeded to drive it in the 1982 Winston 500.   Wright had no previous NASCAR experience but yet qualified for the race. Sage's sponsor paid Marlin $3,700 for the car.

NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Benny Parsons ended his consecutive start streak at  321. Parsons and car owner Harry Rainer parted ways the previous week after the Gabriel 400 at Michigan.

The 1982 race would be the last Fairgrounds Speedway start for veteran driver James Hylton.  Over his career, the Inman, South Carolina driver would record 26 starts at the track.

Hometown favorite Jimmy Means battles with Jody Ridley in the 90 car and Bobby Allison in the 88 car.

During the early to mid-seventies, Means was a regular in the Late Model Sportsman series at Nashville.

Means remained active as an owner in the Xfinity Series until the 2021 season.







Dale Earnhardt qualified his Bud Moore Ford in the 13 position
  

James Hylton recorded his last start at the Fairgrounds
     


Harry Gant pushes his Skoal Bandit Buick into turn three		  

Mark Martin's Apache Stove Pontiac started the race in seventh position.
Average Speed:    86.524 mph Time of Race:      2:53:35 Margin:        One Lap
Pole Winner:         Morgan Shepherd  - 103.959 mph Attendance:        18,000 Cautions:       5 for 24
Lap Leaders:         Morgan Shepherd 1 - 19, Darrell Waltrip 20 - 46, Bill Elliot 47, Darrell Waltrip 48 - 420

 
Driver Fin Str Car Team  /  Owner Car Laps Money Status Led
Darrell Waltrip
1
3 11 Mountain Dew
Jr Johnson & Assoc		 Buick 420 22,025 Running 400
Terry Labonte 2 9 44 Texas Jeans
Billy Hagan 		Chevrolet 419 8,595 Running 0
Harry Gant 3 8 33 Skoal Bandit
Hal Needham 		Buick 419 6,805 Running 0
Ricky Rudd 4 16 3 Piedmont Airlines
Richard Childress 		Pontiac 419 5,360 Running 0
Tim Richmond 5 4 2 Stacy-Pak
Jim Stacy 		Buick 419 4,175 Running 0
Geoffrey Bodine 6 11 50 Performance Connect
Cliff Stewart		 Pontiac 418 8,435 Running 0
Richard Petty 7 15 43 STP 
Petty Enterprises 		Pontiac 418 8,235 Running 0
Jody Ridley 8 14 90 J.D. Stacy
Junie Donlavey 		Ford 417 7,635 Running 0
Dale Earnhardt 9 13 15 Wrangler Jeans
Bud Moore 		Ford 417 7,635 Running 0
Ron Bouchard 10 5 47 J.D. Stacy
Jack Beebe 		Buick 414 7,185 Running 0
Dave Marcis 11 17 71 Hudson Transmission
Dave  Marcis 		Chevrolet 414 3,055 Running 0
Joe Ruttman 12 6 75 Pet Dairy
RahMoc Enterprises 		Buick 412 2,845 Running 0
Lake Speed 13 23 17 Yazoo Mowers
Roger Hamby 		Buick 411 2,685 Running 0
Jimmy Means 14 19 52 Broadway Motors
Jimmy Means		 Chevrolet 403 2,475 Running 0
Mark Martin 15 7 02 Apache Stove
Mark Martin 		Pontiac 400 2,385 Running 0
Darryl Sage 16 25 86 Space  Age
Lee Sage		 Chevrolet 400 885 Running 0
D.K. Ulrich 17 21 6 D.K. Ulrich Buick 396 2,135 Running 0
Tommy Gale 18 20 64 Sunny King Ford
Elmo Langley 		Ford 395 1,190 Running 0
Bobby Allison 19 12 88 Gatorade
DiGard Racing		 Chevrolet 394 5,460 Running 0
James Hylton 20 28 48 Palatine Auto Parts
James  Hylton		 Pontiac 381 1,935 Engine 0
Bill Elliott 21 10 9 Melling Tool 
Harry Melling 		Ford 370 1,010 Engine 1
Buddy Arrington 22 24 67 Hills Racing
Buddy Arrington		 Dodge 261 1,185 Engine 0
Kyle Petty 23 18 42 STP / UNO
Petty Enterprises 		Pontiac 241 1,160 Rear end 0
Buddy Baker 24 2 28 J.D. Stacy
Harry Ranier		 Pontiac 230 7,835 Engine 0
J.D. McDuffie 25 27 70 Bailey Excavating
J D McDuffie		 Pontiac 200 1,110 Engine 0
Morgan Shepherd 26 1 98 Levi Garrett
Ron Benfield		 Buick 169 1,805 Engine 19
Lennie Pond 27 26 24 Cecil Gordon Buick 53 1,100 Engine 0
Slick Johnson 28 22 40 Baxter Price Buick 44 595 Ignition 0