1982 Pocono 500

August 2023 USA Pocono 500 1982PoconoProgram.jpg August 15 1982 CART PPG Indy Car World Series 1982 Domino's Pizza Pocono 500 7th Long Pond, Pennsylvania Permanent racing facility 2.5 4.023 200 500 804.672 Temperatures up to 80 F C; wind speeds up to 10 mph km/h1982 Pocono 500 weather information https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/us/pa/avoca/KAVP/date/1982-8-15 Wunderground May 3, 2023 Rick Mears Team Penske 200.948 mph USA Rick Mears Team Penske USA Kevin Cogan Team Penske USA Bobby Rahal Truesports USA The 1982 Pocono 500, the 12th running of the event, was held at the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, August 15, 1982. Branded as the 1982 Domino's Pizza Pocono 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Rick Mears, his first Pocono 500 win. Background In 1979, Indy car racing split into the two separate sanctioning bodies of USAC and CART. The Pocono 500 remained a USAC race and was boycotted by CART teams. Because of a lack of entries from major teams, attendance for the Pocono 500 plummeted and the track lost millions of dollars. After the 1981 Pocono 500, Pocono filed a lawsuit against CART saying their boycott violated antitrust laws and was guilty of "conspiracy to monopolize" Indy car racing. They sought $9 million in damages. In addition to CART, defendants included Team Penske, Roger Penske, Patrick Racing, Pat Patrick, and Gould Inc. They alleged that the defendants "knew about the financial difficulties suffered by the track and they hoped that they could acquire the property at a 'distress' price."https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=198hAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OaIFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4910%2C5683016 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Pocono Names CART, Penske in Suit July 10, 1981 17 In December 1981, Pocono added a second NASCAR Winston Cup race to their schedule and dropped the Indy Car Pocono 500. However, it was acknowledged that if the lawsuits against CART could be settled, a date in August 1982 was a possibility for Pocono on the CART schedule. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2ptVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OkANAAAAIBAJ&pg=5446%2C7028511 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press PIT STOPS December 20, 1981 93 On May 1, 1982, an announcement was made that the Pocono 500 would be a late addition to the 1982 CART season, scheduled for August 15, previously an off-weekend for CART. As part of the agreement, all litigation between Pocono and CART was dropped and CART agreed to lease and promote the Pocono 500 for a period of five years.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=LRwxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5-MFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4101%2C1201208 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Pocono Gets CART 500 May 2, 1982 87 On June 28, Domino's Pizza CEO Tom Monaghan announced the pizza chain would sponsor the Pocono 500.Dominos Pizza Plans to Sponsor Pocono 500 https://ibb.co/xFNMcGw https://web.archive.org/web/20230503153556/https://ibb.co/xFNMcGw usurped May 3, 2023 25 April 2023 The Latrobe Bulletin June 30, 1982 It was also announced that a ten-lap, consolation race for cars that failed to qualify would take place on Saturday, one day before the 500 mile event. However, as only 30 cars entered the race, short of the 33 starting positions, this race was canceled. Gordon Johncock won the Indianapolis 500 and the Michigan 500, giving him the first two legs in Indy Car's Triple Crown. He entered the Pocono 500 with an opportunity to become the first driver to win all three 500 mile race since Al Unser in 1978. Practice and time trials Practice - Tuesday, August 10 In the Tuesday, August 10, practice session, Rick Mears had the fastest speed at 197.027 mph. Mario Andretti was second fastest at 191.730 mph.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=p2IlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wOQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2326%2C405182 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Mears Going For Pocono Record August 11, 1982 34 Chet Fillip crashed in turn one and suffered a broken heel and severe bruises to both legs and ankles, he would not return to racing until the season finale at Phoenix. Spike Gehlhausen lost a wheel in turn two and crashed into the wall. Gehlhausen's car was damaged beyond repair and he borrowed Bill Alsup's backup car. Practice - Wednesday, August 11 Qualifying was rained out on Wednesday afternoon and rescheduled for Friday, giving teams an extra practice day on Thursday. In a brief practice session on Wednesday afternoon, Rick Mears ran the fastest speed at 197.338 mph. Practice - Thursday, August 12 In a three-hour Thursday practice, Kevin Cogan set the pace at 195.644 mph. Mario Andretti was second fastest at 195.448 mph. Mears tested a backup car at 194.632 mph.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qWIlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wOQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4720%2C1543143 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Penske Team Has Pocono Speed August 13, 1982 28 Qualifying - Friday, August 13 Qualifying was held on Friday, August 13. For the first time, the lineup was set by the single best time of two laps, not an average speed of the two laps. Rick Mears won the pole with a speed of 200.983 mph. Mears' lap broke the single lap record that Peter Revson set in 1973 of 191.367 mph. It was the fifth time in 1982 that Mears broke a track record. Mears' Team Penske teammate, Kevin Cogan, was second fastest at 196.541 mph. Johnny Rutherford was third at 194.843 mph.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qmIlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wOQFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6216%2C1737224 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Mears Hit 200.9 mph at Pocono August 14, 1982 8 Gordon Johncock spun and hit the wall on his second qualifying lap. He had just posted the fifth fastest qualifying speed when his car spun in turn one and backed into the wall. Entering the race, news spread through the garage that Rick Mears was using an experimental turbocharger manufactured by Borg-Warner in Japan and was partially the reason for his four mph advantage over the second fastest car. It was the only turbo of its kind, with a second not being made until September.https://www.newspapers.com/article/scrantonian-tribune-1982-pocono-mears-tu/130069837/ Scrantonian Pennsylvania Associated Press Super-Powered Engine Gives Edge to Mears August 15, 1982 45 Mears admitted the turbocharger was untested and "definitely a risk" to run it in the race as an unproven part.https://www.newspapers.com/article/citizens-voice-1982-pocono-500-mears-ca/130070005/ Citizens Voice Pennsylvania Associated Press Rick Mears Captures Pocono 500 August 16, 1982 46 Race For the first time, the Pocono 500 started with the cars aligned in rows of two instead of three-wide.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x1QiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aqcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5631%2C4464313 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Penske Team Continues Strong Showing at Pocono August 16, 1982 21 Rick Mears led the field to green and led the first five laps. On lap 6, Mario Andretti passed Mears in turn two to take the lead. Johnny Rutherford passed Mears in turn three to drop him to third. Andretti extended his streak of leading laps in his last nine Pocono 500s. On lap 12, Rutherford passed Andretti for the lead entering turn one. A caution for debris came out one lap later. Under yellow, Gordon Johncock's crew was able to fix a problem that kept him from having brakes for the first 15 laps. The race went back to green on lap 17 and Tom Sneva passed Rutherford on the restart. On lap 27, a caution came out when Howdy Holmes blew an engine and stopped on track. Rutherford pitted, which gave the lead back to Mears. Seeking the Triple Crown, Gordon Johncock led for the first time on lap 66. He held it for four laps before pit stops cycled the lead back to Mears. Sneva dropped out of the race on lap 70 with ignition troubles. A. J. Foyt retired with handling problems after completing 70 laps. Mario Andretti fell out of the race with gearbox issues on lap 114. On lap 138, the third-place car of Johnny Rutherford blew a right-rear tire entering turn one and spun 360 degrees, impacting the wall hard with the right side of the car. The car split in half, with the engine and gearbox torn loose from the chassis. With assistance, Rutherford walked to the ambulance.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x1QiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aqcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2911%2C4461231 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Mears Breezes to Win August 16, 1982 21 Rutherford was airlifted by helicopter to a local hospital where his only injury was a broken metacarpal bone leading to the pinky finger on his right hand. He was released from the hospital later that afternoon.https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-call-1982-pocono-500-rutherf/130070211/ Morning Call Pennsylvania Associated Press Rutherford Planning to Drive With Splint August 18, 1982 37 In his first nine starts in the Pocono 500, Rutherford had never finished worse than seventh, and had an average finish of 3.8. Running second with seven laps to go, Johncock fell out of the race with a broken gearbox and brought out the ninth caution flag of the day. That set up a two-lap shootout to the finish with Mears holding off Kevin Cogan by two seconds. Rick Mears led 142 laps and won $66,435. It was his first Pocono 500 victory and the fourth for Team Penske. The win allowed Mears to overcome a 36-point deficit to Johncock and take the points lead. Mears would not relinquish the lead and won his third CART championship.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=x1QiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=aqcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2411%2C4428232 Reading Eagle Pennsylvania Associated Press Rick Mears Breezes to Victory at Pocono August 16, 1982 18 Box score FinishGridNo Car numberNameEntrantChassisEngineLapsTime/StatusLed Laps ledPoints 1 1 1 USA Rick Mears Penske Racing Penske PC-10 Cosworth 200 3:25:39.000 142 66 2 2 4 USA Kevin Cogan Penske Racing Penske PC-10 Cosworth 200 +2.000 10 48 3 7 19 USA Bobby Rahal Truesports March 82C Cosworth 197 +3 Laps 1 42 4 12 21 AUS Geoff Brabham Bignotti-Cotter Racing March 82C Cosworth 197 +3 Laps 0 36 5 18 6 USA Tony Bettenhausen Jr. Bettenhausen Motorsports March 82C Cosworth 195 +5 Laps 0 30 6 5 20 USA Gordon Johncock Patrick Racing Wildcat Mk8B Cosworth 193 Gearbox 14 24 7 10 34 USA Johnny Parsons Wysard Motor Co. March 82C Cosworth 191 +9 Laps 0 18 8 23 56 USA Gary Bettenhausen Gohr Racing Penske PC-7 Chevrolet 188 +12 Laps 0 15 9 22 31 USA Roger Mears Machinists Union Racing Penske PC-7 Cosworth 181 +19 Laps 0 12 10 24 46 USA Jerry Karl McCray Racing Penske PC-7 Cosworth 161 Engine 0 9 11 27 65 USA Phil Krueger Luxury Racers King Chevrolet 149 +51 Laps 0 6 12 3 5 USA Johnny Rutherford Chaparral Racing March 82C Cosworth 137 Crash 24 3 13 17 2 USA Bill Alsup Alsup Racing Penske PC-9C Cosworth 129 Engine 0 3 14 4 40 USA Mario Andretti Patrick Racing Wildcat Mk8B Cosworth 114 Gearbox 6 3 15 19 55 MEX Josele Garza Garza Racing Penske PC-9 Cosworth 106 Transmission 0 3 16 6 18 USA Mike Mosley Kraco Racing March 82C Cosworth 100 Engine 0 3 17 16 12 USA Chip Ganassi Rhoades Racing Wildcat Mk8 Cosworth 98 Engine 0 3 18 26 23 USA Jim McElreath McElreath Racing Eagle Offenhauser 79 Clutch 0 3 19 9 7 USA Tom Sneva Bignotti-Cotter Racing March 82C Cosworth 70 Ignition 2 3 20 13 14 USA A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises March 82C Cosworth 70 Suspension 0 3 21 29 35 USA George Snider Fletcher Racing Team March 82C Cosworth 64 Engine 0 0 22 21 22 USA Dick Simon Leader Card Racers Watson Cosworth 59 Engine 0 0 23 8 10 USA Al Unser Longhorn Racing Longhorn LR03B Cosworth 45 Electrical 1 0 24 15 36 USA Scott Brayton Brayton Racing Wildcat Mk8 Cosworth 39 Engine 0 0 25 20 72 USA Tom Bigelow HBK Racing Eagle 81 Chevrolet 38 Engine 0 0 26 28 86 USA Al Loquasto GTS Racing Eagle Offenhauser 37 Fuel pressure 0 0 27 14 30 USA Howdy Holmes Doug Shierson Racing March 82C Cosworth 26 Engine 0 0 28 11 3 USA Pancho Carter Alex Morales Motorsports March 82C Cosworth 19 Engine 0 0 29 25 24 USA Bill Vukovich II Leader Card Racers Watson Cosworth 17 Oil cooler 0 0 30 30 27 USA Spike Gehlhausen Alsup Racing Penske PC-7 Cosworth 3 Magneto 0 0 Source:1982 Domino's Pizza Pocono 5001982 Pocono 500 - Round 7 Race Statistics Average Speed: 145.879 mph km/h on Lead changes: 26 among 8 drivers Lap Leaders FromLap ToLap TotalLaps Leader 1 5 5 Rick Mears 6 11 6 Mario Andretti 12 16 5 Johnny Rutherford 17 18 2 Tom Sneva 19 27 9 Johnny Rutherford 28 29 2 Rick Mears 30 30 1 Al Unser 31 45 15 Rick Mears 46 46 1 Kevin Cogan 47 47 1 Bobby Rahal 48 64 17 Rick Mears 65 65 1 Kevin Cogan 66 69 4 Gordon Johncock 70 73 4 Johnny Rutherford 74 89 16 Rick Mears 90 92 3 Johnny Rutherford 93 97 5 Kevin Cogan 98 111 14 Rick Mears 112 114 3 Johnny Rutherford 115 130 16 Rick Mears 131 132 2 Gordon Johncock 133 146 14 Rick Mears 147 152 6 Gordon Johncock 153 173 21 Rick Mears 174 175 2 Gordon Johncock 176 178 3 Kevin Cogan 179 200 22 Rick Mears Standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 US Rick Mears 191 2 US Gordon Johncock 185 3 US Bobby Rahal 178 4 US Mario Andretti 154 5 US Kevin Cogan 112 Broadcasting For the first time, the Pocono 500 was broadcast by NBC's Sportsworld. Paul Page was the lead broadcaster, joined by Bruce Jenner. Gary Gerould reported from the pits. A one-hour delayed broadcast was aired two weeks after the race on August 29, paired with the Arlington Million horse race.1982 Pocono 500 Telecast: NBC-TV, August 29, 1982 References 2 Category:Pocono 500 Pocono 500 Pocono 500