1982 NASCAR Cup Series Head-to-Head Playoff Results

Originally published on Aug. 7, 2024

By Zane Miller

First round

(8) #15 Dale Earnhardt v. (1) #88 Bobby Allison

(7) #71 Dave Marcis v. (2) #44 Terry Labonte

(6) #43 Richard Petty v. (3) #11 Darrell Waltrip

(5) #33 Harry Gant v. (4) #67 Buddy Arrington

In the round-opening Southern 500 at Darlington, Dale Earnhardt picked up an upset win over regular season champ Bobby Allison, grabbing a third-place finish to Allison’s 20^th. Meanwhile, Dave Marcis claimed a 10^th-place result in his independently-owned car while Terry Labonte fell out due to engine failure, while Darrell Waltrip also suffered an engine failure to give the opening race to Richard Petty. Speaking of independent owner-drivers, Buddy Arrington finished a solid ninth as the only Dodge in the field, five laps ahead of Harry Gant.

In the next race at Richmond, Earnhardt fell out with an engine failure while Allison grabbed the race win, while Labonte finished sixth ahead of Marcis in eighth to also keep his spot in the first round. Waltrip continued the trend of the driver behind in the series being able to avoid elimination as he grabbed a third to Petty’s 13^th, while Gant did the same by finishing seventh while Arrington struggled in 16^th. With all four series still in play in the round’s final race at Dover, Waltrip had a no-doubter, leading 287 laps on the way to a race win to knock out Petty. Meanwhile, Earnhardt struggled with electrical woes while Allison had a relatively stress-free 10^th-place run to continue his quest for a third title. Marcis claimed the series victory over Labonte in anticlimactic fashion after Labonte crashed out before the halfway point, while Arrington was also the beneficiary of his opponent’s misfortune with Gant being caught up in a late-race accident.

Semifinal

(4) #67 Buddy Arrington v. (1) #88 Bobby Allison

(3) #11 Darrell Waltrip v. (2) #44 Terry Labonte

At North Wilkesboro, both Allison and Arrington would sustain major issues, but it would be Arrington coming out on top as Allison was unable to get back out on track after blowing an engine as Arrington limped to finish 78 laps down. The battle between Labonte and Waltrip would be quite a bit more competitive, though not without Waltrip continuing to show his dominance as he took the race win with 329 laps led, as Labonte trailed not far behind in third. Staying in North Carolina for the second race of the round at Charlotte, Waltrip would not be so strong, finishing a modest 14^th. However, this would still be good enough to eliminate Labonte, who dropped out late in the going with engine failure. Although Allison suffered a blown engine of his own (This is ‘80s NASCAR we’re talking about, so get used to seeing a lot of that), Arrington spent a large chunk of the race in the garage after a crash and was unable to overtake Allison before the checkered flag waved. With the series now wide open at Martinsville, Allison looked to be on his way to the championship final once again after leading 98 laps and staying ahead of the underdog Arrington. However, with less than 150 laps to go, disaster struck as Allison was hit with his third blown engine in a row, ending his title hopes as Arrington pulled off the upset at his hometown track with a 10^th-place run. Despite the emotional series victory, Arrington still faced the greatest challenge of his career, with Waltrip standing between him and his first Cup Series title.

Final

(4) #67 Buddy Arrington v. (1) #88 Darrell Waltrip

The championship final kicked off at Rockingham, though it would be a rocky start for Arrington. The sudden feel-good story of the season unfortunately had his race end early after getting swept up in a crash, while Waltrip led the race’s final 36 laps to claim his 12^th win of the season. Waltrip kept the positive momentum going in what would be the final event at Atlanta, leading 44 laps on the way to a third-place finish, while Arrington came up short with a 14^th-place result as Waltrip earned back-to-back titles, becoming the first driver other than Cale Yarborough to do so in the playoff era.

Darrell Waltrip’s stats for 1982 were an astonishing 12 victories, 17 top-fives and 20 top-10s in 30 races, as he won the actual championship in addition to the head-to-head title.