Bonnett holds off Elliott to become 600's 'Ace' in '82

By Sporting News Wire Service
May 23, 2008
12:07 AM EDT

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On a sweltering day at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with track temperatures exceeding 140 degrees, only two drivers, winner Neil Bonnett and surprise runner-up Bill Elliott, finished on the lead lap -- but the race between the top two was memorable nevertheless.

Bonnett

Bonnett took the lead from Elliott with 13 laps remaining in the 1982 World 600, after a bold move to the inside of Elliott's No. 9 Melling Racing Ford. Elliott, who had led six times for 75 laps, chased the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford the rest of the way but couldn't overtake Bonnett, who was two car-lengths ahead at the finish of a grueling 600-mile race.

Footage from the race was used in the movie Stroker Ace, but not as much as the producers had planned. Tim Richmond's No. 2 Buick was the movie car for the event, but Richmond crashed out on Lap 44 and subsequently drove in relief of Kyle Petty.

Lennie Pond and Donnie Allison fell out early, and both took turns driving in relief of Richard Petty, after the wilting heat began to take its toll on The King.

The victory was the 11th in Bonnett's career. Elliott, who would not run his first full season of Cup racing until 1983, matched his best finish to that point. After seven years as a part-time competitor, Elliott finally picked up his first Cup win in the last race of 1983, at Riverside, Calif.

• 1978: Ribbs' wrong turn helped open door for Earnhardt
• 1988: Earnhardt penalized five laps for spinning Bodine
• 1993: Aumann recalls Earnhardt's win under the lights

1982 World 600

Charlotte Motor Speedway, May 30, 1982

Finish	Start	Driver	Laps	Led

1	13	Neil Bonnett	400	67
2	14	Bill Elliott	400	75
3	9	Bobby Allison	399	99
4	5	Cale Yarborough	398	0
5	2	Buddy Baker	398	3
6	20	Jody Ridley	398	1
7	10	Ricky Rudd	397	0
8	21	Richard Petty	394	1
9	12	Dave Marcis	391	1
10	17	Ron Bouchard	391	0
11	27	Buddy Arrington	390	0
12	33	Lake Speed	390	0
13	4	Harry Gant	388	19
14	37	Jimmy Means	387	0
15	28	Connie Saylor	385	0
16	40	Bosco Lowe	381	0
17	25	Kyle Petty	379	0
18	32	Slick Johnson	375	0
19	16	Morgan Shepherd	373	6
20	38	Bobby Wawak	363	0
21	1	David Pearson	362	2
22	3	Darrell Waltrip	354	0
23	42	Tommy Gale	351	0
24	30	Brad Teague	350	0
25	3	Geoffrey Bodine	350	0
26	29	H.B. Bailey	337	0
27	18	Mark Martin	328	0
28	34	D.k. Ulrich	316	0
29	23	Rusty Wallace	307	0
30	15	Dale Earnhardt	279	122
31	39	Lennie Pond	261	0
32	26	Delma Cowart	253	0
33	41	J.D. McDuffie	202	0
34	7	Terry Labonte	179	4
35	36	Steve Moore	150	0
36	31	Rick Wilson	104	0
37	22	Donnie Allison	103	0
38	24	Dean Combs	97	0
39	8	Benny Parsons	97	0
40	19	Tim Richmond	44	0
41	11	Joe Ruttman	43	0
42	35	John Anderson	5	0