The 66th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 30, 1982. Gordon Johncock, who had previously won the rain-shortened 1973 race, was the winner. Rick Mears finished second by a margin of 0.16 seconds, the closest finish in Indy 500 history to that point.

In racing circles, the 1982 race is largely considered one of the best 500s in history, although it was marred by the fatal crash of Gordon Smiley during time trials. Johncock and Mears dueled over most of the final 40 laps, with Johncock holding off Mears on the final lap in a historic victory. The race is also remembered for a controversial crash at the start triggered by Kevin Cogan, which took out Mario Andretti, damaged the car of A. J. Foyt, and caused the crash of two other cars.

Officially the race was part of the 1981-82 USAC season, however, most of the entrants took part in the 1982 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. Championship points for the 1982 Indy 500 were not awarded towards the CART title.

For the first and only time in Indy history, a trio of brothers qualified for the same race. Don, Bill, and Dale Whittington all made the field, with Don finishing a strong 6th. Dale crashed out before the start, and never completed a single lap in his career. Four-time Indy winner A. J. Foyt started on the front row, celebrating his record 25th career Indy 500 start. Though he was caught up in the Cogan incident, his car was hastily repaired and he went on to lead 32 laps.

* Includes days where track
activity was significantly
limited due to rain

ROP — denotes Rookie
Orientation Program

Among many stories going into the 1982 month of May was the return of A. J. Foyt to the cockpit. In July 1981, Foyt had been involved in a serious crash at the Michigan 500, suffering a compound fracture to his right arm, and a puncture wound to his leg. Foyt was sidelined for several months for recovery.

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