Entering the event, Kenseth led the Drivers' Championship by 57 points over Tony Stewart in second position. Although Ryan Newman won the pole position with the fastest recorded lap time in qualifying, he was immediately passed by Jeff Gordon at the start of the race. Twenty-eight laps later Rusty Wallace became the leader of the race. Gordon reclaimed the lead on lap 34 and led the most laps with 174. Jimmy Spencer passed Gordon for the lead on lap 161, and kept the position for a total of 139 laps. After the final pit stops, Busch became the leader of the race and maintained the position to lead a total of 116 laps, and to win his first race of the season. There were seventeen cautions and eleven lead changes among seven different drivers during the course of the race.
The race victory was Busch's first win in the 2003 season, as well as fifth of his career. The result advanced Busch from joint fifth with Ricky Craven to second in the Drivers' Championship, one hundred and thirty-eight points behind Kenseth, and nine ahead of Stewart, who fell to third. Ford maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, eight ahead of Chevrolet, and eighteen ahead of Pontiac, who demoted Dodge to fourth place, with thirty races of the season remaining.
Ahead of the event, Speedway Motorsports unveiled an extended backstretch grandstand which added 43,826 to the track's capacity.[1] Spectators at the track also planned a "patriotic rally" which showed support to troops serving in the Iraq War. This caused Speedway Motorsports to employ extra security during the event.[12] NASCAR subsequently announced that a contingency plan was being prepared that included arrangements for travel and extra security for the next three races in the season.[13] The United States Government gave its consent to NASCAR and the other professional sporting associations to resume with their normal schedules.[14]
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 120 minutes, while the second and final sessions ran for 45 minutes.[1]Jeff Gordon was fastest in the first practice session with a time of 15.149 seconds, ahead of Sterling Marlin in second and Ryan Newman in third. Ken Schrader (with a lap of 15.178) was fourth fastest, and Mike Skinner placed fifth. Busch, Kenny Wallace, Earnhardt, Jimmy Spencer and Nemechek rounded out the session's top-ten drivers.[15] During the session, Jeff Green and Jamie McMurray both made contact with the wall, and both were required to switch to back-up cars for qualifying. Robby Gordon also hit the wall, after spinning sideways.[1]
A total of forty-five drivers were entered in the qualifier on Friday afternoon;[1][16] according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, forty-three were allowed to race.[1] Each driver ran two timed laps to determine pole position to 36th.[1] The remainder of the field qualified through the use of provisionals.[17] Ryan Newman clinched the second pole position of his season,[18] and the ninth of his career, with a time of 14.908 seconds.[19] The time beat Jeff Gordon's March 2002 track record,[20] and it became the first sub-15 second lap in the Winston Cup Series.[21] He was joined on the grid's front row by Jeff Gordon who was 0.160 seconds slower than Newman and held pole position until Newman's lap.[19] Schrader qualified third in the highest qualifying position for his team BAM Racing.[20]Rusty Wallace took fourth, and Bill Elliott started fifth. Skinner, Spencer, Earnhardt, Busch and Stewart completed the top ten starters.[18] Positions two through twenty-four were covered by almost two-tenths of a second.[22] Kenseth, Dale Jarrett, Casey Mears, Kenny Wallace, Todd Bodine, Jack Sprague and John Andretti used provisionals to qualify for the event.[18][20] The two drivers who failed to qualify for the race were Larry Foyt for the second time in the 2003 season and Hermie Sadler.[18] After the qualifier Newman said, "That's the most amazed I've ever been after a qualifying run to go that fast and not anticipate it. We picked up over a quarter of a second from practice, and that's just unheard of at Bristol."[2]
On Saturday morning, Kenseth was fastest in the second practice session with a lap of 15.683 seconds, ahead of Newman in second and Ward Burton in third. Busch was fourth quickest, and Rusty Wallace took fifth. Jeff Burton managed sixth. Kyle Petty, Mark Martin, Sprague and Nemechek followed in the top ten.[23] During the final practice session, Busch was fastest with a time of 15.701. Stewart and Jeff Gordon followed in second and third with times of 15.722 and 15.723. Dave Blaney was fourth fastest, ahead of Earnhardt and Craven. Kenseth was seventh fastest, Martin eighth, Jerry Nadeau ninth, and Ward Burton tenth.[24] The session was temporarily suspended when Marlin spun on the track, but managed to not to collide with the barriers.[25]
1 Moved to the back of the field for changing engines
Race
The race began at 1:00pm EST and was televised live in the United States on Fox.[27] Commentary was provided by Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, and Darrell Waltrip.[1] At the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny and warm.[28] Reverend Mike Rife, of the Vansant Church of Christ in Vansant, Virginia, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Country music singer Rebecca Lynn Howard performed the national anthem, and representatives of the United States Armed Forces commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, McMurray had to move to the rear of the grid because of him changing his engine.[14]
Jeff Gordon accelerated faster than Newman off the line, getting ahead of him by the first turn. Rusty Wallace passed Newman for the second position one lap later. On the third lap, the first caution was given when Robby Gordon made contact with Petty, forcing him to spin sideways.[14] Robby Gordon was cautioned for the collision.[1] Kenny Wallace also made contact with Ricky Rudd, but escaped with minor damage. None of the drivers made pit stops during the caution.[14] Jeff Gordon led the field back up to speed at the restart on lap seven.[3]Jeremy Mayfield made contact with the wall leaving the second turn at around the tenth lap, and suffered a flat front right tire. No caution was given.[14] Four laps later, Michael Waltrip experienced oversteer and collided with Dave Blaney. Jarrett had no room to negotiate through and struck the rear of Waltrip's car. The incident prompted the race's second caution. Waltrip's car suffered heavy damage to the rear end of his car.[1]
Almost immediately after the lap 20 restart, Andretti collided with the slowing Bodine, who in turn, struck Petty. Mears had no space to pass by and struck Andretti. The accident caused the event's third caution. Andretti's car sustained major damage to the front end.[1] The race restarted on lap 29, with Rusty Wallace claiming the lead. One lap later, Busch and Stewart passed Schrader for seventh and eighth respectively. Earnhardt moved into third after passing Skinner on lap 33. One lap later, Jeff Gordon reclaimed the first position. On the 42nd lap, Earnhardt passed Rusty Wallace for second.[14] Thirteen laps later,[3]Tony Raines stopped on track due to an engine failure, and the fourth caution was given as a result. All of the leaders elected to make pit stops during the caution.[14] Jeff Gordon maintained his lead at the restart on the 64th lap,[3] followed by Terry Labonte and Green.[14]
Stewart made contact with Newman, who went up the circuit. Newman then came town the track and crashed into the side of Craven, who went into Bodine, which prompted the fifth caution on lap 68. Behind the trio, Steve Park hit the rear of Johnson, causing the latter to spin sideways.[1] Most drivers stayed on track during the caution, allowing Jeff Gordon to remain the leader on the restart. Skinner fell to eighth after being passed by Busch and Earnhardt on the 75th lap.[14] It was around this lap that Kenseth had advanced to fourth place.[29] Five laps later, Earnhardt passed Busch to claim sixth. On lap 85, Skinner fell from eighth to twelfth position. Kenseth, who started the race in thirty-seventh, had moved up thirty-four positions to third by lap 91. By the 111th lap, Jeff Gordon had maintained a half second lead over Terry Labonte. Thirteen laps later, Spencer and Stewart passed Kenseth for fourth and fifth respectively.[14]
The pace car came out for the sixth caution on lap 136, after Skinner collided with the turn two outside wall due to a failed right-front tire and his car caught fire.[1][30] During the caution, all of the leaders elected to make pit stops. Jeff Gordon led on the restart, followed by Nemechek and Spencer.[14] On the 149th lap,[3] the seventh caution came out, after Sprague spun 180 degrees when he attempted to pass Benson on the inside and the two made contact.[1] Jeff Gordon led on the lap 154-restart,[3] although he was passed by Skinner on lap 161. After starting the race in twenty-eighth, Kevin Harvick moved to sixth position by lap 169.[14] Twelve laps later, Sprague spun sideways in the fourth turn and crashed against the inside barrier on the front stretch, prompting the eighth caution. Sprague was able to continue driving.[1] During the caution, some of the leaders chose to make pit stops. Jeff Gordon led on the restart on the 187th lap.[14]
On the 198th lap, Jeff Burton made contact with Earnhardt, collecting Johnson, with all three cars escaping with minor damage. The ninth caution was prompted on the next lap, after Martin was sent spinning sideways from contact with Bill Elliott. Mears spun sideways before the caution was given. During the caution, some of the leaders elected to make pit stops. Harvick was the leader at the restart, followed by Spencer and Terry Labonte. Robby Gordon collided with the wall on lap 210, damaging his car and fell to twelfth position. Four laps later, Sadler passed Marlin for eighth. Spencer passed Harvick to reclaim the lead on the 217th lap.[14] Nadeau was sent into the turn one inside barrier when he spun sideways from making contact with Newman and being struck by Brett Bodine, prompting the tenth caution one lap later.[1][30]
Spencer maintained his lead at the lap 223 restart.[3]Bobby Labonte slowed and was hit at the rear by his teammate Stewart, just as Kenseth went into the rear of his teammate Busch.[1][31] Both Bobby Labonte and Busch spun,[1] and these accidents triggered the eleventh caution on the 226th lap.[14] Spencer led when the race restarted on lap 241.[3] Two laps later,[3] a multi-car collision occurred at turn two when Brett Bodine made contact with Terry Labonte, causing Labonte to spin,[32] and collect Kenny Wallace, Robby Gordon, Petty, and Schrader; this would prompt the twelfth caution.[1] Spencer remained the leader at the restart on lap 250.[3] On lap 256, McMurray made contact with Robby Gordon, slowed and was hit by Ward Burton,[1] spinning sideways and causing the thirteenth caution.[14] Stewart also made contact with Rudd, while Bobby Labonte spun sideways and managed to not collide with the barriers.[14] Rudd was pushed by Stewart during the caution, earning Joe Gibbs Racing a warning to calm Stewart down.[32]
The race restarted on lap 263.[3] On lap 265, Earnhardt lost two positions after being passed by Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Kenseth. Eighteen laps later, Kenseth passed Jeff Gordon for the fifth position. By the 300th lap, Kenseth passed Johnson for third. On lap 315, Busch moved into the fifth position by passing Jeff Gordon.[14] Green flag pit stops began on lap 327 when Harvick made a pit stop.[14] Competitors who had not made a pit stop beforehand would be required to do so under green flag conditions.[33] Kenseth passed Spencer to claim the first position on the 334th lap. Spencer lost another position to Busch four laps later. On lap 348, Bobby Labonte moved into fifth position after passing Johnson.[14] Eleven laps later, Busch passed Kenseth to claim the lead.[3] On the 367th lap, Earnhardt began to run out of fuel and made a pit stop one lap later.[14] Jeff Gordon entered the backstretch pit lane when his pit stall was on the frontstretch area during lap 371 and lost around two to three seconds worth of time.[34]
Bobby Labonte claimed the first position off Busch seven laps later.[14] On lap 390,[3] the fourteenth caution was prompted, after one of Jarrett's tires went flat; he spun into the turn two inside barrier. Schrader spun before the caution came out and damaged the front of his car.[1] Jarrett stopped at the pit road entrance on the backstretch in his unsuccessful attempt to exit the track. Pit road was closed until cleanup crews removed debris.[33] At the time, just Bobby Labonte, Busch, Marlin, Rudd and Greg Biffle had not made a pit stop under green flag conditions and were expected to make them.[34][35] Since speeds during caution laps were limited to 35mph (56km/h), the five lead teams would be able to make pit stops and avoid falling one or two laps behind than drivers who had made their pit stops under racing conditions.[35]Jimmy Fennig, Busch's crew chief, requested over the radio to Busch that he make a pit stop two laps earlier. When he noticed debris on the track in the second turn due to a legacy of Jarrett's crash, Busch decided not to make a pit stop.[36][37]
The race restarted on lap 404,[3] with Busch overtaking Bobby Labonte for the lead.[33][36] On lap 406, the fifteenth caution was given;[3] Petty drove onto the apron and made contact with Nemechek, causing Petty to spin sideways.[1][14] Busch remained the leader at the restart on the 412th lap,[3] ahead of Bobby Labonte and Rudd. Kenseth passed Biffle for fifth on lap 420.[14] Four laps later, the sixteenth caution was prompted, when Ward Burton made contact with Robby Gordon exiting turn four. Ward Burton struck the inside barrier on the frontstretch and went up the circuit.[1] He made contact with Petty's car,[30] sending Petty spinning 180 degrees backwards driver's-side and struck the turn one outside barrier driver's side.[1][31] Petty remained in his car until he was extricated by rescue workers.[32] Busch led the field back up to speed on the lap 439 restart. On the 456th lap, Kenseth passed Rudd to claim third position. Nine laps later, Biffle passed Rudd for fourth position. Martin was spun in front of the race leaders on lap 470, but managed to continue.[14]
Two laps later, the pace car came out for the seventeenth and final caution;[3] as competitors ahead of him slowed,[31] Nemechek made rear-end contact with Stewart, (who just before made contact with the slowing Andretti) because of reduced visibility caused by smoke from when Martin spun on track.[1][3] Stewart sustained heavy damage to the front of his vehicle.[32] Busch remained the leader at the lap 482 restart.[3] Bobby Labonte was passed by Kenseth for second during the same lap.[37] Kenseth damaged his car's right-front fender during the pass;[38] it affected his car's handling until the metal on the fender became worn out.[29] On the 488th lap, Rudd reclaimed fourth position from Biffle.[14] Kenseth was unable to get close enough to effect an overtake on his teammate Busch,[28] who achieved his first victory of the 2003 season, his second successive in the event,[39] and the fifth of his career.[37] Kenseth finished second, ahead of Bobby Labonte in third, Rudd in fourth,[3] and Biffle a then-career best fifth.[38] Only the first six finishers were on the same lap as Busch.[35] There were seventeen cautions and eleven changes of lead among seven different drivers during the race. Jeff Gordon more often than any other driver with 174 laps led during three different periods. Busch led twice for a total of 116 laps.[3]
Post-race
"I'm out here having fun, living a dream and driving cars for a living. I don't know what it is about me, I don't know what it is about Bristol. I love this place and I love that I got another win."
Busch appeared in victory lane to celebrate his first win of the season in front of approximately 160,000 people who attended the race,[35][31] earning $162,790 in race winnings.[3] Afterward, Fennig praised his performance, "Kurt Busch is awesome, so awesome. He gets up on the wheel and drives the hell out of that race car, and he made a call today that won him the race."[40] Kenseth was happy with his second-place finish, commenting, "I feel lucky. Started provisional here at Bristol and coming home second. So, it was a great race. Me and Bobby had to go there a little at the end, and I got my fender knocked in there a little. I was hoping I could make a run at Kurt before that happened. But, it was a good race. It's always physical out there, and we didn't have a scratch on the car there until right at the end, so it was pretty good."[41]
Bobby Labonte was happy with finishing third, commenting, "I got spun out twice and finished third. "It's a great day. How much greater could you want it to get?"[42] Spencer, who led 139 laps of the race, was candid about his performance, "It should have been a first, but the Sirius Dodge boys are doing a good job. I wouldn't trade 'em. We made some mistakes, but we'll get better."[43] Mears, who was involved in the lap 20 collision with Andretti and Todd Bodine, commented, "I don't know what happened. I was just going through the gears taking my time and it looked like somebody up front may have missed a shift or somebody may have got into somebody else."[44] Terry Labonte, who was part of the race's biggest crash when Bodine made contact with him on lap 243, said that, "Any time you're in a race with a Bodine, you're liable to get in a wreck, and I did."[43] Rudd said his team possibly had a car that could have finished between positions four and six that was dependent on alterations and pit stops.[45] Stewart remarked that he had "never been hit so much in one day" and called it "a bad day" for himself.[32]
During the race, Jerry Nadeau and Ryan Newman were involved in a battle for position that resulted in the two colliding on the 219th lap. Once Nadeau returned to pit road, he was talking out of anger to Newman's team personnel about the incident.[46] Once the argument ended, Nadeau commented, "It's a shame. It was a great car for us, the U.S. Army Pontiac. Damn lapped-car can't use his head. I don't know what Ryan (Newman) was thinking. He just kept coming down, kept coming down."[46] Newman argued, "It looked to me like the 11 (Bodine) got into the back of the 01 (Nadeau) on that one deal."[46] Kyle Petty, who was involved in the crash on lap 425, was taken to the circuit's infield medical center, and later taken for a precautionary visit at the Bristol Regional Medical Center to undergo medical evaluations.[47] Petty's crash was measured at 80G, and he suffered injuries to his ribs and abdomen.[48] Petty was released from hospital during the night;[28] he was replaced by former CART driver Christian Fittipaldi for the next round, the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.[48]
The race result left Kenseth leading the Drivers' Championship with 935 points. Busch, who finished first, moved to second on 797, nine points ahead of Stewart and eleven ahead of Waltrip. Earnhardt Jr. fell to fifth with 749 points.[49] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ford maintained the lead with 45 points. Chevrolet remained second on 37 points. Pontiac followed with 27 points, four points ahead of Dodge in fourth.[10] Having increased his points lead, Kenseth said that he was happy and he would not change his driving style because of this change. He also added that his team would "have another six to eight months" before they would start to worry about their rivals making a challenge for the championship.[50] The race took three hours, twenty-nine minutes and twenty-two seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 0.390 seconds.[6]
The 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 57th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 34th modern-era Cup series. The season began on Saturday, February 12. The ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 18, and ended on Sunday, November 20, with the Ford 400.
The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 56th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 33rd modern-era Cup series season. The season began on Saturday, February 7, and ended on Sunday, November 21. Kurt Busch, who drove a Ford for Roush Racing, was the Nextel Cup champion. It would be the last time until 2012 that the championship would be won by someone other than Tony Stewart or Jimmie Johnson.
The 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 55th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 32nd modern-era Cup Series season. The season began on February 8 at the Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on November 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. Despite only winning one race throughout the whole season, Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17 Ford for Roush Racing, was strongly consistent following the lone win, and was crowned the Winston Cup champion. His only win came in the third race of the 36 race season. Chevrolet took home the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship after capturing 19 wins and 264 points over second-place finisher Dodge, who had nine wins and 203 points. Ford finished the year third with seven wins and 200 points, and Pontiac finished fourth with one win and 125 points.
The 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 54th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 31st modern-era Cup Series season. It began on February 10, 2002, at Daytona International Speedway, and ended on November 17, 2002, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, was declared as the Winston Cup champion. Bill Elliott won the 2002 NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award. He would win it for the 16th and final time in his career. He withdrew from the ballot after receiving the award. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was captured by Ford after winning 14 events and gaining 245 points over second-place finisher Chevrolet, who had 10 wins and 211 points.
The 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 52nd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and was the 29th modern-era Cup series. The season began on February 13 and ended on November 20. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte was crowned champion at season's end. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was won by Ford as they captured 14 wins and 234 points to better Pontiac's 11 wins and 213 points. Chevrolet finished third with nine wins and 199 points.
The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 53rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 30th modern-era Cup series. It began on February 11, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was declared as the series champion for the fourth time in seven years.
The 2006 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. The 48th Daytona 500 was held on February 19, 2006, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, before 200,000 spectators. Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson, won the 203-lap race after starting ninth. Chip Ganassi Racing's Casey Mears and Penske Racing South's Ryan Newman finished second and third, respectively.
The 2007 Coca-Cola 600 was the 12th stock car race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the event's 48th iteration. It was held on May 27, 2007, with 175,000 spectators in attendance, in Concord, North Carolina at Lowe's Motor Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. Casey Mears of the Hendrick Motorsports team won the 400-lap race after starting 16th. Joe Gibbs Racing's J. J. Yeley finished second and Kyle Petty of Petty Enterprises took third.
The 2003 Aaron's 499 was held on April 6, 2003, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It was the eighth race of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeremy Mayfield was the polesitter.
The 2009 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. With a distance of 500.8 miles (806.0 km), it was held on April 26, 2009 at the 2.66 miles (4.28 km) Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Fox Sports broadcast the race starting at 1 PM EDT, with MRN and Sirius XM Radio carrying the radio broadcast over the air and on satellite respectively. The race had nine cautions, 25 different leaders, and 57 lead changes, the most lead changes of the season up until that point.
The 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 was the fifth stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on March 16, 2003, before a crowd of 55,000, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway. The 293-lap race, the 100th NASCAR Cup Series event at Darlington Raceway, was won by PPI Motorsports driver Ricky Craven starting from the 31st position. Kurt Busch of the Roush Racing squad finished in second place and Dave Blaney third for the Jasper Motorsports team.
The 2011 Aaron's 499 was the eighth race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season out of thirty six total races. The race was held on April 17 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Jeff Gordon won his 70th pole position, leading a Hendrick Motorsports sweep of the top four starting positions. Nearly the entire race, in similar fashion to the 2011 Daytona 500, was marked by the prevalence of 2-car drafting. On the last lap, four 2-car drafting teams contended for the win, and all eight cars finished within about three car-lengths of each other. Johnson, pushed by Earnhardt, won the race by .002 seconds over Clint Bowyer, the 2010 fall race winner at the track.
The 2012 Food City 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on March 18, 2012 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee before a crowd of 102,000. The 500-lap race was won by Brad Keselowski of the Penske Racing team after he started from fifth position. Matt Kenseth finished second and Martin Truex Jr. came in third.
The 2012 Aaron's 499 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 6, 2012 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Contested over 194 laps, it was the tenth race of the 2012 season. Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing took his second win of the season, while Kyle Busch finished second and Matt Kenseth finished third.
The 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 65th season of NASCAR professional stock car racing in the United States and the 42nd modern-era Cup season. The season began on February 16, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway, with the Sprint Unlimited, followed by the Daytona 500 on February 24. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 17.
The 2002 Aaron's 499 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that was held April 21, 2002, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Dale Earnhardt Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. won the race, his first of the season and the second of his four straight wins at Talladega. His teammate Michael Waltrip finished second and Kurt Busch finished third.
The 2006 Subway 500 was the 32nd stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the sixth in the ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on October 22, 2006, before a crowd of 65,000, at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, a short track that holds NASCAR races. Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson won the 500‑lap race starting from the ninth position; Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second, and Petty Enterprises' Bobby Labonte was third.
The 2006 Dover 400 was the twenty-eighth stock car race of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the second in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on September 24, 2006 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, before a crowd of 145,000. The 400-lap race was won by Jeff Burton of Richard Childress Racing, who started from 19th position. Carl Edwards of Roush Racing finished second and Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports came in third.
The 2003 Budweiser Shootout was the first of two exhibition stock car races of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The 25th Budweiser Shootout, and the first to be held at night to allow for prime time broadcasting, it was held on February 8, 2003, in Daytona Beach, Florida, at Daytona International Speedway, before a crowd of 75,000 spectators. Dale Earnhardt Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. won the 70-lap race from 19th. Hendrick Motorsports's Jeff Gordon was second, with Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth third. It was Earnhardt's first Budweiser Shootout win, and his first at Daytona International Speedway in the Cup Series since the 2001 Pepsi 400.
The 2002 Sharpie 500 was the 24th stock car race of the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, August 24, 2002, in Bristol, Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end, Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would complete a bump-and-run with less than three to go on eventual second-place finisher, Penske Racing driver Rusty Wallace, to win his 59th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series win and his first of the season. To fill out the podium, Dale Earnhardt Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. would finish third. But the race became notable for it being a night of tempers were there was 4 different instances where drivers showed their tempers to other drivers.
1 2 "Point Standings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. March 17, 2003. Archived from the original on March 7, 2005. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
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