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 4EVER 400 presented by Mobil 1 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The race is contested over 267 laps, 400.5 miles (644.542 km).
The 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 58th season of professional Stock car racing in the United States and the 35th modern-era NASCAR Cup series season. It was started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Budweiser Shootout and ended on Monday, November 20, with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chase for the Nextel Cup began with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 17, at New Hampshire International Speedway. This was the last full-time season with the Gen 4 car.
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 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup was a ten-race series that commenced with the Sylvania 300 on September 17, 2006, at New Hampshire International Speedway and concluded with the Ford 400 on November 19 of that same year at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The first ten drivers in the championship standings qualified after the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 on September 9, 2006, at Richmond International Raceway. The 2006 Chase had a strong Chevrolet presence, with seven of the ten teams making the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup fielding Chevrolets.
The 2007 NASCAR Busch Series was the 26th season of the NASCAR Busch Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. It began on February 17 with the Orbitz 300 at Daytona International Speedway and concluded on November 17 with the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Carl Edwards clinched the series championship on November 3 during the O'Reilly Challenge with 2 races remaining. The 2007 season was the final season of the series under Anheuser-Busch's sponsorship. In 2008, the Busch Series became the Nationwide Series sponsored by insurance company Nationwide Insurance with a $70 million contract for 7 years.
The 2009 Auto Club 500 was the second race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. the 500 miles (800 km) race occurred on February 22, 2009, at the 2 miles (3.2 km) Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, 60 miles (97 km) from Los Angeles and was one of the cleanest races in the history of the track with only one caution for an on track incident out of all 250 laps. Fox broadcast the race beginning at 5 pm US EST with radio coverage on MRN (terrestrial) and Sirius XM Radio (satellite) starting at 5:15 pm US EST. The race started at 3 pm local time, and run into prime time, counterprogramming against the Academy Awards.
The 2010 Aaron's 499 was the 9th race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and the first of two Sprint Cup races held at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It started at 1 p.m. EDT on April 25, 2010. The race was televised on Fox and was also broadcast on MRN Radio at 12 p.m. After Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman previous crash, officials decided that they would change from the rear wing to the rear spoiler which debuted in the 2010 Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500. The race, which was extended by 12 laps, shattered numerous NASCAR records: it marked the first time under the modified green-white-checkered finish rules that a race had gone to the maximum three attempts allowed. There were eight caution flags, a record-setting 29 different leaders and a record-setting 88 lead changes. Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing won the race, his first win of the season and his first since the 2007 Daytona 500, while the Earnhardt-Ganassi teammates of Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya finished second and third.
The 2010 AAA Texas 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on November 7, 2010, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps, it was the thirty-fourth race during the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the eighth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The race was won by Denny Hamlin of the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Matt Kenseth finished second, and Mark Martin clinched third.
The 2011 Wonderful Pistachios 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on September 10, 2011, at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia.
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 2012 Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on October 7, 2012 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, United States. Contested over 188 laps on the 2.66-mile (4.3 km) asphalt tri-oval, it was the thirtieth race of the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the fourth race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season.
The 2006 USG Sheetrock 400 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on July 9, 2006, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois. The race was the 18th of the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Jeff Burton of Richard Childress Racing won the pole position with a lap speed of 181.647 mph (292.333 km/h), his second pole of 2006 along with the Daytona 500, marking the first time in his career that he won two poles in the same year. Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth led the most laps, while Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race on a green-white-checker finish, which extended the race from 267 laps to 270.
The 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 66th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 43rd modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway, with the Sprint Unlimited, followed by the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The 2014 Auto Club 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on March 23, 2014, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 206 laps on the 2 miles (3.2 km) asphalt D-shaped oval – extended from 200 laps due to a green–white–checker finish – it was the fifth race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kyle Busch won the race, his first win of the season, while Kyle Larson finished as the highest rookie in second, while Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five. Behind Larson, the top rookies in the race were Austin Dillon in 11th, and Cole Whitt in 18th.
The 2014 Bojangles' Southern 500, the 58th running of the event that traces its lineage to the 1957 Rebel 300, was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on April 12, 2014, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The race was contested over 374 laps – extended from 367 laps due to two attempts at a green–white–checker finish – on the 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval, it was the eighth race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Kevin Harvick of Stewart-Haas Racing won the race, his second win of the season and first at Darlington, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second. Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five. The race was also the first Darlington race won by a polesitter since Dale Jarrett, in the 1997 Rebel. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (8th), Austin Dillon (11th), and Justin Allgaier (23rd). It was the longest race in Darlington Raceway history.
The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 67th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 44th modern-era Cup season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race, the Budweiser Duels, and the Daytona 500. The season ended with the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kyle Busch won the championship, despite missing the first third of the season due to severe leg injuries suffered in an Xfinity Series race at Daytona. Busch also became the first Toyota driver to win a Cup championship. Despite not running the full season, Brett Moffitt was named Rookie of the Year.
The 2014 Federated Auto Parts 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on September 6, 2014, at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Contested over 400 laps, it was the 26th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the final race prior to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, to decide the series champion. Brad Keselowski finished first after he dominated the race, leading 383 of the race's 400 laps. Jeff Gordon finished second while Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. The top rookies of the race were Kyle Larson (11th), Austin Dillon (20th), and Justin Allgaier (28th).
In this unlucky moment of the race, driver Robby Gordon spins out in front of Kyle Petty and Ken Schrader.
Tony Stewart (of Joe Gibbs Racing) is getting involved in a close battle for position against several other drivers.
