Michael Curtis Waltrip is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR champion and racing commentator Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, having won the race in 2001 and 2003. He is also a pre-race analyst for the NASCAR Cup Series and color commentator for the Xfinity Series and the Craftsman Truck Series broadcasts for Fox Sports. He last raced in the 2017 Daytona 500, driving the No. 15 Toyota Camry for Premium Motorsports. All four of his NASCAR Cup Series wins came on superspeedways driving for Dale Earnhardt Inc.
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.
Christopher Beltram Hernandez "J. J." Yeley is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series driving the No. 14 Chevrolet Camaro for SS-Green Light Racing. He has previously competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, what is now the ARCA Menards Series, and what is now the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour as well as the IndyCar Series.
Clinton Edward Bowyer is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and commentator for NASCAR on Fox.
Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC, doing business as Michael Waltrip Racing ("MWR"), was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The company was as a 50–50 partnership between Robert Kauffman, the founder and managing partner of Fortress Investment Group, and two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip, who first established the team in 1996 in the Busch Series. The team was the first full-time three-car team to field Toyota Camrys when Toyota entered the Sprint Cup racing fold in 2007, before being joined by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008. MWR was also the last original Toyota team in the Sprint Cup Series to still be in operation, as Bill Davis Racing and Red Bull Racing Team had both ceased operations in the preceding years.
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 2006 NASCAR Busch Series opened on February 18, 2006, at Daytona International Speedway, and concluded on November 18, 2006, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kevin Harvick, driving for his own team, Kevin Harvick, Inc., as well as for Richard Childress Racing, was declared champion.
The 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 59th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 36th modern-era Cup series. Beginning on February 10 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout, the season ended on November 18 at Homestead-Miami Speedway with the Ford 400. The Chase for the Nextel Cup started with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway and was contested over the final ten races.
The 2007 Citizens Bank 400 was the 15th race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. It was held on June 17, 2007, at Michigan International Speedway, located in the town of Brooklyn, Michigan.
The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 60th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 37th modern-era Cup season. It was contested over thirty-six races, and began on February 9 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout exhibition race, followed by the 50th Daytona 500 on February 17. The season continued with the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup beginning on September 14 with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and concluded with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 16.
The 2007 Ford 400 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car race that was held on November 18, 2007 at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The 267-lap race was the thirty-sixth in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, as well as the final race in the ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup, which ended the season.
Brian Lee Vickers is an American professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the injured Tony Stewart. He won the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship driving for Hendrick Motorsports. Vickers was also among the first series of full-time drivers for Toyota after the manufacturer first entered the Sprint Cup Series.
The 2009 Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 was the thirty-fifth and penultimate stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the ninth in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on November 15, 2009, at Phoenix International Raceway, in Avondale, Arizona before a crowd of 90,000. The 312-lap race was won by Jimmie Johnson of the Hendrick Motorsports team after starting from third position. Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton finished second and Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing placed third.
The 2006 Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series racing event that took place on November 12, 2006, at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
Carl Michael Edwards Jr. is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. 99 Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing. He won the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series championship and nearly won the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title, but lost by a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart. Edwards is known for doing a backflip off his car to celebrate his victories. In 2023, he was named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) is a former race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, the company operated as a NASCAR-related organization in Mooresville, North Carolina, United States. Earnhardt was a seven-time Winston Cup champion. He died in a crash on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Despite his ownership of the DEI racing team, Earnhardt never drove for his team in the Winston Cup; instead, he raced for his long-time mentor and backer Richard Childress at RCR. In the late-2000s, DEI suffered critical financial difficulties after drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip, and sponsors Anheuser-Busch, National Automotive Parts Association and United States Army left the team; DEI consequently merged with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2009, moving their equipment into the latter's shop, while the former's closed down. Chip Ganassi Racing's NASCAR operations was subsequently purchased by Trackhouse Racing Team in 2021.
The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
The 2004 Checker Auto Parts 500 was the 34th stock car race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, the eighth race of the 2004 Chase for the Nextel Cup, and the 17th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, November 7, 2004, before a crowd of 105,000 in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent low-banked tri-oval race track. The race was extended from its scheduled 312 laps to 315 due to a green–white–checker finish. On the final restart, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. would hold off the field on the final restart to win his 15th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win and his sixth and final win of the season. To fill out the podium, Ryan Newman of Penske-Jasper Racing and Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would finish second and third, respectively.
The 2001 Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil was the 32nd stock car race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 14th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 28, 2001, in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent low-banked tri-oval race track. The race took the scheduled 312 laps to complete. At race's end, Jeff Burton, driving for Roush Racing, would prevail in a battle against reliever for Jeremy Mayfield, Penske Racing South driver Mike Wallace, to win his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the podium, Wallace and Robert Yates Racing driver Ricky Rudd would finish second and third, respectively.
