AdvoCare 500

AdvoCare 500

Venue	Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sponsor	AdvoCare
First race	1960
Distance	500.5 miles (805.476 km)
Laps	325
Previous names	Dixie 300 (1960) Dixie 400 (1961-1966) Dixie 500 (1967-1979) Atlanta Journal 500 (1980-1990) Hardee's 500 (1991) Hooters 500 (1992-1994) NAPA 500 (1995-2002) Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 (2003-2006) Pep Boys Auto 500 (2007-2009) Emory Healthcare 500 (2010)

The AdvoCare 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. Prior to its most recent rescheduling the fall Atlanta race was always run during the final stages of the NASCAR season, in either October or November, and was one of the ten races in the Chase for the Sprint Cup from its inauguration in 2004 until 2008. From 1987 until 2001 the race was the last scheduled race on the NASCAR Winston Cup Series calendar.

With the realignment NASCAR returns its Labor Day weekend Cup race to the southern United States for the first time since the 2003 Southern 500.

Overview

From 1987 until 2001, the race was scheduled as the final race of the NASCAR season, and typically the event in which the champion was decided. Several times, however, the championship was decided prior to this race, or was decided when the points leader simply started the race, clinching enough points simply by finishing last or better.

The 1992 event marked the final race for Richard Petty, and coincidentally, the debut for Jeff Gordon. With six drivers eligible for the Winston Cup Championship, the race is widely regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR races of all time. Alan Kulwicki, who finished second in the race, edged out Bill Elliott, the race winner, by leading one more lap in the race. Kulwicki won the NASCAR Winston Cup title by a then-record margin of only 10 points.

In 2001, the race was scheduled as the season finale, however, it ended up being the second-to-last race. The New Hampshire 300 was postponed from September 16 to the Friday after Thanksgiving, due to 9/11. Beginning in 2002 the race was moved to mid-October as NASCAR elected to hold its final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway instead of Atlanta. The 2003 race started a tradition of night qualifying at Atlanta, which has carried over to the spring race as well.

The 1998 race was run mostly at night after a long rain delay; despite the inexperience with the lights, newly installed for an Indy Racing League race, NASCAR and the teams agreed to attempt finishing the race at night. It was shortened to 221 laps because it was after 11:00 PM and NASCAR wanted to "get the fans out at a decent hour". The 1999 Cracker Barrel 500 also ended at night.

In 2006, the race start time was changed from 12:40 PM to 2:55 PM in order to finish the race at night. Driver complaints erupted because of the track's troublesome situation where the sun can get into the driver's eyes in Turn 1, including leading to a crash during the time the sun sets in that area of the track between Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray, led to the abandonment of the 3 PM start after this race.

Beginning in 2009 the race will be run Labor Day weekend as part of a realignment agreement with Auto Club Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, where Talladega's fall race will move to the Atlanta race weekend and Fontana will get a race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, moving into the date where Talladega's race was.^[1] As was the case with the recent Labor Day weekend races run at Fontana the Pep Boys Auto 500 will be run at night, marking the first regularly scheduled Sprint Cup race at Atlanta to start at night.

Past winners

Notable races

• 1971: Richard Petty became the first stock car driver to reach $1 million in career earnings after a race-long duel with Bobby Allison.
• 1976: Dave Marcis took his final superspeedway win. Driving Harry Hyde's famous #71 Dodge, Marcis engaged in a nose-to-nose battle for most of the first 64 laps with Buddy Baker, Cale Yarborough, and David Pearson. Part-time racer Dale Earnhardt survived a huge crash with some 60 to go when Dick Brooks hit the wall in Three and slid into Earnhardt's path; Earnhardt tumbled to the fourth turn.
• 1977: The race shortened due to rain/darkness. Darrell Waltrip took advantage of the lapped car of James Hylton to storm past Donnie Allison on the last lap; Allison crashed with Cale Yarborough coming to the stripe.
• 1978: A scoring breakdown led to an embarrassing change of the declared winner. Manual scoring ruled that Richard Petty had edged Dave Marcis at the stripe, but a recheck hours later proved that Donnie Allison, who finished two lengths ahead of Petty and Marcis, had indeed won.
• 1980: A multicar wreck in the first 20 laps eliminated the Allison brothers and other contenders, leaving Cale Yarborough to breeze all but uncontested to the win; the win helped him close to within 29 points of leader Dale Earnhardt with one race left in the 1980 title chase.
• 1981: ESPN televised the race live, the first such telecast for the third-year cable network. The race turned into a spirited affair as Neil Bonnett and Richard Petty fought back and forth for the lead amid bids by Darrell Waltrip, Joe Ruttman, and Harry Gant. The final two laps were a fierce duel won by Bonnett over Waltrip and Cale Yarborough.
• 1982: The race set a track record for lead changes at 45, among 14 drivers. Blistered tires ruined a victory bid by Richard Petty as Bobby Allison outdueled Darrell Waltrip and Harry Gant for the win. This would be the final start for Country Music singer Marty Robbins, who would die in December of that year.
• 1984: Driver Terry Schoonover was killed in the race after crashing into the barrier in turn two.
• 1986: Dale Earnhardt wrapped up his second career title by completely dominating the Dixie 500. The rest of the top five was a list of NASCAR luminaries - Richard Petty, Bill Elliott, Tim Richmond, and Buddy Baker.
• 1987: For the first time, this race was scheduled as the final race of the NASCAR season.
• 1989: In this race, independent driver Grant Adcox was killed in a crash.
• 1990: With cars packed tightly together for late-race pitstops under yellow (the result of NASCAR's rule closing pit road when the yellow comes out instead of letting cars pit before taking the yellow), one of Bill Elliott's crew members was killed when Ricky Rudd was coming into the pits for service and lost control of his car. This led to NASCAR mandating a speed limit on pit road for crew members safety.
• 1992: Widely considered one of the most dramatic NASCAR races of all time. See 1992 Hooters 500
• 1993: Race winner Wallace, and Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt circled the track in a Polish Victory Lap, carrying #7 and #28 flag to honor Alan Kulwicki and Davey Allison who were both killed in aviation accidents during the season. Both Kulwicki and Allison were key fixtures exactly one year earlier at the classic 1992 race.
• 1995: Dale Earnhardt drove his #3 to victory at the race time of 3 hours, 3 minutes, and 3 seconds.
• 1996: Bobby Labonte took the win, the first for Joe Gibbs Racing building its own engines after four seasons running Rick Hendrick engines. Terry Labonte clinched the 1996 Winston Cup Championship driving for Hendrick Motorsports. The two made a victory lap together and celebrated together in victory lane.
• 1997: 325 laps / 500.5 miles with new configuration. Bobby Labonte won in JGR's first win with Pontiac; Pontiacs dominated the top ten at the finish
• 1998: Race shortened due to rain and darkness. Rain delays throughout the day made the race go into midnight, and track officials wanted the fans to get home at a decent hour. First night Cup race.
• 2000: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain. Final career start for Darrell Waltrip. It would be the final time the event would be the last race of the NASCAR season.
• 2001: Was scheduled to be the final race of the 2001 season, but Loudon was moved to the weekend after due to 9/11. That instead made this the second-to-last race of the season.
• 2002: Race shortened due to rain. Moved from November to October, such that the race will no longer be the final race of the NASCAR season.
• 2003: Race started on Sunday but was finished on Monday due to rain.
• 2007: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.
• 2009: Race moved from October to Labor Day weekend, marking the first regularly scheduled Sprint Cup race at Atlanta to start at night. Kasey Kahne took the win, the second of the year for the team now under the aegis of Richard Petty Motorsports.
• 2011: Race postponed from Sunday Night to Tuesday Afternoon due to rain from Tropical Storm Lee. Jeff Gordon scored his 85th Cup win after a fierce duel with teammate Jimmie Johnson over the final 10 laps on worn tires, giving him sole possession of third on the all time wins list and the most wins by a driver in NASCAR's Modern Era (1972-). This was only the second time in NASCAR's Modern Era that a race was postponed to a Tuesday, the other time coming in August 2007 at Michigan (also for rain). Gordon was honored by NASCAR president Mike Helton with a framed portrait of photos from past victories by Jeff made into the shape of the #85 to commemorate the milestone victory.

Realignment

This race, Atlanta's second of the season, had been rumored to be either eliminated or moved several times in recent years. Most recently, track owner Bruton Smith, president of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., was talking with International Speedway Corporation about a possible date switch with one of its tracks. On February 29, 2008, Smith proposed a move that involved the fall Atlanta race and the Pepsi 500, the Labor Day weekend race held at Auto Club Speedway.^[2] Doing so gave the Fontana, California track a race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup as well as return the Labor Day weekend race to the southern U.S. for the first time since the second-to-last Southern 500 was run. It also makes the three races that precede the beginning of the Chase closer to each other geographically. Prior to the realignment, the teams raced in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol the week before Labor Day, then traveled cross country for the Pepsi 500, then came back across the country to run the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond the following Saturday.

Ultimately, NASCAR adjusted the schedule as announced on August 19, 2008 to allow the fall race at Atlanta and the Chase event to Fontana to be swapped, but also in the process moved the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway to Atlanta's old date — usually the last weekend in October — and the aforementioned Pepsi 500 was placed in the old Talladega date, the first weekend in October beginning in 2009.

Television broadcasters

• The 2003 race was ultimately bounced over to TNT after it was rained out and run on Monday.

References

1. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=3543062
2. ^ NASCAR.COM - Smith proposes date swap between California, Atlanta - February 29, 2008

External links

• NASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks