Subway 400

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The Subway 400 was the second race of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season until 2004, held a week after the Daytona 500. This 400 mile (644 km) annual race was sponsored by Subway and was held at North Carolina Speedway (The Rock) since 1966. From 1966 to 1995, a 500 mile (805 km) race was held; the race was known as the Peach Blossom 500 (1966), the Carolina 500 (1967-1985), and the Goodwrench 500 (1986-1995). In 1996, the race was shortened to its current distance of 400 miles; the 400 mile race was called the Goodwrench Service 400 (1996-1997), the KMart/Dura Lube 400 (1998-2001), and the Subway 400 (2002-2004).

Until the 2004 Nextel Cup season, two annual races were held at Rockingham. After the 2003 season, the fall race (the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400) — which was held in November — was moved to California Speedway, to be held on the lucrative Labor Day weekend. This displaced the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, which moved to November 2004 before being removed from the schedule completely (replaced by a second date at Texas Motor Speedway). The changes were part of the trend of less races being held in the southeast and a broader distribution across the United States. Though the spring date was not directly transferred to California, NASCAR moved up the first California race to the traditional spring Rockingham date the week after Daytona. This resulted in some criticism because teams had to travel cross-country for the second race as most spend two weeks in Daytona and are based in the Charlotte, North Carolina area. The draw for Rockingham was that teams got to stay close to home right after Daytona before traveling for the next race.

The 2004 Subway 400 had one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history. Nextel Cup rookie, Kasey Kahne, in just his second series start, lost the race to Matt Kenseth by inches at the line. The exciting finish proved to be NASCAR's last stand at Rockingham, as the race (and the track, for that matter), were removed from the schedule permanently after that.

See also: List of current NASCAR races, NASCAR Realignment, List of Subway 400 broadcasters

Past winners

Subway 400

• 2004: Matt Kenseth
• 2003: Dale Jarrett
• 2002: Matt Kenseth

KMart/Dura Lube 400

• 2001: Steve Park

BIG KMart/Dura Lube 400

• 2000: Bobby Labonte
• 1999: Mark Martin

GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400

• 1998: Jeff Gordon

GM Goodwrench Service 400

• 1997: Jeff Gordon
• 1996: Dale Earnhardt

Goodwrench 500

• 1995: Jeff Gordon
• 1994: Rusty Wallace
• 1993: Rusty Wallace
• 1992: Bill Elliott
• 1991: Kyle Petty
• 1990: Kyle Petty
• 1989: Rusty Wallace
• 1988: Neil Bonnett
• 1987: Dale Earnhardt
• 1986: Terry Labonte

Carolina 500

• 1985: Neil Bonnett
• 1984: Bobby Allison
• 1983: Richard Petty
• 1982: Cale Yarborough
• 1981: Darrell Waltrip
• 1980: Cale Yarborough
• 1979: Bobby Allison
• 1978: David Pearson
• 1977: Richard Petty
• 1976: Richard Petty
• 1975: Cale Yarborough
• 1974: Richard Petty
• 1973: David Pearson
• 1972: Bobby Isaac
• 1971: Richard Petty
• 1970: Richard Petty
• 1969: David Pearson
• 1968: Donnie Allison
• 1967: Richard Petty

Peach Blossom 500

• 1966: Paul Goldsmith