Top Gear 300

History 300

Venue	Charlotte Motor Speedway
Sponsor	History Channel
First race	1982
Distance	300 miles (482.803 km)
Laps	200
Previous names	Mello Yello 300 (1982–1984) Winn-Dixie 300 (1985–1988) Champion Spark Plug 300 (1989–1994) Red Dog 300 (1995–1996) Carquest Auto Parts 300 (1997–2009) Tech-Net Professional Auto Service 300 presented by CarQuest (2010) Top Gear 300 (2011)

The History 300 is a NASCAR Nationwide Series race that takes place at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is held the day before the Coca-Cola 600 on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The race began in its current organization 1982 as the Mello Yello 300; the current sponsorship is from The History Channel and BBC Worldwide through the United States version the BBC's Top Gear franchise.

From 2007-09 the race was a Saturday night race. For 2010, the starting time was moved to 2:30 P.M. EST in response to fans wanting an afternoon NNS race and allowing for ESPN on ABC coverage, allowing it to be part of a television doubleheader weekend for ESPN, paired with the Indianapolis 500 the next day.

Past winners

Late Model Sportsman/Grand American/Modified race

• 1977 – Harry Gant
• 1978 – Morgan Shepherd
• 1980 – David Pearson
• 1981 – Morgan Shepherd

Year	Date	Driver	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)
				Laps	Miles (km)
1982	May 29	Harry Gant	Pontiac	200	300 (482.803)		126.731
1983	May 28	Dale Earnhardt	Pontiac	200	300 (482.803)		117.724
1984	May 26	Bobby Allison	Oldsmobile	200	300 (482.803)	2:22:38	126.198
1985	May 25	Tim Richmond	Pontiac	200	300 (482.803)	2:30:54	119.284
1986	May 24	Tim Richmond	Pontiac	200	300 (482.803)	2:08:50	139.715
1987	May 23	Harry Gant	Buick	200	300 (482.803)	2:08:54	139.643
1988	May 28	Dale Jarrett	Oldsmobile	200	300 (482.803)	2:08:36	139.969
1989	May 27	Rob Moroso	Oldsmobile	200	300 (482.803)	2:11:55	136.45
1990	May 26	Dale Jarrett	Pontiac	200	300 (482.803)	2:16:01	132.337
1991	May 25	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	200	300 (482.803)	2:15:06	133.235
1992	May 23	Jeff Gordon	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:21:31	127.207
1993	May 29	Michael Waltrip	Pontiac	200	300 (482.803)	2:21:08	127.539
1994	May 28	Phil Parsons	Chevrolet	200	300 (482.803)	2:20:57	127.704
1995	May 27	Chad Little	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:16:40	131.707
1996	May 25	Mark Martin	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	1:55:32	155.799
1997	May 24	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	200	300 (482.803)	2:21:47	126.954
1998	May 23	Mark Martin	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:14:53	133.449
1999	May 29	Mark Martin	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:30:47	119.377
2000	May 27	Jeff Burton	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:27:50	121.759
2001	May 26	Jeff Green	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:20:24	128.205
2002	May 25	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	200	300 (482.803)	2:29:09	120.684
2003	May 24	Matt Kenseth	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:10:09	138.302
2004	May 29	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	200	300 (482.803)	2:37:31	114.275
2005	May 28	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	200	300 (482.803)	2:32:35	117.968
2006	May 27	Carl Edwards	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:42:33	110.735
2007	May 26	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	200	300 (482.803)	2:16:07	132.24
2008	May 24	Kyle Busch	Toyota	202*	303 (487.631)	2:31:05	120.331
2009	May 23	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	170*	255 (410.382)	1:58:31	129.096
2010	May 29	Kyle Busch	Toyota	203*	304.5 (490.045)	2:18:11	132.216
2011	May 28	Matt Kenseth	Ford	200	300 (482.803)	2:11:44	136.64

• 2008 & 2010: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.
• 2009: Race shortened due to rain.