Jump to content

2005 Coca-Cola 600

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Monkbot (talk | contribs) at 20:05, 29 December 2020 (Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 7 templates: hyphenate params (7×);). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

2005 Coca-Cola 600
Race details[1]
Race 12 of 36 in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
Winner Jimmie Johnson battling with Ricky Rudd during the race
Winner Jimmie Johnson battling with Ricky Rudd during the race
Date May 29, 2005 (2005-05-29)
Location Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 80.6 °F (27.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed 114.698 mph (184.589 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Penske Racing
Time 27.981 seconds
Most laps led
Driver Brian Vickers Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 98
Winner
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network Fox[2]
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds
Nielsen Ratings 6.1[3]

The 2005 Coca-Cola 600, the 46th running of the race, was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on May 29, 2005, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. The race was the twelfth of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. The pole position was won by Penske Racing's Ryan Newman, while the race was won by Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports. The race featured the most caution flags in Cup history, as well as the most lap leaders (21) in track history.[2]

For the first time since 2001, the race received lower TV ratings than the Indianapolis 500, which occurred earlier that day.[3]

Background

Lowe's Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Lowe's Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

Qualifying

53 drivers attempted to qualify for the race, the most since the 2005 Daytona 500, which featured 57 cars attempting to make the field. The pole position was won by Ryan Newman, his 18th career pole, after recording a lap time of 27.981 seconds and speed of 192.988 miles per hour (310.584 km/h), surpassing Mike Bliss' record of 28.540 seconds and 189.280 miles per hour (304.617 km/h) set at the NEXTEL Open held six days earlier; the top 18 qualifiers eventually passed Bliss' record. Jason Leffler, Bobby Hamilton, Jr., Hermie Sadler, Boris Said, Jeff Fuller, Carl Long, Tony Raines, Mike Garvey, Kirk Shelmerdine and Greg Sacks failed to qualify for the race.[2]

Race

The race was marred by a Cup Series record 22 caution flags. The first flew on lap 7 for Martin Truex, Jr.'s accident in turn 2, followed by Kurt Busch's crash on lap 11. Another caution was flown for debris on lap 94, and on lap 102, five cars (Jimmy Spencer, Scott Riggs, Mike Skinner, Robby Gordon, and Michael Waltrip) crashed on the backstretch. Another debris caution was flown on lap 115, and on the 140th lap, Johnny Sauter crashed in turn 3. Elliott Sadler's spin on lap 151 brought out another caution, and on lap 163, Busch was involved in another crash in turn 2. On lap 201, Scott Wimmer was spun, and Travis Kvapil's crash on lap 210 caused the tenth caution of the race. On lap 217, Truex, Sterling Marlin, and Casey Mears crashed in turn 2, and on lap 228, Marlin and Mears' Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Jamie McMurray crashed in turn 2. On lap 235, Gordon was involved in an accident in turn 4, and six laps later, McMurray was spun in turn 4.[2] On lap 247, Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Matt Kenseth, and Terry Labonte were involved in a crash on the frontstretch.[4] The crash caused Labonte to be taken to the Carolinas Medical Center, where he was eventually released.[5] After a debris caution on lap 267, Dave Blaney was spun on the frontstretch on lap 290. On lap 308, another caution was flown for an oil spill on the track, and another debris caution was flown on lap 357. The twentieth caution of the race occurred on lap 368 when Blaney's car stalled while entering pit road. On lap 380, Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers (who led the most laps of the race with 98), Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, and Bill Elliott crashed in turn 1, while the final and 22nd caution was thrown on lap 392 for Joe Nemechek and Wimmer's accident in turn 4.[4] The last caution eventually forced the red flag to be flown, temporarily pausing the race.[5]

Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson, the only Hendrick Motorsports driver in contention after teammates Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers, and Terry Labonte had crashed and Kyle Busch had fallen back, was in fourth for the final restart with five laps remaining. After passing pole-sitter Ryan Newman and Carl Edwards, Johnson beat Bobby Labonte to the finish by .027 seconds, the closest finish in Lowe's Motor Speedway history since the introduction of electronic scoring.[6] The win was Johnson's third consecutive 600, a NASCAR record, passing six drivers (Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip (twice), Neil Bonnett, and Buddy Baker) for the record.[2] [7] Edwards, Jeremy Mayfield and Newman rounded out the top five,[8] Greg Biffle, Martin Truex, Jr., Dale Jarrett, Ken Schrader, and Rusty Wallace closed out the Top 10.[4]

Results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 185
2 34 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 400 175
3 12 99 Carl Edwards Roush Racing Ford 400 170
4 36 19 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge 400 160
5 1 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge 400 160
6 26 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford 400 155
7 30 1 Martin Truex, Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 400 151
8 7 88 Dale Jarrett Yates Racing Ford 400 142
9 21 49 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge 400 143
10 20 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Dodge 400 139
11 39 43 Jeff Green Petty Enterprises Dodge 400 130
12 43 37 Kevin Lepage John Carter Racing Dodge 400 127
13 10 38 Elliott Sadler Yates Racing Ford 400 129
14 33 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 400 121
15 8 0 Mike Bliss Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 400 118
16 42 4 Mike Wallace Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 400 115
17 37 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 400 117
18 38 01 Joe Nemechek MB2 Motorsports Chevrolet 400 114
19 28 10 Scott Riggs MBV Motorsports Chevrolet 400 106
20 27 91 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 400 108
21 11 42 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 399 100
22 40 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 399 97
23 32 22 Scott Wimmer Bill Davis Racing Dodge 399 94
24 9 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 398 91
25 6 5 Kyle Busch # Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 398 93
26 4 9 Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports Dodge 396 90
27 25 7 Robby Gordon Ultra Motorsports Chevrolet 393 82
28 13 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 390 79
29 31 07 Dave Blaney Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 385 76
30 2 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 382 78
31 14 25 Brian Vickers Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 379 80
32 18 77 Travis Kvapil # Penske-Jasper Racing Dodge 376 72
33 15 8 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 373 64
34 24 41 Casey Mears Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 338 66
35 16 21 Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 305 63
36 23 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 245 60
37 3 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 245 52
38 26 44 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 245 54
39 41 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 215 46
40 19 09 Johnny Sauter Phoenix Racing Dodge 137 43
41 22 23 Mike Skinner Bill Davis Racing Dodge 99 40
42 17 50 Jimmy Spencer Arnold Motorsports Dodge 98 37
43 35 97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford 26 34

Standings

Race winner Jimmie Johnson led the points standings after the race.
Pos Driver Points[4]
1 Jimmie Johnson 1747
2 Greg Biffle 1676
3 Elliott Sadler 1542
4 Ryan Newman 1530
5 Jeff Gordon 1516
6 Tony Stewart 1488
7 Kevin Harvick 1485
8 Carl Edwards 1459
9 Jamie McMurray 1451
10 Kurt Busch 1441

References

  1. ^ Weather information for the 2005 Coca-Cola 600 at the Old Farmer's Almanac
  2. ^ a b c d e "THE RACE: Coca Cola 600". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  3. ^ a b "TV RATINGS 2005". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e "2005 Coca-Cola 600". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  5. ^ a b Bernstein, Viv (May 30, 2005). "When Dust Settles, Johnson Is First Again at Coca-Cola 600". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  6. ^ "By the Numbers: Charlotte". NASCAR. May 22, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  7. ^ Ryan, Nate (May 21, 2012). "He's the man again: Jimmie Johnson the Coke 600 favorite". USA Today. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  8. ^ "Jimmie Johnson Wins The Coca-Cola 600". Charlotte Motor Speedway. May 30, 2005. Archived from the original on November 4, 2013. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
Previous race:
2005 Chevy American Revolution 400
Nextel Cup Series
2005 season
Next race:
2005 MBNA RacePoints 400