1999 NAPA 500

The 1999 NAPA 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on November 21, 1999, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the American community of Hampton, Georgia. It was the 34th and final race of the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.

1999 NAPA 500
Race details[1]
Race 34 of 34 in the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Atlanta Motor Speedway (after 1997, before Atlanta International Speedway)
Date November 21, 1999 (1999-November-21)
Official name NAPA 500
Location Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
1.522 mi (2.449 km)
Distance 328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 64 °F (18 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed 137.932 miles per hour (221.980 km/h)
Attendance 165,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Jack Roush
Most laps led
Driver Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 147
Winner
No. 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Benny Parsons
Ned Jarrett

Background

Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway.[3] The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.[4]

Summary

Out of the 49 drivers who were on the entry list, only 43 drivers managed to make the race. Two of the more notable drivers who did not qualify were Darrell Waltrip and Morgan Shepherd. There were numerous accidents causing a series of yellow flags. Each green flag run was 30 laps while more than 16% of the race was run under a caution flag.[2]

Todd Bodine was the last-place finisher of this 325-lap event that lasted for a duration of three and a half hours. Kevin Lepage was the lucky pole position winner with his solo qualifying speed of 193.731 miles per hour or 311.780 kilometres per hour. A live audience of 165,000 NASCAR enthusiasts came to see 38 different lead changes along with eight cautions lasting 53 laps. The average speed of the race was clocked at 137.932 miles per hour (221.980 km/h); with Bobby Labonte having a 2.5 second edge over Dale Jarrett.[2] In addition, the pole position was Kevin Lepage's for the only time in his NASCAR career.[5]

Atlanta Motor Speedway, the race track where the race was held

Chevrolet and Ford vehicles were the dominant vehicles in the lineup.[2] All of the drivers on the grid were born in the United States of America; a far cry from the racing done in the late-2000s and early-2010s where now-retired Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya and now-retired Australian driver Marcos Ambrose routinely raced in the NASCAR schedule. Ten drivers failed to finish the race, including Joe Nemechek.[2] This was the final race for Rudd Performance Motorsports and the #10 Tide ride.[2] It was also the final race for Ken Schrader in the #33 car before moving to MB2 Motorsports in 2000.[2] This was also the final race for Jerry Nadeau competing in the #36 car before making the move to Hendrick Motorsports in 2000. This was the last race without Matt Kenseth until the 2015 AAA Texas 500.[2]

Notable crew chiefs who actively participated in the race included Robin Pemberton, Larry McReynolds, Travis Carter, Todd Parrott, and Junie Donlavey.[6]

The total prize amount offered to the drivers was $2,232,402 ($3,426,197.48 when adjusted for inflation); the winner received $174,300 ($267,508.37 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher received a meager $33,507 ($51,425.15 when adjusted for inflation).[7]

The 1999 NAPA 500 was the last NASCAR race of the 1990s decade.

Results

Pos Grid Car Driver Team Make Laps Led Status
1 3718Bobby Labonte (W)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac325147Running
2 1088Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord32517Running
3 2312Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord32527Running
4 36Mark Martin (W)Roush RacingFord32517Running
5 1499Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord3253Running
6 1297Chad LittleRoush RacingFord3250Running
7 1510Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord3250Running
8 3831Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet3250Running
9 363Dale Earnhardt (W)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet3250Running
10 354Bobby HamiltonMorgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet3250Running
11 622Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac3250Running
12 21Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet32572Running
13 192Rusty Wallace (W)Penske-Kranefuss RacingFord3240-1 Laps
14 138Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet3241-1 Laps
15 3020Tony Stewart (R)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac3241-1 Laps
16 3421Elliott Sadler (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord3242-1 Laps
17 116Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord32317-2 Laps
18 460Geoffrey BodineJoe Bessey MotorsportsChevrolet3230-2 Laps
19 2033Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet3230-2 Laps
20 2136Jerry NadeauMB2 MotorsportsPontiac3230-2 Laps
21 4145David GreenTyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac3230-2 Laps
22 2794Bill Elliott (W)Bill Elliott RacingFord3230-2 Laps
23 2925Wally Dallenbach, Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3220-3 Laps
24 3644Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac3211-4 Laps
25 2290Ed Berrier (R)Donlavey RacingFord3210-4 Laps
26 1100Buckshot Jones (R)Buckshot RacingPontiac3210-4 Laps
27 3177Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord3190-6 Laps
28 4371Dave Marcis (W)Marcis Auto RacingChevrolet3193-6 Laps
29 2528Kenny Irwin, Jr.Robert Yates RacingFord3190-6 Laps
30 4211Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord3170-8 Laps
31 1840Sterling MarlinSABCO RacingChevrolet3140-11 Laps
32 2842Joe NemechekSABCO RacingChevrolet3030Engine
33 3343John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac2420Contact
34 3255Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet2350-90 Laps
35 941Gary BradberryLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet2330Engine
36 87Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet19612Contact T4
37 793Dave Blaney (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac1820Contact T4
38 1624Jeff Gordon (W)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1810Engine
39 1726Johnny Benson, Jr.Roush RacingFord1724Contact BS
40 395Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1480Contact T4
41 2698Rick MastCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord1310-194 Laps
42 2423Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord800Contact T2
43 530Todd BodineEel River RacingPontiac420Contact T2
Failed to Qualify
66Darrell Waltrip (W)Haas-Carter MotorsportsFord
15Derrike CopeFenley-Moore MotorsportsFord
75Hut StricklinGalaxy MotorsportsFord
50Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet
9Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord
05Morgan Shepherd (W)Shepherd RacingPontiac

References

  1. Weather information for the 1999 NAPA 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. Results for the 1999 NAPA 500 at Racing Reference
  3. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  4. "NASCAR Tracks—The Atlanta Motor Speedway". Atlanta Motor Speedway. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  5. Results for the 1999 NAPA 500 at Race Database
  6. 1999 NAPA 500 crew chiefs information at Racing Reference
  7. Prize purse information for the 1999 NAPA 500 at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Preceded by
1999 Pennzoil 400
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
1999-2000
Succeeded by
2000 Daytona 500
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