2005 Coca-Cola 600

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]

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
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]

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
1548Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet400185
23418Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet400175
31299Carl EdwardsRoush RacingFord400170
43619Jeremy MayfieldEvernham MotorsportsDodge400160
5112Ryan NewmanPenske Racing SouthDodge400160
62616Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord400155
7301Martin Truex, Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet400151
8788Dale JarrettYates RacingFord400142
92149Ken SchraderBAM RacingDodge400143
10202Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthDodge400139
113943Jeff GreenPetty EnterprisesDodge400130
124337Kevin LepageJohn Carter RacingDodge400127
131038Elliott SadlerYates RacingFord400129
143329Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet400121
1580Mike BlissHaas CNC RacingChevrolet400118
16424Mike WallaceMorgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet400115
173745Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodge400117
183801Joe NemechekMB2 MotorsportsChevrolet400114
192810Scott RiggsMBV MotorsportsChevrolet400106
202791Bill ElliottEvernham MotorsportsDodge400108
211142Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingDodge399100
224031Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet39997
233222Scott WimmerBill Davis RacingDodge39994
24920Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet39891
2565Kyle Busch #Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet39893
2649Kasey KahneEvernham MotorsportsDodge39690
27257Robby GordonUltra MotorsportsChevrolet39382
28136Mark MartinRoush RacingFord39079
293107Dave BlaneyRichard Childress RacingChevrolet38576
30224Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet38278
311425Brian VickersHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet37980
321877Travis Kvapil #Penske-Jasper RacingDodge37672
33158Dale Earnhardt, Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet37364
342441Casey MearsChip Ganassi RacingDodge33866
351621Ricky RuddWood Brothers RacingFord30563
362315Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet24560
37317Matt KensethRoush RacingFord24552
382644Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet24554
394140Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi RacingDodge21546
401909Johnny SauterPhoenix RacingDodge13743
412223Mike SkinnerBill Davis RacingDodge9940
421750Jimmy SpencerArnold MotorsportsDodge9837
433597Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord2634

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. "THE RACE: Coca Cola 600". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on October 6, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  3. "TV RATINGS 2005". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  4. "2005 Coca-Cola 600". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 2, 2013.
  5. 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
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