Subway 400

The Subway 400 was the second race of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series 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 GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400 (1998), the Dura Lube/Big K 400 (1999), the Dura Lube/Kmart 400 (2000), the Dura Lube 400 (2001), and the Subway 400 (2002–2004).[1]

Subway 400

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
Venue	North Carolina Speedway
Location	Rockingham, North Carolina, United States
Corporate sponsor	Subway
First race	1966
Last race	2004
Distance	399.681 miles (643.224 km)
Laps	393
Previous names	Peach Blossom 500 (1966) Carolina 500 (1967–1981, 1985) Warner W. Hodgdon Carolina 500 (1982–1984) Goodwrench 500 (1986–1995) Goodwrench Service 400 (1996–1997) GM Goodwrench Service Plus 400 (1998) Dura Lube/Big K 400 (1999) Dura Lube/Kmart 400 (2000) Dura Lube 400 (2001) Subway 400 (2002–2004)
Most wins (driver)	Richard Petty (7)
Most wins (team)	Petty Enterprises (7)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Ford (9)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	1.017 mi (1.637 km)
Turns	4

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 due to the Ferko lawsuit.