- Pep Boys Auto 500
NASCAR race infobox
Name=Pep Boys Auto 500
Logo=
Img_size=197px
Venue=Atlanta Motor Speedway
Sponsors=Bass Pro Shops and MBNA
First race=1960
Distance=500 miles (805 km)
Laps=325
Previous names=Dixie 300 (1960 )Dixie 400 (
1961 -1966 )Dixie 500 (
1967 -1979 )Atlanta Journal 500 (
1980 -1990 )Hardee's 500 (1991 )Hooters 500 (1992 -1994 )NAPA 500 (
1995 -2002 )Bass Pro Shop MBNA 500 (2003 -2006 )The Pep Boys Auto 500 is a
NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car race held atAtlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.Overview
From 1987 until 2001, the race was scheduled as the final race of the NASCAR season, and typically the event in which the champion was decided. Several times, however, the championship was decided prior to this race, or was decided when the points leader simply started the race, clinching enough points simply by finishing last or better.
The 1992 event marked the final race for
Richard Petty , and coincidentally, the debut forJeff Gordon . With six drivers eligible for theWinston Cup Championship, the race is widely regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR races of all time.Alan Kulwicki , who finished second in the race, edged outBill Elliott , the race winner, by leading one more lap in the race. Kulwicki won the NASCAR Winston Cup title by a then-record margin of only 10 points.In 2001, the race was scheduled as the season finale, however, it ended up being the second-to-last race. The New Hampshire 300 was postponed from
September 16 to the Friday after Thanksgiving, due to 9/11. For 2002, the race was moved to late October in 2002, with the 2003 race being the first with night qualifying, a procedure now standard for both of the circuit's races.The 1998 race was run mostly at night after a long rain delay; despite the inexperience with the lights, newly installed for an
Indy Racing League race, NASCAR and the teams agreed to attempt finishing the race at night. It was shortend to 221 laps because it was after 11:00 PM and NASCAR wanted to "get the fans out at a decent hour". The 1999Cracker Barrel 500 also ended at night.In 2006, the race start time was changed from 12:40 PM to 2:55 PM in order to finish the race at night. Driver complaints erupted because of the track's troublesome situation where the sun can get into the driver's eyes in Turn 1, including leading to a crash during the time the sun sets in that area of the track between Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray, led to the abandonment of the 3 PM start after this race.
Beginning in 2009 the Pep Boys Auto 500 will be run Labor Day weekend as part of a realignment agreement with
Auto Club Speedway andTalladega Superspeedway , where Talladega's fall race will move to the Atlanta race weekend and Fontana will get a race in theChase for the Sprint Cup . [http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=3543062]Past winners
Pep Boys Auto 500
* 2008 TBA
* 2007Jimmie Johnson (327 laps because of GWC)Bass Pro Shop MBNA 500
* 2006Tony Stewart
* 2005Carl Edwards
* 2004Jimmie Johnson
* 2003Jeff Gordon (race postponed due to rain, held on Monday)NAPA 500
* 2002Kurt Busch (251 laps because of rain)
**Moved from November to October, such that the race will no longer be the final race of the NASCAR season.
* 2001Bobby Labonte
**Was scheduled to be the final race of the 2001 season, but Loudon was moved to the weekend after due to 9/11. That instead made this the second-to-last race of the season.
* 2000Jerry Nadeau
**Moved from Sunday to Monday due to rain. Final career start forDarrell Waltrip . It would be the final time the event would be the last race of the NASCAR season.
* 1999Bobby Labonte
* 1998Jeff Gordon (221 laps because of rain; first night Cup race)
* 1997Bobby Labonte (325 laps with new configuration)
* 1996Bobby Labonte
**Labonte's older brother Terry clinched the 1996 Winston Cup Championship driving for Hendrick Motorsports. The two made a victory lap together and celebrated together in victory lane.
* 1995Dale Earnhardt Hooters 500
* 1994 Mark Martin
* 1993Rusty Wallace
* 1992Bill Elliott
**Widely considered one of the Greatest NASCAR races of all time. "See1992 Hooters 500 "Hardee's 500
* 1991 Mark MartinAtlanta Journal 500
* 1990Morgan Shepherd
**One of Bill Elliott's crew members was killed when Ricky Rudd was coming into the pits for service and lost control of his car. This led to NASCAR mandating a speed limit on pit road for crew members safety.
* 1989Dale Earnhardt
**In this race independent driver Grant Addcox was killed in a crash.
* 1988Rusty Wallace
* 1987Bill Elliott
**For the first time, this race was scheduled as the final race of the NASCAR season.
* 1986Dale Earnhardt
* 1985Bill Elliott
* 1984Dale Earnhardt
* 1983Neil Bonnett
* 1982Bobby Allison
* 1981Neil Bonnett
* 1980Cale Yarborough Dixie 500
* 1979Neil Bonnett
* 1978Donnie Allison
* 1977Darrell Waltrip
* 1976Dave Marcis
* 1975Buddy Baker
* 1974Richard Petty
* 1973David Pearson
* 1972Bobby Allison
* 1971Richard Petty
* 1970Richard Petty
* 1969LeeRoy Yarbrough
* 1968LeeRoy Yarbrough
* 1967Dick Hutcherson Dixie 400
* 1966Richard Petty
* 1965Marvin Panch
* 1964Ned Jarrett
* 1963Junior Johnson
* 1962Rex White
* 1961David Pearson Dixie 300
* 1960Fireball Roberts Possible realignment
This race, Atlanta's second of the season, has been rumored to be either eliminated or moved several times in recent years. Most recently, track owner
Bruton Smith , president of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., has been talking with International Speedway Corporation about a possible date switch with one of its tracks. On February 29, 2008, Smith proposed a move that would involve the fall Atlanta race and the now-Pepsi 500 , the Labor Day weekend race held atAuto Club Speedway . [ [http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/02/29/bsmith.atlanta.california.date.swap/index.html NASCAR.COM - Smith proposes date swap between California, Atlanta - Feb 29, 2008 ] ] Doing so would give the Fontana, California track a race in theChase for the Sprint Cup as well as return the Labor Day weekend race to the southern U.S. for the first time since the second-to-lastSouthern 500 was run. It would also make the three races that precede the beginning of the Chase closer to each other geographically- as it stands now, the teams race in theSharpie 500 at Bristol the week before Labor Day, travel cross country for the Pepsi 500, then come back across the country to run theChevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond the following Saturday.References
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