- Top Gear 300
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Top Gear 300 Venue Charlotte Motor Speedway Sponsor Top Gear (U.S. Series) First race 1982 Distance 300 miles (482.803 km) Laps 200 Previous names Mello Yello 300 (1982–1984) Winn-Dixie 300 (1985–1988)
Champion Spark Plug 300 (1989–1994)
Red Dog 300 (1995–1996)
Carquest Auto Parts 300 (1997–2009)
Tech-Net Professional Auto Service 300 presented by CarQuest (2010)
The Top Gear 300 is a NASCAR Nationwide Series race that takes place at Charlotte Motor Speedway. It is held the day before the Coca-Cola 600 on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. The race began in its current organization 1982 as the Mello Yello 300; the current sponsorship is from The History Channel and BBC Worldwide through the United States version the BBC's Top Gear franchise.
From 2007-09 the race was a Saturday night race. For 2010, the starting time was moved to 2:30 P.M. EST in response to fans wanting an afternoon NNS race and allowing for ESPN on ABC coverage, allowing it to be part of a television doubleheader weekend for ESPN, paired with the Indianapolis 500 the next day.
Past winners
Late Model Sportsman/Grand American/Modified race
- 1977 – Harry Gant
- 1978 – Morgan Shepherd
- 1980 – David Pearson
- 1981 – Morgan Shepherd
Year Date Driver Manufacturer Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)Laps Miles (km) 1982 May 29 Harry Gant Pontiac 200 300 (482.803) 126.731 1983 May 28 Dale Earnhardt Pontiac 200 300 (482.803) 117.724 1984 May 26 Bobby Allison Oldsmobile 200 300 (482.803) 2:22:38 126.198 1985 May 25 Tim Richmond Pontiac 200 300 (482.803) 2:30:54 119.284 1986 May 24 Tim Richmond Pontiac 200 300 (482.803) 2:08:50 139.715 1987 May 23 Harry Gant Buick 200 300 (482.803) 2:08:54 139.643 1988 May 28 Dale Jarrett Oldsmobile 200 300 (482.803) 2:08:36 139.969 1989 May 27 Rob Moroso Oldsmobile 200 300 (482.803) 2:11:55 136.45 1990 May 26 Dale Jarrett Pontiac 200 300 (482.803) 2:16:01 132.337 1991 May 25 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 2:15:06 133.235 1992 May 23 Jeff Gordon Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:21:31 127.207 1993 May 29 Michael Waltrip Pontiac 200 300 (482.803) 2:21:08 127.539 1994 May 28 Phil Parsons Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 2:20:57 127.704 1995 May 27 Chad Little Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:16:40 131.707 1996 May 25 Mark Martin Ford 200 300 (482.803) 1:55:32 155.799 1997 May 24 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 2:21:47 126.954 1998 May 23 Mark Martin Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:14:53 133.449 1999 May 29 Mark Martin Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:30:47 119.377 2000 May 27 Jeff Burton Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:27:50 121.759 2001 May 26 Jeff Green Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:20:24 128.205 2002 May 25 Jeff Green Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 2:29:09 120.684 2003 May 24 Matt Kenseth Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:10:09 138.302 2004 May 29 Kyle Busch Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 2:37:31 114.275 2005 May 28 Kyle Busch Chevrolet 200 300 (482.803) 2:32:35 117.968 2006 May 27 Carl Edwards Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:42:33 110.735 2007 May 26 Kasey Kahne Dodge 200 300 (482.803) 2:16:07 132.24 2008 May 24 Kyle Busch Toyota 202* 303 (487.631) 2:31:05 120.331 2009 May 23 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 170* 255 (410.382) 1:58:31 129.096 2010 May 29 Kyle Busch Toyota 203* 304.5 (490.045) 2:18:11 132.216 2011 May 28 Matt Kenseth Ford 200 300 (482.803) 2:11:44 136.64 - 2008 & 2010: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.
- 2009: Race shortened due to rain.
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Note:The Nationwide Series has multiple events at the same racing venue.Categories:- NASCAR Nationwide Series races
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