AAA 400

AAA 400

Venue	Dover International Speedway
Sponsor	AAA
First race	1971
Distance	400 miles (643.737 km)
Laps	400
Previous names	Delaware 500 (1971-1978, 1984-1988) CRC Chemicals 500 (1979-1982) Budweiser 500 (1983) Peak Performance 500 (1989) Peak AntiFreeze 500 (1990-1992) SplitFire Spark Plug 500 (1993-1994) MBNA 500 (1995-1996) MBNA 400 (1997) MBNA Gold 400 (1998-1999) MBNA.com 400 (2000) MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400 (2001) MBNA All-American Heroes 400 (2002) MBNA America 400 (2003-2004) MBNA NASCAR RacePoints 400 (2005) Dover 400 (2006) Dodge Dealers 400 (2007) Camping World RV 400 (2008)

Not be confused with the AAA Texas 500, another AAA-sponsored NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, but it takes place at Texas Motor Speedway.

The AAA 400 is the second of two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car races held at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. It is now held on the first weekend of October. It is the 3rd race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup thanks to Realignment 2011.

Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Winner's Prize (US$)	Distance Laps/Miles(Km)	Average Speed (mph)	Race Time
Delaware 500
1971	October 17	Richard Petty	Plymouth	$14,570	500 / 500 (804.672)	123.254	4:03:25
1972	September 17	David Pearson	Mercury	$13,250	500 / 500 (804.672)	120.506	4:08:57
1973	September 16	David Pearson	Mercury	$16,325	500 / 500 (804.672)	112.852	4:25:50
1974	September 15	Richard Petty	Dodge	$18,175	500 / 500 (804.672)	113.64	4:23:59
1975	September 14	Richard Petty	Dodge	$18,250	500 / 500 (804.672)	111.372	4:29:22
1976	September 19	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet	$18,075	500 / 500 (804.672)	115.74	4:19:12
1977	September 18	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet	$15,675	500 / 500 (804.672)	114.708	4:21:32
1978	September 17	Bobby Allison	Ford	$19,500	500 / 500 (804.672)	119.323	4:11:20
CRC Chemicals 500
1979	September 16	Richard Petty	Chevrolet	$21,650	500 / 500 (804.672)	114.366	4:22:19
1980	September 14	Darrell Waltrip	Chevrolet	$22,900	500 / 500 (804.672)	116.024	4:18:34
1981	September 20	Neil Bonnett	Ford	$19,000	500 / 500 (804.672)	119.561	4:10:00
1982	September 19	Darrell Waltrip	Buick	$29,600	500 / 500 (804.672)	107.642	4:38:43
Budweiser 500
1983	September 18	Bobby Allison	Buick	$30,985	500 / 500 (804.672)	116.077	4:18:45
Delaware 500
1984	September 16	Harry Gant	Chevrolet	$40,005	500 / 500 (804.672)	111.856	4:28:12
1985	September 15	Harry Gant	Chevrolet	$44,950	500 / 500 (804.672)	120.538	4:08:52
1986	September 14	Ricky Rudd	Ford	$51,500	500 / 500 (804.672)	114.329	4:22:24
1987	September 20	Ricky Rudd	Ford	$54,550	500 / 500 (804.672)	124.706	4:00:34
1988	September 18	Bill Elliott	Ford	$56,400	500 / 500 (804.672)	109.349	4:34:21
Peak Performance 500
1989	September 17	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$59,950	500 / 500 (804.672)	122.909	4:04:05
Peak AntiFreeze 500
1990	September 16	Bill Elliott	Ford	$83,100	500 / 500 (804.672)	125.945	3:58:00
1991	September 15	Harry Gant	Oldsmobile	$67,100	500 / 500 (804.672)	110.179	4:32:17
1992	September 20	Ricky Rudd	Chevrolet	$64,965	500 / 500 (804.672)	115.289	4:20:13
SplitFire Spark Plug 500
1993	September 19	Rusty Wallace	Pontiac	$77,645	500 / 500 (804.672)	100.334	4:59:00
1994	September 18	Rusty Wallace	Ford	$55,055	500 / 500 (804.672)	112.556	4:26:32
MBNA 500
1995	September 17	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	$74,655	500 / 500 (804.672)	124.74	4:00:30
1996	September 15	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	$153,630	500 / 500 (804.672)	105.646	4:43:58
MBNA 400
1997	September 21	Mark Martin	Ford	$195,305	400 / 400 (643.737)	132.719	3:00:50
MBNA Gold 400
1998	September 20	Mark Martin	Ford	$126,130	400 / 400 (643.737)	113.834	3:30:50
1999	September 26	Mark Martin	Ford	$115,710	400 / 400 (643.737)	127.434	3:08:20
MBNA.com 400
2000	September 24	Tony Stewart	Pontiac	$158,535	400 / 400 (643.737)	115.191	3:28:21
MBNA Cal Ripken, Jr. 400
2001	September 23	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	$168,858	400 / 400 (643.737)	101.559	3:56:19
MBNA All-American Heros 400
2002	September 22	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$152,735	400 / 400 (643.737)	120.805	3:18:40
MBNA America 400
2003	September 21	Ryan Newman	Dodge	$160,460	400 / 400 (643.737)	108.802	3:40:35
2004	September 26	Ryan Newman	Dodge	$195,477	400 / 400 (643.737)	119.067	3:21:34
MBNA NASCAR RacePoints 400
2005	September 25	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$296,641	404 / 404 (650.174)	115.054	3:30:41
Dover 400
2006	September 24	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	$230,370	400 / 400 (643.737)	111.966	3:34:21
Dodge Dealers 400
2007	September 23	Carl Edwards	Ford	$229,250	400 / 400 (643.737)	101.846	3:55:39
Camping World RV 400
2008	September 21	Greg Biffle	Ford	$218,450	400 / 400 (643.737)	114.168	3:30:13
AAA 400
2009	September 27	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$276,076	400 / 400 (643.737)	118.704	3:22:11
2010	September 26	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$262,803	400 / 400 (643.737)	131.543	3:02:27
2011	October 2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	$223,625	400 / 400 (643.737)	119.413	3:30:59

• 2005: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.

Notable Races

• 1971: Bobby Allison dominated the race until a lug bolt broke on a pit stop, putting Richard Petty into the lead in the final 100 laps en route to the win.
• 1975: Richard Petty put the entire field two laps down until at Lap 350 he ran over debris from a backmarker's blown engine that broke a tie rod. Petty spent eight laps in the pits getting a new tie rod and came out six laps down. While Lennie Pond blew his engine Petty erased all six laps, but needed a late yellow when Buddy Arrington stopped on the track with fifteen to go. Petty breezed to the win, leaving runner-up Dick Brooks angry at Arrington, who'd recently purchased a transporter from Petty Enterprises: "I guess Arrington needed that truck paid for."
• 1976: Cale Yarborough lost two laps on two separate occasions and made them up en route to the win.
• 1977: Benny Parsons dominated the race after Lap 250.
• 1978: Bobby Allison won after a recent visit to the Mayo Clinic for a checkup.
• 1979: Richard Petty, Donnie Allison, and Cale Yarborough battled over the final 30 laps; Petty edged Allison by a hood at the stripe.
• 1983: Bobby Allison edged Geoff Bodine for the win, his sixth of the season en route to his only Winston Cup title.
• 1986: Ricky Rudd took his first Dover win as title contenders Dale Earnhardt and Tim Richmond crashed and raced each other with damaged race cars despite being multiple laps down.
• 1991: Multiple crashes put Harry Gant alone on the lead lap for his third straight win of September 1991.
• 1992: Ricky Rudd edged Bill Elliott as Alan Kulwicki crashed, putting him seemingly out of the season point chase.
• 1993: Tire failures and crashes, including a multi-car melee detonated when Rusty Wallace hammered another car into the path of the leaders, plagued the 1993 500 won by Wallace.
• 1995: In a race with only five yellows Jeff Gordon and Bobby Hamilton dominated en route to a 1-2 finish.
• 1996: Gordon and Dale Earnhardt battled amid an epidemic of crashes. Ernie Irvan crashed ahead of Derrike Cope and crew chief Larry McReynolds attacked Cope in the garage area. A three-car melee led to a near-brawl on the track between Jimmy Spencer and Wally Dallenbach, Jr. Following this race NASCAR raised the sanction fee for a 500-mile race, forcing Dover to cut back to 400 miles.
• 2001: In the first NASCAR sactioned Cup race following the September 11, 2001 attacks, (the previous race scheduled for New Hampshire Speedway was postponed until the end of the season) a silent lap 3, which was a season-long scheduled event in memory of Dale Earnhardt who had died in a crash in the 2001 Daytona 500, was changed to include the memory of the victims of the attacks. Dale Earnhardt Jr won the race and celebrated by doing a Polish victory lap while holding an American flag in salute.
• 2006: Jeff Burton broke a 185 race winless streak passing Matt Kenseth with 8 laps to go. This was a very emotional win for Jeff.
• 2009: Joey Logano flipped 8 times in turn 3 after being tapped by Tony Stewart, Though a couple cars ahead of Logano had braked going into the corner. Joey was OK after the wreck.

Television broadcasters

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)
2011	ESPN	Allen Bestwick	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2010	ESPN	Marty Reid	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2009	ABC	Jerry Punch	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2008	ABC	Jerry Punch	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2007	ABC	Jerry Punch	Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree
2006	TNT	Bill Weber	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2005	TNT	Bill Weber	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2004	TNT	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2003	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2002	TNT	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2001	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach
2000	TNN	Eli Gold	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1999	TNN	Eli Gold	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1998	TNN	Ken Squier	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1997	TNN	Eli Gold	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1996	TNN	Eli Gold	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1995	TNN	Mike Joy	Buddy Baker and Dick Berggren
1994	TNN	Mike Joy	Buddy Baker
1993	TNN	Mike Joy	Buddy Baker and Neil Bonnett
1992	TNN	Mike Joy	Buddy Baker and Neil Bonnett
1991	TNN	Mike Joy	Buddy Baker and Neil Bonnett
1990	ESPN	Bob Jenkins	Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett
1989	ESPN	Bob Jenkins	Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett
1988	ESPN	Bob Jenkins	Ned Jarrett
1987	ESPN	Bob Jenkins	Larry Nuber
1986	Mizlou	Steve Grad	Dick Brooks
1985	Mizlou	Mike Hogewood	Dick Brooks
1984	Mizlou
1983	TNN
1982	Diamond P

References

External links

• Racing-Reference.info - Dover International Speedway Race Results
• NASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks
• Another Rough Week For NASCAR: 2.4 Rating For AAA 400