- Bank of America 500
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Bank of America 500 
Venue Charlotte Motor Speedway Sponsor Bank of America First race 1960 Distance 501 miles (806.281 km) Laps 334 Previous names National 400 (1960-1965)
National 500 (1966-1976, 1980-1982)
NAPA National 500 (1977-1979)
Miller High Life 500 (1983-1985)
Oakwood Homes 500 (1986-1988)
All Pro Auto Parts 500 (1989)
Mello Yello 500 (1990-1994)
UAW-GM Quality 500 (1995-2005)
Bank of America 500 (2006-2008, 2010-present)
NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America (2009)The Bank of America 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that is hosted annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States. The race is usually held in the month of October, as part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and is 500 miles long. Prior to 1966, the race was a 400-mile event.
Contents
Television history
The race was shown on TBS from at least the mid-1980s to 2000. From 2002 to 2006, it was shown on NBC, and since 2007, it has been on ABC. The 2001 race was scheduled for NBC, but was moved to TNT just 30 minutes before the start when the United States government announced the start of hostilities against Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11th, 2001 Attacks.
The 2002 race was also known for beginning a practice where, if a race broadcast on a network was running long and ran into prime-time hours, the broadcast would not switch to cable. In this case, the race began as scheduled in the early afternoon but was delayed for hours due to weather. NBC did not move the race to TNT, as it did the year before, and broadcast the race in its entirety; the race ended early Sunday evening with Jamie McMurray winning in only his second NASCAR Winston Cup start. Since ESPN took over the rights to the race and to most of NBC and TNT's former NASCAR package, that policy has been discontinued.
From Sunday to Saturday
Thanks in large part to the ratings boost NBC received from the 2002 race being run in primetime hours, NASCAR made a decision to move the race date from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night beginning in 2003. NBC retained their rights to broadcast the race, unlike in most of the night events aired in their part of the season's contract which normally aired on TNT. With the move, then-Lowe's Motor Speedway became one of only two tracks in NASCAR to have two night dates on the schedule.
In 2005, the start was delayed by the finish to the Notre Dame-Southern California college football game which ran late. While the game was in its final minutes, NBC, the broadcaster of both events, had the race engines start and the pace laps proceed. As the pace car pulled off the track to pit road to start the race, NBC had just switched coverage from the game to the race, and the broadcast began as the field took the green flag.
The 2010 and 2011 running of the Bank of America 500 was the only Chase race that is not televised by ESPN; the race was aired on ABC.
Past winners
Year Date Driver Team Manufacturer Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)Laps Miles (km) 1960 October 16 Speedy Thompson Wood Brothers Racing Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:32:50 112.905 1961 October 15 Joe Weatherly Bud Moore Engineering Pontiac 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:20:20 119.95 1962 October 14 Junior Johnson Ray Fox Pontiac 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:01:42 132.085 1963 October 13 Junior Johnson Ray Fox Chevrolet 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:01:54 132.105 1964 October 18 Fred Lorenzen* Holman-Moody Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 2:58:35 134.475 1965 October 17 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:21:44 119.117 1966 October 16 Lee Roy Yarbrough Jon Thorne Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:49:55 130.576 1967 October 15 Buddy Baker Ray Fox Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:04 130.317 1968 October 20 Charlie Glotzbach Cotton Owens Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:42:08 135.234 1969 October 12 Donnie Allison Banjo Matthews Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:48:32 131.271 1970 October 11 Lee Roy Yarbrough Junior Johnson Mercury 334 501 (806.281) 4:03:28 123.246 1971 October 10 Bobby Allison Holman-Moody Mercury 238* 357 (574.535) 2:49:38 126.14 1972 October 8 Bobby Allison Richard Howard Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:45:37 133.234 1973 October 7 Cale Yarborough Richard Howard Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:58 145.24 1974* October 6 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing Mercury 334 501 (806.281) 4:10:41 119.912 1975* October 5 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:22 132.209 1976 October 10 Donnie Allison Hoss Ellington Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:32:51 141.226 1977 October 9 Benny Parsons L.G. DeWitt Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:32 142.78 1978 October 8 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:31:57 141.826 1979 October 7 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:43:53 134.266 1980 October 5 Dale Earnhardt Rod Osterlund Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:42:18 135.243 1981 October 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson Buick 334 501 (806.281) 4:15:52 117.483 1982 October 10 Harry Gant Hal Needham Buick 334 501 (806.281) 3:39:05 137.208 1983 October 9 Richard Petty* Petty Enterprises Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:34:43 139.998 1984 October 7 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:24:41 148.861 1985 October 6 Cale Yarborough* Harry Ranier Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:39:48 136.761 1986 October 5 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:02 132.403 1987 October 11 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:54:02 128.443 1988 October 9 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:02 130.677 1989 October 8 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:20:35 149.863 1990 October 7 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:38:44 137.428 1991 October 6 Geoffrey Bodine Junior Johnson Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:36:17 138.984 1992 October 11 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:15:47 153.537 1993 October 10 Ernie Irvan* Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:14:31 154.537 1994 October 9 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:00 145.922 1995 October 8 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:48 145.358 1996* October 6 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:00 143.143 1997 October 5 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:28:17 144.323 1998 October 4 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 4:04:01 123.188 1999 October 11* Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:07:31 160.306 2000 October 8 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:44:57 133.63 2001 October 7 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:36:15 139.006 2002 October 13 Jamie McMurray* Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:32:28 141.481 2003 October 11 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:24 142.871 2004 October 16 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:51 130.214 2005 October 15 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 336* 504 (811.109) 4:11:18 120.334 2006 October 14 Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:29 132.142 2007 October 13 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 337* 505.5 (813.523) 4:00:58 125.868 2008 October 11 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:44:50 133.699 2009 October 17 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:38:22 137.658 2010 October 16 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:34:07 140.391 2011 October 15 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:25:37 146.194 - 1964: Fred Lorenzen took lead with two laps to go after Richard Petty blew the tire and crashed.
- 1971: Race shortened due to rain.
- 1974: Race record for lead changes at 47; race marred by ten-car crash in which Marty Robbins suffered serious facial injuries, a two-car crash involving Grant Adcox and Ramo Stott, and a pit fire in Richard Petty's pit.
- 1975: Final race for track under promotion of Richard Howard.
- 1983: Marred by controversy involving outsized engine; Petty subsequently fined $35,000 and over 100 NASCAR points
- 1985: Cale's final NASCAR win.
- 1993: Ernie Irvan led race-record 328 laps.
- 1996: Marred by a brutal multicar crash involving Ernie Irvan
- 1999: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
- 2002: First win in second career NASCAR start.
- 2005 & 2007: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.
External links
- Crittenden Automotive Library: Mello Yello 500
- NASCAR Banking 500 race page
- NASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks
- Ratings Drop Again, But NASCAR's Chase Hits High on ABC
Categories:- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races
- Sports in Charlotte, North Carolina
- NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway
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