2005 Aaron's 499

2005 Aaron's 499

Race details
Race 9 of 36 in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
2005 Aaron's 499 program cover
Date	May 1, 2005 (2005-05-01)
Location	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, Alabama
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.280855 km)
Distance	194 laps, 516.04 mi (830.514 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed	146.904 mph
Attendance	155,000
Pole position
Driver	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	139
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	FOX
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 2005 Aaron's 499 was the 9th race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, held on May 1, 2005, at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. The race was won by Jeff Gordon, who led 139 laps of the 194 lap race.

The race was extended from the scheduled 188 laps due to a late race caution.

Entry list

Car #	Driver	Hometown	Make	Sponsor	Team	Crew Chief
0	Mike Bliss	Milwaukie, OR	Chevrolet	NetZero Best Buy	Gene Haas
00	Kenny Wallace	St. Louis, MO	Chevrolet	Aaron's	Buffy Waltrip
01	Joe Nemechek	Lakeland, FL	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Nelson Bowers
1	Martin Truex Jr	Mayetta, NJ	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker	Teresa Earnhardt
2	Rusty Wallace	St. Louis, MO	Dodge	Miller Lite	Roger Penske
4	Mike Wallace	St. Louis, MO	Chevrolet	Lucas Oil Products	Larry McClure
5	Kyle Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Chevrolet	Kellogg's	Rick Hendrick
6	Mark Martin	Batesville, AR	Ford	Viagra	Jack Roush
07	Dave Blaney	Hartford, OH	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	Richard Childress
7	Robby Gordon	Bellflower, CA	Chevrolet	Harrah's	James Smith
8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Kannapolis, NC	Chevrolet	Budweiser	Teresa Earnhardt
09	Johnny Sauter	Necedah, WI	Dodge	Miccosukee Resort & Gaming	James Finch
9	Kasey Kahne	Enumclaw, WA	Dodge	Dodge Dealers / UAW / "Longest Yard"	Ray Evernham
10	Scott Riggs	Bahama, NC	Chevrolet	Valvoline	James Rocco
11	Jason Leffler	Long Beach, CA	Chevrolet	FedEx Express	J D Gibbs
12	Ryan Newman	South Bend, IN	Dodge	Alltel	Roger Penske
15	Michael Waltrip	Owensboro, KY	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts	Teresa Earnhardt
16	Greg Biffle	Vancouver, WA	Ford	National Guard / Charter Communications	Geoff Smith
17	Matt Kenseth	Cambridge, WI	Ford	DEWALT Power Tools	Mark Martin
18	Bobby Labonte	Corpus Christi, TX	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	Joe Gibbs
19	Jeremy Mayfield	Owensboro, KY	Dodge	Dodge Dealers / UAW	Ray Evernham
20	Tony Stewart	Rushville, IN	Chevrolet	The Home Depot	Joe Gibbs
21	Ricky Rudd	Chesapeake, VA	Ford	Motorcraft Genuine Parts	Glen Wood
22	Scott Wimmer	Wausau, WI	Dodge	Caterpillar	Bill Davis
23	Mike Skinner	Ontario, CA	Dodge	Bad Boy Mowers	Gail Davis
24	Jeff Gordon	Vallejo, CA	Chevrolet	DuPont / Pepsi	Rick Hendrick
25	Brian Vickers	Thomasville, NC	Chevrolet	GMAC / ditech.com	Mary Hendrick
29	Kevin Harvick	Bakersfield, CA	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench	Richard Childress
31	Jeff Burton	South Boston, VA	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	Richard Childress
32	Bobby Hamilton Jr	Nashville, TN	Chevrolet	Tide	Calvin Wells III
33	Kerry Earnhardt	Kannapolis, NC	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops	Richard Childress
36	Boris Said	New York, NY	Chevrolet	CENTRIX Financial	Bob Sutton
37	Kevin Lepage	Shelburne, VT	Dodge	Patron Tequila	John Carter
38	Elliott Sadler	Emporia, VA	Ford	M&M's	Robert Yates
40	Sterling Marlin	Columbia, TN	Dodge	Coors Light	Felix Sabates
41	Casey Mears	Bakersfield, CA	Dodge	Target	Chip Ganassi
42	Jamie McMurray	Joplin, MO	Dodge	Texaco / Havoline	Floyd Ganassi
43	Jeff Green	Owensboro, KY	Dodge	Cheerios / Betty Crocker	Richard L Petty
45	Kyle Petty	Trinity, NC	Dodge	Georgia-Pacific / Brawny	Kyle Petty
48	Jimmie Johnson	El Cajon, CA	Chevrolet	Lowe's	Jeff Gordon
49	Ken Schrader	Fenton, MO	Dodge	Schwan's Home Service	Elizabeth Morgenthau
66	Hermie Sadler	Emporia, VA	Ford	Peak Fitness	Jeff Stec
77	Travis Kvapil	Janesville, WI	Dodge	Kodak / Jasper Engines	Douglas Bawel
88	Dale Jarrett	Hickory, NC	Ford	UPS	Robert Yates
92	Stanton Barrett	Bishop, CA	Chevrolet	First Trust Portfolios	Bob Jenkins
97	Kurt Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Ford	IRWIN Industrial Tools / Sharpie	Georgetta Roush
99	Carl Edwards	Columbia, MO	Ford	Scotts Ortho	Jack Roush

Qualifying

Pos	Car #	Driver	Make	Primary Sponsor	Speed	Time	Behind
1	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench	189.804	50.452	0.000
2	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont / Pepsi	188.988	50.670	-0.218
3	38	Elliott Sadler	Ford	M&M's	188.548	50.788	-0.336
4	10	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	Valvoline	188.474	50.808	-0.356
5	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	Alltel	188.237	50.872	-0.420
6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	188.226	50.875	-0.423
7	21	Ricky Rudd	Ford	Motorcraft Genuine Parts	188.156	50.894	-0.442
8	07	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	187.919	50.958	-0.506
9	77	Travis Kvapil	Dodge	Kodak / Jasper Engines	187.857	50.975	-0.523
10	97	Kurt Busch	Ford	IRWIN Industrial Tools / Sharpie	187.831	50.982	-0.530
11	20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	The Home Depot	187.713	51.014	-0.562
12	36	Boris Said	Chevrolet	CENTRIX Financial	187.471	51.080	-0.628
13	42	Jamie McMurray	Dodge	Texaco / Havoline	187.427	51.092	-0.640
14	88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	UPS	187.350	51.113	-0.661
15	18	Bobby Labonte	Chevrolet	Interstate Batteries	187.298	51.127	-0.675
16	6	Mark Martin	Ford	Viagra	187.276	51.133	-0.681
17	22	Scott Wimmer	Dodge	Caterpillar	187.276	51.133	-0.681
18	11	Jason Leffler	Chevrolet	FedEx Express	187.265	51.136	-0.684
19	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	Dodge Dealers / UAW / "Longest Yard"	187.247	51.141	-0.689
20	2	Rusty Wallace	Dodge	Miller Lite	187.232	51.145	-0.693
21	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Scotts Ortho	187.192	51.156	-0.704
22	19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge	Dodge Dealers / UAW	187.192	51.156	-0.704
23	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	DEWALT Power Tools	187.071	51.189	-0.737
24	1	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	187.068	51.190	-0.738
25	40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	Coors Light	186.955	51.221	-0.769
26	41	Casey Mears	Dodge	Target	186.849	51.250	-0.798
27	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Cingular Wireless	186.710	51.288	-0.836
28	0	Mike Bliss	Chevrolet	NetZero Best Buy	186.685	51.295	-0.843
29	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	National Guard / Charter Communications	186.536	51.336	-0.884
30	66	Hermie Sadler	Ford	Peak Fitness	186.529	51.338	-0.886
31	33	Kerry Earnhardt	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops	186.496	51.347	-0.895
32	1	Martin Truex Jr	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker	186.351	51.387	-0.935
33	4	Mike Wallace	Chevrolet	Lucas Oil Products	186.198	51.429	-0.977
34	23	Mike Skinner	Dodge	Bad Boy Mowers	186.148	51.443	-0.991
35	5	Kyle Busch	Chevrolet	Kellogg's	186.108	51.454	-1.002
36	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	Budweiser	185.934	51.502	-1.050
37	25	Brian Vickers	Chevrolet	GMAC / ditech.com	185.934	51.502	-1.050
38	15	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet	NAPA Auto Parts	185.877	51.518	-1.066
39	43	Jeff Green	Dodge	Cheerios / Betty Crocker	185.848	51.526	-1.074
40	32	Bobby Hamilton Jr	Chevrolet	Tide	185.729	51.559	-1.107
41	45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	Georgia-Pacific / Brawny	185.348	51.665	-1.213
42	49	Ken Schrader	Dodge	Schwan's Home Service	183.988	52.047	-1.595
43	09	Johnny Sauter	Dodge	Miccosukee Resort & Gaming	185.151	51.720	-1.268
Failed to qualify
44	7	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Harrah's		51.733
45	37	Kevin Lepage	Dodge	Patron Tequila		51.868
46	00	Kenny Wallace	Chevrolet	Aaron's Dream Machine 50th Anniversary		51.948
47	92	Stanton Barrett	Chevrolet	First Trust Portfolios		52.032

Race

Outside pole sitter Jeff Gordon led the first lap of the race after he took the lead from pole sitter Kevin Harvick. The first caution flew on lap 20 when Kyle Petty blew a right front tire and hit the outside wall in the tri-oval. Gordon won the race off pit road and held onto the race lead on the restart. On lap 37, Tony Stewart took the lead from Gordon. On the same lap, the 2nd caution flew when Jeff Green blew a left-rear tire and spun out of turn 2. Jeff Gordon was the new race leader and led them to the restart on lap 42. On Lap 69, Kevin Harvick took the lead after restarting 37th due to problems with the nose of his car. Gordon took the lead back on lap 72 where green flag pitstops would begin. Harvick was the leader after everything cycled out on lap 75. On lap 79, Ryan Newman took the lead from Harvick. Jeff Gordon took the lead on lap 84 but was passed by Kevin Harvick the next lap. Dale Earnhardt Jr. soon took the lead on lap 89. Gordon took the lead from Earnhardt Jr. near the halfway mark on lap 92. After the longest green flag run of 61 laps, the 3rd caution flew on lap 102 when Bobby Hamilton Jr's tire blew and laid debris on the track. Scott Riggs won the race off pit road and was the new race leader and led them to the restart on lap 108. Riggs was immediately passed by Kevin Harvick for the lead. Gordon took the lead on lap 109 but was passed by Elliott Sadler on the next lap. On lap 116, Kyle Petty's car stalled on the front stretch bringing out the 4th caution of the race. Mark Martin won the race off pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 121. Martin was immediately passed by Jeff Gordon on the restart and Gordon took the lead. Elliott Sadler took the lead from Gordon on lap 124 but Gordon took it back two laps later.

On lap 133, the big one struck in turn one bringing out the 5th caution and took out a massive 26 cars. It started when Jimmie Johnson moved up and hit Mike Wallace in the left front sending Wallace up into Scott Riggs turning Wallace around and into the outside wall and taking out a lot more cars with him. The cars involved were Carl Edwards, Joe Nemechek, Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Dave Blaney, Ricky Rudd, Kasey Kahne, Mike Bliss, Rusty Wallace, Sterling Marlin, Bobby Labonte, Mike Wallace, Bobby Hamilton Jr, Scott Wimmer, Brian Vickers, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Scott Riggs, Jimmie Johnson, Boris Said, Johnny Sauter, Kyle Busch, Mike Skinner, Kerry Earnhardt, Casey Mears, and Jeff Green. The race was red flagged for a short bit to clean up the mess. The race eventually got back under way with 51 laps to go with Jimmie Johnson as the new race leader. Jeff Gordon took the lead with 46 laps to.

Final Laps

With 23 laps to go, the 6th caution flew for debris at pit entry. Gordon won the race off pit road and led the field back to green with 18 to go. But on the restart, Hermie Sadler's car stalled and sat there on the apron of the frontstretch. The caution eventually flew for this with 17 to go. The race got back going with 14 laps to go with Gordon leading. With 6 laps to go, Michael Waltrip took the lead from Gordon but Gordon took it back with 4 to go. But with 2 laps to go, a multi-car wreck occurred on the backstretch. It started when Jimmie Johnson hit the wall off of turn 2 and Johnson turned down into Kevin Harvick sending Harvick into Dale Earnhardt Jr. and turning Jr. around along with Martin Truex Jr. while also collecting Greg Biffle and Travis Kvapil. The caution was the 8th and final caution of the race and set up a green-white-checkered finish. Gordon led on the restart and held off the pack in the last two laps to win his 2nd Aaron's 499 in a row. This was also Gordon's 3rd win in the first 9 races of 2005 placing him 3rd in points. But after this win, Gordon and his team would collapse. Gordon would win only 1 more race in the last 27 races of 2005. Gordon made it up to 2nd after the next race at Darlington but the team would fall to as low as 15th in the standings. They made their way back in the top 10 after Bristol but bad runs in the last two regular season races knocked Gordon out of the Chase for the Cup. Gordon finished the season with 4 wins but also had 9 DNF's and finished 11th in points with his crew chief Robbie Loomis being relived of duties before the start of the chase making way for a young 26 year old Steve Letarte. Tony Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield, and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top 5 while Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch, Ken Schrader, Dale Jarrett, and Jeff Burton rounded out the top 10.

Results

Fin	St	#	Driver	Sponsor	Make	Laps	Led	Status	Pts
1	2	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont, Pepsi, Star Wars Episode III	Chevy	194	139	running	190
2	11	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot	Chevy	194	2	running	175
3	38	15	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts	Chevy	194	2	running	170
4	22	19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge Dealers, UAW	Dodge	194	0	running	160
5	13	42	Jamie McMurray	Texaco, Havoline	Dodge	194	0	running	155
6	3	38	Elliott Sadler	M&M's	Ford	194	9	running	155
7	10	97	Kurt Busch	Irwin Industrial Tools, Sharpie	Ford	194	1	running	151
8	42	49	Ken Schrader	Schwan's Home Service	Dodge	194	1	running	147
9	14	88	Dale Jarrett	UPS	Ford	194	0	running	138
10	27	31	Jeff Burton	Cingular Wireless	Chevy	194	0	running	134
11	23	17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt	Ford	194	0	running	130
12	1	29	Kevin Harvick	GM Goodwrench	Chevy	194	12	running	132
13	29	16	Greg Biffle	National Guard, Charter Communications	Ford	194	2	running	129
14	26	41	Casey Mears	Target	Dodge	193	0	running	121
15	36	8	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Budweiser	Chevy	193	3	running	123
16	43	09	Johnny Sauter	Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts	Dodge	192	0	running	115
17	31	33	Kerry Earnhardt	Bass Pro Shops	Chevy	190	0	running	112
18	9	77	Travis Kvapil	Kodak, Jasper Engines & Transmissions	Dodge	188	0	crash	109
19	8	07	Dave Blaney	Jack Daniel's	Chevy	187	0	running	106
20	6	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's	Chevy	186	8	crash	108
21	32	1	Martin Truex, Jr.	Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats	Chevy	186	0	crash	100
22	20	2	Rusty Wallace	Miller Lite	Dodge	180	0	running	97
23	15	18	Bobby Labonte	Interstate Batteries	Chevy	174	1	engine	99
24	19	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge Dealers, UAW, The Longest Yard	Dodge	172	0	running	91
25	39	43	Jeff Green	Cheerios, Betty Crocker	Dodge	172	0	running	88
26	18	11	Jason Leffler	FedEx Express	Chevy	171	0	running	85
27	4	10	Scott Riggs	Valvoline	Chevy	171	4	running	87
28	33	4	Mike Wallace	Lucas Oil	Chevy	171	1	running	84
29	30	66	Hermie Sadler	Peak Fitness	Ford	170	0	rear end	76
30	7	21	Ricky Rudd	Motorcraft	Ford	170	0	running	73
31	24	01	Joe Nemechek	U.S. Army	Chevy	169	1	running	75
32	21	99	Carl Edwards	Scotts, Ortho	Ford	166	0	running	67
33	16	6	Mark Martin	Viagra	Ford	166	3	running	69
34	25	40	Sterling Marlin	Coors Light	Dodge	162	0	running	61
35	12	36	Boris Said	Centrix Financial	Chevy	146	0	crash	58
36	28	0	Mike Bliss	NetZero, Best Buy	Chevy	141	0	crash	55
37	37	25	Brian Vickers	GMAC, ditech.com	Chevy	139	0	crash	52
38	17	22	Scott Wimmer	Caterpillar	Dodge	139	0	crash	49
39	5	12	Ryan Newman	Alltel	Dodge	135	5	crash	51
40	40	32	Bobby Hamilton, Jr.	Tide	Chevy	132	0	crash	43
41	35	5	Kyle Busch	Kellogg's	Chevy	132	0	crash	40
42	34	23	Mike Skinner	Bad Boy Mowers	Dodge	132	0	crash	37
43	41	45	Kyle Petty	Georgia-Pacific, Brawny	Dodge	106	0	running	34
Failed to qualify
44		7	Robby Gordon	Harrah's	Chevrolet
45		37	Kevin Lepage	Patron Tequila	Dodge
46		00	Kenny Wallace	Aaron's Dream Machine 50th Anniversary	Chevrolet
47		92	Stanton Barrett	First Trust Portfolios	Chevrolet