Bank of America 500

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Bank of America 500
200px
Lowe's Motor Speedway.svg
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Venue Charlotte Motor Speedway
Location Concord, North Carolina, United States
Corporate sponsor Bank of America
First race 1960
Distance 501 miles (806 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)
NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America (2009)
Most wins (driver) Bobby Allison
Mark Martin
Jimmie Johnson
Cale Yarborough (3)
Most wins (team) Hendrick Motorsports (7)
Most wins (manufacturer) Chevrolet (20)
Circuit information
Surface Asphalt
Length 1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Turns 4

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, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the 600-mile (970 km) race. The race is held in the middle of October, as part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and it is a 501-mile (806 km) annual race, Prior to 1966, the race was a 400.5-mile (644.5 km) event.

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.

Past winners

Year Date Driver Team Manufacturer Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)
Report
Laps Miles (km)
1960 October 16 Speedy Thompson Wood Brothers Racing Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:32:50 112.905 Report
1961 October 15 Joe Weatherly Bud Moore Engineering Pontiac 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:20:20 119.95 Report
1962 October 14 Junior Johnson Ray Fox Pontiac 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:01:42 132.085 Report
1963 October 13 Junior Johnson Ray Fox Chevrolet 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:01:54 132.105 Report
1964 October 18 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 2:58:35 134.475 Report
1965 October 17 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:21:44 119.117 Report
1966 October 16 Lee Roy Yarbrough Jon Thorne Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:49:55 130.576 Report
1967 October 15 Buddy Baker Ray Fox Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:04 130.317 Report
1968 October 20 Charlie Glotzbach Cotton Owens Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:42:08 135.234 Report
1969 October 12 Donnie Allison Banjo Matthews Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:48:32 131.271 Report
1970 October 11 Lee Roy Yarbrough Junior Johnson & Associates Mercury 334 501 (806.281) 4:03:28 123.246 Report
1971 October 10 Bobby Allison Holman-Moody Mercury 238* 357 (574.535) 2:49:38 126.14 Report
1972 October 8 Bobby Allison Richard Howard Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:45:37 133.234 Report
1973 October 7 Cale Yarborough Richard Howard Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:58 145.24 Report
1974 October 6 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing Mercury 334 501 (806.281) 4:10:41 119.912 Report
1975 October 5 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:22 132.209 Report
1976 October 10 Donnie Allison Ellington Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:32:51 141.226 Report
1977 October 9 Benny Parsons L.G. DeWitt Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:32 142.78 Report
1978 October 8 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:31:57 141.826 Report
1979 October 7 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:43:53 134.266 Report
1980 October 5 Dale Earnhardt Rod Osterlund Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:42:18 135.243 Report
1981 October 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates Buick 334 501 (806.281) 4:15:52 117.483 Report
1982 October 10 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Buick 334 501 (806.281) 3:39:05 137.208 Report
1983 October 9 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:34:43 139.998 Report
1984 October 7 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:24:41 148.861 Report
1985 October 6 Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:39:48 136.761 Report
1986 October 5 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:02 132.403 Report
1987 October 11 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:54:02 128.443 Report
1988 October 9 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:02 130.677 Report
1989 October 8 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:20:35 149.863 Report
1990 October 7 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:38:44 137.428 Report
1991 October 6 Geoffrey Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:36:17 138.984 Report
1992 October 11 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:15:47 153.537 Report
1993 October 10 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:14:31 154.537 Report
1994 October 9 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:00 145.922 Report
1995 October 8 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:48 145.358 Report
1996 October 6 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:00 143.143 Report
1997 October 5 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:28:17 144.323 Report
1998 October 4 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 4:04:01 123.188 Report
1999 October 11* Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:07:31 160.306 Report
2000 October 8 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:44:57 133.63 Report
2001 October 7 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:36:15 139.006 Report
2002 October 13 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:32:28 141.481 Report
2003 October 11 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:24 142.871 Report
2004 October 16 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:51 130.214 Report
2005 October 15 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 336* 504 (811.109) 4:11:18 120.334 Report
2006 October 14 Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:29 132.142 Report
2007 October 13 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 337* 505.5 (813.523) 4:00:58 125.868 Report
2008 October 11 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:44:50 133.699 Report
2009 October 17 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:38:22 137.658 Report
2010 October 16 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:34:07 140.391 Report
2011 October 15 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:25:37 146.194 Report
2012 October 13 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 334 501 (806.281) 3:14:01 154.935 Report
2013 October 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:09:53 158.308 Report
2014 October 11 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:49 145.346 Report
2015 October 11* Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:35:05 139.76 Report
  • 1971: The race was shortened due to rain.
  • 1999: Race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
  • 2005 & 2007: The race was extended due to a green–white–checker finish.
  • 2015: Race postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain.

Multiple winners (drivers)

# Wins Driver Years Won
3 Bobby Allison 1971, 1972, 1978
Cale Yarborough 1973, 1979, 1985
Mark Martin 1992, 1995, 1998
Jimmie Johnson 2004, 2005, 2009
2 Junior Johnson 1962, 1963
Fred Lorenzen 1964, 1965
LeeRoy Yarbrough 1966, 1970
Donnie Allison 1969, 1976
Richard Petty 1975, 1983
Dale Earnhardt 1980, 1986
Bill Elliott 1984, 1987
Dale Jarrett 1994, 1997
Jeff Gordon 1999, 2007
Jamie McMurray 2002, 2010

Multiple winners (teams)

# Wins Team Years Won
7 Hendrick Motorsports 1989, 1996, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009
4 Junior Johnson & Associates 1970, 1979, 1981, 1991
Roush Fenway Racing 1992, 1995, 1998, 2011
3 Ray Fox 1962, 1963, 1967
Holman-Moody 1964, 1965, 1971
Robert Yates Racing 1990, 1993, 1997
Joe Gibbs Racing 1994, 2000, 2003
2 Wood Brothers Racing 1960, 1974
Bud Moore Engineering 1961, 1978
Richard Howard 1972, 1973
Melling Racing 1984, 1987
Richard Childress Racing 1986, 2008
Chip Ganassi Racing 2001, 2002
Team Penske 2013, 2015

Manufacturer wins

# Wins Manufacturer Years Won
20 Chevrolet 1963, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014
18 Ford 1960, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1978, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2015
7 Dodge 1966, 1967, 1968, 1975, 2001, 2002, 2006
5 Pontiac 1961, 1962, 1983, 1988, 2000
3 Mercury 1970, 1971, 1974
2 Buick 1981, 1982
1 Toyota 2012

Notable races

  • 1964: Fred Lorenzen took lead with two laps to go after Richard Petty, who led 188 laps, blew a tire and crashed. Paul Goldsmith led 71 laps before blowing his engine.
  • 1965: Lorenzen won for the second straight year after a wild three-abreast battle with Curtis Turner and Dick Hutcherson for first. The race was a tragic affair as a massive crash claimed the life of Harold Kite.
  • 1970: Leeroy Yarbrough took what turned out to be his final Grand National win.
  • 1971: Bobby Allison in the Holman-Moody Mercury battled Charlie Glotzbach, driving the Chevrolet Monte Carlo fielded by track president Richard Howard. Allison took the lead on Lap 177 and led when rain shortened the race at Lap 238. Leeroy Yarbrough drove a second Howard Chevrolet, reuniting with team manager Junior Johnson, for whom Leeroy had driven earlier that 1971 season.
  • 1973: Controversies plagued the weekend. Charlie Glotzbach won the pole in Hoss Ellington's Chevrolet but NASCAR discovered a moveable restrictor plate after qualifying and put Glotzbach to the back of the field. Buddy Baker was pulled out of the race 228 laps in by team owner Nord Krauskopf when NASCAR said it wanted to reinspect the #71 Dodge after the race. David Pearson and Glotzbach crashed 40 laps in, leaving Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Bobby Allison in charge. Yarborough and Petty put Allison three laps down en route to the 1-2 finish. But following the race controversy ensued over the postrace inspection of the top three cars; Allison's Chevy cleared after one hour but six hours after the inspection NASCAR announced the results for Yarborough's #11 would receive further study, and Allison claimed to have seen Petty's team remove the air filter from the car before it could be inspected; track promoter Richard Howard threatened a lawsuit if the race results were changed. Allison claimed the top two finishers were illegal and threatened to sue NASCAR; Petty asserted only three of his engine's eight cylinders were checked; a later meeting between Allison and Bill France, Jr. settled the controversy.
  • 1974: The race set an event record for lead changes at 47. David Pearson lost two laps 150 miles in but made up the deficit and surged to the win. The race was 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: Petty took the win for a season sweep at Charlotte. The 500 was the final race for track under promotion of Richard Howard as Bruton Smith would take control of the speedway the following January.
  • 1976: Donnie Allison surprised the field by winning, his first Winston Cup win since 1971 and the first for team owner Hoss Ellington. The engine measured slightly over the 358 cubic inch limit; after lengthy discussion the engine was allowed to cool down and it measured below 358 cubic inches; Ellington quipped, "This one's legal. We left all the cheater stuff at Darlington."
  • 1978: Bobby Allison broke out of a competitive race to win handily. The lead changed 40 times. David Pearson won the pole, his 11th straight Charlotte pole.
  • 1980: Dale Earnhardt edged Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough and solidified his point lead over Yarborough with three races to go in the season. The win was Earnhardt's fifth of his second career Winston Cup season. The weekend was dominated by controversy between Darrell Waltrip and the DiGard Racing team as Waltrip announced he was leaving the team after the season despite threats of legal action by team owners the Gardner brothers to retain him. Waltrip spun out after breaking a sway bar piece, then fell out with engine failure, angrily demanding afterward he needed to "get away from these Gardners."
  • 1981: Darrell Waltrip's late-season victory surge included leading the final 61 laps of the 1981 500. Bobby Allison finished second and after leading the series in August was now trailing by 58 laps. Harry Gant led Lap 3 before his engine erupted in the first turn.
  • 1982 Gant broke through to his first superspeedway win as he edged Bill Elliott in a ten-lap showdown after Bobby Allison, who led 280 laps, blew his engine. A ten-car crash erupted when Dale Earnhardt hooked Richard Petty into a spin.
  • 1983: The race was marred by controversy involving an outsized engine for race winner Richard Petty as well as suspicion about runner-up Darrell Waltrip; Petty was subsequently fined $35,000 and 104 NASCAR points.
  • 1985: Cale Yarborough lost a lap on five separate occasions and made them up all five times for his final NASCAR win.
  • 1993: Ernie Irvan led race-record 328 laps for his second win with Robert Yates. NASCAR shaved spoiler size to five inches and raised the front airdam a few inches out of concern for escalating track speeds and believing, following driver lobbying, that reducing downforce would force drivers to slow down for the turns. The change did not reduce speeds.
  • 1994: Dale Jarrett stole the win after engine failure eliminated Geoff Bodine and a late crash eliminated Ricky Rudd and Jeff Gordon; the win was Jarrett's final win with Joe Gibbs Racing.
  • 1996: Terry Labonte dominated and erased a point gap of over 100 to Jeff Gordon, who fell out with engine failure. The race was marred by a brutal multicar crash involving Ernie Irvan when Irvan spun out and was center-punched by John Andretti.
  • 2000: Bobby Labonte broke out of a fierce fight with Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, and Jeremy Mayfield to grab the win. The weekend was marred by a sudden shortage of tires available from Goodyear, but the race went with no problems with tires. The lead changed 46 times, the first Charlotte race to break 40 lead changes since 1988.
  • 2002: Subbing for injured regular Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray grabbed his first win in his second career NASCAR start. A major crash erupted in the trioval and brought out a furious response from team owner Richard Childress.

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 from 2007 to 2014, it was on ABC.

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, 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. Starting in 2015 the race will move back to NBC, after the network signed a 10-year, $4.4 Billion dollar deal with NASCAR, NBC has the rights for the final 20 races of the season(14 of 20) from the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway and the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, this event was on ABC for several years as part of ESPN before the departure.

The 2005 running of the race drew ire from fans due to the broadcast policy in which a college football game cut into NBC's NASCAR slot. Due to the excessive length, the pre-race show was not broadcast at all and the network finally started it as the field came to the green flag to begin the race. This race was known for the levigation disaster that made the track extremely fast causing the tires to blister and blow out after about 30 laps. It was due to this that Charlotte was repaved in early 2006 in time for their May events.

The 2014 race was known for the broadcast policy that drew the ire of fans once again. Because of the excessive length of the Baylor-TCU ESPN College Football game, the race would be shifted to ESPNEWS. But the station was airing an NBA preseason game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that ran long into overtime. The race broadcast started on Lap 27.

Year Network Lap-by-lap Color commentator(s)
1964 ABC Jim McKay Chris Economaki
1965 Bill Flemming Rodger Ward
1966 Jim McKay
1967 Keith Jackson Ned Jarrett
1968 Jim McKay
1969 Chris Economaki
1970
1971 Keith Jackson
1972
1973 Jim McKay Jackie Stewart
1974 Chris Economaki
1975 Jackie Stewart
1976 Keith Jackson Chris Economaki
1977 Jackie Stewart
1978 Jim McKay
1979 NBC Paul Page Johnny Rutherford
1980
1981
1982 ABC Keith Jackson Chris Economaki
1983 Mizlou Ken Squier Donnie Allison
1984
1985 Jefferson-Pilot Mike Joy Ned Jarrett
1986
1987 SETN Eli Gold Jerry Punch
1988 SCORE
FNN
Johnny Hayes
1989 TBS Ken Squier Johnny Hayes
Chris Economaki
1990
1991 Neil Bonnett
1992
1993
1994 Chuck Bown
Cale Yarborough
1995 Richard Petty
1996 Buddy Baker
Dick Berggren
1997
1998
1999 Eli Gold
2000 Allen Bestwick
2001 TNT* Benny Parsons
Wally Dallenbach
2002 NBC
2003
2004
2005 Bill Weber
2006
2007 ABC Jerry Punch Rusty Wallace
Andy Petree
2008 Dale Jarrett
Andy Petree
2009
2010 Marty Reid
2011 Allen Bestwick
2012
2013
2014
2015 NBCSN* Rick Allen Jeff Burton
Steve Letarte
2016 NBC

2001: Originally scheduled to be broadcast on NBC, the race was moved to TNT due to George W. Bush's announcement of the War in Afghanistan.

2015: Originally scheduled to be broadcast on NBC, the race was moved to NBCSN due to the postponement of the race.

External links


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