2005 Auto Club 500

2005 Auto Club 500
Race details[1]
Race 2 of 36 in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season

Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway
Date February 27, 2005 (2005-February-27)
Official name Auto Club 500
Location California Speedway, Fontana, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2.0 mi (3.23 km)
Distance 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Chilly with temperatures approaching 64.9 °F (18.3 °C) and wind speeds gathering up to 11.3 miles per hour (18.2 km/h)
Average speed 139.697 miles per hour (224.821 km/h)
Attendance 90,000
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Joe Nemechek MB2 Motorsports
Laps 63
Winner
No. 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2005 Auto Club 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car race held on February 27, 2005 at California Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 250 laps on the 2-mile (3.23 km) asphalt D-shaped oval, it was the second race of the 2005 Nextel Cup Series season. Greg Biffle of Roush Racing won the race, his first win of the season. Jimmie Johnson finished second and Kurt Busch finished third.

Background

The track, Auto Club Speedway, is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[2] The track's turns are banked from fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eleven degrees. Unlike the front stretch, the backstraightaway is banked at three degrees.

Summary

Magic Johnson gave the command for drivers to start their engines, and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger waved the green flag, which was taken by 19-year-old Kyle Busch. Busch became the youngest driver to ever take the green flag on pole position. Busch was still leading after the first lap, with Brian Vickers in second place.[3]

Before the race, Greg Biffle had promised to reporters and commentators that he would have the lead within 5 laps. He also happened to promise to win the race.[3]

Greg Biffle took the lead in only 4 laps, followed by Matt Kenseth in second place, and Biffle was still in the lead after 26 laps, when Bill Elliott went into the wall. Biffle was immediately overtaken by Matt Kenseth after the restart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. pitted on lap 38, going down a lap, with problems on his left front tire. Carl Edwards took over the lead around lap 46.[3]

On lap 59, Earnhardt – already a lap down – had another problem with his left front tire and the debris brought out the caution a lap later. Ultimately Earnhardt would end up 13 laps behind. Edwards was still in the lead when the caution came out. Kenseth took over the lap during the caution, and Edwards retook it within a lap. Kenseth recaptured the lead at lap 70.[3]

Green flag pitstops started on lap 105. However, on lap 107, well before the green flag pitstops had cycled, a caution came out for debris. Joe Nemechek led on the restart on lap 116. Dave Blaney hit the wall on lap 143 leading to the third caution, with Nemechek still leading over Johnson. At the restart on lap 151, Nemechek was leading from Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson with 26 cars on the lead lap. Within a lap, Johnson was second.[3]

Another caution came out on lap 161 when Kasey Kahne went into the wall. At the restart, Johnson led over Nemechek, but after a three-car tussle for the lead, Nemechek led on lap 166. However, Nemechek's success was short-lived: around lap 180, engine problems saw him fall down the leader board and he had to retire. Edwards took over the lead. Harvick then took over with about 55 laps to go.[3]

With 48 laps to go Michael Waltrip’s engine blew, bringing out the 6th caution, and when the green came out with 41 laps to go, Harvick was leading in front of Kenseth and Gordon. With 34 laps to go, the 7th caution came out because Jason Leffler was in trouble. Most of the leaders pitted, but cars that stayed out took the first six places on the restart, led by Kurt Busch. The race restarted with 29 laps to go.[3]

With 25 laps to go, Busch and Biffle pulled out into a 2-second lead, vying together for first place. Greg Biffle finally retook the lead on lap 228 and kept it to win the race ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch, with only 0.525 of a second separating the top three men.[3]

Race results

Pos[3] Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 5 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford 250 185
2 8 48 Jimmie Johnson (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 175
3 20 97 Kurt Busch (W) Roush Racing Ford 250 170
4 15 42 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 250 160
5 19 99 Carl Edwards (R) Roush Racing Ford 250 160
6 31 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 155
7 18 6 Mark Martin (W) Roush Racing Ford 250 151
8 41 38 Elliott Sadler Robert Yates Racing Ford 250 142
9 9 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing Dodge 250 138
10 23 2 Rusty Wallace (W) Penske Racing Dodge 250 134
11 7 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 250 130
12 10 0 Mike Bliss Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 250 127
13 14 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 250 124
14 38 49 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge 250 121
15 13 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 250 118
16 27 22 Scott Wimmer Bill Davis Racing Dodge 250 115
17 29 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 250 112
18 36 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 250 114
19 32 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 250 106
20 26 32 Bobby Hamilton Jr. (R) PPI Motorsports Chevrolet 250 103
21 2 25 Brian Vickers Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 250 105
22 16 41 Casey Mears Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 249 97
23 1 5 Kyle Busch (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 249 99
24 35 77 Travis Kvapil (R) Penske Racing Dodge 249 91
25 33 4 Mike Wallace Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 249 88
26 6 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 249 90
27 37 43 Jeff Green Petty Enterprises Dodge 249 87
28 3 19 Jeremy Mayfield (W) Evernham Motorsports Dodge 248 84
29 24 14 John Andretti ppc Racing Ford 248 76
30 28 24 Jeff Gordon (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 246 73
31 43 37 Kevin Lepage R&J Racing Dodge 241 70
32 40 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 237 67
33 12 10 Scott Riggs MBV Motorsports Chevrolet 229 64
34 42 07 Dave Blaney Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 224 61
35 25 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Chevrolet 222 58
36 11 44 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 216 55
37 39 11 Jason Leffler Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 215 52
38 30 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 203 49
39 4 01 Joe Nemechek MB2 Motorsports Chevrolet 180 56
40 17 9 Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports Dodge 167 43
41 21 21 Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 145 40
42 34 34 Randy LaJoie Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet 47 42
43 22 91 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 23 34

Race Statistics

References

  1. "2005 Auto Club 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  2. "Auto Club Speedway Track Facts". Auto Club Speedway. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Complete Results
Preceded by
2005 Daytona 500
NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Season
2005
Succeeded by
2005 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
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