May 1, 2005
- Jeff Gordon dominates and wins a wild race at Talladega: #24-Jeff Gordon won the Kurt Busch won the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, holding off #20-Tony Stewart and #15-Michael Waltrip who tried to team up and make a run, but couldn’t catch Gordon on the Green-White-Checker finish. It is Gordon’s 72nd career win, 3rd of the 9 race season and 10th restrictor plate win. The win comes on Rady Dorton’s 51st birthday, Dorton was the Hendrick Motorsports engine guru who passed away in the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash last October. In a wild race which included not the BIG ONE but the HUGE ONE when #48-Johnson got into #4-Wallace after Wallace got loose when #8-Earnhardt Jr. bump drafted Wallace, sending Wallace spinning and collecting 25 cars total, the 2nd most cars involved in a wreck at Talladega [April 2003]. Then with two laps tp go, there was a mini-big one when Johnson smacked the outside eall, came down on Harvick, who came down on #1-Truex Jr. who hit #8-Earnhardt Jr. and shot across the track with Johnson. So we had a green-white-checker finish and the longest race ever at Talladega 194 laps for 516.04 miles. #48-Johnson still holds the points lead which really got suffled around with the wrecks. #49-Ken Schrader finished 8th, his first top-10 since Bristol in March 2003. #77-Kvapil was the highest finishing rookie at 18th. The race will re-air on Speed Channel, Thursday, May 5th at 3:00pm/et.
Race rundown, laps led, lucky dogs, cautions, narrative and more on Jayski’s Talladega Race Info/Rundown Page
Race Results on Jayski’s Talladega Race Results/award/links page.(5-1-2005) - Surgery required for official: Pete Babb, NASCAR’s senior official, is scheduled to undergo cardiac surgery on Monday at Birmingham’s Carraway Methodist Medical Center. Babb, who turned 78 on Saturday, works in the Busch Series and has been in the sport for more than 50 years. “People like Pete Babb helped make NASCAR the great sport it is today,” said NASCAR vice president Jim Hunter, who called Babb “a beloved and respected figure.”(Gaston Gazette)(5-1-2005)
- Aaron’s re-ups with Waltrip and the #00 team: Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership, which is sponsoring Sunday’s Nextel Cup race, extended its primary sponsorship of Michael Waltrip’s Busch team through 2008. Waltrip’s team will carry Aaron’s colors in at least 22 Busch races each season through 2008, as well as four Nextel Cup races in a Waltrip-#00 owned car driven by Kenny Wallace. Wallace failed to qualify for tomorrow’s race, so Aaron’s will sponsor Hermie Sadler, who will start the Aaron’s 499 in 30th place.(Speed Channel)(5-1-2005)
- Talladgea Race Notes:
* Jeff Gordon won the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway, scoring his 72nd NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory in his 410th career start. His last victory came at Martinsville, three races ago.
* This was Gordon’s 10th career restrictor-plate victory in 50 career restrictor-plate races. Gordon scored 28 top-10 finishes in those 50 races.
* It marked Gordon’s fourth victory in 25 races at Talladega. Gordon also won this race one year ago.
* Gordon has scored three victories in 2005, more than any other driver. He also posted victories at Daytona and Martinsville.* Gordon has climbed from 12th to third in the NASCAR NEXTEL CUP point standings in the last four races.
* Gordon has scored four top-10 finishes in nine races this season.
* Gordon scored the sixth victory for car owner Rick Hendrick at Talladega. This was Hendrick’s 134th victory as a car owner and fourth in nine races this season.
* This was the fifth victory in 2005 for Chevrolet. Ford has four victories while Dodge still seeks their first of the season.
Notebook Items
* Tony Stewart (second) posted his eighth top-10 finish in 13 races at Talladega Superspeedway. It was his fourth runner-up finish at Talladega. Stewart has scored four top-10 finishes in nine races this season. He climbed from 14th to sixth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings.
* Michael Waltrip (third) posted his 13th top-10 finish in 39 races at Talladega Superspeedway. He scored his fourth top-10 finish and third straight in 2005.
* Jeremy Mayfield (fourth) scored his second top-10 finish in 22 races at Talladega Superspeedway. This was his career-best Talladega finish. This marked Mayfield’s first top-10 finish in 2005. He climbed from 16th to 12th in the point standings, his highest ranking of the season.
* Jamie McMurray (fifth) scored his second top-10 finish in six races at Talladega Superspeedway. It was his career-best Talladega finish.
* Ken Schrader (eighth) scored his 12th top-10 finish in 41 races at Talladega Superspeedway. Schrader scored his first top-10 finish since Bristol in March 2004.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15th) has climbed from 27th to ninth in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings in the last six races.
* Travis Kvapil (18th) was the highest finishing Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year contender for the fourth time in 2005.
* Jimmie Johnson (20th) posted his first DNF since Kansas City in October 2005. He remained first in the point standings with a 130-point lead over second-place Kurt Busch.
* Mark Martin (33rd) has been running at the finish in 31 consecutive races , the longest current streak.
* Seven of the top-10 positions in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings changed Talladega Superspeedway.
* Jeff Gordon led 139 of the 188 laps, the first time that he has led the most laps in a race this season.(NASCAR Statistical Services)(5-1-2005) - Stock Car Fans – Rumblings – Talladega: Plate racing reared it’s ugly head again today, and we had a “Big One” that was almost as big a one as we’ve ever seen. 25 cars in a tussle going into turn one on lap 133 brought out the red flag and that (combined with a lap 187 accident that put us into green/white/checker) gave us only 13 cars on the lead lap at the finish. But it may have mattered little as Jeff Gordon seemed to have ’em covered all day. As the only car able to pass without help today, he powered around Michael Waltrip on lap 185 and held off the advancing crowd to win the Aaron’s 516 at Talladega Superspeedway for his second plate win of the season, and third overall. Gordon’s domination resulted in leading the event 12 times for 139 laps….no one else led more than 12 circuits. This is Jeff’s 72nd career win (he’s seventh on the all-time list, four wins behind a guy who knew his way around the plate tracks a little, Dale Earnhardt) and his 4th in the last 5 plate races. His 4th win at Talladega was worth $365,116 from the over $5.8M in posted awards. This is win #134 for Hendrick Motorsports, and coming on Randy Dorton’s birthday just makes it that much sweeter.
Tony Stewart (2nd) had his best finish since he won at Watkins Glen last August.
Jeremy Mayfield (4th) had his best finish since he won at Richmond last September. His Top-5 finish makes 23 drivers to score a T-5 this season, last year’s number was 31.
Ken Schrader (8th) had his best finish since he was 6th at Bristol last March. Schrader & Mayfield’s Top-10’s give us 33 drivers to score a T-10 this year, last year’s number was 39.
Kerry Earnhardt (17th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 24th when we were here last October.
Martin Truex Jr (21st) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 32nd at Homestead last November.
STREAKIN….Michael Waltrip has 3 Top-10’s in a row.
Kurt Busch has 3 Top-10’s in a row.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the week is Michael Waltrip (+35), followed by Ken Schrader (+34), Dale Earnhardt Jr (+21), and Johnny Sauter (+21). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Ryan Newman (-34), followed by Scott Riggs (-23), Ricky Rudd (-23), Boris Said (-23), and Scott Wimmer (-21). This is Op #3 for Mikey….he leads the pack.
Kurt Busch snips 43 points off Jimmie Johnson’s lead…..it’s now 130. Our “Stayin’ Alive” line stays at 18, however.
Tony Stewart gained the most spots today (14th to 6th) while Ryan Newman (7th to 15th) and Sterling Marlin (9th to 17th) fell the most.
Mike Wallace and the #4 team move back into the 35th and final exempt qualifying spot for next weekend….by two points! Now you know why he stayed out to lead a lap today under yellow on lap 21, huh? Scott Wimmer will have to make the next race on time.(Stockcarfans.com)(5-1-2005)
Main Page | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997