Official name NAPA 500 | ||
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Date November 21, 1999 (1999-November-21) Location Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia Course Permanent racing facility
1.522 mi (2.449 km) Distance 328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km) Weather Temperatures reaching up to 64 °F (18 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h) | ||
The 1999 NAPA 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on November 21, 1999, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the American community of Hampton, Georgia.
Contents
Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.
Summary
Out of the 49 drivers who were on the entry list, only 43 drivers managed to make the race. Two of the more notable drivers who did not qualify were Darrell Waltrip and Morgan Shepherd. There were numerous accidents causing a series of yellow flags. Each green flag run was 30 laps while more than 16% of the race was run under a caution flag.
Todd Bodine was the last-place finisher of this 325-lap event that lasted for a duration of three and a half hours. Kevin Lepage was the lucky pole position winner with his solo qualifying speed of 193.731 miles per hour or 311.780 kilometres per hour. A live audience of 165,000 NASCAR enthusiasts came to see 38 different lead changes along with eight cautions lasting 53 laps. The average speed of the race was clocked at 137.932 miles per hour (221.980 km/h); with Bobby Labonte having a 2.5 second edge over Dale Jarrett. In addition, the pole position was Kevin Lepage's for the only time in his NASCAR career.
Chevrolet and Ford vehicles were the dominant vehicles on the lineup. All of the drivers on the grid were born in the United States of America; a far cry from current racing where Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya and Australian driver Marcos Ambrose routinely race in the NASCAR schedule. Ten drivers failed to finish the race, including Joe Nemechek.
The total prize amount offered to the drivers was $2,232,402 ($3,209,468.08 when adjusted for inflation); the winner received $174,300 ($250,586.72 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher received a meager $33,507 ($48,172.17 when adjusted for inflation).
The 1999 NAPA 500 was the last NASCAR race of the 1990s decade.