That’s right folks, nine races will take place at Lowe’s Motor Speedway including the dirt track between Friday night, May 16 and Sunday evening, May 25. Each race holds a record purse bringing the track’s May events to nearly $14.7 million!
Sprint Cup drivers will fight it out for a record purse of $6.6 million for the Coca Cola 600, Sunday evening on May 25.
“Things have changed so drastically that it’s hard to compare prize money from the early years of the sport to today, but here’s a fact that caught my eye,” said H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “Two-time NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett ran 352 races between 1953 and 1966, winning 50 times, and his total career winnings were $289,146. That’s $59,429 less than the total posted awards for the winner of this year’s Coca-Cola 600.”
A LOOK BACK:
Last year’s race consisted of multi-car pileups, spinouts and track conditions too tough for the drivers to tame. The conditions went from (daytime) hot, slick and sunny, to a cool, gripping (nighttime) track. Pole winner Ryan Newman was done due to engine failure and Kurt Busch due to a crash.
Toyota was looking good with Vickers behind the wheel but there were problems. During the race his Red Bull Camry had power steering failure, so he had to wrestle the car to a top 5 finish. He led the race 4 times for a total of 76 laps. “Right now, everything hurts,” said Vickers. “My arms, my elbow — 600 miles is a long night and it’s even longer without any power steering.”
Battered and bruised- Early in the race Greg Biffle hit the wall. Joe Nemechek had to head behind the wall to his garage due to a smoking engine. On the restart, tread from Jimmie Johnson’s left rear tire and the pileup ensued. Involved were Sauter, Marlin, Sadler, Rudd, Montoya, Bowyer, McMurray, Stewart, Harvick, Blaney, Jeff Green, Mark Martin and Gilliland.
About lap 65 Jeff Gordon slammed his car into the wall then was nailed by AJ Allmendinger. Gordon has failed to finish the last five races here.
The remaining cautions for the night were minor including assorted wall slaps, flats and debris incidents.
At the end of the night, it seemed that Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. all had a chance to win, but Stewart and Junior had to stop for a little gas and Johnson’s team dropped a lug nut during their stop.
All Casey Mears had to do now was hang on for the win. Credit would have to go to the daring call by his crew chief Darian Grubb to conserve fuel and not to pit like the others.
“I can’t believe it. Wait a minute,” he said. “Let me look around to make sure what it looks like. The team just did an awesome job. I’ve got to thank Darian Grubb, crew chief. He made an awesome call and I tried to conserve fuel the best I could.”
Petty gave a classy tribute to winner Mears and then acknowledged that his 46 years and 797 career starts have probably made him a bit less obsessive than others.
“In all honesty, it’s just a race. We didn’t change the world tonight, but it feels good to come back and race with these guys….it’s a team effort,” said Petty. “We’ve really struggled with our pit crew and they stepped up huge. We had a top 10 car all night. I couldn’t run with Jimmie Johnson or Tony Stewart; there was no way. It took a team to beat those guys and our team beat ‘em.”
Final Results:
There were 29 lead changes among 15 drivers, and 13 cautions for a total of 82 laps. Average speed was 130.22 mph.
Race Date May 27, 2007
Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Pos Car Driver Make Sponsor Bonus/Points/Laps Status
1 16 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet National Guard 190/5 400 Running
2 12 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 175/5 400 Running
3 36 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Coke Zero 165/0 400 Running
4 34 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 160/0 400 Running
5 26 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 160/5 400 Running
6 14 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 155/5 400 Running
7 7 88 Ricky Rudd Ford Snickers Dark 151/5 400 Running
8 4 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser Desert Camo 147/5 400 Running
9 6 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet U.S. Marines/FedEx Freight 143/5 400 Running
10 21 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s/Power of Pride 139/5 400 Running
11 11 01 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army American Heroes 130/0 400 Running
12 5 17 Matt Kenseth Ford R+L Carriers 132/5 400 Running
13 9 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios/Chocolate Chex 124/0 399 Running
14 37 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet DLP HDTV 121/0 399 Running
15 39 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 123/5 399 Running
16 31 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops/Tracker 115/0 399 Running
17 10 40 David Stremme Dodge Coors Light 112/0 397 Running
18 8 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 109/0 397 Running
19 28 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 106/0 395 Running
20 15 10 Scott Riggs Dodge Valvoline/Stanley Tools 103/0 394 Running
21 27 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell/Pennzoil 100/0 394 Running
22 35 7 Robby Gordon Ford Jim Beam Black 97/0 393 Running
23 18 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 94/0 390 Running
24 25 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T 91/0 385 Running
25 24 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 360 OTC 93/5 382 Running
26 33 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Haier 85/0 377 Running
27 40 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Radioactive Energy Drink 82/0 376 Running
28 20 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco/Havoline 79/0 369 Running
29 41 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel’s 76/0 367 Running
30 17 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet CARQUEST/Kellogg’s 78/5 357 Running
31 29 84 A.J. Allmendinger * Toyota Red Bull 70/0 310 Running
32 2 2 Kurt Busch ** Dodge Miller Lite 77/10 296 Out of Race
33 30 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Pep Boys 64/0 293 Running
34 43 78 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 61/0 289 Off Track
35 19 38 David Gilliland Ford M&M’s/Shrek the Third 58/0 265 Running
36 3 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 55/0 261 Running
37 13 6 David Ragan * Ford AAA 52/0 219 Out of Race
38 22 21 Bill Elliott Ford U.S. Air Force 54/5 218 Out of Race
39 1 12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 51/5 172 Out of Race
40 23 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 43/0 82 Out of Race
41 32 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet U.S. Dept. of Defense/DuPont 40/0 62 Out of Race
42 42 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet Best Buy/Fisher House 37/0 52 Out of Race
43 38 16 Greg Biffle Ford Dish Network 34/0 45 Out of Race
** Led Most Laps
* Rookies
Track Specs:
Superspeedway: 1.5-mile quad oval
Race Length: 400 laps, 600 miles
Banking: turns: 24 degrees; straights: 5 degrees
Straights: Frontstretch – 1952.8 feet; Backstretch – 1360 feet
Grandstand Seating: 171,000
Pit Road Speed: 45mph
Pace Car Speed: 55mph
Opened: 1960
Other info:
Location: Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.
Date: Sunday, May 25, 2008
Time: 5:45 p.m. (EDT)
Sanctioning Body: NASCAR, Daytona Beach, Fla.
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Purse: $6,648,557 (event record)
2007 Winner: Casey Mears, National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet
Time of Race: 4 hours, 36 minutes and 27 seconds
Average Speed: 130.222 mph
Margin of Victory: 9.561 seconds over J.J. Yeley
2007 Pole Sitter: Ryan Newman, Alltel Dodge
29.140 seconds, 185.312 mph
Qualifying: One round of qualifying will take place during Windstream
What’s in a name?
The name has changed some over the years.
(1960-1984) World 600
(1985) Coca-Cola World 600 or Coke 600
(2002) Coca-Cola Racing Family 600 referring to the Coca-Cola family of drivers who are sponsored by Coca-Cola.
After 2002 the name returned to the Coca-Cola 600.
Past winners:
Coca-Cola 600
2007: Casey Mears
2006: Kasey Kahne
2005: Jimmie Johnson (3)
2004: Jimmie Johnson (2)
2003: Jimmie Johnson (race shortened to 276 laps/414 miles due to rain)
2002: Mark Martin
2001: Jeff Burton (2)
2000: Matt Kenseth
1999: Jeff Burton
1998: Jeff Gordon (3)
1997: Jeff Gordon (2) (race shortened to 333 laps/499.5 miles due to lateness caused by a rain delay and a 1 a.m. curfew)
1996: Dale Jarrett
1995: Bobby Labonte
1994: Jeff Gordon
1993: Dale Earnhardt (3) (race changed to an evening/night race)
1992: Dale Earnhardt (2)
1991: Davey Allison
1990: Rusty Wallace
1989: Darrell Waltrip (5)
1988: Darrell Waltrip (4)
1987: Kyle Petty
1986: Dale Earnhardt
Coca-Cola World 600
1985: Darrell Waltrip (3)
World 600
1984: Bobby Allison (3)
1983: Neil Bonnett (2)
1982: Neil Bonnett
1981: Bobby Allison (2)
1980: Benny Parsons
1979: Darrell Waltrip (2)
1978: Darrell Waltrip
1977: Richard Petty (2)
1976: David Pearson (2)
1975: Richard Petty
1974: David Pearson (race scheduled for 360 laps/540 miles due to energy crisis)
1973: Buddy Baker (2)
1972: Buddy Baker
1971: Bobby Allison
1970: Donnie Allison
1969: LeeRoy Yarbrough
1968: Buddy Baker (race shortened to 255 laps/382.5 miles due to rain)
1967: Jim Paschal (2)
1966: Marvin Panch
1965: Fred Lorenzen (2)
1964: Jim Paschal
1963: Fred Lorenzen
1962: Nelson Stacy
1961: David Pearson
1960: Joe Lee Johnson
By the numbers:
2007 May Pole Sitter: #12-Ryan Newman, 185.312mph, finished 39th
2007 October Pole Sitter: #12-Ryan Newman, 189.394mph, finished 28th
Track Qualifying Record: #38-Elliott Sadler, Oct 2005, 193.216mph
Event Qualifying Record: #12-Ryan Newman, May 2005, 192.988mph
2007 May Race Winner: #25-Casey Mears, 130.222mph, started 16th
2007 October Race Winner: #24-Jeff Gordon, 125.868mph, started 4th
Track Race Record 500 miles: Jeff Gordon, Oct 1999, 160.306mph
Track Race Record 600 miles: Bobby Labonte, May 1995, 151.952mph
Slowest Race Record: Junior Johnson, 107.752mph, 1960
Worst Starting Spot to Win: Jimmie Johnson, May 2003, started 37th
Most Wins: 6 – Darrell Waltrip, Bobby Allison; Current driver: 5, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon
Most Poles: 14 – David Pearson; Current driver: 7, Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman
Most Top 5s: 23 – Bobby Allison and Richard Petty
Most Top 10s: 31 – Richard Petty
Oldest Winner: Cale Yarborough, 46 years, 6 months, 9 days, 10/6/1985
Youngest Winner: Jeff Gordon, 22 years, 9 months, 25 days, 5/29/1994
Most Laps Led [500 mile race]: 328, Ernie Irvan, 10/10/1993
Most Laps Led [600 mile race]: 335, Jim Paschal, 5/28/1967
Most Laps Led by a Race Winner: 335, Jim Paschal, 5/28/1967
Fewest Laps Led by a Race Winner: 3, Joe Weatherly, 5/21/1961
Most Lead Changes: 59 – 5/27/1979
Fewest Lead Changes: 2 – 5/21/1961
Most Leaders: 21, 5/29/2005
Fewest Leaders: 3, 5/21/1961
Most Cautions: 22, 5/29/2005
Most Caution Laps: 113, 5/25/80
Fewest Cautions: 0 – 5/21/1961
Fewest Caution Laps: 0, 5/21/1961
Most Finishers on a lead lap: 25, 10/15/2005
Most Running at the Finish: 39, 10/11/03
Fewest Running at the Finish: 10 – 5/21/1961
Most Wins by Manufacturer: 35 – Chevy
Races won from the top 10:76 of 98 (77.6%)
Races won from the top 5:56 of 98 (57.1%)
Races won from the pole:13 of 98 (13.3%)
Other race track notes:
340 feet of SAFER barriers were installed along the track’s inside backstretch retaining wall. .”The hard licks that Jeff Gordon and Michael McDowell took earlier this season reminded us all that bizarre and unexpected things can happen in racing,” said H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “This additional SAFER barrier will add more protection on our backstretch for May, and we’re looking at some additional improvements back there as well.” Wheeler also said engineers are researching alternatives to the current opening in the inside backstretch wall at LMS, which is used during races for staging emergency response vehicles. The concrete wall just past that opening is currently protected by encapsulated polystyrene blocks that are bolted to the wall. In April 2004, more than 6,100-linear feet of SAFER barriers, which utilize foam blocks positioned behind rolled steel tubing, were installed at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. That project included placing the energy-absorbing barriers in front of approximately 4,000 feet of outside retaining walls in the turns; 1,351 feel along the frontstretch quad-oval; and 796 feet on the insides of Turns 2 and 4. The original installation included 476 feet of SAFER barriers along the inside concrete wall on the backstretch, starting at the exit of Turn 2. The new installation will continue those barriers down the backstretch toward the inside of Turn 3.
Who will win the record high purse? You’ll have to tune in to see. With the right setup, pit strategy and being friends with “Lady Luck” any driver could find himself in victory lane on Sunday.
