1999 NAPA 500

Race details[1]
Race 34 of 34 in the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
The 1999 NAPA 500 program cover, featuring past champions. The program cover includes Darrell Waltrip, Bill Elliott, Richard Petty, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, and Dale Jarrett. "The Last Race of the Century!"
Date	November 21, 1999 (1999-November-21)
Official name	NAPA 500
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)
Average speed	137.932 miles per hour (221.980 km/h)
Attendance	165,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Kevin Lepage	Jack Roush
Time	28.617
Most laps led
Driver	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	147
Winner
No. 18	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins Benny Parsons Ned Jarrett

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. It was the 34th and final race of the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.

The layout of Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the race was held.

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.^[3] The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.^[4] 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.^[4]

Qualifying

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.^[2]

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.^[2] In addition, the pole position was Kevin Lepage's for the only time in his NASCAR career.^[7]

Atlanta Motor Speedway, the race track where the race was held

Chevrolet and Ford vehicles were the dominant vehicles in the lineup.^[2] All of the drivers on the grid were born in the United States of America; a far cry from the racing done in the late-2000s and early-2010s where now-retired Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya and now-retired Australian driver Marcos Ambrose routinely raced in the NASCAR schedule. Ten drivers failed to finish the race, including Joe Nemechek.^[2] This was the final race for Rudd Performance Motorsports and the #10 Tide ride.^[2] It was also the final race for Ken Schrader in the #33 car before moving to MB2 Motorsports in 2000.^[2] This was also the final race for Jerry Nadeau competing in the #36 car before making the move to Hendrick Motorsports in 2000. This was the last race without Matt Kenseth until the 2015 AAA Texas 500.^[2]

Notable crew chiefs who actively participated in the race included Robin Pemberton, Larry McReynolds, Travis Carter, Todd Parrott, and Junie Donlavey.^[8]

The total prize amount offered to the drivers was $2,232,402 ($3,921,642.67 when adjusted for inflation); the winner received $174,300 ($306,191.41 when adjusted for inflation) while the last-place finisher received a meager $33,507 ($58,861.48 when adjusted for inflation).^[9]

The 1999 NAPA 500 was the last NASCAR race of the 1990s decade.

Results

References