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NASCAR Banking 500

Venue	Charlotte Motor Speedway
Corporate sponsor	Bank of America
First race	1960
Distance	501 miles (806.3 km)
Number of laps	334
Previous names	National 400 (1960-1965) National 500 (1966-1976, 1980-1982) NAPA National 500 (1977-1979) Miller High Life 500 (1983-1985) Oakwood Homes 500 (1986-1988) All Pro Auto Parts 500 (1989) Mello Yello 500 (1990-1994) UAW-GM Quality 500 (1995-2005) Bank of America 500 (2006-2008) NASCAR Banking 500 Only From Bank of America (2009)

The NASCAR Banking 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race that is hosted annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States. The race is usually held in the month of October, as part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and is 500 miles long. Prior to 1966, the race was a 400-mile event.

Television history

The race was shown on TBS from at least the mid-1980s to 2000. From 2002 to 2006, it was shown on NBC, and since 2007, it has been on ABC. The 2001 race was scheduled for NBC, but was moved to TNT just 30 minutes before the start when the United States government announced the start of hostilities against Afghanistan in retaliation for the September 11th, 2001 Attacks.

The 2002 race was also known for beginning a practice where, if a race broadcast on a network was running long and ran into prime-time hours, the broadcast would not switch to cable. In this case, the race began as scheduled in the early afternoon but was delayed for hours due to weather. NBC did not move the race to TNT, as it did the year before, and broadcast the race in its entirety; the race ended early Sunday evening with Jamie McMurray winning in only his second NASCAR Winston Cup start. Since ESPN took over the rights to the race and to most of NBC and TNT's former NASCAR package, that policy has been discontinued.

From Sunday to Saturday

Thanks in large part to the ratings boost NBC received from the 2002 race being run in primetime hours, NASCAR made a decision to move the race date from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night beginning in 2003. NBC retained their rights to broadcast the race, unlike in most of the night events aired in their part of the season's contract which normally aired on TNT. With the move, then-Lowe's Motor Speedway became one of only two tracks in NASCAR to have two night dates on the schedule.

In 2005, the start was delayed by the finish to the Notre Dame-Southern California college football game which ran late. While the game was in its final minutes, NBC, the broadcaster of both events, had the race engines start and the pace laps proceed. As the pace car pulled off the track to pit road to start the race, NBC had just switched coverage from the game to the race, and the broadcast began as the field took the green flag.

Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Car Make	Winner's Prize (USD)	Distance (miles)	Average Speed (mph)	Race Time
National 400
1960	October 16	Speedy Thompson	'60 Ford	$12,710	400.5	112.905	3:32:50
1961	October 15	Joe Weatherly	'61 Pontiac	$9,510	400.5	119.95	3:20:20
1962	October 14	Junior Johnson	'62 Pontiac	$11,355	400.5	132.085	3:01:42
1963	October 13	Junior Johnson	'63 Chevrolet	$11,720	400.5	132.105	3:01:54
1964	October 18	Fred Lorenzen	'64 Ford	$11,185	400.5	134.475	2:58:35
1965	October 17	Fred Lorenzen	'65 Ford	$9,920	400.5	119.117	3:21:44
National 500
1966	October 16	Lee Roy Yarbrough	'66 Dodge	$17,455	501	130.576	3:49:55
1967	October 15	Buddy Baker	'67 Dodge	$18,950	501	130.317	3:50:04
1968	October 20	Charlie Glotzbach	'68 Dodge	$19,280	501	135.234	3:42:08
1969	October 12	Donnie Allison	'69 Ford	$20,280	501	131.271	3:48:32
1970	October 11	Lee Roy Yarbrough	'69 Mercury	$23,700	501	123.246	4:03:28
1971	October 10	Bobby Allison	'69 Mercury	$18,450	357	126.14	2:49:38
1972	October 8	Bobby Allison	'72 Chevrolet	$21,450	501	133.234	3:45:37
1973	October 7	Cale Yarborough	'73 Chevrolet	$45,425	501	145.24	3:26:58
1974	October 6	David Pearson	'73 Mercury	$22,575	501	119.912	4:10:41
1975	October 5	Richard Petty	'74 Dodge	$30,970	501	132.209	3:47:22
1976	October 10	Donnie Allison	Chevrolet	$22,435	501	141.226	3:32:51
NAPA National 500
1977	October 9	Benny Parsons	Chevrolet	$41,075	501	142.78	3:30:32
1978	October 8	Bobby Allison	Ford	$40,000	501	141.826	3:31:57
1979	October 7	Cale Yarborough	Chevrolet	$39,000	501	134.266	3:43:53
National 500
1980	October 5	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$49,050	501	135.243	3:42:18
1981	October 11	Darrell Waltrip	Buick	$51,600	501	117.483	4:15:52
1982	October 10	Harry Gant	Buick	$47,740	501	137.208	3:39:05
Miller High Life 500
1983	October 9	Richard Petty	Pontiac	$40,400	501	139.998	3:34:43
1984	October 7	Bill Elliott	Ford	$52,633	501	148.861	3:24:41
1985	October 6	Cale Yarborough	Ford	$51,600	501	136.761	3:39:48
Oakwood Homes 500
1986	October 5	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	$82,050	501	132.403	3:47:02
1987	October 11	Bill Elliott	Ford	$74,040	501	128.443	3:54:02
1988	October 9	Rusty Wallace	Pontiac	$84,300	501	130.677	3:50:02
All Pro Auto Parts 500
1989	October 8	Ken Schrader	Chevrolet	$91,700	501	149.863	3:20:35
Mello Yello 500
1990	October 7	Davey Allison	Ford	$90,650	501	137.428	3:38:44
1991	October 6	Geoffrey Bodine	Ford	$92,200	501	138.984	3:36:17
1992	October 11	Mark Martin	Ford	$101,500	501	153.537	3:15:47
1993	October 10	Ernie Irvan	Ford	$146,450	501	154.537	3:14:31
1994	October 9	Dale Jarrett	Chevrolet	$106,800	501	145.922	3:26:00
UAW-GM Quality 500
1995	October 8	Mark Martin	Ford	$105,650	501	145.358	3:26:48
1996	October 6	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	$133,950	501	143.143	3:30:00
1997	October 5	Dale Jarrett	Ford	$130,000	501	144.323	3:28:17
1998	October 4	Mark Martin	Ford	$151,950	501	123.188	4:04:01
1999	October 11	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	$140,350	501	160.306	3:07:31
2000	October 8	Bobby Labonte	Pontiac	$220,700	501	133.63	3:44:57
2001	October 7	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	$196,360	501	139.006	3:36:15
2002	October 13	Jamie McMurray	Dodge	$215,717	501	141.481	3:32:28
2003	October 11	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	$312,478	501	142.871	3:30:24
2004	October 16	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$191,450	501	130.214	3:50:51
2005	October 15	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$264,991	504	120.334	4:11:18
Bank of America 500
2006	October 14	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	$305,889	501	132.142	3:47:29
2007	October 13	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	$268,236	505.5	125.868	4:00:58
2008	October 11	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	$280,208	501	133.699	3:44:50
NASCAR Banking 500 Only from Bank of America
2009	October 17	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	$328,826	501	137.658	3:38:22

• 1964: Fred Lorenzen took lead with two laps to go after Richard Petty blew the tire and crashed.
• 1971: Race shortened to 238 laps / 357 miles due to rain.
• 1974: Race record for lead changes at 47.
• 1983: Marred by controversy involving outsized engine; Petty subsequently fined $35,000 and over 100 NASCAR points
• 1985: Cale's final NASCAR win.
• 1993: Ernie Irvan led race-record 328 laps.
• 2002: First win in second career NASCAR start.
• 2005: Race extended to 336 laps / 504 miles due to a Green-white-checker finish.
• 2007: Race extended to 337 laps / 505.5 miles due to a Green-white-checker finish.

External links

• Crittenden Automotive Library: Mello Yello 500
• NASCAR Banking 500 race page