Alsco Uniforms 500

Alsco Uniforms 500
NASCAR Cup Series
VenueCharlotte Motor Speedway
LocationConcord, North Carolina, United States
Corporate sponsorBank of America
First race1960
Last race2020
Distance500 kilometres (310.686 mi)
Laps208
Previous namesNational 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, 2010–2017)
NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America (2009)
Alsco Uniforms 500 (2020)
Most wins (driver)Jimmie Johnson (4)
Most wins (team)Hendrick Motorsports (9)
Most wins (manufacturer)Chevrolet (22)
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt
Length1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Turns4

The Alsco Uniforms 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race that is held annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the 600-mile (970 km) race. Beginning in 2018, was replaced by a road course race rather than the full oval, called Bank of America Roval 400.

History

[edit]

The race had been a Sunday afternoon event until 2002. That year rain delayed the start by over 3 hours, meaning much of the race was run under the lights. Thanks in large part to the ratings boost NBC received in primetime hours, NASCAR made a decision to move the race date from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night from 2003 to 2016. 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 2015 and 2016, the races on Saturday night were cancelled due to bad weather, so they were run on Sunday afternoon. In 2017, at the time of the schedule announcement, the race was scheduled for Saturday night. On April 20, the race was rescheduled for Sunday and moved from a night race to a day race. At the 2017 event, after rain caused the Xfinity Series event of the Saturday afternoon to be delayed by several hours, a decision was made to move the Cup race an hour back to a 1:00 PM local time start, as more rain was expected later during the day. The race eventually concluded successfully after 3 and a half hours without the occurrence of any rain delays.

Starting in 2018, the race was replaced by a 2.28 miles (3.67 km) road course configuration of Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Bank of America Roval 400, with a race distance of 400 kilometres (250 mi) over 109 laps.[1][2][3]

Due to schedule changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Charlotte Motor Speedway hosted an additional 500-kilometer (312 mile) race in 2020 called the Alsco Uniforms 500 on the Wednesday following the Coca-Cola 600.[4] It was run as a replacement for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway after the track announced that NASCAR had canceled its events at the road course due to the pandemic.

Past winners

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Year Date No. Driver Team Manufacturer Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)
Report
Laps Miles (km)
1960 October 16 21 Speedy Thompson Wood Brothers Racing Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:32:50 112.905 Report
1961 October 15 8 Joe Weatherly Bud Moore Engineering Pontiac 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:20:20 119.95 Report
1962 October 14 3 Junior Johnson Ray Fox Pontiac 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:01:42 132.085 Report
1963 October 13 3 Junior Johnson Ray Fox Chevrolet 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:01:54 132.105 Report
1964 October 18 28 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 2:58:35 134.475 Report
1965 October 17 28 Fred Lorenzen Holman-Moody Ford 267 400.5 (644.542) 3:21:44 119.117 Report
1966 October 16 12 Lee Roy Yarbrough Jon Thorne Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:49:55 130.576 Report
1967 October 15 3 Buddy Baker Ray Fox Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:04 130.317 Report
1968 October 20 6 Charlie Glotzbach Cotton Owens Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:42:08 135.234 Report
1969 October 12 27 Donnie Allison Banjo Matthews Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:48:32 131.271 Report
1970 October 11 98 Lee Roy Yarbrough Junior Johnson & Associates Mercury 334 501 (806.281) 4:03:28 123.246 Report
1971 October 10 12 Bobby Allison Holman-Moody Mercury 238* 357 (574.535) 2:49:38 126.14 Report
1972 October 8 12 Bobby Allison Richard Howard Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:45:37 133.234 Report
1973 October 7 11 Cale Yarborough Richard Howard Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:58 145.24 Report
1974 October 6 21 David Pearson Wood Brothers Racing Mercury 334 501 (806.281) 4:10:41 119.912 Report
1975 October 5 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:22 132.209 Report
1976 October 10 1 Donnie Allison Ellington Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:32:51 141.226 Report
1977 October 9 72 Benny Parsons L.G. DeWitt Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:32 142.78 Report
1978 October 8 15 Bobby Allison Bud Moore Engineering Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:31:57 141.826 Report
1979 October 7 11 Cale Yarborough Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:43:53 134.266 Report
1980 October 5 2 Dale Earnhardt Rod Osterlund Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:42:18 135.243 Report
1981 October 11 11 Darrell Waltrip Junior Johnson & Associates Buick 334 501 (806.281) 4:15:52 117.483 Report
1982 October 10 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Buick 334 501 (806.281) 3:39:05 137.208 Report
1983 October 9 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:34:43 139.998 Report
1984 October 7 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:24:41 148.861 Report
1985 October 6 28 Cale Yarborough Ranier-Lundy Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:39:48 136.761 Report
1986 October 5 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:02 132.403 Report
1987 October 11 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:54:02 128.443 Report
1988 October 9 27 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:02 130.677 Report
1989 October 8 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:20:35 149.863 Report
1990 October 7 28 Davey Allison Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:38:44 137.428 Report
1991 October 6 11 Geoffrey Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:36:17 138.984 Report
1992 October 11 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:15:47 153.537 Report
1993 October 10 28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:14:31 154.537 Report
1994 October 9 18 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:00 145.922 Report
1995 October 8 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:48 145.358 Report
1996 October 6 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:00 143.143 Report
1997 October 5 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:28:17 144.323 Report
1998 October 4 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 4:04:01 123.188 Report
1999 October 11* 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:07:31 160.306 Report
2000 October 8 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 334 501 (806.281) 3:44:57 133.63 Report
2001 October 7 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:36:15 139.006 Report
2002 October 13 40 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:32:28 141.481 Report
2003 October 11 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:30:24 142.871 Report
2004 October 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:50:51 130.214 Report
2005 October 15 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 336* 504 (811.109) 4:11:18 120.334 Report
2006 October 14 9 Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports Dodge 334 501 (806.281) 3:47:29 132.142 Report
2007 October 13 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 337* 505.5 (813.523) 4:00:58 125.868 Report
2008 October 11 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:44:50 133.699 Report
2009 October 17 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:38:22 137.658 Report
2010 October 16 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:34:07 140.391 Report
2011 October 15 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:25:37 146.194 Report
2012 October 13 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 334 501 (806.281) 3:14:01 154.935 Report
2013 October 12 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:09:53 158.308 Report
2014 October 11 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:26:49 145.346 Report
2015 October 11* 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 334 501 (806.281) 3:35:05 139.76 Report
2016 October 9* 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 334 501 (806.281) 3:42:47 134.929 Report
2017 October 8 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 337* 505.5 (813.523) 3:38:00 139.128 Report
2018

2019
Not held
2020 May 28* 9 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 208 312 (502.008) 2:29:23 125.315 Report[5]

Race records

[edit]

Oval (400 miles (640 km))
Race time: 2:58:35 (1964)
Average Speed: 134.475 miles per hour (216.417 km/h) (1964)

Oval (500 miles (800 km))
Race time: 3:09:53 (2013)
Average Speed: 158.308 miles per hour (254.772 km/h) (2013)

Notes

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  • 1966: The race distance was increased from 400 miles (640 km) to 500 miles (800 km).
  • 1971: The race was shortened due to rain.
  • 1999: The race was postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain.
  • 2005, 2007 and 2017: The race was extended due to a NASCAR Overtime finish.
    • 2005 - 336 laps
    • 2007 + 2017 - 337 laps
  • 2015 and 2016: The race was postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain.
  • 2020: The race was moved from Wednesday to Thursday because of rain.[6]

Multiple winners (drivers)

[edit]
# Wins Driver Years Won
4 Jimmie Johnson 2004–2005, 2009, 2016
3 Bobby Allison 1971–1972, 1978
Cale Yarborough 1973, 1979, 1985
Mark Martin 1992, 1995, 1998
2 Junior Johnson 1962–1963
Fred Lorenzen 1964–1965
LeeRoy Yarbrough 1966, 1970
Donnie Allison 1969, 1976
Richard Petty 1975, 1983
Dale Earnhardt 1980, 1986
Bill Elliott 1984, 1987
Dale Jarrett 1994, 1997
Jeff Gordon 1999, 2007
Jamie McMurray 2002, 2010

Multiple winners (teams)

[edit]
# Wins Team Years Won
9 Hendrick Motorsports 1989, 1996, 1999, 2004–2005, 2007, 2009, 2016, 2020
4 Junior Johnson & Associates 1970, 1979, 1981, 1991
Roush Fenway Racing 1992, 1995, 1998, 2011
3 Ray Fox 1962–1963, 1967
Holman-Moody 1964–1965, 1971
Chip Ganassi Racing 2001–2002, 2010
Robert Yates Racing 1990, 1993, 1997
Joe Gibbs Racing 1994, 2000, 2003
2 Team Penske 2013, 2015
Wood Brothers Racing 1960, 1974
Bud Moore Engineering 1961, 1978
Richard Howard 1972–1973
Melling Racing 1984, 1987
Richard Childress Racing 1986, 2008

Manufacturer wins

[edit]
# Wins Manufacturer Years Won
22 Chevrolet 1963, 1972–1973, 1976–1977, 1979–1980, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2003–2005, 2007–2010, 2014, 2016, 2020
18 Ford 1960, 1964–1965, 1969, 1978, 1984–1985, 1987, 1990–1993, 1995, 1997–1998, 2011, 2013, 2015
7 Dodge 1966–1968, 1975, 2001–2002, 2006
5 Pontiac 1961–1962, 1983, 1988, 2000
3 Mercury 1970–1971, 1974
2 Buick 1981–1982
Toyota 2012, 2017

Notable races

[edit]
  • 1964: Fred Lorenzen took lead with two laps to go after Richard Petty, who led 188 laps, blew a tire and crashed. Paul Goldsmith led 71 laps before blowing his engine.
  • 1965: Lorenzen won for the second straight year after a wild three-abreast battle with Curtis Turner and Dick Hutcherson for first. The race was a tragic affair as a massive crash claimed the life of Harold Kite.
  • 1970: Leeroy Yarbrough took what turned out to be his final Grand National win.
  • 1971: Bobby Allison in the Holman-Moody Mercury battled Charlie Glotzbach, driving the Chevrolet Monte Carlo fielded by track president Richard Howard. Allison took the lead on Lap 177 and led when rain shortened the race at Lap 238. Leeroy Yarbrough drove a second Howard Chevrolet, reuniting with team manager Junior Johnson, for whom Leeroy had driven earlier than the 1971 season.
  • 1973: Controversies plagued the weekend. Charlie Glotzbach won the pole in Hoss Ellington's Chevrolet but NASCAR discovered a moveable restrictor-plate after qualifying and put Glotzbach to the back of the field. Buddy Baker was pulled out of the race 228 laps in by team owner Nord Krauskopf when NASCAR said it wanted to reinspect the #71 Dodge after the race. David Pearson and Glotzbach crashed 40 laps in, leaving Petty, Cale Yarborough, and Bobby Allison in charge. Yarborough and Petty put Allison three laps down en route to the 1-2 finish. But following the race controversy ensued over the post race inspection of the top three cars; Allison's Chevy cleared after one hour but six hours after the inspection NASCAR announced the results for Yarborough's #11 would receive further study, and Allison claimed to have seen Petty's team remove the air filter from the car before it could be inspected; track promoter Richard Howard threatened a lawsuit if the race results were changed. Allison claimed the top two finishers were illegal and threatened to sue NASCAR; Petty asserted only three of his engine's eight cylinders were checked; a later meeting between Allison and Bill France, Jr. settled the controversy.
  • 1974: The race set an event record for lead changes at 47. David Pearson lost two laps 150 miles in but made up the deficit and surged to the win. The race was marred by a ten-car crash in which Marty Robbins suffered serious facial injuries, a two-car crash involving Grant Adcox and Ramo Stott, and a pit fire in Richard Petty's pit.
  • 1975: Petty took the win for a season sweep at Charlotte. The 500 was the final race for track under the promotion of Richard Howard as Bruton Smith would take control of the speedway the following January.
  • 1976: Donnie Allison surprised the field by winning, his first Winston Cup win since 1971 and the first for team owner Hoss Ellington. The engine measured slightly over the 358 cubic inch limit; after a lengthy discussion, the engine was allowed to cool down and it measured below 358 cubic inches; Ellington quipped, "This one's legal. We left all the cheater stuff at Darlington."
  • 1978: Bobby Allison broke out of a competitive race to winning handily. The lead changed 40 times. David Pearson won the pole, his 11th straight Charlotte pole.
  • 1980: Dale Earnhardt edged Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough and solidified his point lead over Yarborough with three races to go in the season. The win was Earnhardt's fifth of his second career Winston Cup season. The weekend was dominated by a controversy between Darrell Waltrip and the DiGard Racing team as Waltrip announced he was leaving the team after the season despite threats of legal action by team owners the Gardner brothers to retain him. Waltrip spun out after breaking a sway bar piece, then fell out with engine failure, angrily demanding afterward he needed to "get away from these Gardners."
  • 1981: Darrell Waltrip's late-season victory surge included leading the final 61 laps of 1981 500. Bobby Allison finished second and after leading the series in August was now trailing by 58 laps. Harry Gant led Lap 3 before his engine erupted in the first turn.
  • 1982 Gant broke through to his first superspeedway win as he edged Bill Elliott in a ten-lap showdown after Bobby Allison, who led 280 laps, blew his engine. A ten-car crash erupted when Dale Earnhardt hooked Richard Petty into a spin.
  • 1983: The race was marred by controversy involving an outsized engine for race winner Richard Petty as well as suspicion about runner-up Darrell Waltrip; Petty was subsequently fined $35,000 and 104 NASCAR points.
  • 1985: Cale Yarborough lost a lap on five separate occasions and made them up all five times for his final NASCAR win.
  • 1993: Ernie Irvan led race-record 328 laps for his second win with Robert Yates. NASCAR shaved spoiler size to five inches and raised the front air dam a few inches out of concern for escalating track speeds and believing, following driver lobbying, that reducing downforce would force drivers to slow down for the turns. The change did not reduce speeds.
  • 1994: Dale Jarrett stole the win after engine failure eliminated Geoff Bodine and a late crash eliminated Ricky Rudd and Jeff Gordon; the win was Jarrett's final win with Joe Gibbs Racing.
  • 1996: Terry Labonte dominated and erased a point gap of over 100 to Jeff Gordon, who fell out with engine failure. The race was marred by a brutal multi-car crash involving Ernie Irvan when Irvan spun out and was center-punched by John Andretti.
  • 2000: Bobby Labonte broke out of a fierce fight with Dale Earnhardt, Ricky Rudd, and Jeremy Mayfield to grab the win. The weekend was marred by a sudden shortage of tires available from Goodyear, but the race went with no problems with tires. The lead changed 46 times, the first Charlotte race to break 40 lead changes since 1988.
  • 2002: Subbing for injured regular Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray grabbed his first win in his second career NASCAR start. A major crash erupted in the trioval and brought out a furious response from team owner Richard Childress.
  • 2005: For weeks leading up to the race, and coming off the caution-filled Coca-Cola 600 that saw a NASCAR-record 22 cautions due to the levigating of the track's surface, they levigated the rest of the oval. This led to more grip and increased speeds that weighed heavy on the tread of the tires. During the race, drivers were on edge with tire issues that plagued the Xfinity event the night before and it continued in the Cup event. It was marred by 15 cautions that were mostly for someone having a right-front tire go down and slam straight into the wall on the right side every 25-30 laps no matter how much they backed down. Around lap 200 a competition caution was thrown, and there was worry that with all the tire issues, the race would be truncated, although it did go the distance. Jimmie Johnson started in the back, and despite a tire rub late in the race while taking the lead, held off Kurt Busch and Greg Biffle in an overtime finish to score his fourth-consecutive win at Charlotte with sweeps of the events in 2004 and 2005. Becoming the first driver to win four races in a row since Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Talladega Superspeedway from October 2001 to April 2003.

References

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  1. ^ "New layout for Charlotte Motor Speedway road course". NASCAR.com. 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  2. ^ "Everything to know for Sunday's race on the Charlotte roval". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-09-28.
  3. ^ "NASCAR Cup race on Charlotte Roval to see length reduced". Retrieved July 8, 2018.
  4. ^ "NASCAR goes green in May with seven races in 11 days". ESPN. Associated Press. April 30, 2020. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "2020 Alsco Uniforms 500". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  6. ^ Pickel, Greg (May 27, 2020). "Rain pushes NASCAR's Alsco Uniforms 500 at Charlotte to Thursday". The Patriot-News. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
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