|| *Comments on the 1999 California 500 Presented by NAPA:* View the most recent comment <#18> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Anonymous posted: 01.09.2005 - 4:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) a very boring race 2. Anonymous posted: 07.13.2006 - 9:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon becomes the first 2 time winner at California having won the 1997 and now 1999 race. 3. Mike posted: 09.17.2007 - 12:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Viewers in Colorado missed a big chunk of the middle of this race because most of CO's CBS (I think) affiliates cut away to show John Elway's retirement press conference. 4. Art D posted: 06.26.2009 - 11:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 45th career win for J. Gordon. Boring or not, looks like he was the only one that wanted to win that day. 5. myself posted: 08.19.2009 - 10:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Boring & California races go hand in hand. 6. Schroeder51 posted: 03.23.2011 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Rudd's engine failed and sent him into the turn 3 wall in a fiery crash. Joe Nemechek crashed hard enough to actually damage the seat in his car. 7. RaceFanX posted: 02.11.2012 - 11:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeremy Mayfield finished in top-10 with a special silver Kentucky Derby paint job on his Mobil 1 Ford. IIRC correctly iin the lead-up to him racing that paint scheme he actually got to take the #12 Taurus for a lap around the iconic Churchill Downs horse racing track, an extremely rare thing for a race car of any type, as part of that tie-in (kind of doubt he did it at speed, although I remember hearing him joke about "What's the track record there?"). 8. Cash posted: 12.20.2018 - 6:58 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I don't really know why, but this race was occasionally re-aired on ESPN Classic over the years. There wasn't really a memorable moment of the race, but it was one of a handful of races from the 1999 season that was re-run on the network. 9. Brett posted: 04.20.2019 - 9:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Jarrett caught a huge break in this race. The final caution flag on lap 156 was because of him. He cut a left rear tire in turn 1 and dropped off the pace. Going down the backstretch, the tread came completely off and ended up in the middle of the track, necessitating a caution. Jarrett stayed on the lead lap and was able to make his pitstop for new tires and sheet metal repairs under caution. He recovered and scored a top 5. 10. Wayne posted: 10.25.2019 - 7:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Viewers in Colorado missed a big chunk of the middle of this race because most of CO's CBS (I think) affiliates cut away to show John Elway's retirement press conference." The race was broadcast on ABC. 11. Yahboi posted: 11.26.2019 - 9:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With his runner up finish, Jeff Burton held onto the points lead for the sixth straight week. Dale Jarrett would leapfrog him the next week with a victory at Richmond, and would go onto the championship for 99. Burton would not lead the points again until the 2006 Dover 400, 266 races later. Never Give Up is what I have to say! 12. Yahboi posted: 11.26.2019 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Also another note, though not related to racing directly, is that this is the first race ever run after Spongebob started airing. 20 Years go by quick! 13. RaceFanX posted: 11.27.2019 - 9:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Indeed, the first episode of SpongeBob aired the night before this race on Nickelodeon after its annual Kids Choice Awards ceremony (the TV network often uses their big ceremony to lead into the debut of new shows). I doubt any young race fans who turned into the awards ceremony would have expected the show would become so popular and enduring in the years that followed that two NASCAR races would have it as a title sponsor. 14. RaceFanX posted: 11.27.2019 - 9:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Following up on post 7 I finally found more information about Jeremy Mayfield's lap at Churchill Downs... Mayfield told ESPN years later that the track operators were nervous about him tearing up the track so he deliberately did take it east. The #12 Ford still had its regular slick tires on as he took to the track and it was sliding around a bit as Mayfield made his lap at about 20 miles per hour. Mayfield did indeed joke about how he wanted to unofficially set the track record. The fastest lap ever at Churchill Downs by a horse is 1:59 by the legendary Secretariat on his way to victory over Sham in the 1973 Kentucky Derby. The 1999 Kentucky Derby was run the day before this race with Charismatic winning the traditional Run for the Roses. The horse later went on to win the Preakness but had to settle for third in Belmont, again crushing everyone's hopes of another Triple Crown winner. 15. Yahboi posted: 11.27.2019 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One more note I forgot to mention is this race took place on the 14th birthday of one of the future sport's biggest drivers; Kyle Busch. He would go on 10 years later to become just the 2nd driver behind Cale Yarborough to win on his birthday at 24. Of course, that race was at Richmond. Who could have thought back then that an at the time unproven kid would join the highest ranks of NASCAR just 5 years later. (I know Busch's first full season was 2005, but he did make a few starts in 04) 16. Yahboi posted: 11.27.2019 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As for 13, I have to wonder, with the third Spongebob movie being released sometime in the near future, will NASCAR have another Spongebob Sponsored Race? 17. Yahboi posted: 11.28.2019 - 11:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 15 My comment seems ironic now because speaking of 24th birthdays, Chase Elliott's is today. Also yet another ironic incident is that Chase used to drive the 24 car! Holy Flip! Spooky Stuff right here! Lol! 18. Rich posted: 04.15.2021 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins and Benny Parsons were the commentators. Dr. Jerry Punch, John Kernan and Bill Weber were the pit road reporters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: