|| *Comments on the 2005 UAW-GM Quality 500:* View the most recent comment <#48> | Post a comment <#post> 1. Thedupontman posted: 10.16.2005 - 1:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's a Good Thing the Notre Dame Vs. USC Football Game Did Not go in Overtime cause we would have miss the start of the race, congrates to Jimmie Johnson on his 4th Straight Win at Charlotte. 2. Chicago posted: 10.16.2005 - 6:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This will be rather long ... A total embarasment to NASCAR & Humpy Wheeler & Charlotte Motor Speedway. It started with a bad omen, with the USC / ND game running way OT into the race's timeslot. No pre-race coverage, just a quick parade lap and the green flag flew. And then the tires started to blow out. Robby Gordon. Earnhardt, Jr. Kyle Busch. Jeff Gordon bashed the wall and ended up scuffing tires under caution for his Hendrick teammates the rest of the night. Sterling Marlin. Hamilton, Jr. Stremme. Riggs. Harvick. Kenseth. I'm not sure of the #'s, but it was a formulaic race ... twenty laps, caution thanks to a failed right front, pit, take four tires, twenty laps, caution, just hope it's not you. Passing? What passing? It got so bad that NASCAR threw a competition caution and ended up mandating minimum tire pressures - more on that later. Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler, and Mike Waltrip (!) had the best cars all night long, but it was simply a process of elimination. Stewart lost a right rear tire. Sadler and Waltrip were running side by side for second when Sadler 'ran over' something on the track and blew a right rear out. So Mike Waltrip assumed the lead and looked dominant for twenty some laps. He was just cruising. He lost his lead when his team had another mediocre pit stop, then Newman almost spun himself out in the resulting race for the lead. Waltrip, looking unlike the timid racer of yesteryear, didn't give him an inch and soon flew by and started to stretch his advantage when the caution came out again ... And he was brought onto pit road by NASCAR, forced to, to "make sure he was running tire pressures within the mandated limits" or he would've been black flagged and penalized (!). The ironic thing about all of this is that Waltrip didn't have a tire problem all night long. I believe he had a little right rear blister on one long run, but back to the action ... Waltrip pitted, had two pounds of air taken out of his right side tires, came out tenth, quickly found his car was handling terribly, kissed the wall but saved it, then McMurray bounced off his left rear coming out of four, blowing it out and sending him and McMurray spinning through the trioval, where Mike went flying back up onto the track and got slammed hard in the side by Dale Jarrett. It was right then that I realized how much of a joke this race was. It wasn't even a race - it was like Russian roulette, evidenced by the fact that the three best cars all night long all got taken out through no fault of their own. Great job, NASCAR, for taking away a win from Mike Waltrip. Then Kasey Kahne assumed the lead and despite the new mandated tire pressures, he blew out a right front too but managed to somehow keep it off the wall in a great show of driving. All told, after the mandated tire psis', NASCAR copped out and claimed they were "running over debris". I don't buy it. So, after all of this, Jimmie Johnson, who had had battery problems all night long, somehow found his way to the front and held off Joe Nemechek and Kurt Busch in an "exciting finish" according to idiot analyst Jimmy Spencer, who also found time to spew his simple minded uninformed opinion that Goodyear was at fault for this montrosity, which is not the case - when they first tested here a month ago, the track was green and had no grip whatsoever. Goodyear brought a very hard tire compound, but Humpy in the meantime decided to "grip up" the track, and what we had was a hard, hard tire compound that was simply too fast for the track because of what Humpy did. Adding insult to injury, they totally glossed over the tire issue and also gave NASCAR praise for the mandated psis, which I don't think helped matters any. I bet Brian France is just salivating over the kind of publicity (even negative) that the sport is going to get over this one. I blame Humpy Wheeler and I blame NASCAR for running this race in the first place. Humpy was apologizing to the drivers and viewers even before the race started and it was plain obvious what was going to happen out there. It's just too bad that someone deserving like Stewart, Sadler, or Waltrip didn't win, but instead we had to endure yet another "Lowe's driver Johnson gets win handed to him at Lowe's". 3. Jake posted: 10.16.2005 - 7:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats to Denny Hamlin for finishing 8th in just his 2nd Cup start!!! 4. Mike D posted: 10.17.2005 - 1:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Typical, on so many levels. Yet again Johnson wins at his "house" again. Yet again he did not deserve this win. His house my arse...he had this win handed to him. Like so many of his other Charlotte wins. I was flipping between this and something else. EVERY time I tuned back into this race there was a caution coming out. I really despise this new Charlotte. I won't even start on the tire issue. 5. Brian posted: 10.17.2005 - 1:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There were about 4 drivers that should've won this race before Johnson. He's got a strategy at least, DONT LEAD! Then as others fall out grab the lead at the end. Kahne was leading when he had a tire blow....sounds familiar. 6. jeff posted: 10.17.2005 - 5:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) yeah just like last year 7. larry posted: 10.17.2005 - 1:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmy Spencer went home before the race ever started i knew it would be bad 8. Anonymous posted: 10.17.2005 - 7:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Humpy Wheeler, you ruined what was once a great track. Hope you're proud... 9. Gud T. posted: 10.18.2005 - 11:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mikey had it won.:( 10. Don posted: 10.19.2005 - 5:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lump head Wheeler should be told he's losing a race as well as the All Star Race. I'm about tired of races being runied by the tire dabate. Maybe drivers should look at the F-1 race at Indianapolis, give a races worth of sponsorship money back to their sponsors and tell Lump Head to spend money on the TRACK and not the stupid circus act he thinks he has to put on pre-race. As for the race, it seems Johnson has inherited Gordon's "golden boy luck" where even when things go wrong, he still wins. But this wasn't a race, this was a gimmie. Race number two that Johnson 'wins' but shouldn't have. Dover should have been stripped. It does put a smile on my face to see Gordon going backwards in the points. The only good thing as for the "Chase" format is, the points certainly tightened up. I wonder if Martinsville will have less caution laps than Charlotte? 11. Mike D posted: 10.20.2005 - 1:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Charlotte should be taken off the schedule. Put on something better like Rockingham. 12. CBCMikeyfan posted: 10.20.2005 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ugh...this was heartbreak for a Michael Waltrip fan. He had this race won. And the tire situation was simply pathetic. Pitting every 20 laps? At Charlotte? Something's not right there, don't ya think? 13. Thedupontman posted: 11.01.2005 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This Race should have been called Wreck Fest 500. 14. Steve posted: 02.06.2006 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lousy excuse for a race. First, we miss the start of the race (okay, they started coverage from Charlotte just seconds before the green flag), tires blowing every 25 or 30 laps, I'm surprised we didn't have something like what happened in the Formula One race at Indianapolis, with half the field sitting out. If driving conditions aren't safe, shouldn't they make alterations or wait until they are safe? NBC Sports has their head so far up their rear end. One would think that if there are two televised sporting events that are back-to-back, that the first one could go long and preempt the second one. They could have done one of two things: 1. Tape delay a brief pre-race show (a few interviews, the invocation, the National Anthem, starting lineup, and then the start), and eventually catch up to live racing by showing fewer commercials. 2. Have the race televised on TNT instead. They have extra cable networks! They should use them! That's what they do when a race gets rain delayed to Monday. 15. Brett posted: 02.16.2006 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Heh, the NBC pre-race is mostly extraneous to me, anyway. I guess I just dislike Bill Weber. Used to think he was pretty good back at ESPN. 16. michael posted: 03.25.2006 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) jimmie is good 17. Miller4Prez6 posted: 04.18.2006 - 8:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I honestly think NASCAR is fixin the race at Lowe's, isn't it odd the LOWES car is winning every race at LOWES ever since the HOME DEPOT car won there... it's fishy, if Johnson wins the Coke 600 i not gonna watch another Charlotte race until he loses 18. Miller4Prez6 posted: 04.18.2006 - 8:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Also Johnny Sauter is an idiot, Rusty could've had a top 10 but when he got loose Sauter just had to dive in and make Rusty even more loose.... 19. Anonymous0 posted: 05.20.2006 - 9:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah,that happening to Rusty was very unfortunate,I could of won $60 had Rusty finished just 10th,or 13 spots ahead of Kahne,was a great job by Jr for those 61 laps,had the tire not gone,there would of been an easy Top 5,maybe even a win,but that's just what happens. 20. hp posted: 05.25.2006 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 2005 U All Wreck - GM WAS A GRAET RACE!!1 21. Darrell posted: 07.15.2006 - 8:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cup debut for David Reutimann. 22. Brock posted: 01.26.2007 - 3:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) This is still to date the best pre-race NBC/TNT has ever done. None at all. 23. JJ posted: 03.11.2008 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist but it is funny how hw always seems to win at Lowes Motor Speedway.... NASCAR IS a business This is tough to admit...but NASCAR is not a sport anymore, just entertainment. 24. Schafe posted: 06.14.2008 - 3:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was Mikey's... 25. Anonymous posted: 03.10.2009 - 8:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Nemechek's last top five. 26. 18fan posted: 01.26.2010 - 8:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sadler set the track qualifying record winning the pole for this race. 27. RaceFanX posted: 01.26.2012 - 8:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #9 Kasey Kahne- Mopar / Dodge Dealers / UAW 28. Daniel posted: 05.24.2012 - 11:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 43: #00 Carl Long & #36 Boris Said Out using fastest 43: #43 Jeff Green & #77 Travis Kvapil 29. CBASS posted: 01.20.2013 - 9:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates #99 Scotts Miracle-Gro #9 Dodge Dealers/ Mopar #80 ( Carl Long, run since MWR ran the 00) Royal Administration/ CarLoan.com #77 Kodak #43 Petty Fan Fest/ Cheerios #21 Motorcraft/ Ford Parts & Service #50 Allied Steel Buildings #37 BoSPOKER.net/ Patron Tequila #36 Team Centrix #2 Miller Lite/ Rusty Wallace 500 #29 Snap-On/ Goodwrench #5 Delphi/ Kellogg's #39 Commit Stop Smoking Lozenges #45 Petty Fan Fest/ Brawny http://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/photos/main-gallery/?y=2005&s=5&dl=a&r=1708 30. RedChevy14 posted: 08.15.2013 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Wally Dallenbach summed the night up perfectly after one of the crashes (I think Harvick's) when he called it Russian Roulette. Both Charlotte races that year were terrible. Tony's car that night was incredible, maybe the best he's had at Charlotte since his '03 win. Somehow they got their communication screwed up on of the yellows and he had to pit the second lap and dropped to the back of the field, then tore back through to the front. Was no contest till his right rear blew. Had he lost the championship because of this race I would have shot the Goodyear blimp. Fortunately it wound up being a moot point. 31. Ed posted: 01.17.2014 - 10:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The two points races at Lowe's in 2005 combined to have 37 cautions 32. Evan posted: 05.31.2014 - 10:55 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Sponsor Fix: Winner #48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Preview Jimmie Johnson ran a preview of his 2006 paint scheme a year early as a one off. They unveiled the scheme and ran it here. This literally would be the scheme he'd run the next three years, 2006, 2007, and 2008 and literally go undefeated in Sprint Cup titles, later switching it in 2009 and 2010. This was the only time Johnson would run his scheme a year early as a one-off. Source:Jayski.com 33. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 08.01.2014 - 1:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew 34 Hermie Sadler Mach One Inc. Chevy William Edwards http://www.jayski.com/stats/2005grids/2005lms2-entry.htm 34. Nathan8848 posted: 03.27.2016 - 12:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update 5 - Kyle Busch - Kellogg's / Dephi 35. Jason24 posted: 09.12.2016 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (5) 2005 was sort of the beginning of the end for NASCAR. This race and the Coke 600 that year prove it. They ruined a great race track, couldn't figure out tires or a good package that allowed the drivers to race each other. Here we are years later and we still have the same problems week after week. 36. Anonymous posted: 09.12.2016 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) @35, It's a moving target and always has been. They wanted to provide a more race-y tire while adjusting to the diamond grinding that had been done to the track and it made for a perfect storm of circumstances. We saw that at the 2008 Brickyard 400 and 2014 Auto Club 400, as well. It's not a week to week thing to have near-catastrophic failures but it is a week to week thing and year to year thing with Goodyear developing the proper tires that won't wear out completely but will wear enough to provide good racing, which is a hard task. 37. Sam Mabry posted: 03.01.2017 - 9:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Okay, not to get off the 12 year tire gripe, but I have a question hopefully SOMEONE who went to this race will see, and be able to answer. I went to four races at Charlotte between 04-06 (17 total!) and I cannot for the life of me remember which is which..... Is this the race where they were filming Talladega Nights? They didn't announce it, but if you were there, you would have at least noticed the car going around the track before the start that was only a chassis and roll cage w cameras mounted all around it...... Was that THIS race? Anyone recall? 38. RaceFanX posted: 06.03.2018 - 12:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #29 Kevin Harvick- Snap-On Tools / GM Goodwrench Harvick had a special white, red, and gray paint scheme for this race to celebrate Snap-On's 85th anniversary. Regular sponsor Goodwrench remained on the #29 Chevrolet's quarter panel. 39. Danish Pie posted: 12.01.2018 - 4:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Best finish as an owner for Jeff Stec. 40. Tim posted: 12.30.2018 - 7:33 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Sam Mabry, there were three races at which filming was used for Talladega Nights in the latter part of the 2005 season and this was one of them. Talladega (obviously) and Texas were used as well. 41. JSPorts posted: 12.30.2018 - 10:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Talladega is probably most notable from the movie, because it was the track where the big crash scene and race to the finish during Ricky Bobby's return took place. 42. RaceFanX posted: 12.30.2018 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) There was a scene during the filming of "Talladega Nights" where the actors were introduced in character to the crowd...and Sacha Baron Cohen's "Jean Girard" got booed heavily from the crowd after I think the real life track announcer mentioned the character was French (he's the rival and they wanted the fans to boo but they didn't expect the crowd to do it instinctively without being asked). Baron Cohen laughed that off noting he got a similar but worse reaction playing his infamous character 'Bruno' at a big Southern college football game. I think that was at Talladega but I found an article that said that happened at this race instead. 43. GH05TY posted: 01.20.2019 - 7:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor update: #2 Rusty Wallace - Miller Lite / Rusty Wallace 500 There was a special decal on the quarterpanels for this race, as Miller Lite had run a sweepstakes earlier in the year for several fans to win a trip to this race. 44. PCRF0006 posted: 03.04.2020 - 10:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Carl Long's #80 was a Chevrolet 45. SweetRich posted: 03.05.2020 - 12:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach and Benny Parsons with Allen Bestwick, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider and Dave Burns on pit road. 46. Land0nFand0n posted: 05.01.2020 - 6:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) PJ Jones blew up in qualifying for this race. 47. Sandy posted: 06.07.2020 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stuart Kirby's last race 48. rm posted: 07.02.2020 - 9:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At one point in the first half of the race, Mark Martin was upset with his pit crew for losing multiple spots on every stop at that point in the going, due to a combination of misfortune and just plain slowness. On the radio, Mark said he felt like he was passing the same cars every restart, with the main point of his ire being Joe Nemechek in the 01, who Mark said he'd have to pass 40 times by the end of the night. Mark survived to finish 5th, but that 01 car that he said he'd have to pass all night got the better of him by finishing 4th. An exasperated Mark couldn't quite get the championship he was oh-so-close to in 2005, putting him uncharacteristically on edge for the second half of the year, but ole Front Row Joe wasn't exactly putt-putting about in 2005. He stated multiple times that he and the team were gunning for 11th in the final standings and the million dollar bonus for being the "best of the rest" that went with it. With just five races to go in the year following Charlotte, Joe was just 17 points behind 11th, but he hit his least competitive stretch of the season and ended up 16th. Experiencing the reverse fortune, Jeff Gordon crashed very early on in this race and despite getting a couple more positions by returning to the track, he exited Charlotte 17th in the points, his worst standing of the season. A win the next week at Martinsville and two other podium finishes over the final five races pushed him up to the 11th spot in the final points instead. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: