Good Sam Club 500

Venue	Talladega Superspeedway
Sponsor	Good Sam Club
First race	1969
Distance	500.08 miles (804.8 km)
Laps	188
Previous names	Talladega 500 (1969-1987) Talladega DieHard 500 (1988-1989) DieHard 500 (1990-1997) Winston 500 (1998-2000) EA Sports 500 (2001-2004) UAW-Ford 500 (2005- 2007) AMP Energy 500 (2008-2009) AMP Energy Juice 500 (2010)

The Good Sam Club 500 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. The Good Sam Club 500 is also one of four races currently run with restrictor plates, the others being the Aaron's 499, the Coke Zero 400, and the Daytona 500. Through 1996 the race was normally held in early August or late July. In 1997, it was moved, after overwhelming fans' requests, to early October due to the uncomfortably hot summer temperatures, and sometimes unpredictable summertime thunderstorms in the Alabama area. In 2009, the race moved again, this time to November 1 as part of a realignment agreement with Atlanta and Fontana (where Fontana will earn a race in the Chase and Atlanta will gain the Labor Day weekend race).

In 1998, the name of the race was swapped with that of the spring race. The fall race became known as the Winston 500 for three years in order to promote the Winston No Bull 5 program.

During the driver introductions in 2005, Ricky Bobby and other characters were introduced in order to shoot scenes for the movie Talladega Nights.

The race has been perhaps the most consistently competitive in NASCAR history. It has broken 40 official lead changes in 1971, '73, 1975-8, 1983-4, 1989, 2000, and 2003–10; in eleven of these races the barrier of 50 lead changes was broken, and in 2010 the race reached 87 lead changes, one short of the motorsports record set in April.

Contents 1 Past winners 2 Notable races 3 Television broadcasters 4 References 5 External links

Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)
					Laps	Miles (km)
1969	September 14	Richard Brickhouse	Ray Nichels	Dodge	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:15:07	153.778
1970	August 23	Pete Hamilton	Petty Enterprises	Plymouth	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:09:17	158.517
1971	August 22	Bobby Allison	Holman-Moody	Mercury	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:25:38	145.945
1972	August 6	James Hylton	James Hylton	Mercury	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:22:09	148.728
1973	August 12	Dick Brooks	Crawford Brothers	Plymouth	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:26:17	145.454
1974	August 11	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:21:52	148.637
1975	August 17	Buddy Baker	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:49:14	130.892
1976	August 8	Dave Marcis	Nord Krauskopf	Dodge	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:10:27	157.547
1977	August 7	Donnie Allison*	Hoss Ellington	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:04:37	162.524
1978	August 6	Lennie Pond	Harry Rainer	Oldsmobile	188	500.08 (804.8)	2:51:43	174.7
1979	August 5	Darrell Waltrip	DiGard Motorsports	Oldsmobile	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:06:06	161.229
1980	August 3	Neil Bonnett	Wood Brothers Racing	Mercury	188	500.08 (804.8)	2:59:47	166.894
1981	August 2	Ron Bouchard	Jack Beebe	Buick	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:11:24	156.737
1982	August 1	Darrell Waltrip	Junior Johnson	Buick	188	500.08 (804.8)	2:58:26	168.157
1983	July 31	Dale Earnhardt	Bud Moore Engineering	Ford	188	500.08 (804.8)	2:55:52	170.611
1984	July 29	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:12:04	155.485
1985	July 28	Cale Yarborough	Harry Rainer	Ford	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:21:41	148.772
1986	July 27	Bobby Hillin Jr.	Stavola Brothers Racing	Buick	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:17:59	151.522
1987	July 26	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing	Ford	188	500.08 (804.8)	2:55:10	171.293
1988	July 31	Ken Schrader	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:14:12	154.505
1989	July 30	Terry Labonte	Junior Johnson	Ford	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:10:41	157.354
1990	July 29	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	2:52:01	174.43
1991	July 28	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:23:35	147.383
1992	July 26	Ernie Irvan	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:05:11	176.309
1993	July 25	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:15:01	153.858
1994	July 24	Jimmy Spencer	Junior Johnson	Ford	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:03:50	163.217
1995	July 23	Sterling Marlin	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	2:53:15	173.188
1996	July 28	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	129*	343.14 (552.23)	2:34:21	133.387
1997	October 12	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:11:36	156.601
1998	October 11	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:08:20	159.318
1999	October 17	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:00:04	166.632
2000	October 15	Dale Earnhardt*	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:01:06	165.681
2001	October 21	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:02:45	164.185
2002	October 6	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	2:43:22	183.665
2003	September 28	Michael Waltrip	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:12:17	156.045
2004	October 3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:11:12	156.929
2005	October 2	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	190*	505.4 (813.362)	3:30:51	143.818
2006	October 8	Brian Vickers	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:10:23	157.602
2007	October 7	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:29:11	143.438
2008	October 5	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	190*	505.4 (813.362)	3:36:10	140.281
2009	November 1	Jamie McMurray	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	191*	508.06 (817.643)	3:13:54	157.213
2010	October 31	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:03:23	163.618
2011	October 23	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	188	500.08 (804.8)	3:29:14	143.404

• 1977: Allison is credited with the win but Darrell Waltrip finished the race for an over-heated Allison after Waltrip dropped out of the race after 106 laps.
• 1996: Race shortened due to darkness — late start caused by rain + in-race red flags.
• 2000: Dale Earnhardt's 76th and final Winston Cup win.
• 2005, 2008, & 2009: Race extended due to a Green-white-checker finish.

Notable races

• The race is famous for the high number of dark horse and first-time winners in its history — in the race's first 40 years seven drivers posted their first career win, while Regan Smith crossed the stripe first in 2008 but the win was disallowed; notable dark horses to win include James Hylton, Dave Marcis, Jimmy Spencer, and Jamie McMurray.

• The 1969 race was marred by a driver's strike by the Professional Drivers Association over track safety issues, even though officials proved the track was safe for racing.

• In the 1971 race Bobby Allison collided with Richard Petty and Pete Hamilton on the last lap, sending Hamilton into the inside wall.

• Before the 1974 race, crewmen found slashed tires, tampered alignments, and dirt clogging fuel lines in the garage area. NASCAR threw several competition yellows to allow teams to further check their cars for undetected sabotage; two early crashes happened when cars slipped in oil from other sabotaged cars. Richard Petty won on the last lap by sideswiping David Pearson in the trioval and winning by a nose.

• The 1975 race was blackened when former Daytona 500 winner Tiny Lund was crushed to death in a vicious melee on the backstretch by the spinning car of Terry Link. Dick Brooks survived a wild tumble down the backstretch later in that race. Buddy Baker edged Richard Petty after 60 lead changes among 17 drivers.

• The 1981 race was famous for the finish between Terry Labonte, Darrell Waltrip, and Ron Bouchard. Running third on the final lap, Bouchard darted under both Labonte and Waltrip to pick up his first and only career win. CBS Sports, which televised the event, experienced technical errors in the last laps of the race, and showed replays with audio of the finish a week later.

• The 1982 August race at Talladega would be the final start for Country Music singer Marty Robbins. Robbins would die later that year on December 8th.

• Dale Earnhardt's first win with Richard Childress came in the 1984 running, for many years considered NASCAR's greatest race. The lead changed 68 times among 16 drivers. Terry Labonte stormed to the lead with seven to go in a ten-car pack; crew chief Dale Inman radioed him to get out of the lead in the final laps so he could counterattack on the last lap, but Labonte stayed ahead. Harry Gant made a charge to a battle for third with two to go, but could not get up to the leaders, and on the final lap Earnhardt and Buddy Baker drafted past on the highside; Labonte fought Baker down the stretch, allowing Earnhardt to blast away by three lengths at the stripe.^[1]

• The 1986 race won by Bobby Hillin Jr. saw 26 different leaders, a motorsports record that stood until 2008. Wrecks eliminated numerous leaders, among them Richard Petty, Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, and Cale Yarborough. On the final lap a six-car melee erupted when Sterling Marlin, racing Tim Richmond and Bobby Allison for third, hooked Allison in Turn One and Allison slid into the path of traffic.

• Dale Earnhardt edged Ernie Irvan in 1993 by inches.

• The 1999 race is known for Dale Earnhardt charging from the 27th starting spot to the 5th poistion in the first 3 laps. Later,with 10 laps to go, Earnhardt charged to the front and held off Dale Jarrett on the last two laps winning his 9th Talladega win.

• The 2000 race was famous for being Dale Earnhardt's last win. Earnhardt managed to come from deep in the field and gain seventeen positions in the final four laps to score the victory.

• The 2001 race was Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s first Talladega win. He passed Bobby Labonte on the last lap to take the win. The last lap was famous for Bobby Labonte flipping over after being tagged by Bobby Hamilton. Labonte's spinning car clipped Johnny Benson, sending Benson head-on into the outside wall, causing a wreck involving many cars.

• Michael Waltrip's last win came in this race in 2003, a race where Elliott Sadler's car became airborne and tumbled from the backstretch to turn three with seven to go. The crash happened when Sadler, who'd stormed from midpack to a battle for second, sweved into the path of Kurt Busch and spun into the air. The yellow for the crash nullified Ward Burton's pass into first.

• Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s win in 2004 was a dramatic one, as on the last lap of the race, Jeff Gordon brushed the wall exiting turn two, collecting then-rookie Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle. No caution was thrown for the wreck, and the leaders continued to race to the finish line. At the finish, Elliott Sadler, who took a terrible tumble during the race the year before, flipped at the start-finish line after making contact with Ward Burton. The race had several wrecks, the biggest one being a hard crash that took out championship contender Jeremy Mayfield. Brendan Gaughan triggered a scary crash that sent Bobby Labonte and Sterling Marlin head-on into the outside wall. The race was also famous for Earnhardt Jr. swearing in Victory Lane during the post-race television interview, and being docked 25 championship points as a result.

• Much like the EA Sports 500 the year before, the 2005 UAW-Ford 500 was a wild race. Two cars flipped over in separate accidents. 2003 EA Sports 500 winner Michael Waltrip was hit by Mark Martin after being involved in a wreck that began when Jimmie Johnson spun Elliott Sadler. Not long after, Ryan Newman spun Casey Mears, which started a chain reaction resulting in Scott Riggs flipping several times before being hit by Jeff Burton. The race was incident-filled, and Dale Jarrett took his last win in the race. Scenes from this race were used in the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and actors from the movie were introduced in driver introductions.

• The October 2006 running was the first at Talladega since the track was repaved following the May 1 Aaron's 499. The new asphalt proved exceptionally racey and the lead changed hands 63 times among 23 drivers. The win by Brian Vickers was met by a storm of debris from enraged fans when he, while running third, hooked teammate and second place driver Jimmie Johnson into race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap, sending both spinning; Kasey Kahne passed Vickers in Turn Three but NASCAR ruled Vickers was leading when the yellow flew, freezing the field.

• The 2007 UAW-Ford 500 was won by Jeff Gordon in dramatic style. Gordon pulled off a comeback much like Dale Earnhardt had in 2000, working his way from the back in the closing laps, and passed teammate Jimmie Johnson with a push from Tony Stewart on the final lap. It was the first Talladega race for NASCAR's controversial Car of Tomorrow.

• The newly named AMP Energy 500 in 2008, saw 64 lead changes among a motorsports record 28 leaders. Two accidents (one a ten-car crash that came when Brian Vickers' right-front tire disintegrated, the other a ten-car melee involving Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr.) took a number of contenders out of the running. Regan Smith passed Tony Stewart on the apron of the trioval at the finish. The pass was ruled illegal by NASCAR in prohibiting passing under the yellow line; controversy ensued, however, as NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston the year before had commented to the effect that the yellow-line rule did not apply on the final lap, and NASCAR was ridiculed in the media over the decision. The victory was awarded to Stewart, what proved to be his final win for Joe Gibbs Racing.

• The 2009 AMP Energy 500 was set up in a Green-White-Checkered after Ryan Newman spun and flipped on his roof with five laps to go. Before the cars got underway some ran out of fuel. Jamie McMurray led the restart alongside Brian Vickers; Vickers beat McMurray to the line, but was not penalized but McMurray squeezed ahead. When the field came off Turn Four Brad Keselowski spun Kurt Busch causing a chain reaction; Mark Martin tumbled on his roof and came back on his wheels as McMurray took the win. It was his 3rd career win and last for Roush as he went on to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in 2010. The race was criticized because drivers spent three periods of 15-20 laps riding single file, but the lead changed 58 times among 25 drivers, both season highs.

• On Halloween 2010 NASCAR declared Clint Bowyer the winner after the yellow flew on the start of the final lap for AJ Allmendinger's blowover just past the start/finish line. Bowyer was ruled ahead of teammate Kevin Harvick at a Turn One scoring loop. The race lead changed 87 times among 26 drivers, the second straight Talladega race to break 80 official lead changes.

• Clint Bowyer pulled off his second straight victory in this race, passing Jeff Burton on the final lap and winning by a hood. It was the 100th career win for Richard Childress Racing and it came following announcement that Boywer would move to Michael Waltrip Racing for 2012. The track before the race posted a $100,000 bonus if the race reached 100 official lead changes, the bonus going to the driver who made the 100th pass. The bonus went unclaimed as the race lead changed 72 times.

Television broadcasters

Year	Network	Lap-by-lap	Color commentator(s)
2011	ESPN	Allen Bestwick	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2010	ESPN	Marty Reid	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2009	ABC	Jerry Punch	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2008	ABC	Jerry Punch	Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree
2007	ABC	Jerry Punch	Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree
2006	NBC	Bill Weber	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
2005	NBC	Bill Weber	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
2004	NBC	Bill Weber	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
2003	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
2002	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
2001	NBC	Allen Bestwick	Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach, Jr.
2000	ESPN	Jerry Punch	Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett
1999	ESPN	Jerry Punch	Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett
1998	ESPN	Bob Jenkins	Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett
1997	CBS	Mike Joy	Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker
1996	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker
1995	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Richard Petty
1994	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Richard Petty
1993	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Neil Bonnett*
1992	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki
1991	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki
1990	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and David Hobbs
1989	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki
1988	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Chris Economaki
1987	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett
1986	CBS[2]	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Neil Bonnett
1985	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett
1984	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons
1983	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett and David Hobbs
1982	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs
1981	CBS	Ken Squier	Ned Jarrett
1980	CBS	Ken Squier	David Hobbs
1979	CBS	Ken Squier	Lee Petty
1978	CBS	Ken Squier	Lee Petty
1977	CBS	Ken Squier	Lee Petty
1976	CBS	Ken Squier	Lee Petty
1975	ABC	Keith Jackson	Jackie Stewart
1974	ABC	Bill Flemming	Jackie Stewart
1973	ABC	Bill Flemming	Jackie Stewart
1972
1971
1970	ABC	Bill Flemming	Keith Jackson

• Neil Bonnett also drove in 1993 race, making his first start since his sidling crash at Darlington in March 1990. After he crashed in spectacular fashion, Bonnett joined CBS commentators Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett for the finish of the race.

• The 1996 race was broadcast on a packaged, one week tape delay. CBS went off the air because of an afternoon-long rain delay.

• 2004 - Bill Weber replaced Allen Bestwick on lap-by-lap for NBC's coverage due to Bestwick's hockey related injury.
  • Although he won the race, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., was later penalized 25 points for uttering an obscenity during his post-race interview on NBC.

References

External links

• NASCAR Commentators Crews and Networks
• ESPN Hits Chase High, But Still Trails 2009
• [2011 logo] [1]

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