Aaron's 499
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| Venue | Talladega Superspeedway |
| Corporate sponsor | Aaron's |
| First race | 1970 |
| Distance | 500.08 miles (805 km) |
| Number of laps | 188 |
| Previous names | Alabama 500 (1970)
Winston 500 (1971-1993, 1997) Winston Select 500 (1994-1996) DieHard 500 (1998-2000) Talladega 500 (2001) |
The Aaron's 499 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. The race has always been held in late April or early May. The Aaron's 499 is also one of four races currently run with restrictor plates, the others being the AMP Energy 500, the Coke Zero 400, and the Daytona 500. The 1997 event, won by Mark Martin, stands as the fastest NASCAR race to date ever run, at an average speed of 188.354 mph (303.126 km/h). It was the first race at Talladega run without a caution flag.
The race, from 1970 until the demise of the Grand Slam as a result of the Ferko lawsuit, was known as the second leg of the sport's Grand Slam. It was also previously part of the Winston Million.
The name is derived from a sponsorship agreement with the Aaron's chain of lease-to-own stores. The "499" advertised distance is designed to mimic the chain's tendencies to offer rentals "For $99" per month. Despite the name, the race is slightly over 500 miles in length.
[edit] Past winners
Aaron's 499
- 2008 Kyle Busch
- 2007 Jeff Gordon (4) (192 laps / 510.72 miles due to green-white-checker finish)
- 2006 Jimmie Johnson (race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain)
- 2005 Jeff Gordon (3) (194 laps / 516.04 miles due to green-white-checker finish)
- 2004 Jeff Gordon (2)
- 2003 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (2)
- 2002 Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
Talladega 500
- 2001 Bobby Hamilton
DieHard 500
- 2000 Jeff Gordon
- 1999 Dale Earnhardt (3)
- 1998 Bobby Labonte
Winston 500
- 1997 Mark Martin (2) (race postponed two weeks due to rain)
Winston Select 500
- 1996 Sterling Marlin
- 1995 Mark Martin
- 1994 Dale Earnhardt (2)
Winston 500
- 1993 Ernie Irvan
- 1992 Davey Allison (3)
- 1991 Harry Gant (race postponed from Sunday to Monday due to rain)
- 1990 Dale Earnhardt
- 1989 Davey Allison (2)
- 1988 Phil Parsons
- 1987 Davey Allison - (178 laps / 473.48 miles, darkness- caused by long delay caused by repairs to repair damaged catchfencing in a Lap 22 crash)
- 1986 Bobby Allison (3)
- 1985 Bill Elliott
- 1984 Cale Yarborough
- 1983 Richard Petty
- 1982 Darrell Waltrip (2)
- 1981 Bobby Allison (2)
- 1980 Buddy Baker (3)
- 1979 Bobby Allison
- 1978 Cale Yarborough
- 1977 Darrell Waltrip
- 1976 Buddy Baker (2)
- 1975 Buddy Baker
- 1974 David Pearson (3) (170 laps / 452.2 miles due to energy crisis)
- 1973 David Pearson (2)
- 1972 David Pearson
- 1971 Donnie Allison
Alabama 500
- 1970 Pete Hamilton
- 1969 Richard Brickhouse
[edit] Notable races
- 1987: On the 22nd lap, Bobby Allison cut a tire and his car went airborne into the catchfencing in front of the main grandstand. Several feet of the fence were sheered off and Allison's car rebounded back to the track where it was t-boned by another spinning car. The race was stopped, and track crews spent a couple hours repairing the safety fence. Despite the wreckage, no drivers or spectators were seriously injured. As a direct result, the next superspeedway race (the 1987 Pepsi 400), saw the cars using smaller carburetors in an effort to curtail speeds. Starting in 1988, all superspeedway races saw mandated carburetor restrictor plates, which are still used today.
- In the 2003 race (which was marred by a crash on lap 4 that damaged 27 cars, including Earnhardt), Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won his fourth consecutive race at the track, but not without controversy. After the 2001 spring race (thanks in part to protestations from Jimmy Spencer over Mike McLaughlin's blocking in the Busch race en route to a win), NASCAR ruled that the yellow line on the bottom of the track at both Talladega and Daytona were to serve as an out of bounds line (with any car that drops below to gain a position to be immediately black flagged unless they gave the position back or were forced below it). Earnhardt Jr. stormed well below the line entering the apron of turn three as he passed leader Matt Kenseth to avoid contact with Kenseth's car and get the win. NASCAR ruled that Earnhardt was forced below the line as the nose of his car had already passed the nose of Kenseth's car, making it a clean pass.
- Jeff Gordon's 2004 win was marked by a spinout by Brian Vickers with 4⅓ laps to go. NASCAR's rule at that time was that if a race went past five to go and had a caution, they would not throw out the red flag and stop the cars to ensure a green flag finish. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had just raced past Gordon for the lead, but at the previous scoring loop, Gordon was still ahead. The race finished under yellow and while Gordon did his victory burnout, enraged fans littered the track with garbage to protest the finish (it was believed that Vickers' crash and the subsequent cleanup would not have taken very long to clean up). This reaction, following a similar fan bombardment of the track at Daytona International Speedway after the 2002 Pepsi 400 ended under yellow, would result in the green-white-checkered rule being instituted in the NEXTEL Cup and Busch Series less than two months later.
- Following Dale Earnhardt Jr's 2003 win, Hendrick Motorsports won four straight - three by Jeff Gordon and one by Jimmie Johnson.
- The race has exceeded 40 official lead changes 14 times, including a motorsports record 75 lead changes in 1984.
- The 1975 running featured the first win for Buddy Baker since 1973 and the first Winston Cup Grand National win for team owner Bud Moore since 1971. Tragedy struck on Lap 149 when race leader Richard Petty pitted with a burning wheel bearing; his brother-in-law Randy Owens was killed when he fitted a hose to a pressurized water tank and the tank exploded.
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