The 2005 MBNA NASCAR RacePoints 400 28th stock car race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, the second race of the 2005 Chase for the Nextel Cup, and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 25, 2005, before a crowd of 150,000 in Dover, Delaware at Dover International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race was extended from its scheduled 400 laps to 404 due to a green–white–checker finish. On the final restart, Jimmie Johnson, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would fend off the field in a fierce restart to take the Chase for the Nextel Cup lead in the standings. The win was Johnson's 17th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series victory and his third of the season. To fill out the podium, Kyle Busch, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, and Rusty Wallace, driving for Penske-Jasper Racing, would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.
The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMakeSponsor0Mike BlissHaas CNC RacingChevroletBest Buy00Carl LongMcGlynn RacingChevroletSunquest Vacations, Carloan.com01Joe NemechekMB2 MotorsportsChevroletU. S. Army2Rusty WallacePenske RacingDodgeMiller Lite4Mike WallaceMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevroletLucas Oil5Kyle BuschHendrick MotorsportsChevroletKellogg's6Mark MartinRoush RacingFordViagra7Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsChevroletHarrah's07Dave BlaneyRichard Childress RacingChevroletJack Daniel's8Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.ChevroletBudweiser08Ryan McGlynnMcGlynn RacingDodgeRoyal Administration9Kasey KahneEvernham MotorsportsDodgeDodge10Scott RiggsMBV MotorsportsChevroletValvoline11J. J. YeleyJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletFedEx Freight12Ryan NewmanPenske RacingDodgeAlltel15Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.ChevroletNAPA Auto Parts16Greg BiffleRoush RacingFordNational Guard17Matt KensethRoush RacingFordDeWalt18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletMBNA RacePoints VISA19Jeremy MayfieldEvernham MotorsportsDodgeDodge20Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevroletThe Home Depot21Ricky RuddWood Brothers RacingFordMotorcraft22Scott WimmerBill Davis RacingDodgeCaterpillar24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevroletDuPont25Brian VickersHendrick MotorsportsChevroletGMAC, ditech.com29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevroletGM Goodwrench31Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevroletCingular Wireless32Bobby Hamilton Jr.PPI MotorsportsChevroletTide34Joey McCarthyMach 1 MotorsportsChevroletMach 1 Motorsports37Tony RainesR&J RacingDodgeBosPoker38Elliott SadlerRobert Yates RacingFordM&M's40Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodgeCoors Light41Casey MearsChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodgeTarget42Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodgeTexaco, Havoline43Jeff GreenPetty EnterprisesDodgeCheerios45Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodgeGeorgia-Pacific Brawny48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevroletLowe's49Ken SchraderBAM RacingDodgeRed Baron Frozen Pizza66Kevin LepagePeak Fitness RacingFordEAS75Wayne AndersonRinaldi RacingDodgeRinaldi Air Conditioning77Travis KvapilPenske RacingDodgeKodak78Kenny WallaceFurniture Row RacingChevroletFurniture Row88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFordUPS89Morgan ShepherdShepherd Racing VenturesDodgeRacing with Jesus92Hermie SadlerFront Row MotorsportsChevroletFront Row Motorsports95Stanton Barrett (R)Stanton Barrett MotorsportsChevroletStanton Barrett Motorsports97Kurt BuschRoush RacingFordCrown Royal99Carl EdwardsRoush RacingFordOffice DepotOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, September 23, at 11:00 AM EST. The session would last for two hours. Greg Biffle, driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.830 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed116Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord22.830157.687212Ryan NewmanPenske-Jasper RacingDodge22.879157.350301Joe NemechekMB2 MotorsportsChevrolet22.922157.054Full first practice results
Second practice The second practice session was held on Saturday, September 24, at 9:30 AM EST. The session would last for 45 minutes. Kurt Busch, driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.379 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed197Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord23.379153.98426Mark MartinRoush RacingFord23.405153.813329Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet23.409153.787Full second practice results
Third and final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, September 24, at 11:10 AM EST. The session would last for 45 minutes. Kurt Busch, driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.235 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed197Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord23.235154.939248Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.240154.90536Mark MartinRoush RacingFord23.264154.745Full Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, September 23, at 3:10 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap.
Ryan Newman, driving for Penske-Jasper Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 22.770 and an average speed of .
Five drivers would fail to qualify: Morgan Shepherd, Hermie Sadler, Ryan McGlynn, Joey McCarthy, and Wayne Anderson.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed112Ryan NewmanPenske-Jasper RacingDodge22.770158.10329Kasey KahneEvernham MotorsportsDodge22.919157.07535Kyle Busch (R)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.952156.84948Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet22.986156.617548Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.993156.56962Rusty WallacePenske-Jasper RacingDodge23.003156.50176Mark MartinRoush RacingFord23.004156.495832Bobby Hamilton Jr.PPI MotorsportsChevrolet23.017156.406901Joe NemechekMB2 MotorsportsChevrolet23.018156.3991097Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord23.050156.1821117Matt KensethRoush RacingFord23.060156.1151219Jeremy MayfieldEvernham MotorsportsDodge23.081155.9721377Travis Kvapil (R)Penske-Jasper RacingDodge23.082155.9661440Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi RacingDodge23.113155.7571588Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord23.122155.6961622Scott WimmerBill Davis RacingDodge23.132155.6291729Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet23.141155.5681816Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord23.154155.4811942Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingDodge23.154155.4812021Ricky RuddWood Brothers RacingFord23.175155.3402143Jeff GreenPetty EnterprisesDodge23.180155.3062238Elliott SadlerRobert Yates RacingFord23.197155.1932341Casey MearsChip Ganassi RacingDodge23.208155.1192407Dave BlaneyRichard Childress RacingChevrolet23.210155.1062524Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.216155.0662625Brian VickersHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.219155.0452715Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet23.234154.9452818Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet23.239154.9122910Scott RiggsMBV MotorsportsChevrolet23.245154.872300Mike BlissHaas CNC RacingChevrolet23.256154.7993120Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet23.259154.7793299Carl EdwardsRoush RacingFord23.260154.772337Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsChevrolet23.272154.6923445Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodge23.299154.5133566Kevin LepagePeak Fitness RacingFord23.383153.9583631Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet23.398153.8593711J. J. YeleyJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet23.433153.630384Mike WallaceMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet23.462153.4403937Tony RainesR&J RacingDodge23.531152.9904095Stanton Barrett (R)Stanton Barrett MotorsportsChevrolet23.550152.8664100Carl LongMcGlynn RacingChevrolet23.622152.4004249Ken SchraderBAM RacingDodge23.765151.4834378Kenny WallaceFurniture Row RacingChevrolet23.727151.726Failed to qualify4489Morgan ShepherdShepherd Racing VenturesDodge23.856150.9054592Hermie SadlerFront Row MotorsportsChevrolet23.870150.8174608Ryan McGlynnMcGlynn RacingDodge23.934150.4144734Joey McCarthyMach 1 MotorsportsChevrolet23.996150.0254875Wayne AndersonRinaldi RacingDodge - -Official qualifying results
Race results