National 500
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| Venue | Charlotte Motor Speedway |
|---|---|
| Location | Concord, North Carolina, United States |
| Corporate sponsor | Bank of America |
| First race | 1960 |
| Distance | 501 miles (806 km) |
| Laps | 334 (Stage 1: 85 Stage 2: 85 Stage 3: 164) |
| Previous names |
National 400 (1960–1965) National 500 (1966–1976, 1980–1982) NAPA National 500 (1977–1979) Miller High Life 500 (1983–1985) Oakwood Homes 500 (1986–1988) All Pro Auto Parts 500 (1989) Mello Yello 500 (1990–1994) UAW-GM Quality 500 (1995–2005) Bank of America 500 (2006–2008, 2010–) NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America (2009) |
| Most wins (driver) | Jimmie Johnson (4) |
| Most wins (team) | Hendrick Motorsports (8) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Chevrolet (21) |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 1.5 mi (2.4 km) |
| Turns | 4 |
The Bank of America 500 is a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that is hosted annually at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, United States, with the other one being the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the 600-mile (970 km) race. The race is held in the middle of October, as part of the Chase for the Sprint Cup and it is a 501-mile (806 km) annual race, Prior to 1966, the race was a 400.5-mile (644.5 km) event.
Thanks in large part to the ratings boost NBC received from the 2002 race being run in primetime hours, NASCAR made a decision to move the race date from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night beginning in 2003. NBC retained their rights to broadcast the race, unlike in most of the night events aired in their part of the season's contract which normally aired on TNT. With the move, then-Lowe's Motor Speedway became one of only two tracks in NASCAR to have two night dates on the schedule.
In 2005, the start was delayed by the finish to the Notre Dame-Southern California college football game which ran late. While the game was in its final minutes, NBC, the broadcaster of both events, had the race engines start and the pace laps proceed. As the pace car pulled off the track to pit road to start the race, NBC had just switched coverage from the game to the race, and the broadcast began as the field took the green flag.
The race was shown on TBS from at least the mid-1980s to 2000. From 2002 to 2006, it was shown on NBC, and from 2007 to 2014, it was on ABC.
The 2002 race was also known for beginning a practice where, if a race broadcast on a network was running long and ran into prime-time hours, the broadcast would not switch to cable. In this case, the race began as scheduled in the early afternoon but was delayed for hours due to weather. NBC did not move the race to TNT, and broadcast the race in its entirety; the race ended early Sunday evening with Jamie McMurray winning in only his second NASCAR Winston Cup start. Since ESPN took over the rights to the race and to most of NBC and TNT's former NASCAR package, that policy has been discontinued. Starting in 2015 the race will move back to NBC, after the network signed a 10-year, $4.4 Billion dollar deal with NASCAR, NBC has the rights for the final 20 races of the season(14 of 20) from the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway and the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, this event was on ABC for several years as part of ESPN before the departure, In 2017, due to broadcasting changes, the race will move from NBC to NBCSN.
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