The 2011 Bank of America 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on October 15, 2011, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) asphalt quad-oval, it was the 31st race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the fifth race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. The race was won by Matt Kenseth for the Roush Fenway Racing team. Kyle Busch finished second, and Carl Edwards clinched third.

Report

Background

Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races. The standard track at Charlotte Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is five degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also had a five degree banking. The racetrack has seats for 140,000 spectators.

Heading into the fifth race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Ford driver Carl Edwards was leading the Drivers' Championship with 2,161 points; Chevrolet driver Kevin Harvick was second with 2,160 points, one point behind Edwards. Behind Edwards and Harvick in the Drivers' Championship, Jimmie Johnson was third with 2,157 points in a Chevrolet, and Brad Keselowski was fourth with 2,150 points. Matt Kenseth was fifth with 2,149, four points ahead of Kurt Busch. Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jeff Gordon rounded out the first ten positions in the Drivers' Championship. Chevrolet had already secured the Manufacturer's Championship one week earlier after the Hollywood Casino 400, and entered the race on 204 points, 43 points ahead of Ford on 161 points and 50 points ahead of Toyota. Jamie McMurray was the race's defending winner.

Practice and qualifying

Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on Thursday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third were both on Friday afternoon. The first Saturday practice lasted 45 minutes, while the second lasted 60. Kasey Kahne was quickest with a time of 28.205 seconds in the first session, 0.018 seconds faster than Paul Menard. Greg Biffle was just off Busch's pace, followed by Mark Martin, Regan Smith, and Marcos Ambrose. Denny Hamlin was seventh, still within two-tenths of a second of Edwards's time.

Forty-six cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Stewart clinched the 13th pole position of his career, with a time of 28.131 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Kenseth. Edwards qualified third, A. J. Allmendinger took fourth, and Biffle started fifth. Ryan Newman, Menard, Kahne, Johnson and Trevor Bayne rounded out the first ten positions. The three drivers that failed to qualify for the race were Geoff Bodine, Scott Speed, and Josh Wise.

Once the qualifying session completed, Stewart commented, "I was watching guys' lap times, and looking at the sheet to seeing what they practiced, and it wasn't as much [of an increase] as what we've seen. I think, obviously, we've had a lot of cloud cover today and cool temperatures here the last couple of days, so I don't think the track changed as much and got as hot during the day as what we typically see here. I think that's the reason that we didn't have the big pick-ups. But you still anticipate that, at night, the guys are going to pick up speed. It just seems like the air's a little muggier right now. I don't know whether that hurt horsepower or even created more drag and kind of evened everything out."

In the second practice session, Keselowski was fastest with a time of 28.810 seconds, less than a tenth of a second quicker than second-placed Kahne. Newman took third place, ahead of Kurt Busch, Stewart and Kyle Busch. Johnson was only quick enough for the 10th position. In the third and final practice, Kahne remained quickest with a time of 28.700 seconds. Menard followed in second, ahead of Biffle and Johnson. Jeff Burton was fifth quickest, with a time of 28.855 seconds. Newman, Ambrose, Gordon, Allmendinger, and Kurt Busch rounded out the first ten positions.

Race

Results

Qualifying Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 1 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.131 191.959 2 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.137 191.918 3 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.144 191.870 4 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.159 191.768 5 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.163 191.741 6 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 28.186 191.585 7 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.204 191.462 8 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 28.214 191.394 9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.222 191.340 10 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 28.234 191.259 11 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.272 191.002 12 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.272 191.002 13 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.287 190.900 14 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.288 190.894 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.297 190.833 16 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.299 190.820 17 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.302 190.799 18 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.326 190.638 19 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.330 190.611 20 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 28.336 190.570 21 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 28.357 190.429 22 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 28.383 190.255 23 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.420 190.007 24 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 28.462 189.727 25 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.490 189.540 26 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 28.493 189.520 27 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.511 189.401 28 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.559 189.082 29 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.583 188.923 30 51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 28.594 188.851 31 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 28.606 188.772 32 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.613 188.725 33 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.632 188.600 34 55 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.682 188.271 35 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.687 188.239 36 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 28.736 187.918 37 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 28.807 187.454 38 38 J. J. Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.818 187.383 39 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 28.829 187.311 40 77 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 28.930 186.657 41 71 Hermie Sadler TRG Motorsports Ford 29.083 185.676 42 32 Mike Bliss FAS Lane Racing Ford 29.120 185.440 43 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 28.985 186.303 Failed to Qualify 35 Geoff Bodine Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.994 186.245 46 Scott Speed Whitney Motorsports Ford 29.000 186.207 37 Josh Wise Max Q Motorsports Ford 29.129 185.382

Race results

Pos Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Points 12 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 47 225 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 334 44 33 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 42 48 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 334 40 512 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 334 39 614 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 334 38 74 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 334 37 81 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 334 37 917 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 334 35 106 39 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 334 35 1111 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 34 1216 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 334 32 1320 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 334 31 1432 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 334 31 155 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 334 30 1626 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 333 28 177 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 333 27 1828 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 333 26 1915 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 333 25 2031 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 333 24 2123 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 333 23 2238 38 J. J. Yeley Front Row Motorsports Ford 333 23 2318 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 332 21 2419 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 332 20 2521 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 332 19 2629 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 332 18 2727 1 Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 332 17 2830 51 Landon Cassill Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 332 0 2922 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 331 15 3042 32 Mike Bliss FAS Lane Racing Ford 331 0 3110 21 Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Racing Ford 329 0 3224 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 323 12 3341 71 Hermie Sadler TRG Motorsports Ford 322 0 349 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 316 11 3535 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 292 9 3633 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 289 8 3713 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 287 7 3843 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 33 6 3937 66 Michael McDowellHP Racing Toyota 30 5 4034 55 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Ford 27 0 4136 30 David Stremme Inception Motorsports Chevrolet 22 3 4240 77 Andy Lally TRG Motorsports Ford 20 0 4339 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 11 0

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Carl Edwards 2,203 2 Kevin Harvick 2,198 3 Matt Kenseth 2,196 4 Kyle Busch 2,185 5 Tony Stewart 2,179 6 Brad Keselowski 2,178 7 Kurt Busch 2,176 8 Jimmie Johnson 2,168 9 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,143 10 Ryan Newman 2,142 11 Jeff Gordon 2,137 12 Denny Hamlin 2,117

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 208 2 Ford 170 3 Toyota 160 4 Dodge 144

Note: Only the first twelve positions are included for the driver standings.

References