The 1999 Cracker Barrel 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 40th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 14, 1999, in Hampton, Georgia at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 325 laps to complete. In the closing laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to pull a sizable lead over the rest of the field to win his 44th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second of the season. To fill out the podium, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a 1.54-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of where before it was . The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.
Entry list
(R) - denotes rookie driver
#DriverTeamMake00Buckshot Jones (R)Buckshot RacingPontiac1Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet2Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet9Jerry NadeauMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord12Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord16Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac20Tony Stewart (R)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac21Elliott Sadler (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac23Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Wally Dallenbach Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Johnny Benson Jr.Roush RacingFord28Kenny Irwin Jr.Robert Yates RacingFord30Derrike CopeBahari RacingPontiac31Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet33Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36Ernie IrvanMB2 MotorsportsPontiac40Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet41David GreenLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet43John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac45Rich BickleTyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet58Ricky CravenSBIII MotorsportsFord60Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet66Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Ted MusgraveButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Morgan ShepherdDonlavey RacingFord91Steve GrissomLJ RacingChevrolet94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord97Chad LittleRoush RacingFord98Rick MastBurdette MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFordOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, March 12, at 10:00 AM EST. The session would last for two hours and 25 minutes. Jeremy Mayfield, driving for Penske-Kranefuss Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.603 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed112Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord28.603193.825231Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.663193.420360Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet28.691193.231Full first practice results
Second practice The second practice session was held on Friday, March 12, at 12:00 PM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes. Joe Nemechek, driving for Team SABCO, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.474 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed142Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet28.474194.703218Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac28.504194.499360Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet28.534194.294Full second practice results
Third practice The third practice session was held on Saturday, March 13, at 9:30 AM EST. The session would last for 45 minutes. Derrike Cope, driving for Bahari Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.118 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed130Derrike CopeBahari RacingPontiac29.118190.397245Rich BickleTyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac29.222189.720355Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.289189.286Full third practice results
Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, March 13, after the preliminary 1999 Yellow Freight 300. The session would last for one hour. Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.359 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.359188.834231Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.432188.366320Tony Stewart (R)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.462188.174Full Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 12, at 2:30 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, March 13, at 11:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. Positions 26-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.
Bobby Labonte, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 28.437 and an average speed of .
Three drivers would fail to qualify: Robert Pressley, Steve Grissom, and Morgan Shepherd.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac28.437194.957231Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28.544194.226320Tony Stewart (R)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac28.549194.192488Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord28.630193.643512Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord28.690193.238660Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet28.699193.177700Buckshot Jones (R)Buckshot RacingPontiac28.777192.654824Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.786192.594942Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet28.817192.3861043John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac28.829192.3061175Ted MusgraveButch Mock MotorsportsFord28.847192.186129Jerry NadeauMelling RacingFord28.854192.140136Mark MartinRoush RacingFord28.856192.1261425Wally Dallenbach Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.864192.0731521Elliott Sadler (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord28.865192.0671697Chad LittleRoush RacingFord28.868192.0471728Kenny Irwin Jr.Robert Yates RacingFord28.870192.0331840Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet28.877191.9871998Rick MastBurdette MotorsportsFord28.885191.9342022Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac28.906191.7942136Ernie IrvanMB2 MotorsportsPontiac28.913191.7482244Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac28.923191.681232Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord28.928191.648247Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet28.957191.456255Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.983191.2852641David GreenLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.903191.8142730Derrike CopeBahari RacingPontiac28.934191.608284Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet28.996191.1992958Ricky CravenSBIII MotorsportsFord29.014191.0803045Rich BickleTyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac29.018191.0543194Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord29.019191.047321Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.030190.975333Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.055190.8113455Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.078190.6603571Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet29.089190.5883626Johnny Benson Jr.Roush RacingFord29.092190.568Provisionals3799Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord -* -*3833Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet -* -*3923Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord -* -*4016Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord -* -*4110Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord -* -*4211Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord -* -*Champion's Provisional4366Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord -* -*Failed to qualify4477Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord29.136190.2804591Steve GrissomLJ RacingChevrolet29.242189.5904690Morgan ShepherdDonlavey RacingFord - -Official qualifying results *Time not available.
Race results