The 1999 MBNA Platinum 400 was the 13th stock car race of the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 6, 1999, in Dover, Delaware at Dover International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Depending on fuel mileage, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte would manage to save enough fuel to almost lap the field to win his eighth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first of the season. To fill out the podium, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin 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.

#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 RacingFord90Hut StricklinDonlavey RacingFord91Dick TrickleLJ RacingChevrolet94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord97Chad LittleRoush RacingFord98Rick MastCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFordOfficial entry list

Practice

First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, June 4, at 11:00a.m. EST. The session would last for one hour. Kenny Wallace, driving for Andy Petree Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.678 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed155Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet22.678158.744212Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord22.736158.339331Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.739158.318Full first practice results

Second practice The second practice session was held on Friday, June 4, at 1:20p.m. EST. The session would last for 40 minutes. Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.677 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed16Mark MartinRoush RacingFord22.677158.751218Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac22.717158.472312Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord22.726158.409Full second practice results

Third practice The third practice session was held on Saturday, June 5, at 9:30a.m. EST. The session would last for one hour and 15 minutes. Dick Trickle, driving for LJ Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.100 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed191Dick TrickleLJ RacingChevrolet23.100155.844242Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet23.116155.736360Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet23.137155.594Full third practice results

Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, June 5, after the preliminary 1999 MBNA Platinum 200. The session would last for one hour. Jeremy Mayfield, driving for Penske-Kranefuss Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.293 and an average speed of .

During the session, Ernie Irvan would crash on the frontstretch, forcing Irvan to go to a backup car and to start at the rear for the race. Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed112Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord23.293154.55222Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord23.351154.168344Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac23.403153.826Full Happy Hour practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 4, at 3:30p.m. 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, June 5, at 11:30a.m. 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 22.596 and an average speed of .

Three drivers would fail to qualify: Darrell Waltrip, Buckshot Jones, and Hut Stricklin.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac22.596159.320288Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord22.702158.57636Mark MartinRoush RacingFord22.738158.325455Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet22.764158.144516Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord22.795157.929644Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac22.811157.819794Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord22.825157.72282Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord22.827157.708912Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord22.849157.5561031Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.859157.4871121Elliott Sadler (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord22.863157.4601243John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac22.868157.425139Jerry NadeauMelling RacingFord22.891157.2671424Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.895157.2401522Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac22.910157.1371633Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet22.912157.1231741David GreenLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.912157.1231825Wally Dallenbach Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet22.952156.8491928Kenny Irwin Jr.Robert Yates RacingFord22.958156.8082011Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord22.970156.7262197Chad LittleRoush RacingFord22.975156.6922298Rick MastCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord22.994156.5632310Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord23.003156.5012420Tony Stewart (R)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac23.006156.481257Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet23.020156.3862691Dick TrickleLJ RacingChevrolet22.915157.1022742Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet22.989156.5972826Johnny Benson Jr.Roush RacingFord23.020156.3862936Ernie IrvanMB2 MotorsportsPontiac23.022156.3723030Derrike CopeBahari RacingPontiac23.035156.284311Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet23.048156.1963260Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet23.060156.1143340Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet23.061156.108343Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet23.066156.074354Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet23.068156.0603675Ted MusgraveButch Mock MotorsportsFord23.083155.959Provisionals3799Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord -* -*385Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet -* -*3923Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord -* -*4045Rich BickleTyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac -* -*4177Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord -* -*4258Ricky CravenSBIII MotorsportsFord -* -*4371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet -* -*Failed to qualify4466Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord23.378153.9914500Buckshot Jones (R)Buckshot RacingPontiac23.467153.4074690Hut StricklinDonlavey RacingFord23.779151.394Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results