The 1999 UAW-GM Quality 500 was the 29th stock car race of the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, October 10, 1999, but was delayed to Monday, October 11 due to inclement weather. The race was held in front of an audience of 125,000 in Concord, North Carolina, at Lowe's Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. In the closing laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to close in and pass for the lead with eight to go to take his 49th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his seventh and final victory of the season. To fill out the podium, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte and Richard Childress Racing driver Mike Skinner would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Lowe's Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports (SMI) with Marcus Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet2Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet9Rich BickleMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord12Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord14Buckshot JonesIrvan-Simo RacingFord15Derrike CopeFenley-Moore MotorsportsFord16Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord17Matt KensethRoush 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 RacingFord30Todd BodineBahari RacingPontiac31Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet33Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36Jerry NadeauMB2 MotorsportsPontiac40Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet41Dick TrickleLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet43John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac45David GreenTyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac50Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet58Hut StricklinSBIII MotorsportsFord60Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet66Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Ted MusgraveButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord80Gary BradberryHover MotorsportsFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Ed BerrierDonlavey RacingFord91Andy HillenburgLJ RacingChevrolet94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord97Chad LittleRoush RacingFord98Rick MastCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFordOfficial entry list

Practice

First practice The first practice session was held on Wednesday, October 6, at 2:00 PM EST. The session would last for three hours. Bobby Labonte, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.242 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.242184.66526Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.326184.136312Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.338184.061Full first practice results

Second practice The second practice session was held on Thursday, October 7, at 9:00 AM EST. The session would last for 55 minutes. Johnny Benson Jr., driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.711 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed126Johnny Benson Jr.Roush RacingFord29.711181.750242Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet29.776181.35436Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.781181.323Full second practice results

Third practice The third practice session was held on Thursday, October 7, at 12:35 PM 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 29.847 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed16Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.847180.922218Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.927180.43932Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord30.127179.241Full third practice results

Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, October 9. The session would last for one hour. Bobby Labonte, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.321 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac30.321178.094299Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord30.323178.082312Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord30.327178.059Full Happy Hour practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wedesnday, October 6, at 7:00 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 Thursday, October 7, at 10:45 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 29.082 and an average speed of .

Seven drivers would fail to qualify: Darrell Waltrip, Buckshot Jones, Dave Marcis, Ed Berrier, Gary Bradberry, Hut Stricklin, and Andy Hillenburg.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.082185.68222Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.184185.033343John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac29.230184.74246Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.243184.660520Tony Stewart (R)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.377183.817622Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac29.389183.742723Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.391183.730898Rick MastCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord29.398183.686988Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord29.399183.6801036Jerry NadeauMB2 MotorsportsPontiac29.433183.4681155Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.435183.4551231Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.438183.436135Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.439183.430141Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.444183.399154Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29.460183.2991675Ted MusgraveButch Mock MotorsportsFord29.467183.256173Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.512182.9761816Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord29.524182.9021960Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet29.540182.8032012Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.555182.7102110Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord29.582182.5432224Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.588182.506237Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet29.593182.4762415Derrike CopeFenley-Moore MotorsportsFord29.597182.4512530Todd BodineBahari RacingPontiac29.611182.3652642Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet29.568182.6302717Matt KensethRoush RacingFord29.632182.2352850Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet29.641182.1802994Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord29.649182.1313011Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord29.655182.0943140Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet29.674181.9773245David GreenTyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac29.681181.9353397Chad LittleRoush RacingFord29.683181.9223428Kenny Irwin Jr.Robert Yates RacingFord29.684181.9163533Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.718181.7083641Dick TrickleLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.756181.476Provisionals3799Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord -* -*3825Wally Dallenbach Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet -* -*3926Johnny Benson Jr.Roush RacingFord -* -*4021Elliott Sadler (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord -* -*4144Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac -* -*429Rich BickleMelling RacingFord -* -*4377Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord -* -*Failed to qualify4466Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.848180.9174514Buckshot JonesIrvan-Simo RacingFord29.996180.0244671Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet30.012179.9284790Ed BerrierDonlavey RacingFord30.048179.7124880Gary BradberryHover MotorsportsFord30.080179.5214958Hut StricklinSBIII MotorsportsFord30.248178.5245091Andy HillenburgLJ RacingChevrolet31.774169.950Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results