# 2011 AdvoCare 500

The 2011 AdvoCare 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race scheduled to be held on September 4, 2011, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, but was rescheduled to September 6, 2011 because of Tropical Storm Lee. Contested over 325 laps, it was the 25th race of the 2011 Sprint Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon's win, the 85th of his Cup Series career, gave him sole possession of the record for most Cup wins in NASCAR's "modern era" (1972–present), surpassing Darrell Waltrip. Gordon also took sole possession of third place on the all-time Cup Series wins list, ahead of Waltrip and Bobby Allison. The race was also known for being the first NASCAR race since 2007 to be run on a Tuesday.

## Report
### Background

Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.
Before the race, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 830 points, and Matt Kenseth stood in third with 798 points. Carl Edwards was fourth in the Drivers' Championship with 795 points, and Kevin Harvick was fifth with 782 points. Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart rounded out the first ten positions. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 153 points, 19 points ahead of Ford. Toyota, with 133 points, was 25 points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third. Stewart was the race's defending champion.

### Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions were held before the Sunday race, one on Friday and the other on Saturday. The first session lasted 80 minutes, while the second session ran for 90 minutes. During the first practice session, Brad Keselowski was quickest, ahead of Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer in second and third. Martin Truex Jr. was scored fourth quickest, while Mark Martin was fifth. In the second and final practice session, Gordon was scored quickest, as Stewart and Bowyer followed in the second and third positions. Keselowski was scored in the fourth position, while Greg Biffle followed in fifth.
During qualifying, forty-seven cars were entered, but only forty-three would be able because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Kasey Kahne clinched his eighth career pole position, with a time of 29.775 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Bowyer. Kyle Busch qualified third, Brian Vickers took fourth, and Gordon started fifth. Kenseth, Edwards, Truex Jr., Newman, and Kurt Busch rounded out the first ten positions. The four drivers that failed to qualify for the race were T. J. Bell, David Stremme, Geoffrey Bodine, and Tony Raines.
After winning the pole position, Kahne stated, "It was definitely not a perfect lap, but it was a little better than what everyone else did. I've ran better laps than that before and not been on the pole. You never know what you're going to get, but the track is pretty slippery right now and I like it like that." He also commented, "We need to win if we want to make the Chase. Right now we're one of the ones on the outside looking in." Bowyer, who qualified second, was relieved because of his good starting position: "A good qualifying run is a breath of fresh air for all of us. We need a good run desperately." He continued, "She was loose, holy cow! It was a handful for all of us."

### Race

The race, the 25th in the season, was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. EDT. However, because of inclement weather from Tropical Storm Lee, NASCAR moved the start time twenty minutes earlier than the scheduled time. The race was not able to be held as expected on September 4, 2011 and was rescheduled on September 6, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. The race was televised live in the United States on ESPN. This race was the first NASCAR race to be held on a Tuesday since 2007.

## Results
### Qualifying

| No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time (s) | Speed (mph) | Grid |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 29.775 | 186.197 | 1 |
| 33 | Clint Bowyer | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 29.819 | 185.922 | 2 |
| 18 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 29.832 | 185.841 | 3 |
| 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Racing Team | Toyota | 29.843 | 185.772 | 4 |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 29.849 | 185.735 | 5 |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 29.853 | 185.710 | 6 |
| 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 29.877 | 185.561 | 7 |
| 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 29.880 | 185.542 | 8 |
| 39 | Ryan Newman | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 29.889 | 185.486 | 9 |
| 22 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | Dodge | 29.915 | 185.325 | 10 |
| 43 | A. J. Allmendinger | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 29.921 | 185.288 | 11 |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 29.939 | 185.176 | 12 |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 29.947 | 185.127 | 13 |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski | Penske Racing | Dodge | 29.949 | 185.115 | 14 |
| 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 29.958 | 185.059 | 15 |
| 00 | David Reutimann | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota | 30.000 | 184.800 | 16 |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 30.055 | 184.462 | 17 |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford | 30.086 | 184.272 | 18 |
| 6 | David Ragan | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford | 30.128 | 184.015 | 19 |
| 14 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet | 30.147 | 183.899 | 20 |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 30.163 | 183.801 | 21 |
| 27 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 30.183 | 183.680 | 22 |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte | JTG Daugherty Racing | Toyota | 30.230 | 183.394 | 23 |
| 20 | Joey Logano | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota | 30.232 | 183.382 | 24 |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet | 30.239 | 183.339 | 25 |
| 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet | 30.270 | 183.152 | 26 |
| 31 | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 30.275 | 183.121 | 27 |
| 66 | Michael McDowell | HP Racing | Toyota | 30.291 | 183.025 | 28 |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 30.312 | 182.898 | 29 |
| 46 | Scott Speed | Whitney Motorsports | Ford | 30.319 | 182.856 | 30 |
| 38 | J. J. Yeley | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 30.378 | 182.501 | 31 |
| 5 | Mark Martin | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 30.388 | 182.440 | 32 |
| 7 | Robby Gordon | Robby Gordon Motorsports | Dodge | 30.502 | 181.759 | 33 |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Toyota | 30.513 | 181.693 | 34 |
| 36 | Dave Blaney | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 30.556 | 181.437 | 35 |
| 34 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 30.673 | 180.745 | 36 |
| 51 | Landon Cassill | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 30.702 | 180.575 | 37 |
| 13 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Toyota | 30.757 | 180.252 | 38 |
| 60 | Mike Skinner | Germain Racing | Chevrolet | 30.798 | 180.012 | 39 |
| 32 | Mike Bliss | FAS Lane Racing | Ford | 30.819 | 179.889 | 40 |
| 55 | Travis Kvapil | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 30.822 | 179.872 | 41 |
| 71 | Andy Lally | TRG Motorsports | Ford | 31.060 | 178.493 | 42 |
| 95 | David Starr | Leavine Family Racing | Ford | 30.845 | 179.737 | 43 |
| Failed to Qualify |||||||
| 37 | Tony Raines | Max Q Motorsports | Ford | 30.870 | 179.592 | |
| 30 | David Stremme | Inception Motorsports | Chevrolet | 30.883 | 179.516 | |
| 35 | Geoffrey Bodine | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet | 31.014 | 178.758 | |
| 50 | T. J. Bell | LTD Powersports | Chevrolet | 31.034 | 178.643 | |
| Source: |||||||

### Race results
## Standings after the race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Jimmie Johnson | 873 |
| 2 | Kyle Busch | 852 (−21) |
| 3 | Carl Edwards | 835 (−38) |
| 4 | Matt Kenseth | 834 (−39) |
| 5 | Jeff Gordon | 830 (−43) |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Chevrolet | 162 |
| 2 | Ford | 139 (−23) |
| 3 | Toyota | 136 (−26) |
| 4 | Dodge | 114 (−48) |