2005 Dinoco 400

The **2005 Dinoco 400** was a Piston Cup race held on November 5, 2005 at Motor Speedway Of The South in Motor City, Tennessee. Contested over 400 laps, this race was the finale of the 2005 Piston Cup season. This race is well-known in the history of the Piston Cup due to it being the only race that had a 3-way tie. Between Strip “The King” Weathers, Chick Hicks, and Lightning McQueen. A tiebreaker race was held a week after this race to determine the winner of the 2005 Piston Cup.

## Qualifying

The King would beat Lightning McQueen to the pole for this race with a time of 30.673, 2 thousandths of a second faster than McQueen.

Michael Cartrip got loose heading into Turn 1, and his rear hit the middle of the Turns 1-2 wall, damaging him severely. For the rest of the day, Cartrip’s pitties were miraculously able to repair him just in time for the race.

### Qualifying Classification

1. Strip “The King” Weathers
2. Lightning McQueen
3. Chick Hicks
4. Dale Earnhardt, jr.
5. Floyd Mulvihill
6. Slider Petrolski
7. Sage VanDerSpin
8. Ernie Gearson
9. W.B. Rutherford
10. Davey Apex
11. Kevin Shiftright
12. Jeff Gorvette
13. Chuck Armstrong
14. Murray Clutchburn
15. Crusty Rotor
16. Lee Revkins
17. Ralph Carlow
18. Brian Vickers
19. Aiken Axler
20. James Cleanair
21. Bobby Labumper
22. Rusty Cornfuel
23. Darrell Draggered
24. Brush Curber
25. Eugene Carbureski
26. Ryan Shields
27. Johnny Blamer
28. Haul Inngas
29. Billy Oilchanger
30. Todd Marcus
31. Kevin Racingtire
32. Claude Scruggs
33. Buck Schooner
34. Greg Candyman
35. Darren Leadfoot
36. Dirkson D’Agostino
37. James Sparktire
38. Misti Motorkrass
39. Manny Flywheel
40. Ponchy Wipeout
41. Michael Cartrip
42. Mac iCar
43. Ruby Oaks

## Race

The race started at 10:00 PM EST on 5 November. The King took the lead for the first 2 laps, but Chick Hicks passed him for the lead off of Turn 4 on Lap 2. He led until the first caution on Lap 27, where he did a PIT maneuver on Jeff Gorvette, sending him off the track and into the infield wall. Lightning McQueen, who was in 5th at the moment of caution, fell down the order to 31st. Lee Revkins took the lead after the restart, leading until Lap 57, where The King would retake the lead off of pit cycles. The second caution of the race came on Lap 76, where Bobby Labumper’s right rear tire blew on Turn 1, sending him into the wall. Billy Oilchanger took the lead after the restart, leading until Lap 83, where James Cleanair would pass him on the backstretch, leading for another 4 laps before losing the lead to Claude Scruggs, who would lead until Lap 90, where he would be passed on Turn 1 by The King, who would lead until Lap 102, where Chick Hicks would slam the door on him to take the lead. Winford Bradford Rutherford would take the lead on Lap 102, leading until Lap 113, where Chick Hicks would retake the lead. On Lap 160, Michael Cartrip’s gearbox would fail, meaning he would go to the garage. On Lap 164, Brian Vickers crashed, bringing out a fourth caution. Lee Revkins would retake the lead after the restart, and would lead until Lap 190, where Chick Hicks would do a PIT maneuver on him, sending him all the way down to 39th. Immediately afterward, The King overtook him, leading until Lap 194, where Hicks would do a PIT maneuver on Lightning McQueen, sending him down to 39th as well. He said “Dinoco’s All Mine” in Turn 3 before doing a PIT maneuver on W.B. Rutherford, setting off the largest “Big One” pileup in the history of the Piston Cup, with all racers except Hicks, The King, and Lightning McQueen involved. McQueen got through the wreckage by weaving between wrecked and stalled cars, and jumping onto Claude Scruggs’ tires and thus flying through the air over the last of the cars in the crash. Everyone except McQueen went into the pits after that. Chuck Armstrong, Darrell Draggered, James Sparktire, Ruby “Easy” Oaks, Haul Inngas, Lee Revkins, Claude Scruggs, and Buck Schooner went to the garage, as they had the most damage, with Armstrong going airborne and hitting the ground heavily. Since McQueen didn’t pit, he took the lead after the restart and led until the final lap, with Chick Hicks getting caught off in the pits and thus starting further back. Over the next 202 laps, while McQueen was dominating, some cars had to retire from the race. Manny Flywheel on Lap 207 due to an engine failure, W.B. Rutherford on Lap 272 due to a gearbox failure, James Cleanair on Lap 301 due to a loss of oil pressure, Greg Candyman on Lap 309 due to an engine failure, and Eugene Carbureski on Lap 335 due to his right rear tire getting cut by a damaged part of his quarter panel from being involved in the big pileup earlier. On Lap 330, Lightning McQueen pitted, but only for fuel. This came to bite him in the bumper on the final lap, when his rear 2 tires blew, which resulted in him, The King, and Chick Hicks being in a 3-way tie.

### Results

1. (3-Way Tie) Lightning McQueen (Laps: 400)
2. (3-Way Tie) Chick Hicks (Laps: 400)
3. (3-Way Tie) Strip “The King” Weathers (Laps: 400)
4. Kevin Shiftright (Laps: 400)
5. Aiken Axler (Laps: 400)
6. Floyd Mulvihill (Laps: 400)
7. Murray Clutchburn (Laps: 400)
8. Crusty Rotor (Laps: 400)
9. Ralph Carlow (Laps: 400)
10. Johnny Blamer (Laps: 400)
11. Dale Earnhardt, jr. (Laps: 400)
12. Billy Oilchanger (Laps: 400)
13. Todd Marcus (Laps: 400)
14. Ryan Shields (Laps: 400)
15. Darren Leadfoot (Laps: 400)
16. Ernie Gearson (Laps: 400)
17. Mac iCar (Laps: 400)
18. Dirkson D’Agostino (Laps: 400)
19. Ponchy Wipeout (Laps: 400)
20. Davey Apex (Laps: 400)
21. Sage VanDerSpin (Laps: 400)
22. Misti Motorkrass (Laps: 400)
23. Brush Curber (Laps: 400)
24. Rusty Cornfuel (Laps: 400)
25. Kevin Racingtire (Laps: 400)
26. Slider Petrolski (Laps: 400)
27. Eugene Carbureski (Laps: 335; Tire)
28. Greg Candyman (Laps: 309; Engine)
29. James Cleanair (Laps: 301; Oil pressure)
30. W.B. Rutherford (Laps: 272; Gearbox)
31. Manny Flywheel (Laps: 207; Engine)
32. Buck Schooner (Laps: 194; Collision)
33. Claude Scruggs (Laps: 194; Collision)
34. Lee Revkins (Laps: 194; Collision)
35. Haul Inngas (Laps: 194; Collision)
36. Ruby Oaks (Laps: 194; Collision)
37. James Sparktire (Laps: 194; Collision)
38. Darrell Draggered (Laps: 194; Collision)
39. Chuck Armstrong (Laps: 194; Collision)
40. Brian Vickers (Laps: 164; Crash)
41. Michael Cartrip (Laps: 160; Gearbox)
42. Bobby Labumper (Laps: 76; Crash)
43. Jeff Gorvette (Laps: 27; Crash)