O'Reilly Auto Parts 500
NASCAR Cup Series
VenueTexas Motor Speedway
LocationFort Worth, Texas, United States
Corporate sponsorO'Reilly Auto Parts
First race1997
Last race2020
Distance501 miles (806 km)
Laps334 (Stages 1/2: 105 each
Final stage: 124)
Previous namesInterstate Batteries 500 (1997)
Texas 500 (1998)
Primestar 500 (1999)
DirecTV 500 (2000)
Harrah's 500 (2001)
Samsung / RadioShack 500 (2002–2006)
Samsung 500 (2007–2009)
Samsung Mobile 500 (2010–2012)
NRA 500 (2013)
Duck Commander 500 (2014–2016)
Most wins (driver)Kyle Busch (3)
Most wins (team)Roush Fenway Racing (7)
Most wins (manufacturer)Ford (10)
Circuit information
SurfaceAsphalt
Length1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Turns4

The O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) in Fort Worth, Texas. Even though it is advertised as a "500-mile" race, because TMS is a track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) in length, the actual race distance is 501 miles (806.3 km). Austin Dillon was the last race winner having won it in 2020.

Race history

The first two runnings of the race were controversial, crash-strewn affairs, with universal criticism that the track's design was one groove; Kenny Wallace argued, "They're so busy building condos they don't have time to fix the racetrack."

There were ten different winners in the first ten races, the longest such streak for any NASCAR track in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. This list includes Texas Native Terry Labonte, who won in 1999, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning his first race in 2000. Jeff Burton, the winner of the inaugural race, broke that streak by getting his second Texas win in a last-lap pass in 2007. In 2011, the race became a Saturday night event, whereas before it was always a Sunday afternoon race. This was done since the night race at Phoenix was moved to February and became a day race. The 2011 race was run on April 9, 2011, and was the first scheduled night race of the season, and in Texas Motor Speedway history for the Cup Series.

In 2013, NASCAR became involved in controversy when the National Rifle Association (NRA) began to sponsor the race; although race sponsorships are negotiated with the track owner, not NASCAR itself, the sanctioning organization has final approval and did not object to the sponsorship.[1][2][3][4] Both NASCAR's acceptance of this sponsorship, and its timing, has been controversial, and offensive to gun control activists.[5][6][7][8] Because of the sponsorship, Senator Chris Murphy asked Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corporation owns Fox Sports, which was scheduled to air the race, to not broadcast it.[9] Fox broadcast the race as scheduled, not least because failure to do so would have been a breach of the network's contract with NASCAR. However, Fox only used the official sponsored name once per hour (the minimum mandated by NASCAR) and otherwise referred to it generically (in this case as the "Texas 500"), the network's usual practice when a race's title sponsor does not buy ads during the race broadcast; the NRA reportedly did not seek to purchase any such ads.[1] The NRA would return as a race sponsor in 2016 for the Bristol Night Race in August at Speedway's owned Bristol Motor Speedway.[10]

In 2014, the race returned to being a Sunday afternoon race because of the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four games being held at AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington so that the race occurs on a day in between tournament games.[11] On February 6, 2014, Duck Commander, the business that is the subject of the TV show Duck Dynasty, bought the naming rights for the race.[12] The race returned to its Saturday night date in 2015.[13] In 2017, the race would once again return to Sunday afternoon and the race was renamed under a new sponsorship deal with O'Reilly Auto Parts.[14]

Since 2002, the trophy awarded to the winner has been cowboy boots, a white cowboy hat, and a pair of six-shooters to fire off in victory lane. The winner of the event and the same goes for the Fall race, bolts their name onto a Wall of Champions that have their name engraved on a plate using a laser engraver.

Samsung sponsored the race from 2002 to 2012, while RadioShack was previously a co-sponsor. The joint sponsorship was grandfathered in 2003 by NASCAR's grandfather clause when Nextel became a NASCAR sponsor, as they banned rival wireless sponsorships (Nextel used Motorola exclusively); the ban was lifted after the 2005 merger of Sprint and Nextel because Sprint is sold at RadioShack, and Sprint offers Samsung products.

The race was removed from the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series as Texas Motor Speedway instead hosted NASCAR All-Star Race and Circuit of the Americas in Austin was added to the schedule.[15]

Past winners

Year Date No. Driver Team Manufacturer Sponsor Race Distance Race Time Average Speed
(mph)		 Report Ref
Laps Miles (km)
1997 April 6 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford Exide Batteries 334 501 (806.281) 4:00:16 125.111 Report [16]
1998 April 5 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Valvoline/Cummins 334 501 (806.281) 3:39:47 136.771 Report [17]
1999 March 28 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kellogg's 334 501 (806.281) 3:28:21 144.276 Report [18]
2000 April 2 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet Budweiser 334 501 (806.281) 3:49:12 131.152 Report [19]
2001 April 1 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford UPS 334 501 (806.281) 3:31:59 141.804 Report [20]
2002 April 8* 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford DeWalt 334 501 (806.281) 3:31:01 142.453 Report [21]
2003 March 30 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing Dodge Alltel 334 501 (806.281) 3:43:28 134.517 Report [22]
2004 April 4 38 Elliott Sadler Robert Yates Racing Ford M&M's 334 501 (806.281) 3:36:30 138.845 Report [23]
2005 April 17 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford Post-It/National Guard 334 501 (806.281) 3:51:08 130.055 Report [24]
2006 April 9 9 Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 334 501 (806.281) 3:37:55 137.943 Report [25]
2007 April 15 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Prilosec OTC 334 501 (806.281) 3:39:41 143.359 Report [26]
2008 April 6 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford Aflac 339* 508.5 (818.351) 3:30:41 144.814 Report [27]
2009 April 5 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DuPont/National Guard/GED Plus 334 501 (806.281) 3:25:22 146.372 Report [28]
2010 April 19* 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota FedEx Ground 334 501 (806.281) 3:25:34 146.23 Report [29]
2011* April 9 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford Crown Royal Black 334 501 (806.281) 3:21:26 149.231 Report [30]
2012 April 14 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 3M/Filtrete 334 501 (806.281) 3:07:12 160.577 Report [31]
2013 April 13 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Interstate Batteries 334 501 (806.281) 3:27:40 144.751 Report [32]
2014 April 7*[33] 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford Shell/Pennzoil/Hertz 340* 510 (820.765) 3:39:02 134.191 Report [34]
2015 April 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's Pro Services 334 501 (806.281) 3:33:57 140.5 Report [35]
2016 April 9–10* 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Interstate Batteries 334 501 (806.281) 3:37:16 138.355 Report [36]
2017 April 9 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's/Hitachi 334 501 (806.281) 3:24:18 147.137 Report [37]
2018 April 8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Interstate Batteries 334 501 (806.281) 3:32:07 141.714 Report [38]
2019 March 31 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota FedEx Office 334 501 (806.281) 3:16:11 153.224 Report [39]
2020 July 19 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Off-Road 334 501 (806.281) 3:38:57 137.292 Report [40]

Notes

  • 2002, 2010, & 2014: Race moved from Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon due to rain.
  • 2008 and 2014: Race extended due to a NASCAR Overtime finish
  • 2011: First scheduled night event in NASCAR Cup Series history at Texas Motor Speedway.
  • 2016: The race was delayed by rain for 2 hours. Race was completed early Sunday morning at 2:45 am CT.[41]
  • 2020: Race postponed from March 29 to July 19 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[42][43]

Multiple winners (drivers)

# Wins Driver Years Won
3 Kyle Busch 2013, 2016, 2018
2 Jeff Burton 1997, 2007
Matt Kenseth 2002, 2011
Greg Biffle 2005, 2012
Jimmie Johnson 2015, 2017
Denny Hamlin 2010, 2019

Multiple winners (teams)

# Wins Team Years Won
7 Roush Fenway Racing 1997, 1998, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012
5 Joe Gibbs Racing 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019
4 Hendrick Motorsports 1999, 2009, 2015, 2017
2 Robert Yates Racing 2001, 2004
Team Penske 2003, 2014
Richard Childress Racing 2007, 2020

Manufacturer wins

# Wins Manufacturer Years Won
10 Ford 1997, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2014
7 Chevrolet 1999, 2000, 2007, 2009, 2015, 2017, 2020
5 Toyota 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019
2 Dodge 2003, 2006
# Wins Sponsor Years Won
3 Interstate Batteries 2013, 2016, 2018
2 National Guard 2005, 2009
FedEx 2010, 2019
Lowe's 2015, 2017

References

  1. 1 2 Ryan, Nate (2013-03-04). "National Rifle Association sponsors NASCAR Sprint Cup race". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
  2. ↑ Short Bus (2013-03-08). "NASCAR NRA 500". Daily Kos. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
  3. ↑ "NRA Nascar sponsorship: Texas race will be known as NRA 500 - Associated Press". Politico.Com. ASSOCIATED PRESS. 2013-03-05. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
  4. ↑ "NRA to be title sponsor for NASCAR Cup race in Texas". Fox News. March 5, 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
  5. ↑ Zach Bowman RSS feed Google+. "Conn. Senator Murphy urges NASCAR to reconsider NRA race sponsorship [w/poll]". Autoblog.com. Retrieved 2013-04-10. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  6. ↑ "New MURPHY URGES NASCAR TO REVERSE DECISION TO NAME NEW RACE NRA 500". Politicalnews.me. Archived from the original on 2014-03-28. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
  7. ↑ Populi, Vox. "Vox Populi: 'Now that the NRA is sponsoring a NASCAR race, I'm glad I stopped following NASCAR years ago.'". savannahnow.com. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
  8. ↑ Terkel, Amanda (April 8, 2013). "NRA 500 NASCAR Race Will Be Free From Gun Group Propaganda, Says Organizer". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
  9. ↑ Gendreau, LeAnne; Schulz, Sam (2013-04-11). "Conn. Senator to Rupert Murdoch: Don't Air NRA-500 Race". NBC Bay Area. KNTV. Retrieved 2013-04-11.
  10. ↑ Pockrass, Bob (2015-11-06). "NRA will sponsor NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway". ESPN. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  11. ↑ "Texas Motor Speedway alters race schedule with NCAA Final Four in Dallas"
  12. ↑ Owens, Jeff (February 6, 2014). "Duck Dynasty stars to sponsor NASCAR race at Texas". Sporting News. Archived from the original on February 8, 2014. Retrieved February 6, 2014.
  13. ↑ "NASCAR reveals 2015 schedules for national series". NASCAR. August 26, 2014. Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  14. ↑ "O'Reilly Auto Parts Signs Multi-year Entitlement Deal for Annual Spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Race". Texas Motor Speedway. 2016-05-16. Archived from the original on 2016-06-19. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
  15. ↑ Sturbin, John (September 30, 2020). "NASCAR All-Star Race headlines revamped 2021 schedule at Texas Motor Speedway". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  16. ↑ "1997 Interstate Batteries 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  17. ↑ "1998 Texas 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  18. ↑ "1999 Primestar 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  19. ↑ "2000 DirecTV 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  20. ↑ "2001 Harrah's 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  21. ↑ "2002 Samsung / Radio Shack 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  22. ↑ "2003 Samsung / Radio Shack 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  23. ↑ "2004 Samsung / Radio Shack 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  24. ↑ "2005 Samsung / Radio Shack 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  25. ↑ "2006 Samsung / Radio Shack 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  26. ↑ "2007 Samsung 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  27. ↑ "2008 Samsung 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  28. ↑ "2009 Samsung 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  29. ↑ "2010 Samsung Mobile 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  30. ↑ "2011 Samsung Mobile 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  31. ↑ "2012 Samsung Mobile 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  32. ↑ "2013 NRA 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  33. ↑ Hawkins, Stephen (April 6, 2014). "Rain postpones NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  34. ↑ "2014 Duck Commander 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  35. ↑ "2015 Duck Commander 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  36. ↑ "2016 Duck Commander 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  37. ↑ "2017 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  38. ↑ "2018 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  39. ↑ "2019 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  40. ↑ "2020 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  41. ↑ Jennings, Randy (April 10, 2016). "As far as rain delays at Texas Motor Speedway go, the one before the Duck Commander 500 was a breeze". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  42. ↑ "COVID-19 Impacts NASCAR Schedule Through May 3, TMS O'Reilly 500 Postponed". KXAS-TV. March 16, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  43. ↑ "O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 to return to Metroplex in July". Austin American-Statesman. June 4, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
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