| Race details[1][2][3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 31 of 36 in the2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
 The 2011 Bank of America 500 program cover, featuring anOktoberfest style party. Artwork bySam Bass. The painting is called "Octoberfast!" | |||
| Date | October 15, 2011 (2011-10-15) | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway,Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.5 miles (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 501 mi (806 km) | ||
| Weather | Clear with temperatures around 72 °F (22 °C), wind WNW at 8 mph. | ||
| Average speed | 146.194 miles per hour (235.276 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Stewart–Haas Racing | ||
| Time | 28.131 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 110 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers | Allen Bestwick,Dale Jarrett, andAndy Petree | ||
The2011 Bank of America 500 was aNASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on October 15, 2011, atCharlotte Motor Speedway inConcord, North Carolina. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) asphalt quad-oval, it was the 31st race of the2011 Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the fifth race in the ten-raceChase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. The race was won byMatt Kenseth for theRoush Fenway Racing team.Kyle Busch finished second, andCarl Edwards clinched third.
Charlotte Motor Speedway is one of tenintermediate to holdNASCAR races.[4] The standard track at Charlotte Motor Speedway is a four-turnquad-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.[5] The track's turns arebanked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is five degrees. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also had a five degree banking.[5] The racetrack has seats for 140,000 spectators.[5]
Heading into the fifth race of theChase for the Sprint Cup,Ford driverCarl Edwards was leading the Drivers' Championship with 2,161 points;Chevrolet driverKevin Harvick was second with 2,160 points, one point behind Edwards.[6] Behind Edwards and Harvick in the Drivers' Championship,Jimmie Johnson was third with 2,157 points in a Chevrolet, andBrad Keselowski was fourth with 2,150 points.Matt Kenseth was fifth with 2,149, four points ahead ofKurt Busch.[6]Tony Stewart,Kyle Busch,Dale Earnhardt Jr., andJeff Gordon rounded out the first ten positions in the Drivers' Championship.[6] Chevrolet had already secured the Manufacturer's Championship one week earlier after theHollywood Casino 400, and entered the race on 204 points, 43 points ahead of Ford on 161 points and 50 points ahead of Toyota.[7]Jamie McMurray was the race's defending winner.[8]
Three practice sessions were held before the race; the first on Thursday, which lasted 90 minutes. The second and third were both on Friday afternoon. The first Saturday practice lasted 45 minutes, while the second lasted 60.[9]Kasey Kahne was quickest with a time of 28.205 seconds in the first session, 0.018 seconds faster thanPaul Menard.[10]Greg Biffle was just off Busch's pace, followed byMark Martin,Regan Smith, andMarcos Ambrose.Denny Hamlin was seventh, still within two-tenths of a second of Edwards's time.[10]
Forty-six cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR'squalifying procedure.[11] Stewart clinched the 13thpole position of his career, with a time of 28.131 seconds.[12] He was joined on the front row of thegrid by Kenseth.[12] Edwards qualified third,A. J. Allmendinger took fourth, and Biffle started fifth.[12]Ryan Newman, Menard, Kahne, Johnson andTrevor Bayne rounded out the first ten positions. The three drivers that failed to qualify for the race wereGeoff Bodine,Scott Speed, andJosh Wise.[12]
Once the qualifying session completed, Stewart commented, "I was watching guys' lap times, and looking at the sheet to seeing what they practiced, and it wasn't as much [of an increase] as what we've seen. I think, obviously, we've had a lot of cloud cover today and cool temperatures here the last couple of days, so I don't think the track changed as much and got as hot during the day as what we typically see here. I think that's the reason that we didn't have the big pick-ups. But you still anticipate that, at night, the guys are going to pick up speed. It just seems like the air's a little muggier right now. I don't know whether that hurt horsepower or even created more drag and kind of evened everything out."[13]
In the second practice session, Keselowski was fastest with a time of 28.810 seconds, less than a tenth of a second quicker than second-placed Kahne. Newman took third place, ahead of Kurt Busch, Stewart and Kyle Busch. Johnson was only quick enough for the 10th position.[14] In the third and final practice, Kahne remained quickest with a time of 28.700 seconds. Menard followed in second, ahead of Biffle and Johnson.Jeff Burton was fifth quickest, with a time of 28.855 seconds. Newman, Ambrose, Gordon, Allmendinger, and Kurt Busch rounded out the first ten positions.[15]
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