| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 25 of 36 in the2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
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| Date | September 2, 2012 (2012-09-02) | ||
| Location | Atlanta Motor Speedway inHampton, Georgia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.54 miles (2.48 km) | ||
| Distance | 327 laps, 503.58 mi (810.433 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km) | ||
| Weather | Isolated storms with temperatures around 87°F; wind out of the SSW at 6 mph. | ||
| Average speed | 142.02 miles per hour (228.56 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Stewart–Haas Racing | ||
| Time | 29.787 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 105 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Allen Bestwick,Dale Jarrett andAndy Petree | ||
The2012 AdvoCare 500 was aNASCARSprint Cup Seriesstock car race held on September 2, 2012 atAtlanta Motor Speedway inHampton, Georgia,United States. Contested over 327 laps, it was the twenty-fifth race of the2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.Denny Hamlin ofJoe Gibbs Racing won the race, his fourth of the season, whileJeff Gordon finished second ahead ofBrad Keselowski.
Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of tenintermediate tracks to holdNASCAR races; the others areCharlotte Motor Speedway,Chicagoland Speedway,Darlington Raceway,Homestead Miami Speedway,Kansas Speedway,Kentucky Speedway,Las Vegas Motor Speedway,New Hampshire Motor Speedway, andTexas Motor Speedway.[3] The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turnquad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long.[4] The track's turns arebanked at twenty-fourdegrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.[4]
Before the race,Greg Biffle led theDrivers' Championship with 849 points, andJimmie Johnson stood in second with 838.Dale Earnhardt Jr. was third in the Drivers' Championship with 834 points, eleven ahead ofMatt Kenseth and 37 ahead ofMartin Truex Jr. in fourth and fifth.Clint Bowyer with 794 was four ahead ofBrad Keselowski, asDenny Hamlin with 774 points, was seven points ahead ofKevin Harvick, and 28 in front ofTony Stewart.[5] In theManufacturers' Championship,Chevrolet was leading with 167 points, 30 ahead ofToyota.Ford, with 122 points, was twenty points ahead ofDodge in the battle for third.[6]Jeff Gordon was the race's defending champion.[7]
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday, August 31, and two on Saturday, September 1. The first session lasted 90 minutes, and the second for 55 minutes. The third and final session finished after 50 minutes.[8] Truex Jr. was quickest with a time of 29.932 seconds in the first session, less than one tenth of a second faster thanKyle Busch.[9] Stewart was just off Busch's pace, followed by Keselowski,Kasey Kahne, and Bowyer. Kenseth was seventh, still within four tenths of a second of Truex's time.[9]
Forty-seven cars were entered for qualifying, but only forty-three could qualify for the race because of NASCAR'squalifying procedure.[10] Stewart clinched the fourteenthpole position of his career,[11] with a time of 29.787 seconds.[12] He was joined on the front row of thegrid by Biffle.[12] Kyle Busch qualified third, Kenseth took fourth, and Gordon started fifth.[12]Mark Martin, Hamlin, Johnson,Joey Logano andMarcos Ambrose rounded out the top ten. The four drivers that failed to qualify for the race wereMichael McDowell,Josh Wise,Stephen Leicht andMike Bliss.[12] Once the qualifying session concluded, Stewart stated, "That pole is 100 percent due to Ryan Newman. I'm not sure if we'd have run the line I'd planned on running we'd have been that fast. It's awesome having a teammate like that. I don't ever remember being here and seeing anybody run up at the top like he did."[11]
In the second practice session, Biffle was quickest with a time of 30.629 seconds.[13] Kenseth, with a time of 30.675, was second-quickest, ahead of Earnhardt Jr., Truex Jr., and Bowyer.[13] Gordon, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Johnson, and Keselowski completed the first ten positions.[13] Kenseth was scored quickest through the third practice session with a time of 30.653, 0.022 seconds faster than his fastest lap during the second session.[14] Gordon was second-quickest in the session, while Hamlin was scored third.[14] Kyle Busch followed in the fourth position ahead of Biffle, Keselowski and Stewart.[14] Truex Jr., Martin andJuan Pablo Montoya rounded out the first ten positions in eighth, ninth and tenth, respectively.[14]
The race, the 25th in theseason, began at 7:30 p.m. EDT and was televised live in theUnited States onESPN.[1] Hamlin won the race over second-placed Gordon after coming off of pit lane in the first position during the final caution forJamie McMurray's crash on the front stretch.[15]
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