2005 Golden Corral 500

Race details
Race 4 of 36 in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
2005 Golden Corral 500 program cover
Date	March 20, 2005 (2005-March-20)
Official name	Golden Corral 500
Location	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Distance	325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Average speed	143.478 miles per hour (230.905 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing
Time	28.476
Most laps led
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	156
Winner
No. 99	Carl Edwards	Roush Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2005 Golden Corral 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on March 20, 2005, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in Hampton, Georgia. Contested at 325 laps on the 1.54 mile (2.48 km) speedway, it was the 4th race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Carl Edwards of Roush Racing won the race, the first of his career.

Background

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Entry list