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Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, is one of the biggest facilities in auto racing. The track is a mile and a half each lap and is in the shape of a quad-oval with a seating capacity of 167,000 permanent seats. The infield can hold an additional 50,000 people if necessary and the 121 executive suites are among the best in all of auto racing. For reasons like this and others, the track has been given the honor of hosting three of the biggest races of the NASCAR season. The first race, May 21 st, is the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge and the following week is the Coca-Cola 600. The biggest race of the season at Lowe’s Motor Speedway will take place on October 15 th when the circuit arrives for the UAW-GM Quality 500, the fifth race out of ten in the Chase for the Cup. The UAW-GM Quality 500 will also be the only one of the last ten races to take place under stadium lighting. Past winners of the race include Terry Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Tony Stewart. Last season, Jimmie Johnson won the Coca-Cola 600 and knew he needed a win at the UAW-GM Quality 500 to have any chance at winning the points championship.
Johnson took care of business as he crossed the finish line ahead of every other driver on the track but was a bit unlucky to see almost all of his competition follow soon after. Teammate Jeff Gordon finished second with Dale Earnhardt Jr. following in third and points leader Kurt Busch in fourth. Dale Jarrett, Elliott Sadler, and Tony Stewart also finished in the top ten of the UAW-GM Quality 500, so when all was said and done, Johnson win only moved him from 8 th place to 7 th in the points chase. With five races remaining, Busch still held a 24 point lead over Junior with Jeff Gordon in third and Sadler in fourth.
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