Honest question: if Labonte lost in that exact same fashion on the last lap to Ryan Newman/Carl Edwards/Jeremy Mayfield (who finished 3-4-5) instead of the 48, how is that ending seen?
Never been a jimmie Johnson fan. But give him credit where it's due. The man has 7 championships 2 daytona 500 wins and 4 coke zero 600 wins, 3 back to back. Tony Stewart is my favorite but Jimmie Johnson is the best of my generation
Greatest Nascar driver of all time!! Period!! Clean race car driver all that Dale Earnhardt knew how to do was wreck drivers to win!! Jimmie Johnson greatest Nascar driver of all time period!!
I'm sure this had to be frustrating for Labonte fans, but that said.... he had good fortune himself on the last lap (Bill Elliott'a tire at Homestead, Jerry Nadeau running out of fuel Atlanta) Between this and Biffle/2003 Pepsi 400, everything ultimately evened out in a way.
After a record 22 cautions that ate up 103 (154.5 of 600 miles) of the 400 laps, the race came down to a final margin of victory of 0.027 seconds, one one-thousandth closer than Edwards over Johnson at Atlanta earlier that year and Sadler over Kahne at Texas in 2004. There were a ton of great finishes other than the Glen in 2012 or the Aaron's 499 at Talladega since this event. What about Homestead that year with Biffle over Martin, Harvick over Martin in the 2007 Daytona 500, McMurray over Kyle Busch in the 2007 Pepsi 400, and Edwards going BANZAI! at Kansas in 2008 but it backfired and Johnson won. The 22 cautions record still stands of all places at Charlotte, then it's Martinsville with 21, and Bristol 3 times with 20.
+Matthew Kowal (Matt102490) Also, don't forget Jeff Gordon's 85th career win, where he had to hold off Jimmie Johnson in a battle on worn tires. That was almost like a dirt track race!
James Foster they only repaved it once in johnsons time, they levegated the track, which made it much smoother and faster, but chewed up tires like crazy, which is why they repaved the whole thing a year later
Bobby was running on old tires, he wasn’t going to get too much grip on the high side. The low line usually is a lot cleaner (less marbles/debris)than the high side.
It was at this point where I knew another Hendrick Golden Boy was being born. JG then JJ. This is the moment i started not giving a crap for Johnson. lol
+Chris Kreager I don't think so. He got really loose off of turn 4, and Jimmie Johnson was already along side of him. I think if he was still in race-win mode, Bobby Labonte would've just pulled away, and Carl still would've lost 2nd to JJ.
3:35 It might've been a great finish, but it was not a popular win by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of fans were pretty irritated with Johnson's attitude that season, and it showed when they showed boos down on him.
Really I didn't even notice that the whole season. Thought everyone get tired of him after the 4 straight championship. Fans still really didn't care he won 3 to 6 races each year til that fifth championship. Dude that's a popular win and one of the greatest finishes I seen. The 2011 Aaron's 499 and 2012 Watkins Glen are the only better finishes since this race.
Well, that's an interesting opinion. It wasn't until Jimmie started winning more titles IMO that more people started to hate him. In racing, they love you until you win too much. Really, up until 2006, Jimmie had been snakebitten when it came to winning the big one (the pace lap Talladega incident with Mark Martin, the August 2004 string of bad finishes, the Homestead '05 crash) and don't forget what seemingly was another snakebite, the Vickers Talladega final lap debacle. I admittedly thought after that he was potentially about to become this generation's Mark Martin. The funny thing is, while Jimmie is remembered as a dominator, he actually had to pull off a monster comeback just to get that first title- remember, he was 7th going into Martinsville just after the Vickers last lap Talladega incident I thought had killed his chances. Personally, in retrospect, I'm glad Jimmie at least was able to win one title before the CoT came aboard.
+Chris Kreager remember that 2007 Chase. Jimmie won at Texas and Atlanta and he didn't have the fastest cars. Chad made great decisions taking 2 tires for track position to get 1st with the last caution at Atlanta and 4 tires to beat Kenseth with 2 tires on that final restart.
Honest question: if Bobby Labonte lost in that exact same fashion on the last lap to: Ryan Newman/Carl Edwards/Jeremy Mayfield (who finished 3-4-5) Joe Nemechek (who was leading before the last caution) Would any of them have gotten booed had they won the same way?
![2005 Coca-Cola 600 [32/32] (Victory Lane)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/VrcBfe9BomA/mqdefault.jpg)
![2005 Coca-Cola 600 [32/32] (Victory Lane)](/img/tr.png)
Honest question: if Labonte lost in that exact same fashion on the last lap to Ryan Newman/Carl Edwards/Jeremy Mayfield (who finished 3-4-5) instead of the 48, how is that ending seen?
still a great ending. not the same storylines, but an awesome ending regardless
I watch this race over and over, and I still hope Bobby holds him off for the win.
Daniel Vaughan So did I.
this was a point in time where it wasnt Lowe's Motor Speedway it was Johnson Motorsports Park
If Jimmie hadn't overdrove his pit stall back in 2002, this would have been 4 straight 600's.
+Chris Kreager And Jimmie would've broken Tony Stewart's record for most wins by a rookie.
Never been a jimmie Johnson fan. But give him credit where it's due. The man has 7 championships 2 daytona 500 wins and 4 coke zero 600 wins, 3 back to back. Tony Stewart is my favorite but Jimmie Johnson is the best of my generation
Incredible!
Greatest Nascar driver of all time!! Period!! Clean race car driver all that Dale Earnhardt knew how to do was wreck drivers to win!! Jimmie Johnson greatest Nascar driver of all time period!!
There nothing as beautiful as a night race.
Excellent finish ! 🏁
Nice job by Truex finishing 7th in just his 5th start. And how about Ken Schrader finising 9th!
unforgetable
I'm sure this had to be frustrating for Labonte fans, but that said.... he had good fortune himself on the last lap (Bill Elliott'a tire at Homestead, Jerry Nadeau running out of fuel Atlanta)
Between this and Biffle/2003 Pepsi 400, everything ultimately evened out in a way.
Good point! 👍👍
5 years later, Steve Addington would get that Coca-Cola 600 win with Kurt Busch.
4:39 is how 90% of us felt after that race
If there's 1 driver I'd love to see win another race, it's Bobby Labonte
I miss these cars. Bobby was great. So close.
Take the tapered spacer off and give them all of the tires in the world!
After a record 22 cautions that ate up 103 (154.5 of 600 miles) of the 400 laps, the race came down to a final margin of victory of 0.027 seconds, one one-thousandth closer than Edwards over Johnson at Atlanta earlier that year and Sadler over Kahne at Texas in 2004. There were a ton of great finishes other than the Glen in 2012 or the Aaron's 499 at Talladega since this event. What about Homestead that year with Biffle over Martin, Harvick over Martin in the 2007 Daytona 500, McMurray over Kyle Busch in the 2007 Pepsi 400, and Edwards going BANZAI! at Kansas in 2008 but it backfired and Johnson won. The 22 cautions record still stands of all places at Charlotte, then it's Martinsville with 21, and Bristol 3 times with 20.
+Matthew Kowal (Matt102490) Also, don't forget Jeff Gordon's 85th career win, where he had to hold off Jimmie Johnson in a battle on worn tires. That was almost like a dirt track race!
bobby dont look back. but hes gaining and coming fast
Nascar 07 challenge
600 miles for the extra inch
Jimmie Johnson 48
COCA CRASHFEST 600...
The closest that version of the FedEx car came to victory lane (the orange/purple version was gone by the time Hamlin got going)
Hamlin won the pole award at Phoenix in November 2005. That's how he was able to win the 2006 Bud Shootout
I think Charlotte's two repaves really helped Johnson dominate Charlotte even more while it was still called Lowe's
James Foster they only repaved it once in johnsons time, they levegated the track, which made it much smoother and faster, but chewed up tires like crazy, which is why they repaved the whole thing a year later
Why didn't Labonte simply move up and block him? I know it's not Daytona/Talladega, but.... still.
+Chris Kreager I think because Bobby knew he ran better on the bottom, so he thought he could hold him off.
Bobby was running on old tires, he wasn’t going to get too much grip on the high side. The low line usually is a lot cleaner (less marbles/debris)than the high side.
It was at this point where I knew another Hendrick Golden Boy was being born. JG then JJ. This is the moment i started not giving a crap for Johnson. lol
I was there!!
Another factor in this finish- Carl Edwards 'big-picture racing.'
Could HE have caught Labonte?
+Chris Kreager I don't think so. He got really loose off of turn 4, and Jimmie Johnson was already along side of him. I think if he was still in race-win mode, Bobby Labonte would've just pulled away, and Carl still would've lost 2nd to JJ.
Maybe that’s what they need to do is get these cars off the ground a bit in 2021.
3:35 It might've been a great finish, but it was not a popular win by any stretch of the imagination. A lot of fans were pretty irritated with Johnson's attitude that season, and it showed when they showed boos down on him.
Really I didn't even notice that the whole season. Thought everyone get tired of him after the 4 straight championship. Fans still really didn't care he won 3 to 6 races each year til that fifth championship. Dude that's a popular win and one of the greatest finishes I seen. The 2011 Aaron's 499 and 2012 Watkins Glen are the only better finishes since this race.
Well, that's an interesting opinion. It wasn't until Jimmie started winning more titles IMO that more people started to hate him.
In racing, they love you until you win too much. Really, up until 2006, Jimmie had been snakebitten when it came to winning the big one (the pace lap Talladega incident with Mark Martin, the August 2004 string of bad finishes, the Homestead '05 crash) and don't forget what seemingly was another snakebite, the Vickers Talladega final lap debacle.
I admittedly thought after that he was potentially about to become this generation's Mark Martin.
The funny thing is, while Jimmie is remembered as a dominator, he actually had to pull off a monster comeback just to get that first title- remember, he was 7th going into Martinsville just after the Vickers last lap Talladega incident I thought had killed his chances.
Personally, in retrospect, I'm glad Jimmie at least was able to win one title before the CoT came aboard.
+Chris Kreager remember that 2007 Chase. Jimmie won at Texas and Atlanta and he didn't have the fastest cars. Chad made great decisions taking 2 tires for track position to get 1st with the last caution at Atlanta and 4 tires to beat Kenseth with 2 tires on that final restart.
Honest question: if Bobby Labonte lost in that exact same fashion on the last lap to:
Ryan Newman/Carl Edwards/Jeremy Mayfield (who finished 3-4-5)
Joe Nemechek (who was leading before the last caution)
Would any of them have gotten booed had they won the same way?