
The Federated Auto Parts 400 is an annual
NASCAR Cup Series
The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...
stock car race held at the
Richmond Raceway in
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
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, being the second of two races at the track with the first one being the
Toyota Owners 400 in the spring. As of 2020, the race is one of the ten races in the Cup Series
playoffs, run as the second race in the Round of 16. Previously, Richmond was home to the final race before the playoffs began and had been since NASCAR implemented them for the 2004 season; after the latest round of
schedule realignment that distinction now belongs to the
Coke Zero Sugar 400 at
Daytona International Speedway.
Starting in 1991, the race was moved from Sunday afternoon to Saturday night. It became the second night race on the NASCAR schedule, following
Bristol which takes place a few weeks earlier.
From 2000 to 2009, the race was sponsored in some form by
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
. For 2001 and 2002, the race sponsorship was in conjunction with
Warner Bros., with
Looney Tunes
''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. characters featured in several cars' paint jobs. For the 2003–2009 races, the race was known as the Chevy Rock and Roll 400, and various cars were painted to promote various rock music acts. The 2010 race saw the sponsorship move from Chevrolet to the
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...
, a branch of the
United States Air Force. The race was sponsored by
Roll Global through its Wonderful Pistachios brand, a division of Roll Global subsidiary Paramount Nuts in 2011. On May 2, 2012, Federated Auto Parts and Richmond International Raceway announced that Federated Auto Parts would become the race's sponsor starting in 2012.
The 2021 race, which took place on the 20th anniversary of the
September 11 attacks, was called the Federated Auto Parts 400 Salute to First Responders.
Because of its proximity to (and its occasionally being run on)
Patriot Day, the
Pledge of Allegiance is included as part of the opening ceremony.
Past winners
Notes
*1969: Race shortened from 500 laps due to rain.
*1988: Track reconfigured to 0.75 miles.
*1991: Race moved to a Saturday night event.
*2008: Race postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon due to rain.
*2012: Race started late due to rain; race finished on Sunday approximately 1:30am.
*2016 and 2017: Race extended due to an
overtime finish.
Track length notes
*1958–1967: 0.5 mile course
*1968: 0.625 mile course
*1969–1987: 0.542 mile course
*1988–present: 0.75 mile course
Multiple winners (drivers)
Multiple winners (teams)
Manufacturer wins
Notable moments
* 2013: The race, won by
Carl Edwards, was marred by a
team orders scheme (referred to as Spingate) designed to manipulate the outcome of the race and Chase positions in the final ten laps after
Clint Bowyer intentionally spun out to allow
Brian Vickers to pit after a restart from the caution, and
David Gilliland being asked to slow down to allow
Joey Logano to pass so that
Martin Truex Jr. and Logano could secure a spot in the
Chase for the Cup. NASCAR penalized the teams involved in the scheme (
Michael Waltrip Racing
Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC, doing business as Michael Waltrip Racing ("MWR"), was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The company was as a 50–50 partnership betwe ...
,
Penske Racing, and
Front Row Motorsports) that eliminated Truex from that year's Chase, while
Jeff Gordon was given a thirteenth slot (in a usually twelve-driver battle) in the Chase as a compensation.
References
External links
*
{{NASCAR Cup Series races, state=collapsed
1958 establishments in Virginia
NASCAR Cup Series races
Recurring sporting events established in 1958
Annual sporting events in the United States