2005 UAW-Ford 500

The 2005 UAW-Ford 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race that took place on October 2, 2005 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It was the 29th race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the third in the ten-race, season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. Dale Jarrett of Robert Yates Racing would win the race.

Until the 2008 Aaron's 499, this was the last time a Hendrick Motorsports car did not win at Talladega.

Race recap
Pole sitter Elliott Sadler led the first lap of the race. Sadler's teammate Dale Jarrett took the lead but was immeadietly challenged for the lead by Tony Stewart and Stewart led lap 2. Jarrett got infront of Stewart on lap 3 and took the lead. On lap 4, Elliott Sadler took the lead back. On lap 9, Matt Kenseth took the lead from Sadler. Jimmie Johnson would take the lead on lap 10. On lap 13, Kenseth took the lead back from Johnson. On lap 14, Elliott Sadler regained the lead from Kenseth. On lap 16, a three wide battle for the lead ensued between Johnson, Sadler, and Jamie McMurray. Sadler led lap 16 but McMurray took the lead on lap 17. The first caution flew on lap 20 for the first big one that took out 8 cars and saw the first of two flips in the race in turn 1. Elliott Sadler was getting pushed by Jimmie Johnson when Johnson turned Sadler infront of him, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Mark Martin. Martin spun down and clipped Michael Waltrip which sent Waltrip flipping over twice with the rear axle hanging out of the car before it landed on all fours. The wreck involved Mike Skinner, Mike Bliss (who spun late to avoid the wreck), Joe Nemechek, Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler, and Jimmie Johnson. Matt Kenseth won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 28. On lap 30, Tony Stewart took the lead from Kenseth. Kenseth took it back on lap 31. Stewart took the lead back on lap 32. On lap 33, Kevin Harvick took the lead. Despite fixing the damage from the first wreck, Jimmie Johnson's left rear panel that was damaged from the crash was rubbing the left rear tire and the tire eventually exploded on the front stretch past the start finish line, laying debris on the race track and bringing out the second caution of the race on lap 34. During pitstops, Kyle Petty was coming in to pit but was turned by Bobby Labonte and spun into his own pit box with his crew on the wall jumping back to avoid getting hit. No one was hurt. Kurt Busch led the field to the restart on lap 38. On lap 42, Casey Mears took the lead from Busch. On lap 44, Tony Stewart led the lap racing side by side with Mears for the lead but couldn't make the pass. On lap 48, Jamie McMurray took the lead. On lap 52, Stewart and McMurray raced side by side for the lead with Stewart leading lap 52 and McMurray leading lap 53 before Stewart took full advantage. McMurray got side by side with Stewart again on lap 55 and led that lap before he fell back. On lap 57, the third caution flew for a 5 car crash out of turn 2 when Mike Bliss cut a tire and spun collecting Jeff Green, J. J. Yeley, Kerry Earnhardt, and Travis Kvapil who hit the wall avoiding Bliss. Brian Vickers won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 61.

On lap 64, Jamie McMurray took the lead. On the next lap, the second big one would occur in the tri-oval collecting 8 cars and saw a second flip in the race that was more violent then the first. Casey Mears was getting pushed by Ryan Newman when Newman turned Mears right infront of the field. Rusty Wallace went low to avoid Mears but Wallace hooked Scott Riggs in the right rear and spun Riggs up the track and Riggs hit the outside wall drivers side first and flipped him over on his roof. Riggs' car then went into violent sidewinder rolls past the start finish line and flipped violently 5 to 6 times with Jeff Burton barely clipping Riggs while he was flipping. Riggs got out of his car unhurt. The cars involved were Rusty Wallace, Mike Wallace, Scott Riggs, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, Casey Mears, and Jimmie Johnson. The race restarted on lap 71 with Jamie McMurray leading. On lap 77, the 5th caution flew when Kyle Busch hit the wall in turn 4 after getting loose. Kevin Harvick won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 81. On lap 83, Matt Kenseth took the lead. On lap 89, Kurt Busch took the lead. But on the next lap while he was leading, Busch blew a right front tire and hit the wall in turn 4 in almost the same spot as his brother Kyle. Ricky Rudd won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 94. On lap 97, Brian Vickers took the lead. On lap 98, Ryan Newman took the lead. On lap 109, the 7th caution flew for debris. Jamie McMurray won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 113. On lap 115, Tony Stewart took the lead from McMurray. On lap 120, Jamie McMurray took the lead but Stewart took it back on the next lap. On lap 128, the 8th caution flew for debris.

Final laps
Stewart won the race off of pit road and the race restarted on lap 132. On the restart, Matt Kenseth took the lead. But Stewart took it back on lap 133. Soon, green flag pitstops began with 29 to go. Stewart gave up the lead to Carl Edwards with 27 to go. After everything cycled through, Stewart was back in the lead. Stewart led a four car pack in single file with Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, and Joe Nemechek behind Stewart. But another single file pack led by Ryan Newman caught up to the four with 15 to go. With 13 to go, Jamie McMurray took the lead from Stewart. With 5 to go, Matt Kenseth took the lead from McMurray. But with 4 laps to go, the 9th caution flew when Ken Schrader blew a left rear tire and crashed in turns 3 and 4. The caution would set up a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Kenseth held onto the lead. In the tri-oval, Stewart got a big run from third and was challenging Kenseth for the lead as they took the white flag. On the final lap, Dale Jarrett came out of no where and passed both Kenseth and Stewart from the outside and took the lead. Down the backstretch, the 10th and final caution flew when Kyle Petty crashed into the inside wall. Jarrett was infront when the caution came out and Jarrett would win the race, his first of the season. This would be Jarrett's first win since the 2003 Subway 400 breaking a winless streak that spanned 98 races. This would be Jarrett's 32nd and final win of his Cup Series career. While he was celebrating, Kyle Petty decided he wanted to finish the race. His car was crab walking from the damage suffered when he crashed but Petty was able to nurse his car across the start finish line in 24th two laps down and was not handed a DNF. Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, and Carl Edwards rounded out the top 5 while Brian Vickers, Sterling Marlin, Kurt Busch, Joe Nemechek, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10.