The 2005 Food City 500 was the 5th race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, held on April 3, 2005, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. Pole position was won by Elliott Sadler of Robert Yates Racing, who had a pole time of 15.022 seconds. Rusty Wallace would lead the most laps of the day with 157. In the end, Kevin Harvick would win.

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2005 Food City 500

Race details
Race 5 of 36 in the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
The 2005 Food City 500 program cover.
Date	April 3, 2005
Location	Bristol Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.858 km)
Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (429 km)
Scheduled Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (429 km)
Average speed	77.496 mph
Attendance	160,000
Pole position
Driver	Elliott Sadler	Robert Yates Racing
Time	15.022
Most laps led
Driver	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing
Laps	157
Winner
No. 29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network	FOX
Announcers	Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip
Radio in the United States
Radio	Performance Racing Network

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Elliott Sadler would win the pole with a 15.022. Meanwhile, Carl Edwards would crash during qualifying after spinning off of Turn 2, causing him to start at the back.

This section needs expansion with: missing the last 349 laps. You can help by adding to it. (April 2024)

For pre-race ceremonies, Mike Rife from the Vansant Church of Christ would give out the invocation. A moment of silence was held for the death of Pope John Paul II during invocation. Columbia Recordings' artist Buddy Jewell would sing the national anthem. Jerry Kilgore would give out the command to start engines.

Elliott Sadler would jump to the lead on the start. Almost immediately, on the third lap Kasey Kahne would get loose in Turn 2, causing the field to stack up. This would eventually cause a wreck between Jason Leffler and Hermie Sadler, and while they had damage, none of the two would retire. The field would restart on lap 10, but on lap 21 the second caution would come out when Kyle Busch would push up Joe Nemechek into the frontstretch wall, causing him to turn down and hit Casey Mears, which ended Mears' day. On the lap 36 restart, Rusty Wallace would go to the lead. The third caution of the day came out when on lap 50 Stanton Barrett spun going into Turn 1, hitting the Turn 1 wall. Barrett would eventually retire due to oil pressure issues. The restart on lap 54 showed Wallce leading the field again, but the fourth caution would fly when Mike Bliss spun in Turn 1, collecting Kyle Busch. Michael Waltrip would take the lead from pit stops, and lead the field on the lap 75 restart until getting passed by Kevin Harvick on lap 90. Wallace would take over the lead on lap 101, when on lap 136 debris resting in Turn 2 would put out the fifth caution of the day.

On the lap 143 restart, Harvick would jump to the lead in two laps, but on lap 151 Ryan Newman would make contact with Ken Schrader going into Turn 3, cutting a tire down for Newman and causing him to spin.