Mears then overcorrected his car back to the right, right in front of a whole pack of cars causing others to check up and run into each other. Casey Mears got into Mike Bliss out of turn 2 causing Mears to spin to the left. The first caution did not take long as it came out on lap 1 out of turn 2 which was the big one collecting 10 cars.

The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. Carl Edwards of Roush Racing won the race, the first of his career.Ītlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. Contested at 325 laps on the 1.54 mile (2.48 km) speedway, it was the 4th race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.

The 2005 Golden Corral 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on March 20, 2005, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in Hampton, Georgia.