Contested over 267 laps on the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 36th and final race of the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.

Homestead-Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida.

Shepherd would pull into pit road, with his team scrambling to get back out on track.

Eerily, Hamlin's crash was about the same as the one as he had suffered in the Busch Series race he was qualifying for.

[a] Meanwhile, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, and Jimmie Johnson each had a mathematical chance to win the championship.