2000 Food City 500

Race details
Race 6 of 34 in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2000 Food City 500 program cover. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
Date	March 26, 2000
Official name	40th Annual Food City 500
Location	Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.858 km)
Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Scheduled Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Average speed	88.018 miles per hour (141.651 km/h)
Attendance	147,000
Pole position
Driver	Steve Park	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Time	15.184
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	225
Winner
No. 2	Rusty Wallace	Penske-Kranefuss Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Performance Racing Network

The 2000 Food City 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 40th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 26, 2000, before an audience of 147,000 in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Raceway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. At race's end, Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Rusty Wallace managed to avoid wrecks and kept his car clean in the late stages of the race to take his 50th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series and his first victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Tyler Jet Motorsports's Johnny Benson Jr. and Bill Davis Racing's Ward Burton finished second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Bristol Motor Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.

Practice

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 24, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, March 25, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap.^[3] Positions 26–36 would be decided on time, while positions 37–43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots were awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh was awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points was awarded a provisional.^[5]

Steve Park, driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., managed to win the pole, setting a time of 15.184 and an average speed of 126.370 miles per hour (203.373 km/h) in the first round.^[6]

Four drivers failed to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Bobby Labonte 944 2 2 Ward Burton 903 (−41) 1 3 Mark Martin 900 (−44) 1 4 Dale Jarrett 826 (−118) 1 5 Dale Earnhardt 813 (−131) 4 6 Rusty Wallace 775 (−169) 1 7 Ricky Rudd 768 (−176) 1 8 Jeff Burton 759 (−185) 3 9 Terry Labonte 731 (−213) 3 10 Jeff Gordon 721 (−223) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References