2000 Save Mart/Kragen 350

Race details
Race 16 of 34 in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2000 Save Mart/Kragen 350 program cover, featuring Jeff Gordon.
Date	June 25, 2000
Official name	12th Annual Save Mart/Kragen 350
Location	Sonoma, California, Sears Point Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.99 mi (3.20 km)
Distance	112 laps, 218.288 mi (351.3 km)
Scheduled Distance	112 laps, 218.288 mi (351.3 km)
Average speed	78.789 miles per hour (126.799 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Rusty Wallace	Penske-Kranefuss Racing
Time	1:10.652
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	43
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
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 Save Mart/Kragen 350 was the 16th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 12th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 25, 2000, in Sonoma, California, at the club layout in Sears Point Raceway, a 1.99 miles (3.20 km) permanent road course layout. The race took the scheduled 112 laps to complete.

At race's end, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would dominate the late stages of a chaotic race to win his 51st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series win and his first of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the podium, Sterling Marlin of Team SABCO and Mark Martin of Roush Racing would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Sears Point Raceway used by NASCAR at the time.

Sears Point Raceway is one of two road courses to hold NASCAR races, the other being Watkins Glen International. The standard road course at Sears Point Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long; the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute, which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout.^[3] In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn, 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).

Practice

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 23, at 2:00 PM PST. each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round were 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, June 24, at 10:45 AM PST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time.^[4] Positions 26-36 were decided on time, while positions 37-43 were 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 did not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points was awarded a provisional.^[8]

Rusty Wallace of Penske-Kranefuss Racing won the pole, setting a time of 1:10.652 and an average speed of 99.309 miles per hour (159.822 km/h) in the first round.^[9]

Three drivers would fail to qualify: Rick Mast, Geoff Bodine, and R. K. Smith.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Bobby Labonte 2,400 2 Dale Earnhardt 2,333 (−67) 3 Dale Jarrett 2,271 (−129) 4 Ward Burton 2,196 (−204) 5 Jeff Burton 2,134 (−266) 2 6 Ricky Rudd 2,130 (−270) 2 7 Mark Martin 2,123 (−277) 1 8 Tony Stewart 2,115 (−285) 3 9 Rusty Wallace 2,089 (−311) 10 Jeff Gordon 2,059 (−341) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes

References