2000 NAPA Auto Parts 500
The 2000 NAPA Auto Parts 500 was the tenth stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the fourth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 30, 2000, before an audience of 115,000 in Fontana, California, at the California Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 250 laps to complete. On the final restart with four laps left in the race, Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Jeremy Mayfield managed to defend the field to take the victory, overcoming an overheating car and a one lap deficit. The victory was Mayfield's second career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte and Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth finished second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 34 in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 2000 NAPA Auto Parts 500 program cover, featuring Jeff Gordon. | |||
| Date | April 30, 2000 | ||
| Official name | Fourth Annual NAPA Auto Parts 500 | ||
| Location | Fontana, California, California Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.2 km) | ||
| Distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Average speed | 149.378 miles per hour (240.401 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 115,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Richard Childress Racing | ||
| Time | 38.697 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Matt Kenseth | Roush Racing | |
| Laps | 120 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 12 | Jeremy Mayfield | Penske-Kranefuss Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ray Evernham | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
_-_Speedway.svg.png.webp)
California Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Auto Club Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The track's turns are banked at fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eleven degrees. The back stretch has 3 degrees of banking.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Practice
First practice
The first practice session was held on Friday, April 28, at 1:30 PM EST. The session lasted for two hours and 55 minutes. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Steve Park set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 38.584 and an average speed of 186.605 mph (300.312 km/h).[3]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Steve Park | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 38.584 | 186.605 |
| 2 | 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 38.668 | 186.200 |
| 3 | 77 | Robert Pressley | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 38.720 | 185.950 |
| Full first practice results | ||||||
Second practice
The second practice session was held on Saturday, April 29, at 1:30 PM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Team Menard's Robby Gordon set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 38.866 and an average speed of 185.252 mph (298.134 km/h).[3]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Robby Gordon | Team Menard | Ford | 38.866 | 185.252 |
| 2 | 33 | Joe Nemechek | Andy Petree Racing | Chevrolet | 39.031 | 184.469 |
| 3 | 42 | Kenny Irwin Jr. | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | 39.075 | 184.261 |
| Full second practice results | ||||||
Final practice
The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, April 29, after the preliminary 2000 Auto Club 300. The session lasted for one hour. Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Jeremy Mayfield set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 39.960 and an average speed of 180.180 mph (289.972 km/h).[3]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Jeremy Mayfield | Penske-Kranefuss Racing | Ford | 39.960 | 180.180 |
| 2 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R) | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 40.122 | 179.453 |
| 3 | 31 | Mike Skinner | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 40.155 | 179.305 |
| Full Happy Hour practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 14, at 4:00 PM EST. Each driver had two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two counted as their official qualifying lap. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round was 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, April 15, at 11:45 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver had two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap.[3] Positions 26–36 was decided on time, while positions 37–43 was 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.[4]
Mike Skinner, driving for Richard Childress Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 38.697 and an average speed of 186.061 miles per hour (299.436 km/h) in the first round.[5]
Three drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | 12 | Jeremy Mayfield | Penske-Kranefuss Racing | Ford | 250 | 26 | running | 180 | $125,925 |
| 2 | 36 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 250 | 0 | running | 170 | $135,300 |
| 3 | 23 | 17 | Matt Kenseth (R) | Roush Racing | Ford | 250 | 120 | running | 175 | $114,325 |
| 4 | 3 | 28 | Ricky Rudd | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 250 | 10 | running | 165 | $86,525 |
| 5 | 13 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford | 250 | 2 | running | 160 | $77,575 |
| 6 | 4 | 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 250 | 0 | running | 150 | $76,725 |
| 7 | 1 | 31 | Mike Skinner | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 250 | 64 | running | 151 | $70,950 |
| 8 | 11 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske-Kranefuss Racing | Ford | 250 | 0 | running | 142 | $64,150 |
| 9 | 33 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 250 | 0 | running | 138 | $70,650 |
| 10 | 32 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 250 | 0 | running | 134 | $75,950 |
| 11 | 26 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | running | 130 | $64,475 |
| 12 | 20 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R) | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | running | 127 | $52,375 |
| 13 | 25 | 25 | Jerry Nadeau | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | running | 124 | $53,475 |
| 14 | 5 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 250 | 7 | running | 126 | $58,175 |
| 15 | 38 | 97 | Chad Little | Roush Racing | Ford | 250 | 1 | running | 123 | $59,275 |
| 16 | 9 | 1 | Steve Park | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 250 | 2 | running | 120 | $51,875 |
| 17 | 35 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | running | 112 | $59,075 |
| 18 | 12 | 4 | Bobby Hamilton | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | running | 109 | $53,975 |
| 19 | 27 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford | 250 | 1 | running | 111 | $50,975 |
| 20 | 28 | 33 | Joe Nemechek | Andy Petree Racing | Chevrolet | 250 | 0 | running | 103 | $55,775 |
| 21 | 16 | 77 | Robert Pressley | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 249 | 1 | running | 105 | $42,875 |
| 22 | 40 | 16 | Kevin Lepage | Roush Racing | Ford | 249 | 0 | running | 97 | $50,075 |
| 23 | 14 | 10 | Johnny Benson Jr. | Tyler Jet Motorsports | Pontiac | 249 | 0 | running | 94 | $41,775 |
| 24 | 18 | 36 | Ken Schrader | MB2 Motorsports | Pontiac | 249 | 2 | running | 96 | $41,475 |
| 25 | 10 | 43 | John Andretti | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 249 | 6 | running | 93 | $56,875 |
| 26 | 30 | 44 | Kyle Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 249 | 0 | running | 85 | $48,975 |
| 27 | 22 | 75 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Galaxy Motorsports | Ford | 249 | 0 | running | 82 | $40,625 |
| 28 | 8 | 9 | Stacy Compton (R) | Melling Racing | Ford | 249 | 1 | running | 84 | $41,225 |
| 29 | 7 | 66 | Darrell Waltrip | Haas-Carter Motorsports | Ford | 248 | 1 | running | 81 | $40,125 |
| 30 | 21 | 7 | Michael Waltrip | Mattei Motorsports | Chevrolet | 248 | 0 | running | 73 | $47,925 |
| 31 | 29 | 13 | Robby Gordon | Team Menard | Ford | 248 | 0 | running | 70 | $36,750 |
| 32 | 37 | 40 | Sterling Marlin | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | 248 | 0 | running | 67 | $44,550 |
| 33 | 34 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 247 | 0 | running | 64 | $54,350 |
| 34 | 6 | 32 | Scott Pruett (R) | PPI Motorsports | Ford | 247 | 0 | running | 61 | $36,750 |
| 35 | 43 | 27 | Mike Bliss (R) | Eel River Racing | Pontiac | 247 | 0 | running | 58 | $35,975 |
| 36 | 41 | 55 | Kenny Wallace | Andy Petree Racing | Chevrolet | 246 | 0 | running | 55 | $43,900 |
| 37 | 42 | 60 | Dick Trickle | Joe Bessey Racing | Chevrolet | 239 | 0 | accident | 52 | $43,700 |
| 38 | 17 | 93 | Dave Blaney (R) | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 236 | 0 | running | 49 | $35,525 |
| 39 | 15 | 14 | Rick Mast | A. J. Foyt Racing | Pontiac | 220 | 0 | running | 46 | $35,475 |
| 40 | 2 | 26 | Jimmy Spencer | Haas-Carter Motorsports | Ford | 219 | 6 | accident | 48 | $43,400 |
| 41 | 31 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Brett Bodine Racing | Ford | 187 | 0 | running | 40 | $35,350 |
| 42 | 39 | 42 | Kenny Irwin Jr. | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | 99 | 0 | accident | 37 | $43,300 |
| 43 | 19 | 21 | Elliott Sadler | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 94 | 0 | engine | 34 | $43,250 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 44 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 45 | 90 | Ed Berrier (R) | Donlavey Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 46 | 72 | Dwayne Leik | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
- Poole, David (April 30, 2000). "Mayfield's win clouded by questions". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on March 9, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
- Glick, Shav (May 1, 2000). "Mayfield Manages to Come Through When Heat Is On". Los Angeles Times. pp. D1, D13. Retrieved August 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Jayski's Silly Season Site – California Race Info Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on August 16, 2000. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
- "Jayski's Silly Season Site – 2000 Provisional Start Status". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on November 23, 2005. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
- Poole, David (April 28, 2000). "Skinner snares 500 pole on record-hammering day". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on November 23, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2023.