2000 Daytona 500

Race details
Race 1 of 34 in the2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2000 Daytona 500 logo.
Date	February 20, 2000
Official name	42nd Annual Daytona 500
Location	Daytona Beach, Florida,Daytona International Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	2.5 miles (4.0 km)
Distance	500 laps, 400 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed	154.972 miles per hour (249.403 km/h)
Attendance	200,000
Pole position
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Time	47.098
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Laps	89
Winner
No. 88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Mike Joy,Buddy Baker,Ned Jarrett
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The2000 Daytona 500 was the firststock car race of the2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, the first of fiveNo Bull 5 races, and the 42nd iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, February 20, 2000, before an audience of 200,000 inDaytona Beach, Florida atDaytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.

In the final laps of the race,Robert Yates Racing'sDale Jarrett engaged in a battle for the lead againstTyler Jet Motorsports'Johnny Benson Jr. With four laps left in the race, Jarrett was able to pass Benson, retaining the lead until a caution came out with two laps left in the race forJimmy Spencer. As the race ended under caution, Jarrett was the declared the winner at race's end. The victory was Jarrett's 23rd careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his first victory of the season, and his third and final Daytona 500 victory.^[1][2] To fill out the top three,Roush Racing'sJeff Burton and owner-driverBill Elliott finished second and third, respectively.

Daytona International Speedway is one of threesuperspeedways to holdNASCAR races, the other two beingIndianapolis Motor Speedway andTalladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31degrees, while thefront stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

After years of complaints over suspension issues first exposed after two fatal crashes in1994 regarding overaggressive shock and spring setups, NASCAR decided for the "restrictor plate" races to implement standardised shocks and springs.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

The first practice session was held on Friday, February 11, at 10:00 AMEST. The session lasted for two hours.^[4]Penske-Kranefuss Racing'sRusty Wallace set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 47.555 and an average speed of 189.255 mph (304.576 km/h).^[5]

The second practice session was held on Friday, February 11, at 12:30 PMEST. The session lasted for two hours and 20 minutes.^[4]Penske-Kranefuss Racing'sRusty Wallace set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 47.425 and an average speed of 189.773 mph (305.410 km/h).^[6]

The third practice session was held on Saturday, February 12, at 8:30 AMEST. The session lasted for one hour and 10 minutes.^[4]Robert Yates Racing'sRicky Rudd set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 47.344 and an average speed of 190.098 mph (305.933 km/h).^[7]

The fourth practice session was held on Monday, February 14, at 10:00 AMEST. The session lasted for one hour and 30 minutes.Andy Petree Racing'sJoe Nemechek set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 46.663 and an average speed of 192.872 mph (310.397 km/h).^[4]

During the session, a crash involvingJeff Fuller andGreg Sacks occurred, forcing both drivers to use backup cars for the Gatorade 125s.^[8]

The fifth practice session was held on Tuesday, February 15, at 12:30 PMEST. The session lasted for one hour and 55 minutes.^[4]Tyler Jet Motorsports'Johnny Benson Jr. set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 46.375 and an average speed of 194.070 mph (312.325 km/h).^[9]

The sixth practice session was held on Wednesday, February 16, at 10:30 AMEST. The session lasted for one hour and 30 minutes.^[4]Penske-Kranefuss Racing'sRusty Wallace set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 46.367 and an average speed of 194.104 mph (312.380 km/h).^[10]

The seventh practice session was held on Wednesday, February 16, at 10:30 AMEST. The session lasted for one hour and 30 minutes.^[4] Owner-driverBill Elliott set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 46.308 and an average speed of 194.351 mph (312.778 km/h).^[11]

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, February 19, after the preliminary2000 NAPA Auto Parts 300. The session lasted for one hour.^[4]Hendrick Motorsports'Jeff Gordon set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 46.478 and an average speed of 193.640 mph (311.633 km/h).^[12]

During the session, Dale Jarrett was involved in a spin in the track's first and second turns after a check-up byMike Bliss caused a chain reaction of drivers slowing down. Jarrett was, however, able to save the car and continue using the car for the Daytona 500.^[13]

Qualifying was set by the2000 Gatorade 125s. The top two positions were set by qualifying speeds held for the Gatorade 125s held on Saturday, February 12, with the top two qualifiers in the session earning the top two positions for the Daytona 500. The rest of the starting lineup was set in the Gatorade 125s held on Thursday, February 17, during two races. The top 14 finishers in the first race, excluding the pole position winner, set the inside row from rows two to 15, and the top 14 finishers in the second race, excluding the outside pole position winner, set the outside row from rows two to 15. The remaining non-qualifiers set positions 31-36 based on qualifying speeds from the first qualifying session held on Saturday. In addition, six provisionals based on the previous season's owner's points were given out, setting positions 37-42. The final position, position 43, was given to a past series champion who did not otherwise qualify by any other method. If no past champion needed the provisional, the position was given out to the next team in the previous season's owner's points.^[4]

Dale Jarrett, driving forRobert Yates Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 47.098 and an average speed of 191.091 miles per hour (307.531 km/h) in Saturday's session.^[14]

13 drivers failed to qualify.

The Daytona 500 was covered byCBS in the United States for the twenty second straight year and it was their final Daytona 500 as coverage would switch toFox in2001.Mike Joy, two-timeNASCAR Cup Series championNed Jarrett and1980 race winnerBuddy Baker called the race from the broadcast booth.Dick Berggren,Ralph Sheheen andBill Stephens handled pit road for the television side.Ken Squier would serve as host.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Jarrett 185 2 Jeff Burton 170 (-15) 3 Bill Elliott 170 (-15) 4 Rusty Wallace 160 (–25) 5 Mark Martin 160 (–25) 6 Bobby Labonte 150 (–35) 7 Terry Labonte 146 (–39) 8 Ward Burton 142 (–43) 9 Ken Schrader 138 (–47) 10 Matt Kenseth 134 (–51) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

• 2000 in sports in Florida
• 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
• February 2000 sports events in the United States
• NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway

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