2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500

Race details
Race 4 of 34 in the2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 program cover.
Date	March 12, 2000
Official name	41st Annual Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500
Location	Hampton, Georgia,Atlanta Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.54 miles (2.48 km)
Distance	325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Scheduled distance	325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Average speed	131.759 miles per hour (212.046 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Time	28.789
Most laps led
Driver	Mike Skinner	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	191
Winner
No. 3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Bob Jenkins,Benny Parsons,Ray Evernham
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 was the fourthstock car race of the2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 41st iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, March 12, 2000, inHampton, Georgia atAtlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.54 miles (2.48 km) permanent D-shaped oval racetrack. The race was contested over 325 laps. At race's end,Dale Earnhardt, driving forRichard Childress Racing, held offBobby Labonte in a photo finish for his 75th careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series win. Earnhardt would beat Labonte by 0.010 of a second.^[1] To fill out the podium,Mark Martin ofRoush Racing would finish third, respectively.

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerlyAtlanta International Raceway) is a 1.54-mile race track inHampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south ofAtlanta. It has annually hostedNASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.

The venue was bought bySpeedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on theNASCAR circuit.

• (R) - denotes rookie driver

The first practice session was held on Friday, March 10, at 11:00 AMEST, and would last for one hour and 30 minutes.^[2]Steve Park ofDale Earnhardt, Inc. would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.047 and an average speed of 190.863 mph (307.164 km/h).^[3]

The second practice session was held on Friday, March 10, at 1:40 PMEST, and would last for 23 minutes, due to inclement weather.^[2]Steve Park ofDale Earnhardt, Inc. would set the fastest time in the session, with an average speed of 190.995 mph (307.377 km/h).^[4]

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, March 11.^[2]Robby Gordon ofTeam Menard would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.455 and an average speed of 188.219 mph (302.909 km/h).^[5]

Qualifying was held on Friday, March 3, at 2:00 PMPST. Each driver would have one lap to set a fastest time; and that lap would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 1-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champ needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.^[6]

Dale Jarrett ofRobert Yates Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 28.789 and an average speed of 192.574 mph (309.918 km/h).^[7]

Five drivers would fail to qualify:Dave Marcis,Ed Berrier,Johnny Benson Jr.,Mike Bliss, andRobby Gordon.

The race was aired live onABC in the United States for the twenty ninth and final timeBob Jenkins,1973Cup Series championBenny Parsons and two-timeCracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 winning crew chiefRay Evernham called the race from the broadcast booth.Jerry Punch,Bill Weber andJohn Kernan handled pit road for the television side.

• 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
• March 2000 sports events in the United States
• 2000 in sports in Nevada
• NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway

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