| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 34 in the2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 2000 NAPA Auto Parts 500 program cover, featuringJeff Gordon. | |||
| Date | April 30, 2000 | ||
| Official name | Fourth Annual NAPA Auto Parts 500 | ||
| Location | Fontana, California,California Speedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2 miles (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 | ||
The2000 NAPA Auto Parts 500 was the tenthstock car race of the2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the fourth iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, April 30, 2000, before an audience of 115,000 inFontana, California, at theCalifornia Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shapedspeedway. The race took the scheduled 250 laps to complete. On the final restart with four laps left in the race,Penske-Kranefuss Racing'sJeremy 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 careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three,Joe Gibbs Racing'sBobby Labonte andRoush Racing'sMatt Kenseth finished second and third, respectively.
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California Speedway is one of sixsuperspeedways to holdNASCAR races; the others areDaytona International Speedway,Michigan International Speedway,Indianapolis Motor Speedway,Pocono Raceway andTalladega 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 arebanked at fourteendegrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eleven degrees. The back stretch has 3 degrees of banking.
The first practice session was held on Friday, April 28, at 1:30 PMEST. The session lasted for two hours and 55 minutes.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'sSteve 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 | ||||||
The second practice session was held on Saturday, April 29, at 1:30 PMEST. The session lasted for one hour.Team Menard'sRobby 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 | ||||||
The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, April 29, after the preliminary2000 Auto Club 300. The session lasted for one hour.Penske-Kranefuss Racing'sJeremy 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 was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 14, at 4:00 PMEST. 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 AMEST. 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 forRichard 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.
The race was aired live onABC in the United States for the twenty ninth and final timeBob Jenkins,1973Cup Series championBenny Parsons and two-timeNAPA Auto Parts 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.
| ABC | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | |
| Lap-by-lap | Color-commentators | |
| Bob Jenkins | Benny Parsons Ray Evernham | Jerry Punch Bill Weber John Kernan |
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| Previous race: 2000 DieHard 500 | NASCAR Winston Cup Series 2000 season | Next race: 2000 Pontiac Excitement 400 |
