The 2000 Pocono 500 was the 15th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 19th iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, June 18, 2000, but was delayed by one day due to rain. The race was held before an audience of 75,000 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.

In the final laps of the race, Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Jeremy Mayfield engaged in a battle with Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt for the lead. Heading into the final lap of the race, Mayfield performed a bump and run maneuver on Earnhardt, allowing Mayfield to take the victory. The victory was Mayfield's third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Dale Jarrett and Ricky Rudd, both drivers for Robert Yates Racing, finished second and third, respectively.

Background

The race was held at Pocono Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Pocono International Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.

Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar race. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet2Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet8Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet9Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord10Johnny Benson Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord12Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord14Rick MastA. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac16Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord17Matt Kenseth (R)Roush RacingFord18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac20Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac21Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord27Mike Bliss (R)Eel River RacingPontiac28Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord31Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Scott Pruett (R)PPI MotorsportsFord33Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac40Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet42Kenny Irwin Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet43John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac52Bill BairdBaird MotorsportsChevrolet55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet60Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet66Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet72Dwayne LeikMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Ed Berrier (R)Donlavey RacingFord93Dave Blaney (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord97Chad LittleRoush RacingFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFordOfficial entry list

Practice

First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, June 16, at 11:00 AM EST. The session lasted for three hours. Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Rusty Wallace set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 52.557 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed12Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord52.557171.243228Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord52.849170.29736Mark MartinRoush RacingFord52.871170.226Full first practice results

Second practice The second practice session was held on Saturday, June 17, at 9:30 AM EST. The session lasted for one hour and 20 minutes. Joe Bessey Racing's Geoff Bodine set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 53.867 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed160Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet53.867167.078227Mike Bliss (R)Eel River RacingPontiac53.902166.970312Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord53.904166.963Full second practice results

Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, June 17, after the preliminary 2000 Pocono ARCA 200. The session lasted for one hour. Robert Yates Racing's Ricky Rudd set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 54.412 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed128Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord54.412165.405212Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord54.443165.311336Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac54.594164.853Full Happy Hour practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 16, at 3:00 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, June 17, at 11:30 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. 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 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.

Rusty Wallace, driving for Penske-Kranefuss Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 52.440 and an average speed of in the first round.

Three drivers failed to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed12Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord52.440171.625243John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac52.551171.262328Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord52.687170.820488Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord52.697170.788524Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet52.724170.70066Mark MartinRoush RacingFord52.728170.687731Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet52.748170.623899Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord52.751170.613920Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac52.761170.5811033Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet52.816170.4031118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac52.832170.351127Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet52.901170.1291314Rick MastA. J. Foyt RacingPontiac52.938170.010145Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet52.949169.975158Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet53.009169.782163Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet53.053169.6421775Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord53.208169.1471816Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord53.212169.1351936Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac53.219169.1132011Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord53.229169.0812110Johnny Benson Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac53.242169.0392212Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord53.257168.9922344Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac53.258168.9892455Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet53.267168.9602594Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord53.273168.941Failed to lock in the first round2625Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet53.275168.935271Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet53.370168.6342877Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord53.455168.3662917Matt Kenseth (R)Roush RacingFord53.463168.3413021Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord53.485168.2713140Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet53.568168.0113222Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac53.604167.898334Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet53.623167.8383426Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord53.807167.2643593Dave Blaney (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac53.827167.2023627Mike Bliss (R)Eel River RacingPontiac53.828167.199Provisionals3797Chad LittleRoush RacingFord54.227165.9693842Kenny Irwin Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet54.076166.432399Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord53.880167.0384060Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet53.984166.7164132Scott Pruett (R)PPI MotorsportsFord54.199166.0554290Ed Berrier (R)Donlavey RacingFord54.189166.0854371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet54.285165.792Failed to qualify4466Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord53.859167.1034572Dwayne LeikMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet55.569161.9614652Bill BairdBaird MotorsportsChevrolet - -Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results