The 2000 Coca-Cola 600 was the 12th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 41st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 28, 2000, before an audience of 183,500 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Taking advantage of a misfortunate Jerry Nadeau, Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth managed to make a late-race pass with 26 laps left in the race, leading the rest of the race to take his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. With this win, he became the first ever rookie to win the Coca-Cola 600. To fill out the top three, Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte and Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt finished second and third, respectively.
Background
Lowe's Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.
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 RacingFord13Robby GordonTeam MenardFord14Rick MastA. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac15Ted MusgraveFenley-Moore MotorsportsFord16Kevin 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 EnterprisesPontiac44Steve GrissomPetty EnterprisesPontiac50Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet60Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet66Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord85Carl LongMansion 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 Wednesday, May 24, at 3:00 PM EST. The session lasted for two hours and 55 minutes. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Dale Earnhardt Jr. set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.325 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed18Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.325184.143212Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.435183.455314Rick MastA. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac29.461183.293Full first practice results
Second practice The second practice session was held on Thursday, May 25, at 2:30 PM EST. The session lasted for two hours. Melling Racing's Stacy Compton set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.189 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed19Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord30.189178.87326Mark MartinRoush RacingFord30.360177.866340Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet30.396177.655Full second practice results
Third practice The third practice session was held on Thursday, May 25, at 7:00 PM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Rusty Wallace set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.438 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed12Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord30.438177.410288Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord30.476177.189331Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30.485177.136Full third practice results
Fourth practice The fourth practice session was held on Saturday, May 27, at 9:00 AM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.175 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac30.175178.95626Mark MartinRoush RacingFord30.195178.838331Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30.229178.636Full fourth practice results
Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, May 27, after the preliminary 2000 Carquest 300. The session lasted for one hour. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Dale Earnhardt Jr. set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.441 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed18Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet30.441177.392222Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac30.563176.684320Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac30.611176.407Full Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, May 24, at 8:05 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 Thursday, May 25, at 6:00 PM 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 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.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., managed to win the pole, setting a time of 29.027 and an average speed of in the first round.
Five drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed18Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.027186.034225Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.170185.122394Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord29.206184.894412Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.229184.748531Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.271184.483616Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord29.271184.483718Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.316184.200888Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord29.321184.168920Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.387183.7551055Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.412183.5991126Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.426183.511127Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet29.431183.480134Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29.444183.3991424Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.448183.374153Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.456183.324162Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.485183.1441743John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac29.487183.132181Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.508183.001196Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.510182.9892028Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord29.519182.9332117Matt Kenseth (R)Roush RacingFord29.533182.8462250Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet29.540182.8032314Rick MastA. J. Foyt RacingPontiac29.541182.7972477Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord29.584182.5312511Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord29.584182.531Failed to lock in the first round2632Scott Pruett (R)PPI MotorsportsFord29.589182.5002733Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.593182.4762899Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord29.622182.2972960Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet29.650182.1253093Dave Blaney (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac29.654182.1003122Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac29.675181.9713275Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord29.704181.7943342Kenny Irwin Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet29.747181.5313436Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac29.784181.3053585Carl LongMansion MotorsportsFord29.786181.2933640Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet29.827181.044Provisionals375Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet30.751175.6043897Chad LittleRoush RacingFord29.874180.7593910Johnny Benson Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac29.930180.421409Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord30.164179.0214121Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord30.247178.5304213Robby GordonTeam MenardFord29.953180.2824327Mike Bliss (R)Eel River RacingPontiac31.589170.946Failed to qualify4415Ted MusgraveFenley-Moore MotorsportsFord30.165179.0154544Steve GrissomPetty EnterprisesPontiac30.827175.1714690Ed Berrier (R)Donlavey RacingFord30.896174.7804766Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord - -4871Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet - -Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results