The 2000 thatlook.com 300 was the 18th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the eighth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 9, 2000, in Loudon, New Hampshire, at New Hampshire International Speedway, a permanent, oval-shaped, low-banked racetrack. The race was shortened from its scheduled 300 laps to 273 due to inclement weather. At race's end, Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would complete a dominant performance when the race was stopped to win his sixth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series win and his third of the season. To fill out the podium, Joe Nemechek of Andy Petree Racing and Mark Martin of Roush Racing would finish second and third, respectively.
The race was marred by the death of Kenny Irwin Jr., who died due to a stuck throttle in the race's Friday practice session. The accident was eerily similar to another fatal crash at the same track when NASCAR Busch Series driver Adam Petty died in the 2000 Busch 200 two months before the race. After Irwin's death, NASCAR would face criticism for its lack of kill switches and safety in general.
Background New Hampshire International Speedway is a 1.058-mile (1.703 km) oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as an IndyCar weekend and the oldest motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6-mile (2.6 km) road course, which includes much of the oval. The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.
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 EnterprisesPontiac44Steve GrissomPetty EnterprisesPontiac50Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet60Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet66Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord71Dave MarcisMarcis 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 *Withdrew due to a practice crash, killing Irwin.
Practice
First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, July 7, at 11:15 AM EST. The session would last for two hours and five minutes. Rusty Wallace of Penske-Kranefuss Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.806 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed12Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord28.806132.22226Mark MartinRoush RacingFord28.938131.619328Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord28.975131.451Full first practice results
Death of Kenny Irwin Jr. During the first practice session, Team SABCO driver Kenny Irwin Jr. would suffer a stuck throttle on his first lap, sending Irwin into the outside wall. Brett Bodine, who was behind Irwin at the time, reported in an interview with CNN that the car hit the Turn 3 outside wall, then proceeded to roll onto the driver's side, riding the wall. Eventually, after coming to a stop, Irwin's car flipped over to its roof. Irwin likely died instantly of a basilar skull fracture.
While the cause of the crash is widely believed to be a stuck throttle on Irwin's car, the local police department, led by police chief Robert Fiske, report that they could not hold a proper investigation due to both NASCAR and New Hampshire Motor Speedway president Bob Bahre continuing the scheduled pre-race activities. Fiske reported that if NASCAR had called the police earlier, they could have found out the exact cause, saying "I think there would be a good possibility, particularly because of the witnesses that we would have been able to gain. If they heard the acceleration, for instance, or saw something through the cockpit there, any number of things. Even the tracks that were left on the track. Was it straight into the wall? Did he start to turn? God only knows. I haven't a clue."
After the crash, NASCAR was criticized for its lack of urgency in safety, with another similar incident happening two months before at the same track with Adam Petty. Within the months after Irwin's crash, NASCAR and some race teams would experiment with creating new kill switches and head harnesses to avoid a crash like Irwin and Petty's. However, NASCAR would still be criticized for its lack of urgency even after the implemented kill switch, with the deaths of Tony Roper, Dale Earnhardt, and Blaise Alexander, all caused by basilar skull fractures finally convincing NASCAR to implement stricter safety measures.
Second practice The second practice session was held on Saturday, July 8, at 9:00 AM EST. The session would last for one hour and 30 minutes. Scott Pruett of PPI Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.242 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed132Scott Pruett (R)PPI MotorsportsFord29.242130.251210Johnny Benson Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac29.279130.086397Chad LittleRoush RacingFord29.358129.736Full second practice results
Third and final practice The third and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, July 8, at 1:30 PM EST. The session would last for one hour. Kenny Wallace of Andy Petree Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.386 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed155Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.386129.612260Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet29.428129.427325Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.497129.124Full Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 7, at 2:30 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be 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, July 8, at 11:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 26-36 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 champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.
Rusty Wallace of Penske-Kranefuss Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 28.835 and an average speed of .
Dave Marcis was the only driver to fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed12Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord28.835132.089243John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac28.948131.57436Mark MartinRoush RacingFord28.969131.478499Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord28.972131.465550Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet28.986131.401620Tony Stewart (R)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.034131.184736Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac29.066131.040824Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.068131.031925Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.080130.9771088Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord29.106130.8601114Rick MastA. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac29.111130.8371222Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac29.114130.8241311Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord29.114130.8241428Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord29.122130.7881594Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord29.129130.7561612Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.133130.7381760Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet29.133130.7381826Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.188130.4921955Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.213130.3802018Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.225130.3272177Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord29.255130.1932217Matt Kenseth (R)Roush RacingFord29.261130.166231Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.266130.144243Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.270130.1262527Mike Bliss (R)Eel River RacingPontiac29.307129.962268Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.364129.7102766Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.374129.6662816Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord29.389129.6002993Dave BlaneyBill Davis RacingPontiac29.447129.3443033Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.452129.3223131Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.454129.314325Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.468129.2523321Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord29.532129.0113497Chad LittleRoush RacingFord29.573128.7933532Scott Pruett (R)PPI MotorsportsFord29.579128.767364Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29.625128.567Provisionals3740Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet29.743128.0573810Johnny Benson Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac29.775127.919397Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet29.674128.3554044Steve GrissomPetty EnterprisesPontiac29.792127.8464175Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord29.821127.722429Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord29.821127.7224390Ed Berrier (R)Donlavey RacingFord30.652124.259Failed to qualify or withdrew4471Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet29.911127.338WD42Kenny Irwin Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet - -Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results