ben24fan's 2000 Winston Cup Results Page

The 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup season, to me, was an extremely interesting year. It had everything: a strong rookie class, equal competition (i.e. close races), new body styles, first-time race winners, and even a first-time Winston Cup champion. Even though Jeff Gordon did not have an average season according to his standards, I still enjoyed the season immensely.

Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. kept the Rookie of the Year race interesting, and both candidates definitely earned the title. They showed a lot of experience from what they had learned from their mentors (Matt Kenseth's mentor was Mark Martin & Dale Jr.'s was his father, Dale Sr.).

And the points race was pretty exciting also, even though the same driver led for a large majority of the season. The championship wasn't clinched until after the race at Homestead. There were many exciting races also. The closest race was in Atlanta in March when Dale Earnhardt barely edged out Bobby Labonte for the victory.

The 2000 season also brought many new variables into the race-weekend equation. Among these changes were a new body style and a new Goodyear tire for some tracks. This combination basically forced veteran teams to throw away their old car setups and notes because of the changes in the new body and tire. Some drivers just could not get the "feel" for the track sometimes. That certainly made things interesting.

Another factor in the 2000 season that made things interesting was first-time winners, both race winners and Winston Cup Points Championship winners. There were four first-time race winners, and two were rookies. These four were Dale Earnhardt Jr. (rookie), Matt Kenseth (rookie), Steve Park, and Jerry Nadeau. Earnhardt Jr. won at Texas, Richmond (May), and Lowe's Motor Speedway (the Winston); Kenseth won at Lowe's Motor Speedway (Coca-Cola 600 in May); Park won at Watkins Glen; and Nadeau won the season finale in Atlanta. Bobby Labonte won his first Winston Cup championship and that gave Joe Gibbs his first Winston Cup championship also (Gibbs owns the #18 of Labonte and the #20 of Tony Stewart). Labonte led the points race for a large portion of the year, but never by a comfortable margin. Without further ado, here are the 2000 Winston Cup results!

DATE	RACE - TRACK	POLE WIN.	RACE WIN.
Feb. 20	Daytona 500 - Daytona International Speedway	D Jarrett	D Jarrett
Feb. 27	Dura-Lube/Kmart 400 - North Carolina Speedway	R Wallace	B Labonte
Mar. 5	CarsDirect.com 400 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway	R Rudd	J Burton
Mar. 12	Cracker Barrel 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedway	D Jarrett	D Earnhardt
Mar. 19	Mall.com 400 - Darlington Raceway	J Gordon	W Burton
Mar. 26	Food City 500 - Bristol Motor Speedway	S Park	R Wallace
Apr. 2	DirectTV 500 - Texas Motor Speedway	T Labonte	D Earnhardt Jr
Apr. 9	Goody's Headache Powder 500 - Martinsville Speedway	R Wallace	M Martin
Apr. 16	Diehard 500 - Talladega Superspeedway	J Mayfield	J Gordon
Apr. 30	NAPA Auto Parts 500 - California Speedway	M Skinner	J Mayfield
May 6	Pontiac Excitement 400 - Richmond International Raceway	R Wallace	D Earnhardt Jr
May 20	The Winston (non-points) - Lowe's Motor Speedway	B Elliott	D Earnhardt Jr
May 28	Coca-Cola 600 - Lowe's Motor Speedway	D Earnhardt Jr	M Kenseth
June 4	MBNA Platinum 400 - Dover Downs International Speedway	R Wallace	T Stewart
June 11	Kmart 400 - Michigan Speedway	B Labonte	T Stewart
June 18	Pocono 500 - Pocono Raceway	R Wallace	J Mayfield
June 25	Save Mart Supermarkets 300 - Sears Point Raceway	R Wallace	J Gordon
July 1	Pepsi 400 - Daytona International Speedway	D Jarrett	J Burton
July 9	thatlook.com 300 - New Hampshire International Speedway	R Wallace	T Stewart
July 23	Pennsylvania 500 - Pocono Raceway	T Stewart	R Wallace
Aug. 5	Brickyard 400 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway	R Rudd	B Labonte
Aug. 13	Global Frontier @ the Glen - Watkins Glen International	B Labonte	S Park
Aug. 20	Pepsi 400 presented by Meijer - Michigan Speedway	D Earnhardt Jr	R Wallace
Aug. 26	goracing.com 500 - Bristol Motor Speedway	R Wallace	R Wallace
Sep. 3	Southern 500 - Darlington Raceway	J Mayfield	B Labonte
Sep. 9	Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 - Richmond International Raceway	J Burton	J Gordon
Sep. 17	Dura Lube 300 - New Hampshire International Speedway	B Labonte	J Burton
Sep. 24	MBNA.com 400 - Dover Downs International Speedway	J Mayfield	T Stewart
Oct. 1	Napa Autocare 500 - Martinsville Speedway	T Stewart	T Stewart
Oct. 8	UAW-GM Quality 500 - Lowe's Motor Speedway	J Gordon	B Labonte
Oct. 15	Winston 500 - Talladega Superspeedway	J Nemechek	D Earnhardt
Oct. 22	Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 - North Carolina Speedway	J Mayfield	D Jarrett
Nov. 5	Checker Auto Parts / Dura Lube 500K - Phoenix Intl. Raceway	R Wallace	J Burton
Nov. 12	Pennzoil 400 - Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex	S Park	T Stewart
Nov. 19	NAPA 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedway	J Gordon	J Nadeau