2000 DirecTV 500

2000 DirecTV 500

Race details
Race 7 of 34 in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2000 DirecTV 500 program cover, featuring Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, and Jeff Burton. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
Date	April 2, 2000
Official name	Fourth Annual DirecTV 500
Location	Fort Worth, Texas, Texas Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.41 km)
Distance	334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km)
Scheduled Distance	334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km)
Average speed	131.152 miles per hour (211.069 km/h)
Attendance	223,000
Pole position
Driver	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	28.105
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Laps	106
Winner
No. 8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Mike Joy, Ned Jarrett, Buddy Baker
Radio in the United States
Radio	Performance Racing Network

The 2000 DirecTV 500 was the seventh stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the fourth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 2, 2000, before an audience of 223,000 in Fort Worth, Texas at Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. At race's end, Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed to dominate the final stages of the race, leading the final 53 laps of the race to take his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Roush Racing's Jeff Burton and Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte finished second and third, respectively.

Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Originally, four practice sessions were scheduled to be held, with two sessions on Friday and two sessions on Saturday. However, due to rain, the scheduled final session was cancelled.^[3]

The first practice session was held on Friday, March 31, at 12:00 PM EST. The session lasted for one hour and 15 minutes. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Steve Park set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.278 and an average speed of 190.961 mph (307.322 km/h).^[3]

The second practice session was held on Friday, March 31, at 2:05 PM EST. The session lasted for 55 minutes. Hendrick Motorsports' Terry Labonte set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.148 and an average speed of 191.843 mph (308.741 km/h).^[3]

The final practice session was held on Saturday, April 1, at 10:00 AM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Wood Brothers Racing' Elliott Sadler set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.426 and an average speed of 189.967 mph (305.722 km/h).^[3]

Qualifying was scheduled split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 17, at 4:30 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. Originally, a second round qualifying session was scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 18.^[3] However, due to rain, the round was cancelled, leaving all positions to be determined using the times from the first round.^[4] 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.^[5]

Terry Labonte, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 28.105 and an average speed of 192.137 miles per hour (309.215 km/h) in the first round.^[6]

Five drivers failed to qualify.

The DirecTV 500 was covered by CBS in the United States for the fourth straight year and it was their final DirecTV 500 race as coverage would switch to Fox in 2001. Mike Joy, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Ned Jarrett and nineteen time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Buddy Baker called the race from the broadcast booth. Dick Berggren, Ralph Sheheen and Bill Stephens handled pit road for the television side. Ken Squier would serve as host.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Bobby Labonte 1,114 1 2 Mark Martin 1,030 (−84) 1 3 Ward Burton 1,024 (−90) 1 4 Dale Earnhardt 959 (−155) 1 5 Rusty Wallace 940 (−174) 2 6 Jeff Burton 934 (−180) 7 Ricky Rudd 907 (−207) 4 8 Dale Jarrett 895 (−219) 9 Terry Labonte 878 (−236) 4 10 Jeremy Mayfield 848 (−266) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.