| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Location: | Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta Motor Speedway |
| Distance Mi: | 500.5 |
| Pole Time: | 28.789 |
| Course Mi: | 1.54 |
| Course Km: | 2.48 |
| Scheduled Km: | 805.476 |
| Distance Km: | 805.476 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 500.5 |
| Distance Laps: | 325 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 325 |
| Year: | 2000 |
| Race Name: | Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 |
| Official Name: | 41st Annual Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 |
| Race No: | 4 |
| Season No: | 34 |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Date: | March 12 |
| Network: | ABC |
| Announcers: | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ray Evernham |
| Car: | 3 |
| Pole Team: | Robert Yates Racing |
| Most Driver: | Mike Skinner |
| First Team: | Richard Childress Racing |
| First Driver: | Dale Earnhardt |
| Most Team: | Richard Childress Racing |
| Most Laps: | 191 |
| Pole Driver: | Dale Jarrett |
| Avg: | 131.759mph |
The 2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 41st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 12, 2000, in Hampton, Georgia at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.54miles permanent D-shaped oval racetrack. The race was contested over 325 laps. At race's end, Dale Earnhardt, driving for Richard Childress Racing, held off Bobby Labonte in a photo finish for his 75th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series win. Earnhardt would beat Labonte by 0.010 of a second.[1] To fill out the podium, Mark Martin of Roush Racing would finish third, respectively.
Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a 1.54-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54miles where before it was 1.522miles. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.
The first practice session was held on Friday, March 10, at 11:00 AM EST, and would last for one hour and 30 minutes.[2] Steve Park of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.047 and an average speed of 190.863mph.[3]
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Steve Park | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 29.047 | 190.863 | |
| 2 | 31 | Mike Skinner | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 29.125 | 190.351 | |
| 3 | 43 | John Andretti | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 29.159 | 190.129 | |
| Full first practice results | |||||||
The second practice session was held on Friday, March 10, at 1:40 PM EST, and would last for 23 minutes, due to inclement weather. Steve Park of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. would set the fastest time in the session, with an average speed of 190.995mph. [4]
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Make | Speed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Steve Park | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 190.995 | |
| 2 | 77 | Robert Pressley | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 190.981 | |
| 3 | 25 | Jerry Nadeau | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 190.058 | |
| Full second practice results | ||||||
The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, March 11. Robby Gordon of Team Menard would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.455 and an average speed of 188.219mph.[5]
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | Robby Gordon | Team Menard | Ford | 29.455 | 188.219 | |
| 2 | 36 | Ken Schrader | MB2 Motorsports | Pontiac | 29.633 | 187.088 | |
| 3 | 90 | Ed Berrier | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 29.695 | 186.698 | |
| Full Happy Hour practice results | |||||||
Qualifying was held on Friday, March 3, at 2:00 PM PST. Each driver would have one lap to set a fastest time; and that lap would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 1-36 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 champ needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.[6]
Dale Jarrett of Robert Yates Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 28.789 and an average speed of 192.574mph.[7]
Five drivers would fail to qualify: Dave Marcis, Ed Berrier, Johnny Benson Jr., Mike Bliss, and Robby Gordon.
| Fin | St | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 35 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 325 | 34 | Running | 180 | |
| 2 | 22 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 325 | 46 | Running | 175 | |
| 3 | 11 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 325 | 7 | Running | 170 | |
| 4 | 3 | 1 | Steve Park | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 325 | 1 | Running | 165 | |
| 5 | 8 | 33 | Joe Nemechek | Andy Petree Racing | Chevrolet | 325 | 0 | Running | 155 | |
| 6 | 13 | 97 | Chad Little | Roush Racing | Ford | 325 | 2 | Running | 155 | |
| 7 | 24 | 91 | Todd Bodine | LJ Racing | Chevrolet | 325 | 0 | Running | 146 | |
| 8 | 18 | 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 324 | 0 | Running | 142 | |
| 9 | 7 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 324 | 4 | Running | 143 | |
| 10 | 10 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford | 324 | 3 | Running | 139 | |
| 11 | 34 | 28 | Ricky Rudd | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 324 | 0 | Running | 130 | |
| 12 | 39 | 40 | Sterling Marlin | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | 324 | 0 | Running | 127 | |
| 13 | 38 | 4 | Bobby Hamilton | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 324 | 0 | Running | 124 | |
| 14 | 31 | 21 | Elliott Sadler | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 324 | 2 | Running | 126 | |
| 15 | 37 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 324 | 0 | Running | 118 | |
| 16 | 16 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Brett Bodine Racing | Ford | 324 | 1 | Running | 120 | |
| 17 | 19 | 26 | Jimmy Spencer | Haas-Carter Motorsports | Ford | 324 | 0 | Running | 112 | |
| 18 | 23 | 43 | John Andretti | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 324 | 0 | Running | 109 | |
| 19 | 36 | 15 | Derrike Cope | Fenley-Moore Motorsports | Ford | 323 | 0 | Running | 106 | |
| 20 | 9 | 93 | Dave Blaney (R) | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 322 | 0 | Running | 103 | |
| 21 | 25 | 41 | Rick Mast | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 322 | 0 | Running | 100 | |
| 22 | 15 | 27 | Jeff Fuller (R) | Eel River Racing | Pontiac | 322 | 0 | Running | 97 | |
| 23 | 42 | 36 | Ken Schrader | MB2 Motorsports | Pontiac | 322 | 0 | Running | 94 | |
| 24 | 32 | 42 | Kenny Irwin Jr. | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | 322 | 0 | Running | 91 | |
| 25 | 38 | 7 | Michael Waltrip | Mattei Motorsports | Chevrolet | 319 | 0 | Engine | 88 | |
| 26 | 40 | 44 | Kyle Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 319 | 0 | Running | 85 | |
| 27 | 41 | 60 | Ted Musgrave | Joe Bessey Racing | Chevrolet | 318 | 2 | Running | 87 | |
| 28 | 33 | 12 | Jeremy Mayfield | Penske-Kranefuss Racing | Ford | 310 | 0 | Running | 79 | |
| 29 | 2 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R) | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 307 | 8 | Running | 81 | |
| 30 | 14 | 31 | Mike Skinner | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 305 | 191 | Engine | 83 | |
| 31 | 43 | 66 | Darrell Waltrip | Haas-Carter Motorsports | Ford | 298 | 0 | Running | 70 | |
| 32 | 30 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske-Kranefuss Racing | Ford | 274 | 0 | Accident | 67 | |
| 33 | 12 | 77 | Robert Pressley | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 271 | 0 | Accident | 64 | |
| 34 | 27 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 270 | 0 | Accident | 61 | |
| 35 | 17 | 9 | Stacy Compton (R) | Melling Racing | Ford | 264 | 0 | Running | 58 | |
| 36 | 1 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 257 | 5 | Engine | 60 | |
| 37 | 26 | 55 | Kenny Wallace | Andy Petree Racing | Chevrolet | 253 | 0 | Engine | 52 | |
| 38 | 5 | 16 | Kevin Lepage | Roush Racing | Ford | 238 | 8 | Running | 54 | |
| 39 | 21 | 75 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Galaxy Motorsports | Ford | 208 | 0 | Accident | 46 | |
| 40 | 4 | 17 | Matt Kenseth (R) | Roush Racing | Ford | 199 | 2 | Engine | 48 | |
| 41 | 20 | 32 | Scott Pruett (R) | PPI Motorsports | Ford | 177 | 0 | Accident | 40 | |
| 42 | 6 | 25 | Jerry Nadeau | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 135 | 5 | Engine | 42 | |
| 43 | 29 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford | 68 | 5 | Accident | 39 | |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 44 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 45 | 90 | Ed Berrier | Donlavey Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 46 | 10 | Johnny Benson Jr. | Tyler Jet Motorsports | Pontiac | ||||||
| 47 | 14 | Mike Bliss (R) | A. J. Foyt Racing | Pontiac | ||||||
| 48 | 13 | Robby Gordon | Team Menard | Ford | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||