| Race details[1] [2] [3] | ||
| Date | ||
| Location | Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina | |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | |
| Distance | Winston Open: 30 laps, 45miles No Bull Sprint: 16 laps, 24miles The Winston: 70 laps, 105miles | |
| Avg Speed | The Winston: 167.035mph | |
| Winston Open | ||
| Pole position | Jerry Nadeau (Hendrick Motorsports) | |
| Winner | Steve Park (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) | |
| No Bull Sprint | ||
| Pole position | Mike Skinner (Richard Childress Racing) | |
| Winner | Jerry Nadeau (Hendrick Motorsports) | |
| The Winston | ||
| Pole position | Bill Elliott (Bill Elliott Racing) 105.932 seconds[4] | |
| Showdown transfers | Steve Park (Open winner) Jerry Nadeau (No Bull Sprint winner) | |
| Most laps led | Bill Elliott (Bill Elliott Racing) 36 laps | |
| Winner | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) | |
| Television | ||
| Network | TNN | |
| Announcers | Eli Gold, Buddy Baker, and Dick Berggren |
The event is also remembered for one of the biggest disasters in NASCAR history: the post-race collapse of a pedestrian walkway that injured 107 people.
The Winston was open to race winners from last season through the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway and all previous All-Star race winners and NASCAR Winston Cup champions who had attempted to qualify for every race in 2000 were eligible to compete in the All-Star Race.
Jerry Nadeau won the pole for The Winston Open and led 14 laps, but it was Steve Park who won the 30-lap race and earned $35,000. The only caution of the race occurred after the first lap when Geoff Bodine and Dave Marcis collided with each other in turn four. Mike Skinner was the pole sitter for the No Bull Sprint and led nine laps, but finished 15th while Nadeau won the 16-lap race and earned $25,000. Two cautions occurred in the race caused by two crashes: Chad Little in lap six and Elliott Sadler in lap 10.
Both Park and Nadeau advanced to The Winston. This also marked the first time Ricky Rudd failed to make The Winston after having participated in the past 15 events.
Bill Elliott won the pole for The Winston, with Mark Martin starting on outside pole. Despite having not won a race, Kenny Irwin Jr. made the starting grid based on the No. 42 team's win in 1999 with Joe Nemechek, who switched to the No. 33 team in 2000. The first caution occurred before the first lap when Irwin tangled with Dale Earnhardt and got loose in turn four, sending John Andretti hard on the outside wall. Michael Waltrip brought out the second caution on lap 24 when he spun loose and crashed in turn two. Elliott led all 30 laps of Segment 1, earning him $50,000.
It was decided by lottery that the top 12 finishers were to be inverted for Segment 2, with Nemechek and Jeremy Mayfield in the front row. The caution was triggered on lap 38 when Jeff Gordon spun loose in turn two and caused a wreck that involved Steve Park, Earnhardt Sr., and Jeff Burton. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made two pit stops due to a loose lug nut on his left rear tire while Park, Earnhardt Sr., and Gordon had their cars mended during the caution. Upon the restart, Mayfield lost third gear and was forced to retire from the race. On lap 50, Earnhardt Jr. hit the outside wall in turn four, but the damage was not significant enough to cause a tire rub. The caution came out on lap 54, when Tony Stewart nudged Martin towards the backstretch wall; Martin also collided with Ward Burton before his car caught fire. Elliott once again had the dominant car, winning Segment 2 and earning another $50,000.
Elliott and Dale Jarrett led the field for Segment 3. Park and Nemechek tangled on lap 62, resulting in a multi-car pileup in turn one that took them out along with Stewart and Gordon to bring out the final caution. The incident also caused an adverse handling effect on Elliott's car, as he lost the lead to Jarrett and faded out of the top five. Upon the restart, both Earnhardts rebounded in the top three as smoke suddenly started to appear in the rear end of Jarrett's car. With two laps to go, Earnhardt Jr. overtook Jarrett and won The Winston, earning him $500,000 and making him the first rookie to win the event.
The victory celebration was held in front of the main grandstand instead of victory lane, which was left vacant for this race and the 2000 Coca-Cola 600 in memory of Adam Petty, who was killed in a practice crash at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on May 12, 2000.
| + Race results | ||||||||
| Pos | Grid | Car | Driver | Owner | Manufacturer | Laps run | Laps led | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 70 | 2 | |
| 2 | 7 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 70 | 8 | |
| 3 | 12 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 70 | 0 | |
| 4 | 20 | 25 | Jerry Nadeau | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 70 | 0 | |
| 5 | 8 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford | 70 | 0 | |
| 6 | 10 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 70 | 0 | |
| 7 | 4 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 70 | 0 | |
| 8 | 1 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford | 70 | 36 | |
| 9 | 3 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 70 | 0 | |
| 10 | 13 | 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 70 | 0 | |
| 11 | 17 | 66 | Darrell Waltrip | Haas-Carter Motorsports | Ford | 70 | 0 | |
| 12 | 16 | 42 | Kenny Irwin Jr. | Team SABCO | Chevrolet | 69 | 0 | |
| 13 | 19 | 1 | Steve Park | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 62 | 0 | |
| 14 | 14 | 33 | Joe Nemechek | Andy Petree Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | 19 | |
| 15 | 6 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 62 | 0 | |
| 16 | 11 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 62 | 0 | |
| 17 | 2 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 54 | 0 | |
| 18 | 9 | 12 | Jeremy Mayfield | Penske Racing South | Ford | 40 | 5 | |
| 19 | 15 | 7 | Michael Waltrip | Mattei Motorsports | Chevrolet | 24 | 0 | |
| 20 | 18 | 43 | John Andretti | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 0 | 0 | |
After the race, as fans crowded across one of the track's pedestrian bridge walkways to a nearby parking lot, an 80feet section of the walkway fell 17feet onto a highway,[7] injuring 107 people.[8] Nearly 50 lawsuits against the speedway resulted from the incident, with many being settled out of court. Investigators said the bridge builder, Tindall Corp., used an improper additive to help the concrete filler at the bridge's center cure faster. The additive contained calcium chloride, which corroded the structure's steel cables and led to the collapse.[7]