The 2000 DieHard 500 was the ninth stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 16, 2000, before an audience of 185,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. In a late race charge, Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon made a pass for the lead with five laps left in the race, defending the lead to take his 50th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Mike Skinner and Dale Earnhardt, both drivers from Richard Childress Racing, finished second and third, respectively.
Background
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4 km) tri-oval.
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 RacingFord13Robby GordonTeam MenardFord14Rick MastA. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac15Ted MusgraveFenley-Moore MotorsportsFord16Kevin 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 SABCOChevrolet41Gary BradberryLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Kenny Irwin Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet43John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac50Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet60Dick TrickleJoe 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
Practice
First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, April 14, at 12:15 PM EST. The session lasted for two hours. Roush Racing's Chad Little set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 50.946 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed197Chad LittleRoush RacingFord50.946187.964212Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord51.167187.15232Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord51.205187.013Full first practice results
Second practice The second practice session was held on Saturday, April 15, at 9:15 AM 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 49.389 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed11Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet49.389193.889225Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet49.399193.850377Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord49.414193.791Full second practice results
Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, April 15, at 2:00 PM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Steve Park set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 49.231 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed126Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord49.231194.51221Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet49.436193.705342Kenny Irwin Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet49.475193.552Full Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was meant to be held on Friday, April 14, at 4:00 PM EST, but due to threat of rain, was delayed to 7:30 PM, seeing several drivers qualify in dark conditions. The format for qualifying is each driver was given two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two counted as their official qualifying lap. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round was 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, April 15, at 11:45 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver had two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. 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.
Jeremy Mayfield, driving for Penske-Kranefuss Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 51.217 and an average speed of in the first round.
Five drivers failed to qualify - Brett Bodine, Kevin Lepage, Gary Bradberry, Rick Mast, & Elliott Sadler.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed112Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord51.217186.969294Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord51.226186.936388Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord51.278186.74743Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet51.341186.51856Mark MartinRoush RacingFord51.386186.35468Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet51.436186.173740Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet51.454186.108831Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet51.473186.039922Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac51.481186.0101028Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord51.490185.978117Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet51.497185.9531242Kenny Irwin Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet51.499185.9451310Johnny Benson Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac51.519185.8731497Chad LittleRoush RacingFord51.527185.8441532Scott Pruett (R)PPI MotorsportsFord51.577185.6641693Dave Blaney (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac51.583185.643172Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord51.603185.5711827Mike Bliss (R)Eel River RacingPontiac51.603185.5711977Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord51.638185.4452026Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord51.639185.4412144Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac51.647185.413229Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord51.655185.3842390Ed Berrier (R)Donlavey RacingFord51.671185.3262433Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet51.734185.1012543John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac51.736185.094Failed to lock in the first round2655Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet51.666185.3442771Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet51.742185.072284Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet51.760185.0082915Ted MusgraveFenley-Moore MotorsportsFord51.832184.7513025Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51.865184.6333160Dick TrickleJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet51.890184.5443250Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet51.902184.502335Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51.927184.4133413Robby GordonTeam MenardFord51.976184.2393575Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord51.981184.2213624Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet52.005184.136Provisionals3718Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac52.625181.9673899Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord - -3920Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac52.325183.0104036Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac52.055183.959411Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet52.111183.7624217Matt Kenseth (R)Roush RacingFord52.006184.1334366Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord52.456182.553Failed to qualify4411Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord52.143183.6494516Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord52.202183.4414614Rick MastA. J. Foyt RacingPontiac52.233183.3324721Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord52.603182.0434841Gary BradberryLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet53.003180.669Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results