The 2000 UAW-GM Quality 500 was the 29th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 41st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 8, 2000, before an audience of 140,000 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte managed to make a late-race pass for the lead, assisted by a late four-tire pit stop. The victory was Labonte's 15th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Jeremy Mayfield and Robert Yates Racing's Ricky Rudd finished second and third, respectively.

Background

Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet01Ted MusgraveTeam SABCOChevrolet2Rusty 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 EnterprisesPontiac16Kevin 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 SABCOChevrolet43John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Steve GrissomPetty EnterprisesPontiac50Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet60Dick TrickleJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet66Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord71Kerry EarnhardtMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord85Carl LongMansion MotorsportsFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Hut StricklinDonlavey RacingFord91Larry GunselmanLJ RacingChevrolet93Dave Blaney (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord96Andy HoustonPPI MotorsportsFord97Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord98Jeff FullerMacPherson MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFordOfficial entry list

Practice

First practice The first practice session was held on Wednesday, October 4, at 3:00 PM EST. The session would last for three hours. Robert Yates Racing's Ricky Rudd set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.292 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed128Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord29.292184.351212Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.300184.300322Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac29.341184.043Full first practice results

Second practice The second practice session was held on Thursday, October 5, at 2:30 PM EST. The session would last for two hours. Team SABCO's Ted Musgrave set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.962 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed101Ted MusgraveTeam SABCOChevrolet29.962180.22822Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.999180.00631Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet30.137179.182Full second practice results

Third practice The third practice session was held on Saturday, October 7, at 9:00 AM EST. The session would last for one hour. Hendrick Motorsports' Jerry Nadeau set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.697 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed125Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.697181.837222Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac29.780181.33034Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29.801181.202Full third practice results

Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, October 7, after the 2000 All Pro Bumper to Bumper 300. The session would last for one hour. Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Jeremy Mayfield set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.093 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed112Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord30.093179.44422Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord30.159179.051322Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac30.162179.033Full final practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, October 4, at 8:00 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. 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 Thursday, October 5, at 6:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 26-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be 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.

Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 29.101 and an average speed of in the first round.

Seven drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.101185.561218Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.108185.516325Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.113185.484426Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.165185.153588Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord29.173185.103628Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord29.211184.862794Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord29.238184.69186Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.253184.596910Johnny Benson Jr.MB2 MotorsportsPontiac29.253184.5961012Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.265184.5211114Rick MastA. J. Foyt RacingPontiac29.268184.5021222Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac29.275184.458138Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.276184.451147Michael WaltripUltra MotorsportsChevrolet29.311184.2311577Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord29.350183.9861616Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord29.365183.8921720Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.385183.7671831Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.389183.742194Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29.389183.7422036Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac29.396183.6982133Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.429183.492222Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord29.431183.4802321Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord29.455183.3312475Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord29.457183.3182513Robby GordonTeam MenardFord29.501183.045Failed to lock in the first round2617Matt Kenseth (R)Roush RacingFord29.516182.9522798Jeff FullerMacPherson MotorsportsFord29.524182.9022843John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac29.533182.8462993Dave Blaney (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac29.597182.4513027Mike Bliss (R)Eel River RacingPontiac29.621182.3033111Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord29.627182.2663255Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.635182.2173396Andy HoustonPPI MotorsportsFord29.683181.9223466Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.687181.8983560Dick TrickleJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet29.694181.8553690Hut StricklinDonlavey RacingFord29.699181.824Provisionals373Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30.149179.1103899Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord29.830181.026391Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet30.208178.761405Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.812181.1354140Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet29.941180.3554297Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord29.886180.6874301Ted MusgraveTeam SABCOChevrolet29.928180.433Failed to qualify4432Scott Pruett (R)PPI MotorsportsFord29.748181.5254550Ricky CravenMidwest Transit RacingChevrolet30.115179.3134644Steve GrissomPetty EnterprisesPontiac30.253178.4954785Carl LongMansion MotorsportsFord30.276178.359489Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord30.329178.0474971Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet30.498177.0615091Larry GunselmanLJ RacingChevrolet - -Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results