The 2000 Pennsylvania 500 was the 19th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 23, 2000, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. On the final lap of the race, leader of the race, Penske-Kranefuss Racing driver Jeremy Mayfield would blow a tire heading into the second turn. Behind Mayfield, two drivers battling for position, teammate Rusty Wallace and Roush Racing driver Jeff Burton were battling for the second position, When Mayfield blew a tire, the two passed Mayfield, leading the two of them to battle for the lead. At the end of the race, Wallace was able to defend Burton to claim his 51st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Jeff Burton and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The race was held at Pocono Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The track hosts two annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, as well as one Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series event. Until 2019, the track also hosted an IndyCar Series race.
Pocono Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.
Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar race. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.
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 WaltripUltra MotorsportsChevrolet8Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet9Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord10Johnny Benson Jr.Tyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord12Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord14Rick 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 EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet60Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet66Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord85Carl LongMansion MotorsportsFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Hut StricklinDonlavey 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, July 21, at 11:00 AM EST. The session would last for three hours. Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 52.377 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed16Mark MartinRoush RacingFord52.377171.831212Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord52.454171.578399Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord52.612171.063Full first practice results
Second practice The second practice session was held on Saturday, July 22, at 9:30 AM EST. The session would last for one hour and 20 minutes. Ted Musgrave, driving for Team SABCO, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 53.416 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed101Ted MusgraveTeam SABCOChevrolet53.416168.489214Rick MastA. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac53.475168.303360Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet53.544168.086Full second practice results
Final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, July 22, after the preliminary 2000 Pepsi ARCA 200 ARCA Re/Max Series race. The session would last for one hour. Matt Kenseth, driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 54.338 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed117Matt Kenseth (R)Roush RacingFord54.338165.629212Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord54.370165.532328Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord54.421165.377Full Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 21, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. 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 Saturday, July 22, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. Positions 26-36 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 champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.
Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 52.207 and an average speed of in the first round.
Two drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed120Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac52.207172.39122Rusty WallacePenske-Kranefuss RacingFord52.278172.15736Mark MartinRoush RacingFord52.433171.648412Jeremy MayfieldPenske-Kranefuss RacingFord52.465171.543524Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet52.479171.497625Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet52.493171.451794Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord52.533171.321899Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord52.537171.308910Johnny Benson Jr.MB2 MotorsportsPontiac52.573171.191101Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet52.605171.0861188Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord52.607171.0801243John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac52.639170.9761318Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac52.754170.6031428Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord52.754170.603158Dale Earnhardt Jr. (R)Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet52.764170.5711633Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet52.823170.3801731Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet52.829170.3611893Dave Blaney (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac52.862170.2551911Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord52.947169.9812077Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord52.972169.901217Michael WaltripUltra MotorsportsChevrolet52.978169.882225Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet53.055169.6352316Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord53.061169.6162417Matt Kenseth (R)Roush RacingFord53.065169.603253Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet53.070169.587Failed to lock in Round 12601Ted MusgraveTeam SABCOChevrolet53.008169.7862755Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet53.118169.4342826Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord53.149169.3352936Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac53.167169.2783097Chad LittleRoush RacingFord53.179169.2403175Wally Dallenbach Jr.Galaxy MotorsportsFord53.195169.1893244Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac53.202169.1673332Scott Pruett (R)PPI MotorsportsFord53.209169.1443440Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet53.238169.0523514Rick MastA. J. Foyt RacingPontiac53.259168.9863621Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord53.262168.976Provisionals3722Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac53.273168.941384Bobby HamiltonMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet54.001166.664399Stacy Compton (R)Melling RacingFord53.443168.4044027Mike Bliss (R)Eel River RacingPontiac53.617167.8574166Darrell WaltripHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord53.448168.3884290Ed Berrier (R)Donlavey RacingFord54.440165.3204371Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet53.829167.196Failed to qualify4460Geoff BodineJoe Bessey RacingChevrolet53.307168.8334585Carl LongMansion MotorsportsFord54.281165.804Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Race results