2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500

2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500

Race details
Race 4 of 34 in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2000 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 program cover.
Date	March 12, 2000
Official name	41st Annual Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500
Location	Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Distance	325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Scheduled Distance	325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Average speed	131.759 miles per hour (212.046 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Time	28.789
Most laps led
Driver	Mike Skinner	Richard Childress Racing
Laps	191
Winner
No. 3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ray Evernham
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

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 1.54 miles (2.48 km) 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 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

• (R) - denotes rookie driver

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 190.863 mph (307.164 km/h).^[3]

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.^[2] Steve Park of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. would set the fastest time in the session, with an average speed of 190.995 mph (307.377 km/h). ^[4]

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, March 11.^[2] Robby Gordon of Team Menard would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.455 and an average speed of 188.219 mph (302.909 km/h).^[5]

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 192.574 mph (309.918 km/h).^[7]

Five drivers would fail to qualify: Dave Marcis, Ed Berrier, Johnny Benson Jr., Mike Bliss, and Robby Gordon.