The 2000 Mall.com 400 was the fifth stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 44th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 19, 2000, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 293 laps to complete. At race's end, Bill Davis Racing's Ward Burton dominated the late laps of the race to take his second career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his only victory of the season, and his first victory in 131 races. To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing's Dale Jarrett and Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt finished second and third, respectively.
Background
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Practice
First practice
The first practice session was held on Friday, March 17, at 11:00 AM EST. The session would last for one hour and 15 minutes. Roush Racing's Jeff Burton set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.923 and an average speed of 170.024 mph (273.627 km/h).
Second practice
The second practice session was held on Friday, March 17, at 1:00 PM EST. The session would last for 45 minutes. Hendrick Motorsports's Jeff Gordon set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.747 and an average speed of 171.065 mph (275.302 km/h).
Third practice
The third practice session was held on Saturday, March 18, at 9:30 AM EST. The session would last for one hour and 30 minutes. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Dale Earnhardt Jr. set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.611 and an average speed of 166.073 mph (267.269 km/h).
Final practice
The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, March 18, after the 2000 SunCom 200. The session would last for one hour. Roush Racing's Mark Martin set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.516 and an average speed of 166.607 mph (268.128 km/h).
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 17, at 3:30 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 Saturday, March 18, at 11:30 AM 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 28.481 and an average speed of 172.662 miles per hour (277.873 km/h) in the first round.
Five drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Media
Television
The race was aired live on ESPN. Jerry Punch, 1973 Cup Series champion Benny Parsons and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Ned Jarrett called the race from the broadcast booth. Punch filled in for regular commentator Bob Jenkins was covering ABC's coverage of the MCI WorldCom Indy 200 IndyCar Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. Bill Weber, John Kernan and Ray Dunlap handled pit road for the television side.
Standings after the race
References
