2000 Pocono 500

The 2000 Pocono 500 was the fifteenth stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was scheduled for June 18, 2000, but was held on June 19, 2000 due to inclement weather at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The 200-lap race was won by Jeremy Mayfield for the Penske Racing team. Dale Jarrett finished second and his Robert Yates Racing teammate Ricky Rudd came in third.

2000 Pocono 500
Race details
Race 15 of 34 of in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Pocono Raceway, where the race was held.
Date June 19, 2000 (2000-06-19)
Location Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 70 °F (21 °C); wind speeds up to 10.10 miles per hour (16.25 km/h)[1]
Average speed 139.741 mph (224.891 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Penske Racing
Time 52.440
Most laps led
Driver Rusty Wallace Penske Racing
Laps 107
Winner
No. 12 Jeremy Mayfield Penske Racing
Television in the United States
Network The Nashville Network
Announcers Eli Gold, Buddy Baker

The race, originally scheduled for June 18, was delayed to June 19 due to persistent rain and enveloping fog. Mayfield won the race by bumping Earnhardt out of the way on the last corner of the last lap.

There were five cautions and twenty-four lead changes among eleven different drivers during the course of the race. The result left Bobby Labonte in first position in the Drivers' Championship, fifty-seven points ahead of second-place driver Dale Earnhardt and one-hundred and fifteen ahead of Dale Jarrett.

Report

Background

Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[2] The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[3] The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.[3]

Before the race, Bobby Labonte led the Drivers' Championship with 2,116 points, and Dale Earnhardt stood in second with 2,018 points. Ward Burton was third in the Drivers' Championship with 2,014 points, Dale Jarrett was fourth with 1,955 points, and Jeff Burton was in fifth with 1,868 points.[4] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Ford was leading with 95 points, nine points ahead of their rival Pontiac. Chevrolet was in third with 82 points.[5]

Race

The race, the fifteenth race out of a total of thirty-four in the season, was due to commence at 1 p.m. EDT on June 18. NASCAR officials postponed the race to 10 a.m. EDT on June 19 as persistent rain and a layer of fog obscured parts of the speedway.[6] The race was televised live on TNN.

References
  1. "2000 Pocono 500: Weather Information". The Old Farmer's Almanac. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  2. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
  3. "Pocono Raceway". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  4. "2000 Official Driver Standings: Kmart 400". NASCAR.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2010. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  5. "The 2000 Manufacturers Championship". Jayski. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
  6. Drape, John (June 19, 2000). "AUTO RACING; Bad Weather Means Monday At Pocono 500". The New York Times. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
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