2000 Coca-Cola 600

The 2000 Coca-Cola 600 was the 12th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 41st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 28, 2000, before an audience of 183,500 in Concord, North Carolina, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Taking advantage of a misfortunate Jerry Nadeau, Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth managed to make a late-race pass with 26 laps left in the race, leading the rest of the race to take his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. With this win, he became the first ever rookie to win the Coca-Cola 600. To fill out the top three, Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte and Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt finished second and third, respectively.

Background
Lowe's Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a1.5 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 in1959 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 G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.

First practice
The first practice session was held on Wednesday, May 24, at 3:00 PM EST. The session lasted for two hours and 55 minutes. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Dale Earnhardt Jr. set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.325 and an average speed of 184.143 mph.

Second practice
The second practice session was held on Thursday, May 25, at 2:30 PM EST. The session lasted for two hours. Melling Racing's Stacy Compton set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.189 and an average speed of 178.873 mph.

Third practice
The third practice session was held on Thursday, May 25, at 7:00 PM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Rusty Wallace set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.438 and an average speed of 177.410 mph.

Fourth practice
The fourth practice session was held on Saturday, May 27, at 9:00 AM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.175 and an average speed of 178.956 mph.

Final practice
The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, May 27, after the preliminary 2000 Carquest 300. The session lasted for one hour. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Dale Earnhardt Jr. set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.441 and an average speed of 177.392 mph.

Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Wednesday, May 24, at 8:05 PM EST. Each driver had two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two counted as their official qualifying lap. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round was 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, May 25, at 6:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver had two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 26–36 was decided on time, while positions 37–43 was 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.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., managed to win the pole, setting a time of 29.027 and an average speed of 186.034 mph in the first round.

Five drivers failed to qualify.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings
 * Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.