2000 DirecTV 500

The 2000 DirecTV 500 was the seventh stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the fourth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 2, 2000, before an audience of 223,000 in Fort Worth, Texas at Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent tri-oval shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. At race's end, Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Dale Earnhardt Jr. managed to dominate the final stages of the race, leading the final 53 laps of the race to take his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Roush Racing's Jeff Burton and Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte finished second and third, respectively.

Background
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 miles (2.4 km) around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.

Practice
Originally, four practice sessions were scheduled to be held, with two sessions on Friday and two sessions on Saturday. However, due to rain, the scheduled final session was cancelled.

First practice
The first practice session was held on Friday, March 31, at 12:00 PM EST. The session lasted for one hour and 15 minutes. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Steve Park set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.278 and an average speed of 190.961 mph.

Second practice
The second practice session was held on Friday, March 31, at 2:05 PM EST. The session lasted for 55 minutes. Hendrick Motorsports' Terry Labonte set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.148 and an average speed of 191.843 mph.

Final practice
The final practice session was held on Saturday, April 1, at 10:00 AM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Wood Brothers Racing' Elliott Sadler set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.426 and an average speed of 189.967 mph.

Qualifying
Qualifying was scheduled split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 17, at 4:30 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. Originally, a second round qualifying session was scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 18. However, due to rain, the round was cancelled, leaving all positions to be determined using the times from the first round. 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.

Terry Labonte, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 28.105 and an average speed of 192.137 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.