2000 NAPA Auto Parts 500

Race details
Race 10 of 34 in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2000 NAPA Auto Parts 500 program cover, featuring Jeff Gordon.
Date	April 30, 2000
Official name	Fourth Annual NAPA Auto Parts 500
Location	Fontana, California, California Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.2 km)
Distance	250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled Distance	250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed	149.378 miles per hour (240.401 km/h)
Attendance	115,000
Pole position
Driver	Mike Skinner	Richard Childress Racing
Time	38.697
Most laps led
Driver	Matt Kenseth	Roush Racing
Laps	120
Winner
No. 12	Jeremy Mayfield	Penske-Kranefuss 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 NAPA Auto Parts 500 was the tenth stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the fourth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 30, 2000, before an audience of 115,000 in Fontana, California, at the California Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 250 laps to complete. On the final restart with four laps left in the race, Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Jeremy Mayfield managed to defend the field to take the victory, overcoming an overheating car and a one lap deficit. The victory was Mayfield's second career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte and Roush Racing's Matt Kenseth finished second and third, respectively.

California Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Auto Club Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The track's turns are banked at fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eleven degrees. The back stretch has 3 degrees of banking.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

The first practice session was held on Friday, April 28, at 1:30 PM EST. The session lasted for two hours and 55 minutes. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Steve Park set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 38.584 and an average speed of 186.605 mph (300.312 km/h).^[3]

The second practice session was held on Saturday, April 29, at 1:30 PM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Team Menard's Robby Gordon set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 38.866 and an average speed of 185.252 mph (298.134 km/h).^[3]

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, April 29, after the preliminary 2000 Auto Club 300. The session lasted for one hour. Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Jeremy Mayfield set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 39.960 and an average speed of 180.180 mph (289.972 km/h).^[3]

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 14, at 4:00 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 Saturday, April 15, at 11:45 AM 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.^[3] 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.^[4]

Mike Skinner, driving for Richard Childress Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 38.697 and an average speed of 186.061 miles per hour (299.436 km/h) in the first round.^[5]

Three drivers failed to qualify.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Bobby Labonte 1,516 1 2 Mark Martin 1,496 (−20) 3 Ward Burton 1,443 (−73) 1 4 Jeff Burton 1,396 (−120) 1 5 Dale Earnhardt 1,384 (−132) 6 Dale Jarrett 1,305 (−211) 7 Jeff Gordon 1,279 (−237) 8 Rusty Wallace 1,271 (−245) 1 9 Ricky Rudd 1,251 (−265) 4 10 Mike Skinner 1,194 (−322) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.