2000 NAPA 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 34 of 34 in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
Atlanta Motor Speedway (after 1997, before Atlanta International Speedway)
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| Date | November 20, 2000 | ||
| Official name | NAPA 500 | ||
| Location | Atlanta International Raceway, Hampton, Georgia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.54 mi (2.502 km) |
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| Distance | 328 laps, 500.5 mi (813.12 km) | ||
| Weather | Cold with temperatures approaching 55.4 °F (13.0 °C); wind speeds up to 18.1 miles per hour (29.1 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 141.296 miles per hour (227.394 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jerry Nadeau | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 155 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 25 | Jerry Nadeau | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers |
Bob Jenkins Benny Parsons Ned Jarrett |
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The 2000 NAPA 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that was held on November 20, 2000, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. It was originally scheduled for November 19 but was postponed due to rain and run on Monday.
Jerry Nadeau won the race for his only NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory. Scott Wimmer would begin his NASCAR Winston Cup Series career at this event while Darrell Waltrip would end his racing career at this event. Bobby Labonte, who had clinched the Winston Cup championship the previous week by finishing 4th in the Pennzoil 400 presented by Discount Auto Parts, finished 5th.
Many of the historic driver/sponsor combinations would never be used again after this race; for example, the famous Jeff Gordon "rainbow car" with the DuPont sponsorship would not return for the 2001 season, in favor of a flame-themed color pattern that would last from 2001 to approximately 2011. This was also the final ESPN NASCAR broadcast for 7 years, and also for the broadcast trio of Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, and Ned Jarrett. Jenkins would remain with ESPN, Ned Jarrett retired and Benny Parsons would resurface on NBC's telecast of NASCAR racing from 2001-2006.
Atlanta Motor Speedway would never again host the closing event for the NASCAR Cup Series after the conclusion of this racing event. It was to host the final race in 2001 but because of the September 11 attacks, the New Hampshire 300, originally scheduled for September 16, was moved to the week following the NAPA 500 and became that year's season finale. The final race of the season moved to Homestead-Miami Speedway in the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season; where it remains today.
Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.
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