2000 Winston 500

The 2000 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on October 15, 2000, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. As one of the final five races of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, this event turned out to be the "event of the year" as the poetic final six laps of the race would allow Dale Earnhardt to secure an unlikely win during the twilight of his NASCAR Winston Cup career.

Individual race earnings ranged from the winner's share of $135,900 ($0 when adjusted for inflation) to the last-place finisher's share of $44,086 ($0). A grand total of $2,329,646 was awarded to all the qualifying drivers of this event ($0). Earnhardt and a fan each won an extra $1 million as part of the Winston No Bull 5 program.

As of the start of the 2020 season, this is the most recent NASCAR Cup Series race run with no active drivers. Sterling Marlin, Kenny Wallace, and Ken Schrader are running in late-model races as of 2019.

Race report
Three different incidents resulted in yellow flags; a stalled vehicle near the start/finish line, debris on the race track and a four-car accident on the tri-oval. 13 laps were run under a caution flag while the green flag lasted for an average of 44 laps. The first 104 laps proved to be the longest green flag run. The next longest green lap stretch was from lap 120 to lap 168. Although Bill Elliott ended up leading the most laps with 40, the fastest qualifying speed went to Joe Nemechek, who won the pole position at 190.279 mph.

The 188-lap race lasted for three hours and one minute and became the first of only five races to run the roof spoiler package which temporarily dealt with the inconsistencies of restrictor plate racing. Dale Earnhardt won the race, his second victory of the season and 76th and final one in his career, beating Kenny Wallace by .119 seconds in front of about 170,000 fans. The final six laps of the race were the definition of poetry as Earnhardt came from 18th place to first to win a feat that NASCAR fans continue to regard as a memorable moment. Kenny Wallace and Nemechek would play a role in Earnhardt's win by holding off most of the competition. Wallace has said that he did not try to pass Earnhardt because he did not recognize his teammate Nemechek's car behind him, which had a special Charlie Daniels paint scheme. Four months later, Earnhardt would be killed in a crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.

All 43 drivers were born in the United States of America. Chevrolet and Ford vehicles made up 33 of the 43 positions on the starting grid. Chevrolet's sister make Pontiac made up the remaining 10 positions. Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Blaise Alexander, and Hut Stricklin failed to qualify for the race. Both Earnhardt and his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. participated at this event; the younger Earnhardt finished 14th. Kevin Lepage finished last as a result of problems with his ignition on lap 20.

Dave Marcis went from starting in ninth place to leading the second lap. And they ran an extremely manic race with only one major crash happening on lap 169 involving four different drivers.

The race was televised by ESPN, with pit reporter Jerry Punch (filling in for regular ESPN broadcaster Bob Jenkins, who was at Texas Motor Speedway for the Excite 500 IRL race held that same day), Benny Parsons, and Ned Jarrett commentating. Punch's normal position on pit road was filled by Ray Dunlap.

Finishing order
Section reference:


 * 1) Dale Earnhardt (No. 3)
 * 2) Kenny Wallace (No. 55)
 * 3) Joe Nemechek (No. 33)
 * 4) Jeff Gordon (No. 24)
 * 5) Terry Labonte (No. 5)
 * 6) Mike Skinner (No. 31)
 * 7) Mark Martin (No. 6)
 * 8) Rusty Wallace (No. 2)
 * 9) Mike Bliss (No. 27)
 * 10) Matt Kenseth (No. 17)
 * 11) Ricky Rudd (No. 28)
 * 12) Bobby Labonte (No. 18)
 * 13) Jerry Nadeau (No. 25)
 * 14) Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8)
 * 15) Dale Jarrett (No. 88)
 * 16) Steve Grissom (No. 44)
 * 17) Elliott Sadler (No. 21)
 * 18) Chad Little (No. 97)
 * 19) Steve Park (No. 1)
 * 20) John Andretti (No. 43)
 * 21) Rich Bickle (No. 60)
 * 22) Ward Burton (No. 22)
 * 23) Stacy Compton (No. 9)
 * 24) Bill Elliott (No. 94)
 * 25) Robert Pressley (No. 77)
 * 26) Brett Bodine (No. 11)
 * 27) Tony Stewart (No. 20)
 * 28) Dave Blaney (No. 93)
 * 29) Jeff Burton (No. 99)
 * 30) Ricky Craven (No. 50)
 * 31) Rick Mast (No. 14)
 * 32) Ted Musgrave* (No. 01)
 * 33) Johnny Benson Jr. (No. 10)
 * 34) Michael Waltrip (No. 7)
 * 35) Darrell Waltrip (No. 66)
 * 36) Bobby Hamilton* (No. 4)
 * 37) Ken Schrader* (No. 36)
 * 38) Jimmy Spencer* (No. 26)
 * 39) Scott Pruett*(No. 32)
 * 40) Dave Marcis* (No. 71)
 * 41) Sterling Marlin* (No. 40)
 * 42) Jeremy Mayfield* (No. 12)
 * 43) Kevin Lepage* (No. 16)

* Driver failed to finish race

Did Not Qualify

 * 1) Blaise Alexander (No. 91) - Ericsson Telecommunications
 * 2) Wally Dallenbach Jr. (No. 75) - WCW World Championship Wrestling/Red Cell Batteries
 * 3) Hut Stricklin (No. 90) - Hills Brothers Coffee