The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana, (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. It is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately 6 miles (9.7 kilometres) west of Downtown Indianapolis. It is a four-turn rectangular-oval track that is 2.5 miles (4.0 kilometres) long. The track's turns are banked at 9 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, has no banking. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has a zero degree banking. The racetrack has seats for more than 250,000 spectators.
Qualifying
Pole qualifications were held on August 3, two days before the race. Ricky Rudd qualified on pole position with a speed of 181.068mph (291.401km/h). Darrell Waltrip qualified in second position, a surprise result as Waltrip had struggled for most of the 2000 season, including failing to qualify for three previous races in the season and failing to finish in the top 20 in any race prior. Waltrip received an ovation from the crowd in attendance as well as several competitors - including his younger brother Michael Waltrip. The championship leader entering the race, Bobby Labonte, qualified in third.[2]
During qualifying, Todd Bodine qualified the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports entry for Terry Labonte while Labonte underwent further assessment for injuries he had sustained at the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Labonte had further aggravated his injuries by participating in the races following Daytona and needed a relief driver for the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway, but he still had intentions of racing at Indianapolis when CT scans came back negative. However, during post-qualifying practice, Labonte turned only one lap before suffering dizziness. Labonte then made the decision to withdraw from both Indianapolis and the following race at Watkins Glen International to fully recover. Todd Bodine would remain in the car for the Brickyard. The injuries brought an end to Labonte's streak of 655 consecutive races started.[3]
1Brett Bodine was the fastest qualifier, however his lap was set on the second day of qualifying, forcing him to line up behind those who qualified on pole day.
Jeremy Mayfield practice accident
During post-qualifying practice on August 4, Jeremy Mayfield suffered a major accident in turn 3. Mayfield lost control of his car while following teammate Rusty Wallace, causing him to spin and heavily impact the outside wall on driver-side. Mayfield was initially found unconscious, though awoke shortly after. Safety crews took roughly 10 minutes to extract Mayfield from the car before transporting him directly to Methodist Hospital with what was described as a "moderate concussion." Mayfield checked himself out of the hospital later on Friday, but the injury would force him to miss the next two races. Kyle Petty, who had failed to qualify in his primary Petty Enterprises car, was hired to be the injury substitute for the Brickyard. By NASCAR rules, Petty would have to drop to the rear of the field for the start on race day due to the driver swap.[5]
Race
The race was held on Saturday, August 5. Ricky Rudd led from pole position for the first 17 laps, but would not lead for the remainder of the race. The first of two cautions during the race came at lap 17, when Mike Skinner made contact with Mark Martin, sending Martin heavily into the turn 1 wall. As cars slowed to avoid Martin's wrecked car, Jeff Gordon collided with the rear of Rick Mast, sending Mast into a spin and causing significant front-end damage to Gordon's car. Rusty Wallace assumed the lead when racing resumed. At lap 32, Jerry Nadeau took the lead for an 11 lap stretch; after this, the battle for the lead was exclusively between Wallace and Bobby Labonte.
The second and final caution of the race came at lap 44, when John Andretti suffered a punctured tire entering turn 3, causing him to heavily impact the outside wall. Racing resumed at lap 46 and remained under green-flag conditions for the remainder of the race. Rusty Wallace was the dominant car for much of the day, leading 110 of the race's 160 laps. He, however, was constantly under pressure from Bobby Labonte and, on lap 146, Labonte moved alongside Wallace at turn 3 for the lead. The two remained side-by-side through turn 4 and down the frontstraight before Labonte successfully completed the pass into turn 1. Labonte would lead the remainder of the race and go on to take victory. The race set a new record for the fastest running for the Brickyard 400 at 155.912mph (250.916km/h), narrowly surpassing the record set at the 1995 Brickyard 400. For Labonte, despite having led the championship for nearly the entire 2000 season, it was his first win since North Carolina Speedway in February.[6][7]
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