The 2000 Pocono 500 was the 15th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 19th iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, June 18, 2000, but was delayed by one day due to rain.[1] The race was held before an audience of 75,000 in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.
Pocono International Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.
Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCarrace. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.
The first practice session was held on Friday, June 16, at 11:00AM EST. The session lasted for three hours. Penske-Kranefuss Racing's Rusty Wallace set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 52.557 and an average speed of 171.243mph (275.589km/h).[4]
The second practice session was held on Saturday, June 17, at 9:30AM EST. The session lasted for one hour and 20 minutes. Joe Bessey Racing's Geoff Bodine set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 53.867 and an average speed of 167.078mph (268.886km/h).[4]
The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, June 17, after the preliminary 2000 Pocono ARCA 200. The session lasted for one hour. Robert Yates Racing's Ricky Rudd set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 54.412 and an average speed of 165.405mph (266.194km/h).[4]
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 16, at 3:00PM 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, June 17, at 11:30AM 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.[4] Positions 26–36 were decided on time, while positions 37–43 were 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.[5]
Rusty Wallace, driving for Penske-Kranefuss Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 52.440 and an average speed of 171.625 miles per hour (276.204km/h) in the first round.[6]
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