2000 Pepsi 400 at Daytona

July 1, 2000, a Saturday. The routine for Daytona's summer race was set by then: 160 laps on the 2.5-mile tri-oval, 400 miles, restrictor plates on every car, and a finish that nobody could call until the last lap. Wikipedia describes this one as a chaotic race, and the shape of the closing laps bears that out. A caution set up a restart with four laps to go. Jeff Burton had the lead in the No. 99 Roush Racing Ford, and behind him was Dale Jarrett, the pole-sitter and the driver who had led more laps than anyone. On a plate track a restart with four to go is an invitation for the second-place car to get a run with help from the line behind him. Burton did not let it happen. He defended the lead through those four laps and took the win, the 13th of his Winston Cup career and his second of the 2000 season, worth $152,450.

For newcomers: a restrictor plate is a thin aluminum plate with four small holes, fitted between the carburetor and the intake manifold, that chokes airflow into the engine and cuts horsepower. NASCAR used them at Daytona and Talladega to keep speeds under 200 miles per hour. The side effect is that no car can pull away on its own, so the field runs in packs, drafting, and the leader is always vulnerable. That is the context for the phrase the Wikipedia article uses about Burton fiercely defending the lead.

Jarrett led 56 laps to Burton's 42 and finished second in the Robert Yates Racing Ford, and Rusty Wallace was third without leading. All ten cars in the top ten completed the full 160 laps. Notice the split of the laps led: of the 160, Burton and Jarrett accounted for 98 between them, Ward Burton led 6, Tony Stewart led 1, and six of the top ten never led at all. That is what a plate race looks like when two cars are strong and the rest are hanging on.

Burton started ninth. Roush and Yates each put two cars in the top five, and Richard Childress Racing had both of its Chevrolets, Earnhardt and Skinner, eighth and ninth. The race averaged 148.576 miles per hour over the full distance. The Wikipedia article does not list a margin of victory, a caution total, or a number of lead changes, and so neither does this page.

The first practice on Thursday, June 29, was delayed by rain until 5:00 in the afternoon and ran about an hour and a half. Ricky Rudd was fastest at 48.272 seconds, 186.443 miles per hour. That session is the one the original Racin.net posted and the one the Wikipedia article cites from this archive. The speeds climbed on Friday. Bill Elliott topped the second practice at 47.515 seconds, 189.414 mph, and Mark Martin was quickest in the one-hour Happy Hour session that evening at 47.337 seconds, 190.126 mph. Qualifying was split into two rounds, with the top 25 from the first round locked in, positions 26 through 36 set on time, and 37 through 43 filled by provisionals.

• Pole: Dale Jarrett, 47.988 seconds, 187.547 mph
• Fastest in first practice: Ricky Rudd, 48.272 seconds
• Fastest in Happy Hour: Mark Martin, 47.337 seconds
• Failed to qualify: Brett Bodine, Robby Gordon, Dave Marcis
• Withdrew before qualifying: Ted Musgrave, Boris Said
• Cars in the field: 43

Jarrett's pole lap of 47.988 seconds was slower than the best practice laps of Friday, which is normal at Daytona: qualifying is a single car on the track with no draft, while practice speeds come from cars running in line.

This was the second straight Pepsi 400 on CBS and the network's final NASCAR Cup Series broadcast. Mike Joy called the laps, Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker worked color, Ken Squier hosted, and Dick Berggren, Ralph Sheheen, and Bill Stephens reported from pit road. Ned Jarrett spent the broadcast describing a race his son Dale led for 56 laps and lost on the last restart.

Four laps to go, a restart, and a plate-race field lined up behind Jeff Burton. He held them off, and CBS went off the air for good.