|| *Comments on the 2000 Pepsi Southern 500:* View the most recent comment <#57> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Jake posted: 12.13.2004 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) This race was scheduled to be 367 laps, but a monsoon of rain drenched the track. It should've rained earlier when Dale Jr. was in the lead, because he was leading and pulling away. It would've been awesome if a rookie were to win the Southern 500. 2. HomeDepot20TS posted: 06.05.2005 - 1:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great to see Bobby pull of the win with a brilliant strategic move by Jimmy Makar. This was a wierd race. Jeremy Mayfield dominated but got wiped out as he was lapping Dave Marcis. Near the end of the race, there was a power outage and ESPN's broadcast was video only for many laps. It was during this point that Jerry Nadeau's engine let go because I remember his car on the screen with no sound and smoke puffing. It was wierd. The sound came back just in time for the race to end with Bobby in front. 3. ogarek posted: 01.07.2006 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) the thing i remember most about this race was during a light drizzle with dale earnhardt leading every member of the goodwrench crew was holding an umbrella in an attempt to get nascar to call the race it was a pretty funny moment 4. Thomas posted: 04.10.2006 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, I remember ESPN losing the audio. Actually, it was ESPN2. The race was marred by rain since it began and ESPN couldn't wait to get to an all-important golf match. 5. Potato posted: 10.27.2006 - 7:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The last Cup Series lap led by Darrell Waltrip. 6. CBCMikeyfan posted: 11.30.2006 - 6:35 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Another note about ESPN losing power: When they got the audio back, I still remember them saying that the monitors in the booth weren't working, so they were having to call the race only by watching the track, like the old days. 7. biffle16 posted: 01.13.2007 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Worst starting position by a winner in 2000. 8. David posted: 01.21.2007 - 10:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Labonte had a stuck throttle in qualifying, and it was a scary site. Luckly he was okay, and came back and won. Rick Mast coulda stayed on the track and won, but pitted, then the sky fell down 9. Taylor posted: 01.19.2008 - 6:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How can anybody win a race without leading a single lap under green. Bobby somehow did it. 10. RaceFanX posted: 03.13.2008 - 1:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rick Mast leads a lap for the final time 11. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 10.30.2009 - 6:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember this was the race where Ward nearly won, but had a bizarre pit stop near the end, and he finished 6th. I was so mad at the time, but now that I think about it, if Ward had to lose, Bobby Labonte in victory lane isn't so bad. 12. jessie hery posted: 11.19.2009 - 9:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1ST crash 33 28 26 31 43 44 94 83 6 2 4 12 47 48 19 86 21 12 99 3 8 7 66 9 22 27 13. Ryan posted: 01.31.2010 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) would have been a great shoot-out at the end, but tarnished by rain. 14. b4il3y posted: 04.17.2011 - 2:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) IF not for the engine.."squeel" like you guys call him..wins this race. 15. The Great Dave posted: 09.02.2011 - 8:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) best finish for Dave Marcus since a 16th at Daytona in 1999 16. Spen posted: 08.23.2012 - 12:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) A note to the webmaster: the race distance should read 367*, not 328. 17. Matt posted: 09.04.2013 - 6:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To Spen: The race was rain shortened. That's why it was only 328 laps. 18. EyeofTheCougar posted: 01.10.2014 - 11:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave Marcis led this race for over 3 hours, during a rain delay. Led it twice if I remember. Any of the top 15 finishers in this race could have won this race if they had just stayed out. Why didn't no crew chiefs keep their driver out with rain around the track? Ward Burton was leading, pitted and the race never went back to green flag action. As a diehard Ward Burton fan, I've never been so mad over a race 19. Windows Millennium Edition posted: 02.26.2016 - 8:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: WD|Robby Gordon|13|Team Menard|Robby Gordon|Ford 20. RaceFanX posted: 03.01.2016 - 11:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Marcis' 23rd was his best finish of the 2000 season. 21. Will posted: 02.22.2017 - 1:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mayfield led every green flag lap until his run in with Marcis. He would pull away by about 10 car lengths on the restarts. I would say he would have won easily, but who knows with all the different strategies due to the weather. 22. 3Earnhardt3fan posted: 05.04.2017 - 11:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution came out on lap 321, due to oil on track with rain in the area. Despite this, NO ONE stayed out. All lead lap cars pitted and the race never restarted as 6 laps later, it began to pour the rain. Any of the top 16 finishers easily could've won this race if their crew chiefs were paying attention. First time drivers who could've won: ~Rick Mast who never won in 364 starts ~Ted Musgrave who never won in 305 starts ~Kevin Lepage who never won in 201 starts Ward Burton led the race for a long time, had the lead coming into the pits had a awful slow pit stop and lost the lead when he should've stayed out. This would've been back-to-back Southern 500 wins for him as he would go on to win it the following year. Bobby Labonte who was not a factor all day, won this 23. Anthony posted: 08.12.2017 - 7:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Jarrett earned his 15th consecutive top10 finish. Wow! And was 111 points back after this race. 24. Ryan posted: 06.11.2018 - 11:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @9 the #18 team had a lightning fast pit crew. Things haven't changed much. This was an excellent race with nine drivers leading laps in double digits with 17 lead changes in the last 210 laps. 25. Gray Gaulding's Distant Cousin posted: 06.11.2018 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) When was the last time the driver who lead most laps finished below 35th? 26. JSPorts posted: 06.11.2018 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not sure if this is the last time, but Kyle Busch led the most laps and finished 39th at Bristol in the summer of 2016. 27. Anthony posted: 06.12.2018 - 7:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jarrett only gained 92 points on Bobby Labonte in that 15 race stretch in which he finished in the top10 in every race. 28. Philip Pegler posted: 07.02.2018 - 4:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dale Earnhardt's final race at Darlington where he led his first laps (47) since March 1996. An incredible statistic considering his history at the track. 29. ARosser14 posted: 12.16.2019 - 7:41 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) @21 Not being sarcastic at all when I say this, but with the way Mayfield's 2000 season went, he was probably within 25 laps of the engine blowing when he and Marcis tangled. Much the same as Geoff Bodine's No. 7 Ford in 1994 (those are the two examples that stand out most to me since I've been a fan), that No. 12 would absolutely fly, but getting it to still be flying at the checkered flag was the trick. 30. Will posted: 12.23.2019 - 1:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @29 You're probably right. As a Mayfield fan, the 2000 season was incredibly frustrating to watch. He was usually in the top 10, often top 5, when he wasn't off the track with mechanical issues or crash damage. Has any other driver finished 24th of worse in the final standings with 2 wins? Also 2nd in poles and 4th in laps led...just terrible luck kept him from being higher in points. He had a streak of 6 DNF's. 2 poles and twice pulled the car behind the wall while leading in that stretch, this race being one of them. The icing on the cake was probably qualifying 4th for the Brickyard only to get concussed after spinning in oil in Happy Hour and pounding the wall, causing him to miss two races. Also annoying was the fact that the Brickyard was usually the only race my family would attend each season. 31. Mile501 posted: 12.23.2019 - 4:54 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) @30 - In 2002, Ward Burton finished 25th in points with 2 wins. And in 1994, Jimmy Spencer got those 2 questionable superspeedway wins but finished 29th in points. Aside from part-time drivers, those were the only other instances I could find. The next closest was Kyle Busch's rookie season (2005) when he was very inconsistent, winning twice but finishing 20th in points. 32. UnderdogFan89 posted: 12.23.2019 - 7:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) @30 Actually, just two years later, Ward Burton finished 25th in the standings with 2 wins, and he ran all the races, unlike Mayfield, who as you said missed two races due to the Brickyard practice crash. Mayfield likely would have been top 20 in points if he hadn't missed those two races. 33. GoPM21 posted: 12.23.2019 - 7:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) @30 Ward Burton finished 25th in points back in 2002. He also had two wins. 34. Joshua posted: 12.23.2019 - 8:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Under the Latford system, I would have liked to see where Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. would have ended up in points with his two plate wins. I'd guess it'd be somewhere around 25th, also. 35. Joshua posted: 12.23.2019 - 8:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am surprised nobody mentioned this. The Mayfield-Marcis tango didn't bring out a caution. Mayfield thought he was clear out of 2, then got hooked in the wall by Marcis (no fault of his). Mayfield slid down the track, sparks flying, right front tore up, but we stay green. 36. Darrell posted: 12.23.2019 - 8:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ted Musgrave's best finish in the 01 car. 37. Mile501 posted: 12.23.2019 - 9:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @34 - Stenhouse ranked 18th in full-season points in 2017. He didn't accumulate many stage points, but I don't think anyone near him in the standings did either, so he probably would have ranked similarly using the Latford system. While his stats (wins, top 5s, top 10s) look similar to Ward Burton's from 2002, Stenhouse had a much better season overall. Stenhouse scored 21 top 15 finishes in 2017--he just finished between 11th and 15th a lot, so his number of top 10s is low. By comparison, Burton scored just 13 top 15 finishes in 2002 and had 11 finishes of 37th or worse. 38. Mile501 posted: 12.23.2019 - 10:06 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kevin Lepage, Rick Mast, and Ted Musgrave never won a Winston Cup race. If one of them had stayed out under that last caution, then that driver wouldn't have had a winless career. Or, if Tony Stewart had stayed out, he would have ended his career with 50 wins instead of 49. If Rick Mast had won, it also would have been the only win for A.J. Foyt as a Winston Cup owner. I think of Justin Haley's win at Daytona in 2019 and it's really surprising that no one tried that on this day. 39. Altracing posted: 12.23.2019 - 10:14 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) 800th career start for Darrell Waltrip 40. Spen posted: 12.23.2019 - 6:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @32: The #12 finished 21st in owner points, so that's most likely where Jeremy would have been without the injury. 41. Anonymous posted: 12.24.2019 - 12:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @37 I hope we're not insinuating that Stenhouse is a better driver than Ward Burton. If so, get out. 42. Mile501 posted: 12.24.2019 - 7:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @41 - Definitely not, and I think that should have been obvious. I was just comparing those two particular seasons, where each driver finished low in points with 2 wins. 43. Mile501 posted: 12.24.2019 - 7:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @40 Spen - Where did you find owner points from 2000? Any time I have attempted to find owner points from that far back, I have had trouble finding anything. 44. Spen posted: 12.24.2019 - 7:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jayski's old provisional land page had all the owner points from '98 onwards. I don't know if they're still available there or not. I did save the pages on my computer though. 1996 and '97 used to be on NASCAR.com. I found '97's on some site or another. Prior to that, it's next to impossible to find them, but since DNQ points weren't awarded until '97, it's not too difficult to calculate points from 1975-1995. 45. Mile501 posted: 12.24.2019 - 9:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @44 - Gotcha, thanks. And for anyone interested, I have a link to Jayski's old provisional land page on my Jayski Archive site (near the bottom of the page): https://jayskiarchive.weebly.com/ 46. Anthony2 posted: 12.25.2019 - 11:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If only this race played out the same as it would nine years later in the Coke 600. But decisions are hard to make regardless. 47. Will posted: 01.18.2020 - 1:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry I hadn't had a chance to drop by here again until now. I appreciate the replies. I didn't realize Ward had that rough of a season in 2002. The only thing I remember from him that year was that Daytona 500 win. Those finishes of 37th or worse is akin to what happened to Mayfield (Mayfield had an additional 5 finishes between 33rd and 36th), and help explain their similarities of where they finished in points. @40 - Petty finished 32nd in substitution at the Brickyard. Barring an engine failure (a BIG assumption, I know. Lol), I feel Mayfield would have had a great finish, likely finishing in the top 5 and possibly contend for the win. I base that prediction on the fact of how well he ran at Pocono, another flat 2.5 miler, and that he put his car on the 2nd row for the race. As for Watkins Glen, admittedly Mayfield wasn't very good at the road courses at that point of his career. Hubert didn't fair much better than what Mayfield probably would have, in 33rd. So...after those ramblings, my conclusion is that Mayfield would have a had good finish at Indy, vaulting him into the top 20 in points if not for the injury. 48. Spen posted: 01.18.2020 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It'd have to be really good. IIRC, there was close to 100 points between 20th and 21st. 49. Mile501 posted: 01.18.2020 - 8:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That wouldn't be so hard to accomplish under the Latford system. Mayfield ended up 117 points out of 20th. He would have made up 68 of those points just by starting the 2 races he missed, even if he finished last. It seems like it would have been pretty easy for him to score enough points for a top 20 finish in the final standings. Comment #40 stated that the #12 finished 21st in owner points, but those same results would have actually ranked Mayfield 20th in driver points, between Marlin and Nadeau. The difference in owner and driver points is because the #1 team is ranked 11th in owner points but had multiple drivers due to Steve Park's injury. 50. Spen posted: 01.19.2020 - 12:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Park's injury was in '01, not 2000. The discrepancy is most likely Bill Elliott missing two races. 51. Mile501 posted: 01.19.2020 - 6:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @50 - Sorry, you're right. I got my years mixed up. 52. UnderdogFan89 posted: 01.19.2020 - 7:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @49 That's what I was going for when I said he could have made top 20. He literally only had to average a 35th place finish (61 points) to make it there, even less with any laps led. 53. Rich posted: 11.28.2020 - 11:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To date, the last Southern 500 that ended earlier due to rain and or darkness and the second straight year the race ended due to rain with the '99 race ending at 270 laps, this race went 328 laps. 54. Mile501 posted: 04.21.2021 - 11:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This has been posted several times already, but having just re-watched this race in its entirety, it is still mind-boggling how not a single car on the lead lap stayed out and gambled during that last caution. I can understand the #22 team pitting, along with the rest of the leaders. But why wouldn't someone like the #16, #14, #01, or #5 stay out? What did they have to lose? A severe thunderstorm was skirting by just northwest of the track for a while. It continually seemed like rain was getting ready to start falling, yet the race went on. I guess all the crew chiefs assumed the rain still wouldn't hit before they restarted, but if you're near the back of the lead lap anyway, why not take a chance? Lightning was also spotted during the race on several occasions. It made me think of what a different era this was in many ways, since now they stop the race for 30 minutes if there is lightning within 8 miles. 55. KentuckyOffRoadRider posted: 04.21.2021 - 12:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @54 In construct to what you said. It still baffles me to this day Rick Mast could so easy be sitting here with a Southern 500 win. While this is hypothetical, with AJ Foyt known for his hothead moments. I can not imagine his reaction once all this played out and he realized his crew could've very easily won this race if one simply pit call had been different. While it's went unnoticed,I remember Dave Marcis had one of his best cars in years at a non-restrictor plate race. He barely got lapped as the caution came out when he lost both of his laps. Imagine a WHAT IF scenario of Marcis in his famed 71 Realtree Chevrolet managed to stay in the lead lap and stay out, steal a win of the century for what would've without a doubt been the shocker in the history of motorsports. Just my wishful thinking after all these years but that would've been my favorite all time sports moment 56. RaceFanX posted: 04.21.2021 - 12:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @54 It was really a different era since NASCAR would not stop the race until the track got wet (and for good reason as few tracks had lights in case of extended delay). The series didn't start doing a lightning clock as a reason for a red flag until one fan was killed and nine others injured at Pocono in August 2012 when a bolt right struck in the parking lot as fans were leaving just moments after NASCAR called the race a rainout. Fans were advised to take shelter moments earlier but not everyone was listening. 57. Mile501 posted: 04.21.2021 - 1:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @55 - That really isn't too far-fetched, since Dave Marcis did stay out and lead 13 laps during an early caution for rain. He likely would have tried that again had he still been on the lead lap. On the other hand, this turned out to be Bobby Labonte's only Darlington win, so it's hard to not be happy for him. And everyone else who was seriously contending for the win (Gordon, Earnhardt, and both Burtons) would end their careers with at least one Southern 500 victory, too. So in terms of fairness, the result wasn't too bad. But what a story it would have been had one of those other teams chosen to stay out at the end! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: