|| *Comments on the 2000 NAPA 500:* View the most recent comment <#127> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Joe posted: 07.21.2004 - 2:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Wahoo! What a race that was, and so perfect that Jerry got the win. I hope you come back soon, Jerry 2. Brett posted: 02.25.2005 - 10:33 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Another memorable season finale, albeit a day later than schdueled. Jerry Nadeau takes his first Cup win, holding off the best in the business in Dale Earnhardt. Darrell Waltrip finishes 34th in his final Cup start-certainly not the "victory tour" he had planned, highlighted by his outside pole at Indy in August. ESPN broadcasts their final Cup race to date. Their NASCAR coverage gave not just a broadcast template for cable, but for all of racing television. 3. Anonymous posted: 06.02.2005 - 12:41 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) ......? 4. HomeDepot20TS posted: 06.05.2005 - 1:05 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Scott Wimmer made his Winston Cup debut by leading 9 laps and coming home a respectable 22nd. Its a shame BDR has fallen into the state that it has because it is a waste of Scott's talent to be in that car right now. 5. SPENCER posted: 11.10.2005 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bring back ESPN Please!! 6. Darrell posted: 12.11.2005 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ESPN is coming back! Watch, instead of getting back Bob Jenkins and Dr. Jerry Punch, we'll still be stuck with Larry McReynolds and Wally Dallenbach on here. 7. NascarF1Fan posted: 12.11.2005 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ESPN back in 2007 8. Matthew Sullivan posted: 12.22.2005 - 4:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race marked Dale Earnhardt's final top five finish as well as his final finish in a race. 9. NascarF1Fan posted: 12.30.2005 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jerry Nadeau takes his first and only Cup win 10. Darrell posted: 02.22.2006 - 6:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) DW ends a tumultulous two-year run with Travis Carter. Maybe things would have been better if they, oh I don't know, maybe gave him some semi-competitive racecars? 11. Thomas posted: 03.04.2006 - 1:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larry McReynolds is already contracted to FOX. Jerry Punch will be back in the ESPN/ABC booth next year with Rusty Wallace. Don't know what'll become of Bob Jenkins. I hope to God he comes back. He could be the most talented race broadcaster ever. I just sure as shit hope that they keep Bill Weber and Wally Dallenbach at TNT. That way we'll only have to hear them drone on six weeks a year as opposed to seventeen. 12. Anonymous posted: 03.05.2006 - 4:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also the final time that Atlanta held the final race of the season. 2001 it went to New Hampshire and from 2002-present it has been at Homestead. 13. Goodbye Dale E. posted: 03.21.2006 - 3:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale E. finishes on the lead lap for the last time, then dies in February '01 at Daytona on final lap. One of the best drivers ever, after Richard Petty, David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip. 14. smoke20ri posted: 04.01.2006 - 3:23 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) I like Wally commenting. He says what's on his mind as opposed to DW (who I respect and like) who always seems to say the right thing and not ruffle anyone's feathers. 15. CanucksAndNASCAR Fan posted: 05.17.2006 - 3:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I can't wait until ABC/ESPN starts televising races again. I wonder who will join Dr. Punch and Rusty in the booth. 16. dalejrfan15 posted: 06.17.2006 - 2:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) WE MISS YOU NADEAU!It seems as though if he stayed with hendrick in 03 then he would have had a good chance to win another race.he should have won more but bad luck spoiled him so many times!I WAS BORN IN DANBURY CT!JUST LIKE NADEAU!COME BACK! 17. Andrew posted: 07.14.2006 - 8:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last top 10 for Felix Sabates as a car owner 18. Steve posted: 08.02.2006 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Apparently ESPN will be back in February 2007 as the only place to see the Busch Series races (live; replays would likely continue to air during the week on SPEED). Hopefully there won't be any rainouts. I have watched the IRL races for several years (I love the side-by-side racing they have at places like Kansas, Texas, and Chicago), and I hoped to see a great Michigan 400 on ABC this past weekend (July 29th), but rain postponed the race, and the telecast was delayed until midnight Eastern time on ESPN2. Either no rainouts, or the folks at ESPN/ABC Sports figure out a better way to accomodate the fans in such an instance. 19. Kevin posted: 08.19.2006 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last cup race for DW. I like DW but I believe in was overdue, it was hard to watch DW be a back marker for his final few years. 20. george posted: 09.04.2006 - 12:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) espn will come back 21. Frogger49 posted: 10.05.2006 - 4:32 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Qualifying for the ARCA support race this year was rained out. As a result, an already large entry list ballooned to 56 for the race, including some teams that were going to attempt the ARCA race, like the #23 of Scott Wimmer, and the #61 of Tim Sauter. Wimmer was a PE, or post entry for this race, and thus did not receive points. 22. Steve posted: 11.08.2006 - 5:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) The ESPN/ABC broadcast crew for 2007 and beyond: Dr. Jerry Punch Rusty Wallace Andy Petree Jeremy Mayfield had a typical race in the 2000 season. Had a winning racecar that couldn't make it to the checkers. Also, was this race the late Blaise Alexander's only attempt at the Winston Cup Series? 23. Steve posted: 11.23.2006 - 9:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardts last top 5 and last top 10 24. Anonymous posted: 01.01.2007 - 3:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The sponsor on the 40 was BellSouth, as the 01 and 40 had switched sponsors since BellSouth wanted to get in their home race. 25. most posted: 01.12.2007 - 11:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Blaise attempted spring Talladega also in the 01 before the 42 became 01 26. David posted: 01.21.2007 - 10:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) felix sabates is co-owner with chip ganassi racing 27. chad posted: 02.04.2007 - 7:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) i cant wait espn comes back bob jenkins is at speed tv jerry punch will call play by play espn will be all busch races 28. myself posted: 02.20.2007 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I can't believe no one has mentioned this yet....this was the final race, EVER, for the great Ned Jarrett (one of the greatest drivers AND commentators) in the booth! I miss his insight. I also thought this might have been Jerry Nadeau's (or as that clown, Dr. Jerry Punch, calls him (Na-doo) coming out party. I always thought he was a good driver & racer, & expected an aweful lot more from him. I thought he & the 25 were a great match. Oh well.... 29. myself posted: 02.21.2007 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Jarrett's final race w/ Quality Care as primary sponsor. They had a heck of a run together. 30. Brock posted: 02.25.2007 - 7:12 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) To this day, I don't think I've ever cheered louder at the finish of a Cup race than this one! :) 31. biffle16 posted: 05.31.2007 - 2:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree, Steve. Mayfield probably would've won about seven more races than he did had all the bullshit and crappy luck not happened, and dare I say it, THE WINSTON CUP CHAMPIONSHIP!!! 32. chad posted: 06.18.2007 - 11:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) wally dallenbach last race 33. Anonymous posted: 06.28.2007 - 8:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Incorrect. Dallenbach made 1 more start at Pocono in '01 subbing for Joe Nemechek. 34. Taylor posted: 01.19.2008 - 7:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also Big Es last finish. 35. Steve posted: 01.20.2008 - 7:09 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) I've lost count when trying to figure out how many familiar teams have gone out of business since this race. Tha owners and most common number used: 77 Doug Bawel 60 Joe Bessey 27 Jack Birmingham 11 Brett Bodine 66 Travis Carter 85 Thee Dixon 90 Junie Donlavey 14 A.J. Foyt 50 Hal Hicks 00 Buckshot Jones 71 Dave Marcis 4 Larry McClure 9 Mark Melling 75 Butch Mock 33 Andy Petree 7 Jimmy Smith 32 Cal Wells 36. RaceFanX posted: 01.20.2008 - 9:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon retires his famous rainbow paint job with a pole and a 4th place finish in this event. 37. Jonathan posted: 01.28.2008 - 6:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) No way Mayfield wins the cup that year. Bobby had one of the most consistent seasons in Cup series history. Would have won the Cup in 99, but DJ had a helluva year. Bobby had 4 wins, 19 top 5's, and 24 top 10's. He averaged a 7.4 finish. Hello, no one stood a chance that year despite Earnhardt have a very good season. Since then only Jeff Gordon this year has had a better average finish and that was 7.3. In fact prior to 2000 going back a decade only Jeff Gordon in 98 (5.7) and Mark Marin in 1990(6.6). Averaged better finishes. Generally speaking if you average a 9th place finish you'll win the cup in most years. 2000 was Bobby's year!! 38. Clayton Caldwell posted: 02.26.2008 - 12:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) add Morgan McClure Motorsports and Bill Elliott Racing to the list of Abandon teams, god Have times changed! I remember listening to this race on the radio, I was on a ski trip in Vermont and heard the final laps! It was incredible. Probley More incredible and this is the god honest truth, It was snowing in Vermont and we were looking at houses going real slow and then my father stops and says look at the name on that mailbox! The Name was Nadeau. It was spooky as hell! But I was thrilled Nadeau won. Also Awesome Bill's last race in the McDonalds Ford! Bill hadn't won a race in that car, then went to Evernham and won finally in 2001. 39. Mr. Consistency posted: 02.28.2008 - 12:43 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) This was a sad day, end of many eras: -Only win for Jerry Nadeau (should have had a lot more) -Last race for Earnhardt before his tragic wreck. -Last race for Darrell Waltrip -End of more than a decades worth of Winston Cup finishes at Atlanta -Last race for the good ole days of ESPN's NASCAR coverage. Also, when I think of watching Mark Martin, Dale Jarret and Bill Elliott as a kid, I think of them driving the valvoline, quality care, and McDonalds cars respectively. Last race for all of them in those rides. Poor Mark had to push pecker pills for half a decade! 40. Haywood posted: 03.31.2008 - 12:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If the 2007 Chase format was used... B. Labonte 6,522 J. Burton 6,448 Earnhardt 6,442 Rudd 6,416 Stewart 6,402 J. Gordon 6,391 R. Wallace 6,323 Martin 6,298 Skinner 6,199 Jarrett 6,167 W. Burton 6,023 Kenseth 6,022 41. KB posted: 05.04.2008 - 1:16 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) No one has been able to approach the excellence ESPN Speedworld brought to race coverage in the '90s. I'm glad ESPN is back but it's still not quite the same. Bob, Benny, and Ned are for my money the best race broadcasting crew ever. 42. Rad83 posted: 07.29.2008 - 3:16 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) This race was the finale to an awesome year: 2000. A year that blended old and new. A year with underrated racing action. Sadly, alot of teams would die within the next 3 years after this race. 2000 is a largely forgotten year in the annals of NASCAR history. It is my goal, to one day see every race again, and relive this awesome season. 43. jp posted: 02.18.2009 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ESPN SpeedWorld literally fell apart after they left. ESPN 1981-2000. but, little did anyone know that would be back and worse than ever!!!!! oh, and bob jenkins is currently on the ims radio network covering the indy 500 and the rolex 24, i guess. 44. reffy posted: 03.08.2009 - 11:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If NASCAR gave only points to those who finished first and second, (win = 2, second = 1) than this would be the Top 10 for 2000 Stewart - 14 Jeff Burton - 13 Bobby Labonte - 11 Rusty Wallace - 9 Earnhardt - 9 Jarrett - 7 Gordon - 7 Mayfield - 7 Earnhardt Jr - 4 Kenseth - 3 45. SoxFan24 posted: 10.25.2009 - 12:44 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) This race was postponed to a Monday because of rain it was also the last time Atlanta would host the season finale as of 10/24/09 Lots of milestones here First win for Jerry Nadeau First win for the 25 car since 1991 at Dover with Ken Schrader Last race for Darrell Waltrip in the Cup Series Last time Dale Earnhardt would be running at the finish of a NASCAR race. Unfortunately we all know what happened the next race at Daytona Last race the "rainbow styled" Dupont Car was run. It did return during an all-star race years later Last race for owner Tim Beverley. The team would be purchased by Valvoline for 2001 and be a part of MB2 motorsports Last race for Bill Elliott and his own team and with McDonalds ass a sponsor First race for Todd Bodine driving for Travis Carter Racing. He would drive for them till 2002 First race Travis Carter had 3 cars in a race and only time Last race for Bobby Hamilton in the Kodak car. He would go drive for Andy Petree in 2001 Last race for the Quality Care/ Ford Credit sponsorship on the 88 car. UPS would become the primary sponsor in 2001 Last race Terry Labonte would have the Kellogs Corn Flakes Sponsorship untill 2005. Frosted Flakes would take over in 2001 First Cup race for Scott Wimmer and first laps lead Last race for Kenny Wallace driving for Andy Petree. Also last race Square D would be his sponsor as they had been since 1996 Last race for Robby Gordon's race team till 2005 as he would drive for Morgan McClure and Richard Childress before that time Last race for the 75 car Last race Scott Pruett would be a full time Cup regular Last race for Jeff Hammond as a Cup Crew chief Last race for Michael Waltrip driving for Jim Smith. He would move to DEI for 2001 Last race for the 00 team and owner Billy Jones Last race Mark Martin would drive for a Valvoline sponsored car Last race Andy Petree would field a third team in the Cup series Last race that Larry McReynolds would be a crew chief in the cup series as he would join the Fox crew Last race that the 60 team and owner Joe Bessey would attempt a Cup race. They DNQ'd Last race for Kevin Lepage in the 16 team as that car would shut down untill the 2003 season Last race attempted by the 91 team and last time Blaise Alexander would attempt Last Cup race televised by ESPN until 2007 Last Cup race announced by Bob Jenkins Last time John Kernan would be a pit reporter for a Cup race Last broadcast for Ned Jarrett 46. NASCAR 24/7 posted: 03.16.2010 - 5:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CORRRRRRRRRRRRRRECTIONS!!!!!! Post 45, The last time (before '05) that Terry ran a Corn Flakes car was in 1999. The scheme was changed a little for 2000, and again for '01. Post 12, the 2001 season finale was SUPPOSED to be at Atlanta, but because of 9/11 (I live in NY and it's still creepy) they postponed they New H. race to Thanksgiving weekend. Also, for the "people of the past," the ESPN crew is now: Marty Reid Andy Petree Dale Jarrett Ricky Craven is subbing for Petree at the Nashville Nationwide race, not sure if we'll se him again. 47. Steve posted: 09.09.2010 - 12:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) After this race, ESPN still had plenty of racing coverage. They covered the CART FedEx Championship (along with ABC), the IRL (with ABC and Fox Sports Net), the NHRA, the IROC, and the Craftsman Truck Series. They lost CART to the SPEED Channel in 2002, while gaining exclusive IRL TV rights with ABC, they lost the Trucks to SPEED in 2003, and IROC one year later. ESPN SpeedWorld only covered the IRL, the Infiniti Pro Series, and the NHRA from 2004-2006, before SpeedWorld and ABC Sports were axed. How did ESPN become so crappy? Both the open-wheel and stock car commentary crews were better then than now. 48. Evan posted: 01.16.2011 - 11:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Craven's role will expanded this year, he's gonna be doing more races and broadcasting for the network. Other endings, last race the number 9 was used on the Melling Racing team, when the number was transferred to Bill Elliott's car. Last race for Geoff Bodine for some time, he did race the 2002 Daytona 500 in the 09 for James Finch. Tony Stewart has two bad races at Atlanta in spring and fall and still wins more races than anyone else but does not take home the hardware. Was this Elliott Sadler's first race with Motorcraft? I'm not entirely sure? I did not know this was Earnhardt's last lead lap finish until 2001 but it is true. He finished 12th but did not complete the last lap. 49. 00andJoe posted: 06.10.2011 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #40 sponsor: BellSouth / Peach Bowl. 50. A-Frame43 posted: 09.09.2011 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @#45 "Last broadcast for Ned Jarrett " In all technicalities, he did return to do one of those 'legends' races at Bristol a couple years ago. 51. RaceFanX posted: 12.20.2011 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #43 sponsor: STP / Cheerios #75 sponsor: TBS Dinner and a Movie / Pizza Hut #10 sponsor: Aaron's / Aaron's 312 The Petty team and driver John Andretti brought their old retro 1970's two-tone STP colors out one final time for this race, the team had intended to run STP colors in the first half of the season and switch to Cheerios for the second half after Sonoma but were able to make a deal to give STP a more fitting send-off here. The team had previous run the retro STP scheme at Sonoma in what was intended to be STP's final race but a crash in the early laps there that set the car on fire, ironically like the King's last race in 1992, had knocked the car out so early they wanted to give their loyal sponsor since 1972 a more fitting departure here. STP would return in a more limited capacity a few years later. This was also the Petty organization's last race with Pontiac and General Motors, the car maker they had been teamed over various brands since late 1978, before they returned to Dodge for the 2001 season. This was the last Cup race to date without a Mopar in the field, the Dodge brand had been off the track since the mid-1980s (and all but dead since the Charger was outlawed in 1978) but came roaring back with factory support for a rather successful 2001 season. The Pettys were one of a handful of teams that switched to the pentastars after this race, they were joined by the Bill Davis, Melling, Chip Ganassi/Sabco and Bill Elliott racing teams- Elliott selling his owner/driver effort to new owner Ray Everham as part of the changeover. Johnny Benson had a largely yellow look for this race to promote the Aaron's 312 Busch series race to be held at Atlanta the following spring. It's rare to see a race car sponsored by a race in another series but Aaron's was big on promoting the race, they spent big bucks to get NASCAR to extend it 12 extra miles to match a sales promotion they were running. Wally Dallenbach seemingly had a good deal in place for 2001 as the #75 team announced Pizza Hut would be their new sponsor for 2000 in the lead up to this race and even had them on the car for this event. The deal apparently quickly fell apart though afterward and Wally's days as a Cup regular were over. This race ended up being his penultimate start in the series, he ran one more race at Pocono in 2001 subbing for the injured Joe Nemechek before he moved into an announcer role with the NBC/TNT team. The Sabco teams, in their last race before Chip Ganassi really became the name on the door, switched their sponsors for this race. BellSouth was iffy about Bobby Hamiliton Jr driving car, likely worried about a potential DNQ, and cut a deal to switch to the #40 with the more experienced Sterling Marlin at the wheel while Coors Light moved over to the #01 for this race. With all the goodbyes it was nice to get a hello in this race as Motorcraft, Ford's parts division, returned to a primary sponsorship role. They had already announced they would sponsor the Wood Brothers and driver Elliott Sadler full-time in 2001 and with Citgo already focusing on their new driver Jeff Burton and the Roush #99 they were able to bring their new red look out one race early. This was Motorcraft's first race as a primary sponsor since 1993 when they sponsored the Bud Moore #15 team. 52. RaceFanX posted: 12.20.2011 - 3:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell Waltrip got a fine send off before the race started as, like Richard Petty in 1992, he led the field around during the pace laps while his wife and daughters rode in one of the Ford Mustang convertible pace cars in front of him. DW also took a short detour down pit lane where, like the 1998 Daytona 500, every member of every team was out to give him a high five or at least a wave before he rejoined the field and took his starting scheduled starting position. Forgot this one: #46 sponsor: Big Kmart / Route 66 53. RaceFanX posted: 12.22.2011 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My bad, Bodine's sponsor is already just that. I thought that just said Kmart when I made that post. 54. 1995z71 posted: 01.04.2012 - 6:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) this was the only cup race with Andy Petree fielding 3 cars (33,35,55) 55. Evan posted: 01.19.2012 - 9:26 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) This race was a long forgotten piece of NASCAR history, as it was end of many, many driver and sponsor combinations and the ultimate farewell of the great ESPN team of Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, and Benny Parsons and John Kernan, Jerry Punch and Bill Weber on pit lane, both Weber and Punch would return to similar duties and Punch would announce NASCAR races in early 2007 before returning to pit road where he belongs. Weber did do some races in the booth as lead announcer and pit reporter in 2001-(booth announcer starting in 2005)2007 but a dispute in a hotel room led to his ouster on TNT. Benny Parsons would return as a commentator on NBC from 2001-2006 but would ultimately lose his life to cancer. **Also a very very classy move by ESPN to show a farewell piece at the end of the race. "Without you, there would have been no magic" a tribute to the fans and they made NASCAR on ESPN what it was, they had fun because they knew the fans were having fun with them. The goodbyes were pretty emotional as a tearful Bob Jenkins signed off for a final time on ESPN. Pretty emotional final race. 56. RaceFanX posted: 02.10.2012 - 9:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #43 John Andretti- STP / Cheerios #75 Wally Dallenbach- TBS Dinner and a Movie / Pizza Hut #10 Johnny Benson Jr.- Aaron's / Aaron's 312 The major reason this race is somewhat of a forgotten classic is because it was rained out and run on Monday. Not a lot of people saw it live because of that. 57. Evan posted: 02.11.2012 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To RaceFanX, Man that's too bad. I did not know that race was rain postponed to Monday. 58. 10andJoe posted: 03.04.2012 - 10:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #80 DNQ owner: Stan Hover 59. adamal82 posted: 04.19.2012 - 9:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) last race that utilized 2nd round qualifying 60. mjb posted: 07.14.2012 - 5:20 am Rate this comment: (1) (2) Also the last time, sadly, that race fans outside of Carrabus County and Metro Charlotte would see Dale Earnhardt Sr. get out of a car after a points paying race alive. 61. SG224 posted: 12.30.2012 - 11:16 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Who is left after this race in 2012 01 - now the 42 of Montoya 1 - Now defunct, became 15 In 2006 and disbanded in 2009. 2 - Rusty retired in 2005, Kurt Busch drove the car then Brad Keselowski ddid and wins the Cup 3 - Earnhardts last race that he climbed out on, became 29 in 2001 and still is 29 4 - Disbanded in 2010 became part time in 2008. 5 - Still drives to this day with Kasey Kahne, Terrys last race in the 5 was in 2004. 6 - Last time Valvoline sponsored, Mark drove until 2006. Part time team in 2012. 7 - Sold to Jim Smith, then Robby Gordon where it does a Part time effort as RGM 8 - Disbanded in mid 2009. 9 - Changed to 92 in 2001 used 9 for last 20 years, Melling disbanded in 2002. 10 - Became MBV Racing, Changed number in 2006 to 14 and disbanded in mid 2007. 11 - Team disbands in 2004 12 - Team disbands in 2001, not the same 12 car from 02-10. Returned as 77 in 08-10. 13 - Disbands until 2005, merges with Jim Smiths team. 14 - Team ran until 2004, shut down and focused on IndyCar operations. 16 - Disbands after this season, reopens in 2003 with Greg Biffle where it runs to this day. 17 - Team is almost same until 2012, Kenseth leaves after 2012 18 - Champion in 2000, Labonte leaves in 2005 and Kyle Busch currently drives the car. 20 - Wins a couple of championships in 2000-s, Stewart leaves in 2008. Car is now driven by Kenseth. 21 - Sadler leaves in 2002, Car currently runs on part time basis. 22 - Burton leaves in 2003, Disbands in 2008. 24 - Car is almost the same, Driver the same, only team the same since the 90-s. 25 - Nadeau fired in 2002, Car changed numbers to 88 in 2008, Car driven by Dale Jr. 26 - Spencer leaves in 2001. Team shuts down in 2002. 28 - Team became 38 in 2003, Shuts down in 2009. 31 - Skinner fired in 2001, Car currently driven by Jeff Burton 32 - Team disbands in 2006, owner points moved to the 00 in 2007, now the 55 car. 33 - Team shuts down after 2003 Daytona 500. 36 - Became 01 car in 2003, sold owner points to the 33 in 2009, Now Joe Falk-s team. 40 - Shuts down in 2008 after no sponsors. 43 - Team is same, Driven currently by Aric Almirola, now teammates with 9 after Evernham merger. 44 - Team shuts down in 2003, Buckshot and 45 - Brought up from Busch series in 2001, Team disbands in 2008. 50 - Team disbands in late 2001. 55 - Team disbands in late 2002. 60 - Last attempt came in the 2000 NAPA 500. 66 - Became 26 in mid 2002. Changes number to 54 in 2003. Shuts down operation in 2004. 75 - Last Attempt after ailed sponsorship aqquireations from Pizza Hut. Shuts down early 2001. 77 - Team bought out by Penske in 2004. Shuts down in 2006. 88 - Changes to 28 in 2008, sells number to Hendrick, shuts down in mid 2009. 90 - Does part time until 2002, shuts down. 93 - Becomes 23 in 2002, part time from 04-06. Becomes 36 in 2007 and shuts down as 27 in 2008. 94 - Merged efforts with Evernham after this race, team effectively shuts down. 97 - Team becomes 26 in 2006 and shuts down in 2009, owner points become 26 then 32 in 2011. 99 - Team is still 99, Burton leaves in 2004, Carl Edwards currently drives car, It's a sad state of what happens to a majority of the teams, lets remember the teams that are gone after this. Dale Earnhardt Inc. Morgan-McClure Racing Ultra Motorsports Mark Melling Racing Tyler Jet Motorsports Brett Bodine Racing A.J. Foyt Enterprises Bud Moore Engineering Bill Davis Racing Travis Carter Motorsports Robert Yates Racing PPI Motorsports Andy Petree Racing MB2 Racing/Ginn Racing Team SABCO Petty Enterpises Jasper Motorsports Donlavey Racing Bill Elliott Racing 62. myself posted: 06.04.2013 - 1:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The Cup division caught a terminally ill disease after this race & would die from it following the 2003 season. 63. Anonymous posted: 06.28.2013 - 11:28 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Pretty amazing how many drivers attempted this race 64. RaceFanX posted: 01.24.2014 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Missing DNQ sponsors / owners: #60 Hermie Sadler- Power Team (Owned by Joe Bessey) #71 Dick Trickle- (Owned by Dave Marcis) #41 Larry Foyt-(Owned by A.J. Foyt) #16 Kevin Lepage- (Owned by Jack Roush, same for all 2000 DNQs) #27 Mike Bliss- (Owned by Jack Birmingham, same for all 2000 DNQs) Part of the the number of entries for this race was higher because when qualifying for the ARCA race was rained out a few teams who DNQed said "What the Heck" and attempted the Cup race with the same cars (they were compatable until the CoT arrived in 2007). Scott Wimmer's last minute entry made the race while Larry Foyt and Tim Sauter didn't. The next Cup race after this without a Dodge in the field was the 2013 Daytona 500 (and the preceding Sprint Unlimited) after Mopar left the sport again. This was Elliott Sadler's first race with Motorcraft. With Citgo moving over to Jeff Burton, and already having done so, the Wood Brothers cut a deal to debut their new 2001 colors here. They quickly ended up on the trailer but it was still the Ford brand's return to primary NASCAR sponsorship for the first time since 1993. 65. Evan posted: 04.23.2014 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor correction: #88 Dale Jarett-Quality Care/Ford Credit/"Thanks Dale" Yates Racing painted the car in the 1996 Paint Scheme to honor Dale Jarrett's four years as sponsorship. It said "Thanks for 4 great years Dale" on the back. #2 Rusty Wallace-Miller Lite/10-Year Anniversary Rusty Wallace ran a car that was painted a navy blue nose and black on the rear and an emblem that said "Miller Lite 10th Anniversary. Source:Jayski.com Source:NAPA 500 Race Action 66. Evan posted: 04.23.2014 - 9:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Other sponsor correction: #25 Jerry Nadeau-Michael Holigan.com/MH2 In late 2000, the word MH2 was put on the side of the car instead of Michael Holigan. I don't know exactly when Nadeau started running MH2 on the side of the car but the correction should at least reflect all of the races Nadeau ran in late 2000. Source * Hendrick Motorsports has a diecast replica of Nadeau's car in its "Hendrick Motorsports 100 victories set" with the MH2 insignia on the side. * 2000 NAPA 500 Race Action. 67. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 05.15.2014 - 6:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #71 sponsor was Team Realtree #41 sponsor was Harrah's 68. richiesbx137 posted: 07.10.2014 - 6:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also this was the final round that two round qualifying was in a regular race weekend. They only used it one more time and that was in the 2001 Daytona 500. 69. Evan posted: 08.11.2014 - 11:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor #18 Bobby Labonte Interstate Batteries/Winston Cup Champion With Bobby Labonte's championship already in the bag by clinching it at Homestead and being crowned, JGR decided to run Bobby in his traditional 18 but with a red spoiler and day-glo roof number and the words 2000 Winston Cup Champion on it, as it was Bobby Labonte's first race as series champion. Source:The words are very hard to make out, but it can be seen sitting on the grid as Jerry Punch is talking about JGR during the NAPA 500 telecast. 70. Evan posted: 08.12.2014 - 10:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The only numbers that exist now: 3-returned in 2013 with Austin Dillon, Richard Childress's grandson on his daughter's side and Mike Dillon's first son. 24-still with Jeff Gordon, DuPont is now AXALTA coating systems. 2-now driven by Brad Keselowski and switched back to Fords in 2013. 17-number still exists, driven by Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. 18-Kyle Busch drives still drives for JGR. 25/88-Belongs to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports, Yates left the racing game, and the last remaining Yates number, 38 went to Front Row Motorsports. The former 25 team owned by the late Papa Joe Hendrick is Dale's 88 team today. 1-Still exists as Chip Ganassi Racing after Teresa Earnhardt sold her share of the company. Driven by Jamie McMurray. 5-Team still exists, now driven by Kasey Kahne, Kellogg's has since taken a lesser role as a sponsor on Carl Edwards team. 31-Driven by Ryan Newman who was doing time at Penske back in 2000. 6-The six will return next year. The number itself was shelved after Mark Martin left Roush Racing. 94-Belongs to newly reformed Richard Petty Motorsports, and is the 94 team that Bill Elliott drove for here. Driven by Marcos Ambrose. Was the former red 9, Evernham Dodge. 20-Tony Stewart left to form his own team with Gene Haas, it's now driven by Matt Kenseth who was a rookie in 2000 and won Rookie of the Year. Kurt Busch-after a falling out with several big name teams, career seems to be back on track after being tapped to drive for Stewart-Haas after racing for James Finch and Barney Visser. 71. Thomas posted: 05.01.2015 - 4:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Little did they know when they signed off the air after this race that Bob, Benny, and Jerry would reunite one more time for ESPN about 3 months later to celebrate the life of Dale Earnhardt. 72. Flywheel89 posted: 05.01.2015 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @64 technically Ford was behind the Quality Care sponsorship, it was just a different division from Motorcraft. 73. mister83 posted: 07.01.2015 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A few corrections to post #45: Todd Bodine drove for Travis Carter until the end of the 2003 season not 2002. The #91 Evernham car attempted (and ran) some races periodically as a part time team until 2005 I think when Bill Elliott ran his part time schedule. Casey Atwood also ran some races in the car in 2003. 74. mister83 posted: 07.01.2015 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wait, never mind about the #91 car. I thought you meant the Evernham #91 car, oops. 75. Premium Doesn't Suck 62 66 94 98 posted: 11.04.2015 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Status updates: #35 crash #20 handling 76. 88&4Fan posted: 11.24.2015 - 6:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hut Stricklin was his own crew chief? 77. Ben posted: 01.05.2016 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Yes. Hut made all the calls for the team. Pretty cool if you ask me. Speaks to his talent as a driver. It's a shame he never got a chance to drive in top equipment. 78. Big Mac Fan posted: 01.06.2016 - 12:23 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Final NASCAR race of the 20th century. 79. 88&4Fan posted: 01.06.2016 - 8:49 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) ^Um... no, that would be the 1999 season finale. 80. Big Mac Fan posted: 01.06.2016 - 10:45 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) ^Not really. There is no year 0 AD so the 1st century was 1-100 AD, 101-200, 1901-2000, etc. 81. 88&4Fan posted: 01.06.2016 - 11:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thats actually an interesting point that I'd never thought of before, but still, January 1st, 2000 is generally known as the turn of the century/millennium. 82. Big Mac Fan posted: 01.06.2016 - 2:43 pm Rate this comment: (1) (4) That's mainly because almost everyone in the media hyped 2000 to be the turn of the millennium when mathematically it was 2001. It enough people tell a lie, it becomes the truth. 83. joey2448 posted: 01.06.2016 - 7:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The way I see it, when the first digit or second digit of a year changes over, the next period of time (century, millennium, etc.) begins. For a thousand years, the first of the four digits in any given year was a '1', and then it changed to '2'. 84. Minnowfur posted: 01.09.2016 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Why is the 20 car listed as handleing when he crashed? 85. Anonymous posted: 01.09.2016 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Probably came back out afterward to run a few more laps and found it was undrivable... 86. Ryan posted: 01.13.2016 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Wow, not to be too morbid but 4 of the 56 drivers who attempted the race have now passed away. Blaise Alexander, Dick Trickle, Dale Earnhardt and Bobby Hamilton. 87. Anonymous posted: 01.30.2016 - 1:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Comment #69 2nd round qualifying was also used in the 2002 Daytona 500 88. The Real Slim Shady posted: 07.16.2016 - 4:09 am Rate this comment: (1) (3) Races like these make me wish my girlfriend liked NASCAR back when it was really cool. Which it truly was around this time period. Ah well at least we have soccer and college football right Hun? I'm sorry Racing reffers I'm drunk and trolling my hot ass girlfriend. 89. JSPorts posted: 07.16.2016 - 9:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Though I found that amusing, I also wish I was a fan of NASCAR when the racing was like this. The first race I ever watched was the 2007 Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta, and needless to say, I was hooked from there on out. But unfortunately, many fans have left and new ones haven't come. I've never liked the playoff system, as well as some of the other rules, but I still love racing so much that I won't leave. Not even with this ridiculous current format. Soccer and college football...hmmm...I certainly agree with college football (and my university had a good team last year, let's hope we can keep it up!) but not so on board with soccer. If soccer's more exciting and cooler than NASCAR, we really have a problem. Soccer is my favorite sport to watch when I'm in bad need of a couple hours of sleep. Keep it up Slim Shady, you the real MVP. Good job with the trolling. Lol. 90. The Real Slim Shady posted: 07.16.2016 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Lol alcohol and women make you do things. I honestly NASCAR isn't so bad from a quality of racing standpoint compared to what it was say 5 years ago. The first years of the CoT were awful racing. But you really were missing out if you weren't around for the 80's and 90's. I started watching around 99ish. Now back then there were some bad things. Only 8 or 9 guys were capable of winning several races. Everyone else was treated like an afterthought. All the young guns if the 2000's spread the talent around. But the racing got worse over time. The 2000 season was when you could see some changes in the pecking order brewing. Kenseth and Earnhardt were rookies, Park and Junior were helping turn DEI into a force. 14 different drivers would win, which was a lot back then. And the racing as a whole was just more fun to watch. I miss NASCAR like it was before FOX and NBC came on board originally. FOX and NBC as early as 2001 was ruining the feel of the sport with their presentation. I think 2000 was the true end of the Winston Cup Era. Cause it was feeling more like what it would during the Nextel/Sprint days from 2001-2003. That's why I look at this race as important. It truly was the end of an era. You missed dude! Relive it on youtube. I miss the old NASCAR. But the NASCAR of 2016 is so ridiculous it has comic value, where as when it was at it's worse from 2006-2010, it was just plain boring. 91. Jason24 posted: 09.09.2016 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The top handful of comments are interesting. Everyone was so excited to see ESPN come back but they were rubbish with Jerry Punch and Marty Reid calling the action from 2007-2010. They finally realized what was what and put Allen Bestwick in the booth in 2011. By then they had pretty much ruined their reputation among NASCAR fans with shoddy pit reporting, incoherent race finish calls and the inability to cover races such as the spring Richmond Nationwide races in 2008 and 2011 which were both axed from ESPN's main channels in favor of NBA Playoffs. 92. kup posted: 11.02.2017 - 9:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) UPS: universal points system. Driver's UPoints = Miles / Aver.Finish 2000 UPS: # Driver UPts = Miles / AF 1 Bobby Labonte 1794 = 13273 / 7.4 2 Dale Earnhardt 1403 = 13189 / 9.4 3 Jeff Burton 1238 = 12629 / 10.2 4 Dale Jarrett 1146 = 12717 / 11.1 5 Ricky Rudd 1132 = 13016 / 11.5 93. Mile501 posted: 11.14.2017 - 10:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 2000 featured the Rookie of the Year battle between Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Now, it appears as if none of the full-time Cup drivers in the year 2000 will be racing in NASCAR's top level as of 2018. Among drivers who made a handful of starts in 2000, only Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Derrike Cope, possibly Boris Said, and interestingly, Carl Long, can still be found in NASCAR's top series, with Elliott Sadler still running in Xfinity. 94. TeamDCR fan posted: 11.14.2017 - 11:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Boris is done, but if you look at the DNQ list, Shepherd and Benning still drive as well. 95. Tide1732 posted: 11.14.2017 - 11:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @93 Joe Nemechek,Norm Benning,Derrike Cope,Jimmie Johnson,Morgan Shepherd,Jeff Green,Bobby Labonte (limited races),Bobby Gerhart And probably for Greg Biffle And Regan Smith. 96. RaceFanX posted: 11.14.2017 - 11:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave Blaney and Scott Pruett still race a lot, just not in NASCAR. 97. JR-TV posted: 11.14.2017 - 12:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @94, as is Carl Long. 98. Mile501 posted: 11.14.2017 - 12:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Right; I was just mentioning those who still race in Cup, and I threw Sadler in there since he's a title contender in Xfinity. Still, it goes to show how much things have changed since the finale 17 years ago. 99. kup posted: 11.16.2017 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) UPS: universal points system. Driver's UPoints = Miles / Aver.Finish 2000 UPS _ Driver = Miles / AF 1794 _ Bobby Labonte 13273 / 7.4 1403 _ Dale Earnhardt 13189 / 9.4 & TOTAL: UPS! 52 years 1949-2000: Dale Earnhardt 8 in: '80, '86, '87, '89, '91, '93, '94, '95. Richard Petty 7 in: '63, '64, '67, '71, '72, '75, '79. Lee Petty 5 in: '50, '52, '54, '58, '59. David Pearson 4 in: '66, '68, '69, '76. Cale Yarborough 3 in: '74, '77, '78. Bobby Allison 3 in: '81, '82, '83. Buck Baker 2 in: '56, '57. Rex White 2 in: '60, '61. Terry Labonte 2 in: '84, '96. Mark Martin 2 in: '90, '97. Bill Blair 1 in: '49. Fonty Flock 1 in: '51. Herb Thomas 1 in: '53. Tim Flock 1 in: '55. Joe Weatherly 1 in: '62. Ned Jarrett 1 in: '65. Bobby Isaac 1 in: '70. Benny Parsons 1 in: '73. Darrell Waltrip 1 in: '85. Bill Elliott 1 in: '88. Alan Kulwicki 1 in: '92. Jeff Gordon 1 in: '98. Dale Jarrett 1 in: '99. Bobby Labonte 1 in: '00. 100. 1995z71 posted: 12.07.2017 - 12:42 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) The first time since 1988 that a pizza company sponsored a cup car. 101. JSPorts posted: 12.07.2017 - 8:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The most involved I ever remember a pizza company being in NASCAR was when Domino's was co-primary sponsor of David Reutimann's car in 2007. 102. RaceFanX posted: 12.08.2017 - 1:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @100 Actually the Little Caesar's Pizza chain co-sponsored John Andretti and later Jeremy Mayfield's #37 Kranefuss-Haas entry with Kmart during the 1995 and 1996 seasons. 103. Joshua posted: 09.20.2018 - 6:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Y'all ain't giving Hunt Brothers Pizza any love 104. Joshua posted: 04.08.2019 - 9:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pretty much full-time cars (not necessarily teams, but cars) that entered this race that no longer run: #22, #23, #93 Bill Davis Racing #01, #40 SABCO #10, #36 NB2 #94 Bill Elliott #16, #97, #99 Roush Racing #77 Jasper Motorsports #26, #46, #66 Travis Carter Motorsports #28, #88 Yates Racing #4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports #1, #8, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. #33, #35, #55 Andy Petree Racing #13/7 Robby Gordon Motorsports #11 Brett Bodine Racing #75 Butch Mock/Galaxy pre-2000/2000 #50 Midwest Transit #32 PPI #14 and/or #41 A.J. Foyt #00 Buckshot Racing #7 Jim Smith #9 Melling Racing #60 Joe Bessey #90 Donlavey Racing #71 Marcis Racing #91 Joe Falk #80 Stan Hover Motorsports #85 Mansion Motorsports #27 Eel River Racing (formerly Bahari Racing) #44 PE2 40 full-time or fairly regular cars from 2000 are no longer around. 105. Nascar595 posted: 04.08.2019 - 1:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 104, and the 5 106. Joshua posted: 04.08.2019 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I didn't include the 5 because it's basically the 9 now. 107. Corey posted: 04.08.2019 - 2:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @105 Not the 5. That teams still exists, its just under a different number. @104. I would not include the 46 and 35. Those were just one offs for the season and never ran full-time afterwards. Even the 23 was just a one-off this season as it really just replaced the 93 in future years. The #1 listed here is still around as today's Gannasi #1 through a series of mergers. Also the SABCO of then is now Chip Ganassi Racing. So one of those cars are still running. 108. Joshua posted: 04.08.2019 - 2:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'll agree with that. Still puts the number of cars that have gone away around 36 or so, a "full field" now. 109. Corey posted: 04.08.2019 - 3:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) You'll find that in any 20 year period. Go back 20 years from this race and you'll find that nearly the entire field in the 1980 finale is gone. 110. Mile501 posted: 04.08.2019 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @109 - You're right. I thought there might have been less change between 1980 and 2000, but in fact, only 3 owners that had cars in the race at Atlanta in 1980 were also in the 2000 race at Atlanta (Petty Enterprises, Wood Brothers, and Richard Childress). Nowadays, though, change comes much more slowly, mainly due (in my opinion) to the higher cost of racing. The charter system probably hasn't helped either. The lack of change among teams and owners is yet another factor that keeps NASCAR stagnant. 111. Corey posted: 04.09.2019 - 9:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @110 We could probably move that to 5. Dave Marcis and Junie Donlavey also had cars in 1980. 112. LJTolitoYouTuber posted: 05.09.2019 - 9:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Only 8 Cars finished on the led lap, That's pretty amazing 113. Tarheel posted: 05.09.2019 - 10:23 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) 112, in the 2000 Atlanta spring race there were only seven cars on the lead lap. If you look back to the nineties it wasn't uncommon to have only three to five cars on the lead lap. There were no lucky dogs, wave arounds, stage cautions, and far fewer B.S. cautions in general. It use to be that if someone spun, didn't hit the wall or anyone else, and could fire it up and get going, they wouldn't throw the yellow. Now they basically make up excuses to wave it. 114. Mile501 posted: 05.09.2019 - 11:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Echoing #113, it wasn't at all unusual back then. In fact, the race just before this at Homestead saw just 6 cars finish on the lead lap and the 9th-place finisher was 2 laps down. In some ways, I miss those days... 115. Corey posted: 05.09.2019 - 12:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With the way some of the 3rd stages have played out this season, it might be possible where we get a race with less then 10 lead lap cars. Dover had only 11. 116. Anonermuth posted: 05.09.2019 - 1:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 115.) Interesting. From what I remember, Harvick nearly lapped Aric Almirola at Vegas last year. Almirola was in jeopardy of losing a lap but was saved by the checkered flag. He was running either 10th or 11th at the time. There have been Dover races (07-08) where less than 10 cars finished on the lead lap too. I totally agree with you on this. Truex's lead on Monday was too much. He was inches from lapping Suarez, who was running 11th. The long green flag run really didn't help, and I expect to see more brutal races where the leader rips through the field. 117. Larson&Blaney posted: 05.09.2019 - 1:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only Kurt Busch still remains in cup. Carl long(how is he still a thing?) n nemecheck are still around race weekends. 118. Ultimate_Warrior_#18 posted: 05.09.2019 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I also miss the days where it was 8-12 cars on the lead lap at majority of races i can't tell how annoying it is to see more than 15 cars on the lead lap at short track even some mile and half track just my personal opinion. 119. Mile501 posted: 03.07.2020 - 8:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Something interesting I just realized: Jerry Nadeau's lone win, Dale Earnhardt's death, and Steve Park's lone win took place in 3 consecutive races. Ryan Newman's first Cup start was 2 races before Nadeau's win. His second start was the race after Park's win. Thankfully, the sport has gotten much safer since those 3 drivers were injured/killed behind the wheel, and drivers like Ryan Newman are still with us. 120. Corey posted: 03.07.2020 - 8:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @119. Steve Park has two wins. He won Watkins Glen earlier on 2000. 121. Racenerdpodcast posted: 03.07.2020 - 8:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @119 Steve Park's first win was at Watkins Glen earlier in the 2000 season. He picked up that next race at Rockingham. 122. Mile501 posted: 03.07.2020 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry--completely forgot that Park had that other win. Still, I think the timing is interesting. 123. Darren posted: 03.31.2020 - 8:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins' farewell speech: ?Throughout life, we as individuals and professionals invest countless time, money and effort in search of all the elusive elements that can bring our health and happiness to the next level. But every once in a while, magic happens. That special combination that just cannot be explained, it just happens. On a Sunday afternoon at Rockingham in 1981, the magic began. We now arrive at a moment that every member of this team had wished would never come for over a year. The time we knew that we all must go our separate ways and in hopefully, just for a while, our NASCAR Winston Cup coverage. As the senior member of the team, I've accepted the responsibility of saying farewell, and believe me, it is not easy. Benny [Parsons], Ned [Jarrett], Jerry [Punch], John [Kernan], Bill [Weber], Mike Wells, our director, and Neil Goldberg, our producer and a lot of other behind the scenes people and I have become like family over the years. And although I and several other members of this team will continue to be seen on ESPN, our time together as a team is over. We thank everyone at NASCAR and the various tracks we've visited, but most importantly, we thank you, our fans, who have contributed so much to our coverage down through the years. It was for you that we've done this since 1981; without you, there would have been no magic. And so it is to you that we dedicate these next few moments. We hope you take pride, as we will, in what we've accomplished on those more than 200 Sunday afternoons.? 124. TheDewCrew posted: 05.06.2020 - 2:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As the field completed lap 320, taking 5 laps to go. Dale Earnhardt, in his penultimate race, finally achieved the feat of completing 10,000 laps in a single season 125. Jimmy posted: 11.11.2020 - 5:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @124 . That's gotta be because there weren't as many races on the schedule in the 80's and 90's. I bet Dale Sr.'s % of laps completed were just as high in some of his previous seasons. 126. Rich posted: 01.02.2021 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for ESPN's swansong covering NASCAR in the network's original run as one of the many networks covering the sport in 2000 along with TBS, TNN, ABC and CBS, were the legendary three-man team of Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons. The pit road reporters consisted of the rare four-man team of Dr. Jerry Punch, John Kernan, Bill Weber and Ray Dunlap. 127. Nascarp posted: 02.22.2021 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The incredible 5 year run of Ford Quality Care and Dale Jarrett comes to a close with 20 wins, 95 top 5's, over 5000 laps led, and the 1999 championship. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: