By Zane Miller
First round
(8) #6 Mark Martin v. (1) #18 Bobby Labonte
(7) #28 Ricky Rudd v. (2) #3 Dale Earnhardt
(6) #2 Rusty Wallace v. (3) #88 Dale Jarrett
(5) #20 Tony Stewart v. (4) #99 Jeff Burton
In a New Hampshire race weekend marred by the recent fatal accidents of Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin Jr. at the facility, Jeff Burton took the race win after leading all 300 laps in the event (the most recent Cup Series race where this has occurred) while Tony Stewart fell multiple laps down and finished 23rd. Ricky Rudd grabbed the early advantage over Dale Earnhardt with a third-place finish to The Intimidator’s 11th, as Bobby Labonte nailed down the runner-up spot as Mark Martin trailed in eighth. The closest battle of the afternoon took place between Dale Jarrett and Rusty Wallace, as Jarrett edged Wallace with a fourth-place run, while Wallace was forced to settle for fifth.
Moving on to Dover, Stewart quickly recovered from his struggles at New Hampshire to dominate at the Monster Mile, leading 163 laps on the way to the race win after Burton crashed out near the midway point of the event. Meanwhile, Rudd grabbed his second third-place run in a row to eliminate Earnhardt in a stunning upset following the latter’s 17th-place finish. The conclusion between Labonte and Martin was much more competitive, but ultimately saw Martin exit after taking the sixth spot behind Labonte’s fifth. The Jarrett-Wallace battle would wage on into Martinsville, as Wallace finished a solid eighth after Jarrett spent many laps in the garage following a crash.
Undaunted, Jarrett and the #88 crew brought another strong car to Martinsville. Despite starting 31st on the grid, he wasted little time in making passes and getting to the top-10. On the other hand, Wallace was in the opposite situation, rapidly dropping through the field despite starting on the front row. The checkered flag fell with Stewart taking the race win to knock out Burton in third, while Jarrett brought it home in eighth as Wallace finished two laps down in 23rd.
Semifinal
(7) #28 Ricky Rudd v. (1) #18 Bobby Labonte
(5) #20 Tony Stewart v. (3) #88 Dale Jarrett
Driving a special Halloween-themed paint scheme, Labonte returned to the site of his first career win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, this time grabbing the victory after passing Jeremy Mayfield with just eight laps to go and outlasting a valiant charge from Rudd in third. The other series would not be as exciting as Jarrett again crashed near the halfway mark, granting Stewart an easy win in fourth.
As expected, neither of the Robert Yates Racing teammates would go down without a fight at Talladega. The Jarrett-Rudd pairing finished 11th and 15th respectively, while Stewart was a non-factor at the end of the race despite leading 12 laps early on, as he finished 27th. Stewart’s teammate Labonte fared better with a 12th-place run, but he too was unable to get by Rudd in the mad dash to the checkered flag.
At Rockingham for the semifinal round finale, both Jarrett and Stewart had their work cut out with both taking mid-pack starting spots. While the two competitors would bounce back nicely during the race itself, Jarrett did so convincingly by taking the lead with 44 laps to go. As Stewart held onto the seventh spot, Jarrett began pulling away from the field, eventually ending the sophomore sensation’s title hopes with a race victory. Rudd also found his way into the top-five by the race’s end, finishing third while Labonte had a disappointing day, coming across the line in 20th after starting on the front row.
Final
(7) #28 Ricky Rudd v. (3) #88 Dale Jarrett
For the first time since 1996, it would be teammate vs. teammate for the Cup Series title. With just 19 laps to go at Phoenix, Rudd appeared poised to throw the first haymaker as he was leading the race with Jarrett well under control. However, the lapped cars of Rick Mast and Mike Bliss got together, sending Bliss skidding across the track and leaving Rudd with no place to go. Rudd received heavy damage in the collision and ultimately finished 37th, while Jarrett maintained a 10th-place run to nab the early lead in the finals.
At Homestead-Miami, it was Rudd’s turn for redemption, as he led 49 laps and secured a sixth-place finish, whereas Jarrett was again off-pace from his teammate as he ended up in 17th to force the championship to be decided at Atlanta Motor Speedway. After the race was postponed a day due to rain, Jarrett and company got down to business. The two began the day on opposite ends of the grid, as Jarrett started third and Rudd was mired back in 38th. However, Jarrett was unable to keep his top-10 spot, drifting back through the field, though fortunately for him Rudd was unable to make much progress either. Jarrett ended the race in 15th, but this was more than enough as Rudd finished four laps down in 24th to end the Cinderella run. After being knocked out of the first round as the #1-seed, Jarrett had come back with a vengeance for his first career Cup Series title.
Dale Jarrett’s stats for 2000 were two victories, 15 top-fives and 24 top-10s, finishing fourth in points to real-life champion Bobby Labonte.
2000 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/2000-nascar-cup-series-season-recap
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