2000 MBNA Platinum 400

Race details
Race 13 of 34 in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2000 MBNA Platinum 400 program cover.
Date	June 4, 2000
Official name	32nd Annual MBNA Platinum 400
Location	Dover, Delaware, Dover International Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1 mi (1.6 km)
Distance	400 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Scheduled Distance	400 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Average speed	109.514 miles per hour (176.246 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Rusty Wallace	Penske-Kranefuss Racing
Time	22.870
Most laps led
Driver	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	242
Winner
No. 20	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	TNN
Announcers	Eli Gold, Dick Berggren, Buddy Baker
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 2000 MBNA Platinum 400 was the 13th stock car race of the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 32nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 4, 2000, in Dover, Delaware at Dover International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would complete a dominant performance on the final restart with six to go to win his fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series win and his first of the season.^[1] To fill out the podium, Matt Kenseth of Roush Racing and Bobby Labonte of Joe Gibbs Racing would finish second and third, respectively.

Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.

The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

*During the race, Kyle Petty would replace Andretti due to Andretti's rib injuries sustained at the 2000 The Winston.^[2][3]

The first practice session was held on Friday, June 2, at 11:30 AM EST, and would last for one hour and 30 minutes.^[4] Jeremy Mayfield of Penske-Kranefuss Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.749 and an average speed of 158.248 mph (254.675 km/h).^[5]

The second practice session was held on Friday, June 2, at 1:20 PM EST, and would last for 40 minutes.^[4] Joe Nemechek of Andy Petree Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.796 and an average speed of 157.922 mph (254.151 km/h).^[6]

The third practice session was held on Saturday, June 3, at 9:30 AM EST, and would last for one hour and 15 minutes.^[4] Scott Pruett of PPI Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.992 and an average speed of 156.576 mph (251.985 km/h).^[7]

The fourth and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, June 3, after the preliminary 2000 MBNA Platinum 200 Busch Series race, and lasted for up to an hour.^[4] Joe Nemechek of Andy Petree Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.386 and an average speed of 153.938 mph (247.739 km/h).^[8]

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 2, at 3:30 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be 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 3, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap.^[4] Positions 26-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is 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 will be awarded a provisional.^[9]

Rusty Wallace of Penske-Kranefuss Racing would win the pole, setting a time of 22.870 and an average speed of 157.411 miles per hour (253.328 km/h).^[10]

Two drivers would fail to qualify: Kyle Petty and Carl Long.

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Bobby Labonte 1,946 2 Ward Burton 1,864 (−82) 1 3 Dale Earnhardt 1,848 (−98) 2 4 Dale Jarrett 1,790 (−156) 2 5 Mark Martin 1,755 (−191) 1 6 Jeff Burton 1,733 (−213) 7 Rusty Wallace 1,704 (−242) 1 8 Ricky Rudd 1,678 (−268) 1 9 Tony Stewart 1,641 (−305) 2 10 Jeff Gordon 1,606 (−340) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.