Occasionally I like to take a look back in time at past races and memories that make me feel like a kid again. Hopefully this look back at the 2000 Daytona 500 will help you remember what I refer to as the “Golden Days” of NASCAR.
In 20 days NASCAR looks to return to those roots with the rule changes announced last week, but until then all we have is time to sit back and reflect on days gone by.
Why the 2000 Daytona 500 you ask? Well, my original plan was to discuss how awesome it would be to see a scene akin to the post-race celebration after the 1998 Daytona 500, where almost every team member lined pit road to congratulate Dale Earnhardt, after this year’s version of the 500-mile race if Mark Martin were to win.
In 20 days NASCAR looks to return to those roots with the rule changes announced last week, but until then all we have is time to sit back and reflect on days gone by.
Why the 2000 Daytona 500 you ask? Well, my original plan was to discuss how awesome it would be to see a scene akin to the post-race celebration after the 1998 Daytona 500, where almost every team member lined pit road to congratulate Dale Earnhardt, after this year’s version of the 500-mile race if Mark Martin were to win.
I'd imagine something like this would happen if Mark Martin were to ever win a Daytona 500, or a Cup championship(picture from Brian Cleary—bcpix.com)
Maybe that’ll have to wait for another day, but today it’s time to look back at a day where Mark Martin’s No. 6 car led for quite a bit of the day. But in the end it was the reigning Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett who lifted the Harley J. Earl trophy for the third and final time in his career.
The 2000 Daytona 500 was also the final “Great American Race” televised by CBS, which meant the final Daytona broadcast for the amazing duo of Buddy Baker and Ned Jarrett. Dale Jarrett sat on the pole in his red, white and blue No. 88 car and led 89 laps.
But the final part of the race was dominated by Johnny Benson Jr. After Mark Martin led laps 93 through 157, Benson and the No. 10 car took over. It looked like Benson would finally take home his first ever Cup win in the sport’s biggest race before Jarrett and Jeff Burton teamed up to pass him. The race ended under caution when Jimmy Spencer wrecked on the frontstretch, giving Jarrett the win in the first race of the season.
So it’s not like Mark Martin hasn’t ever had great days at Daytona (including the 2007 Daytona 500) but in order to see another great day for Martin we have to wait 20 days for the 2010 version of the Daytona 500. And I can barely wait for it. Can you?
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