Dale Earnhardt Memorial-Tribute to a Legend

2000 - Making a Run at No. 8

For much of the first half of the 2000 Winston Cup season, when the name Dale Earnhardt came up, it wasn't the Intimidator on people's minds. Dale Earnhardt Jr. exploded on the Winston Cup scene in 2000, becoming the series' first two-time winner and claiming the Winston all-star-race, all in the season's first three months.
But Little E, who obviously has the best of both worlds in the ongoing nature vs. nurture debate, quickly faded from the scene, showing he still has a thing or two to learn from the old man. While the elder Dale came up short in his final bid to become the series' first eight-time champion, he provided an enduring lesson to Junior in what it takes to reach the ultimate goal of a NASCAR driver.
Dale Earnhardt won the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 in the season's fourth race, but it was a stretch later in the spring that vaulted him into the heat of the point standings.

From the May 6 Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond to the New England 300 at New Hampshire in July, Dale Sr. posted eight straight Top 10s. That run moved him into second place, just 45 points behind Bobby Labonte. Unfortunately for Dale, he never got any closer as Labonte manitained his steadiness all season.

At Atlanta Speedway Dale edges Bobby Labonte by .010 secs at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500. But Dale created one of his most thrilling moments in 2000 when he roared from 22nd to first in just a handful laps to win yet another restrictor-plate race at Talladega in October. At this race he earned his first No-Bull-Five $1 million. A runner-up finish in the season's final race at Atlanta allowed Dale to overtake Jeff Burton and reclaim the runner-up spot in the season standings.
And his season-long presence running at the front left no doubt that a record eight championship could have been in the cards in 2001.

Perhaps indicating what the future had in store for the NASCAR legend, in simple victory terms, Dale Earnhardt actually had a better season as a car owner (of the No.8 and No.1 cars) than as a driver in 2000. Besides his son's two victories, Dale Earnhardt the owner also witnessed Steve Park's first career victory at Watkins Glen.

Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Poles	DNFs	Standings
2	13	24	0	0	2
No.	Date	Race	St	Fin	Pts	Laps	Status	Winner	Start
1	Feb. 20	Daytona 500 Daytona Int'l Speedway	21	21	100	200/200	Running	Dale Jarrett	642
2	Feb. 27	Dura-Lube 400 N. Carolina Motor Speedway	4	2	175	393/393	Running	Bobby Labonte	643
3	Mar. 5	Las Vegas 400 Las Vegas Motor Speedway	33	8	142	148/148	Running	Jeff Burton	644
4	Mar. 12	Cracker Barrell 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway	35	1	180	325/325	Running	Dale Earnhardt	645
5	Mar. 19	TranSouth Financial 400 Darlington Raceway	4	3	165	293/293	Running	Ward Burton	646
6	Mar. 26	Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway	11	39	51	346/500	Running	Rusty Wallace	647
7	Apr. 2	Primestar 500 Texas Motor Speedway	17	7	146	334/334	Running	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	648
8	Apr. 9	Goody's 500 Martinsville Speedway	17	9	143	500/500	Running	Mark Martin	649
9	Apr. 16	DieHard 500 Talladega Superspeedway	4	3	170	188/188	Running	Jeff Gordon	650
10	Apr. 30	California 500 California Speedway	35	17	112	250/250	Running	Jeremy Mayfield	651
11	May 6	Pontiac Excitement 400 Richmond Int'l Raceway	31	10	139	400/400	Running	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	652
12	May 28	Coca-Cola 600 Charlotte Motor Speedway	15	3	170	400/400	Running	Matt Kenseth	653
13	June 4	MBNA Platinum 400 Dover Downs Int'l Speedway	30	6	155	399/400	Running	Tony Stewart	654
14	June 11	Kmart 400 Michigan Speedway	9	2	170	194/194	Running	Tony Stewart	655
15	June 18	Pocono 500 Pocono Raceway	16	4	165	200/200	Running	Jeremy Mayfield	656
16	June 25	Save Mart 350K Sears Point Raceway	29	6	150	112/112	Running	Jeff Gordon	657
17	July 1	Pepsi 400 Daytona Int'l Speedway	18	8	142	160/160	Running	Jeff Burton	658
18	July 9	Thatlook.com 300 New Hampshire Int'l Speedway	24	6	150	273/273	Running	Tony Stewart	659
19	July 23	Penn. 500 Pocono Raceway	25	25	93	199/200	Running	Rusty Wallace	660
20	Aug. 5	Brickyard 400 Indianapolis Motor Speedway	8	8	142	160/160	Running	Bobby Labonte	661
21	Aug. 13	Global Crossing @ the Glen Watkins Glen Int'l	3	25	88	90/90	Running	Steve Park	662
22	Aug. 20	Pepsi 400 Michigan Speedway	37	6	150	200/200	Running	Rusty Wallace	663
23	Aug. 26	Goody's 500 Bristol Motor Speedway	17	4	165	500/500	Running	Rusty Wallace	664
24	Sept. 5	Southern 500 Darlington Raceway	6	3	170	328/328	Running	Bobby Labonte	665
25	Sept. 9	Exide 400 Richmond Int'l Raceway	22	2	170	400/400	Running	Jeff Gordon	666
26	Sept. 17	Dura-Lube 300 New Hampshire Int'l Speedway	37	12	127	299/300	Running	Jeff Burton	667
27	Sept. 24	MBNA Gold 400 Dover Downs Int'l Speedway	37	17	112	398/400	Running	Tony Stewart	668
28	Oct. 1	NAPA AutoCare 500 Martinsville Speedway	12	2	170	500/500	Running	Tony Stewart	669
29	Oct. 8	UAW-GM Quality 500 Charlotte Motor Speedway	37	11	135	334/334	Running	Bobby Labonte	670
30	Oct. 15	Winston 500 Talladega Superspeedway	20	1	180	188/188	Running	Dale Earnhardt	671
31	Oct. 22	Pop Secret 400 N. Carolina Motor Speedway	27	17	117	393/393	Running	Dale Jarrett	672
32	Nov. 5	Dura-Lube 500 Phoenix Int'l Raceway	31	9	143	312/312	Running	Jeff Burton	673
33	Nov. 12	Pennzoil 400 Homestead Motorsports Complex	37	20	103	264/267	Running	Tony Stewart	674
34	Nov. 19	NAPA 500 Atlanta Motor Speedway	8	2	175	325/325	Running	Jerry Nadeau	675