2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 52nd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and was the 29th modern-era Cup series. The season began on February 13 and ended on November 20. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte was crowned champion at season's end. The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was won by Ford as they captured 14 wins and 234 points to better Pontiac's 11 wins and 213 points. Chevrolet finished third with nine wins and 199 points.^[1]

The season was marred by tragedy when Adam Petty and Kenny Irwin Jr. were killed in separate accidents at New Hampshire International Raceway.

This was the final season for three-time Winston Cup Champion Darrell Waltrip. Also, this was unexpectedly the final full-time season for seven-time Winston Cup champion, and one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, Dale Earnhardt, who was killed the following year in the season-opening 2001 Daytona 500.

The 2000 season also marked the final one for various networks that carried NASCAR racing. Because of the new television deal struck on December 15, 1999, it would be the last year for a multitude of these long-time broadcasters. NASCAR on CBS broadcast the final races of its twenty-two-season partnership, ending with the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. NASCAR on TNN and NASCAR on TBS ended their time in the Winston Cup Series; the former's run of ten seasons came to an end at the Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500 at Phoenix, while the latter's abruptly ceased at eighteen seasons following the UAW-GM Quality 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway (TBS had initially won rights for the new deal, but was replaced by TNT). NASCAR on ESPN, alongside its affiliated programming with ESPN on ABC, ended its initial run of covering NASCAR's top series (both networks returned during the 2007 season); ESPN's first run of twenty seasons concluded with the NAPA 500 at Atlanta, while ABC's then twenty-five nonconsecutive seasons with the sport ended with the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.

This was the last season without Jimmie Johnson until 2021, Jason Leffler until 2014 (due to his death shortly after his last Cup start at Pocono in June 2013), and the last without Kevin Harvick until 2024. Also, 2000 marked the first season since 1986 without Ernie Irvan.