2000 Winchester 400

The thirty-first annual Winchester 400 was held under American Speed Association sanction on October 1, 2000, at the Winchester Speedway.

As a child, Gary St. Amant dreamed of winning the historic “Winchester 400.” Dominating the final stages of the event, St. Amant earned his first “400” victory and also clinched the Series Championship. It was the return o the American Speed Association to the legendary event for the first time since Glenn Allen Jr. won the 1991 event.

Larry Foyt was the quickest of the 38 cars that attempted to earn a spot in the starting field. Driving his Harrah’s Pontiac, he toured the oval in 15.656 seconds (114-972 MPH), establishing a modern ASA track record. Foyt would go from the pole to lead the first 43 laps until a majority of the field made pit stops under a yellow flag. Greg Stewart stayed on the track and assumed the lead until lap 83 when David Stremme made his first-ever appearance at the top of the “400” leader board. On track action and pit stops saw the lead shuffled several times over the first half of the race with Ricky Johnson, Mike Garvey, Scott Wimmer, and Joey Clanton all having a turn at the front.

In his first appearance at the intimidating oval, short-track veteran Mike Miller started showing his hand in the middle stages of the event. He first moved into the lead on the 196th lap, when he elected to stay on the track while others pitted for tires. Miller and Garvey swapped the lead on several occasions, before the last round of pit stops set the stage for the conclusion of the race. St. Amant’s crew performed lightning fast pit work, beating out Tim Sauter, while a slow stop relegated M. Miller to the tail of the lead lap cars. St. Amant was able to hold off all challengers over the final 70 laps and led T. Sauter by 0.680 seconds at the drop of the checkers. Robbie Pyle crossed the line in third with M. Miller fourth, and two-time winner Butch Miller in fifth. The top-five along with sixth place R. Johnson all completed the 400-lap distance. St. Amant grabbed a record $18,700 for his win.

External links

* [http://www.winchesterspeedway.com/ Winchester Speedway website]
* [http://www.craracing.net/ Official CRA Website]