2000 CART season

The 2000 FedEx Championship Series season was the twenty-second in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 20 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 26, 2000 and concluding in Fontana, California on October 30, 2000. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Gil de Ferran. Rookie of the Year was Kenny Bräck.

2000 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races20
Start dateMarch 26
End dateOctober 30
Awards
Drivers' champion Gil de Ferran
Constructors' Cup Reynard
Manufacturers' Cup / Ford-Cosworth
Nations' Cup Brazil
Rookie of the Year Kenny Bräck

The relative decline of Chip Ganassi Racing and an atypical parity among the major engine and chassis builders led to the most wide-open championship race in the history of the series, with seven different winners in the first seven races of the year and 11 drivers winning a race. From 1997–1999, only two drivers came within 50 points of the champion, 9 would do so in 2000.

Penske Racing returned to prominence using Honda engines and abandoning their house chassis for a Reynard 2KI. Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves (the latter replacing the deceased Greg Moore), combined for 5 wins, 4 of which were on the road courses the team had not been competitive on in their previous chassis and engine. Veterans Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy, who were 1 and 2 in the championship after the Vancouver round, would fall short after poor finishes down the stretch. Most surprising of all to observers was the return to prominence of Patrick Racing, with veterans Adrian Fernandez and Roberto Moreno finishing second and third respectively in the championship.

Off the track, while CART remained fiscally strong, anxiety regarding the series' decline in prominence led to the ouster of CEO Andrew Craig at the midpoint of the season, leading to his replacement by Bobby Rahal. The series left open the traditional Indianapolis 500 date of Memorial Day, allowing teams to enter the Indy Racing League sanctioned race for the first time since 1995. Chip Ganassi Racing did so, with their driver Juan Pablo Montoya winning the race handily with purchased IRL equipment. While a competitive triumph for CART, Ganassi's efforts showed the continuing allure of the 500 for CART teams and their sponsors.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2000 CART Championship Series season. Five years after the return of Firestone, rival tire manufacturer Goodyear withdrew from CART and its rival the Indy Racing League. So all cars ran on Firestone Firehawk tires.[1]

Team Chassis Engine No Drivers Races Primary Sponsors
Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B2K/00 Toyota RV8E 1 Juan Pablo Montoya All Target
12 Jimmy Vasser All
Team Penske Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 2 Gil de Ferran All Marlboro
3 Hélio Castroneves All
Walker Motorsport Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 5 Shinji Nakano  R  1, 4–20 Avex
Bryan Herta 2–3
Newman/Haas Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 6 Michael Andretti All Texaco-Havoline
11 Christian Fittipaldi All Big Kmart
Team Rahal Reynard 2KI Ford-Cosworth XF 7 Max Papis All Miller Lite
8 Kenny Bräck  R  All Shell
91 Casey Mears  R  20 WorldCom
Della Penna Motorsports Reynard 2KI Toyota RV8E 10 Norberto Fontana  R  1–10 Video Match 9
DirecTV 11
Memo Gidley 11–18, 20
Jason Bright  R  19
Bettenhausen Racing Lola B2K/00 Mercedes IC 108E 16 Michel Jourdain Jr. All Herdez
PacWest Racing Reynard 2KI Mercedes IC 108E 17 Maurício Gugelmin All Nextel
18 Mark Blundell All Motorola
Dale Coyne Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 19 Takuya Kurosawa  R  1–11 MTCI 6
Sports Today 14
Gualter Salles 12–14
Alex Barron 15–20
34 Gualter Salles 1–3 Dale Coyne Racing
Swift 011.c Tarso Marques 4–20 Panasonic
Patrick Racing Reynard 2KI Ford-Cosworth XF 20 Roberto Moreno All Visteon
40 Adrián Fernández All Tecate
Arciero Racing Reynard 2KI Mercedes IC 108E 25 Luiz Garcia Jr. All Hollywood Cigarettes
Team Green Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 26 Paul Tracy All KOOL
27 Dario Franchitti All
Forsythe Racing Reynard 2KI Ford-Cosworth XF 32 Patrick Carpentier 1, 5–20 Player's
Memo Gidley 2–4
33 Alex Tagliani  R  All
77 Bryan Herta 16 Rockingham Motor Speedway
Mo Nunn Racing Reynard 2KI Mercedes IC 108E 55 Tony Kanaan 1–7, 11–20 Hollywood Cigarettes
Bryan Herta 8–10
PPI Motorsports Reynard 2KI Toyota RV8E 96 Oriol Servià  R  All Telefónica
97 Cristiano da Matta All Pioneer
R Eligible for Rookie of the Year

Season summary

Schedule
Rnd Race Name Circuit City/Location Date
1 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami  O  Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida March 26
2 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  S  Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California April 16
3 Rio 200  O  Autódromo de Jacarepaguá Rio de Janeiro, Brazil April 30
4 Firestone Firehawk 500  O  Twin Ring Motegi Motegi, Japan May 14
5 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix  O  Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania May 27†
6 Miller Lite 225  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin June 5*
7 Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit  S  The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan June 18
8 Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon June 25
9 Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland  S  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio July 2
10 Molson Indy Toronto  S  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario July 16
11 Michigan 500  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan July 23
12 Target Grand Prix of Chicago  O  Chicago Motor Speedway Cicero, Illinois July 30
13 Miller Lite 200  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio August 13
14 Motorola 220  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 20
15 Molson Indy Vancouver  S  Concord Pacific Place Vancouver, British Columbia September 3
16 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey  R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California September 10
17 Motorola 300  O  Gateway International Raceway Madison, Illinois September 17
18 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston  S  George R. Brown Convention Center Houston, Texas October 1
19 Honda Indy 300  S  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia October 15
20 Marlboro 500  O  California Speedway Fontana, California October 29–30*

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Dedicated road course
 S  Temporary street circuit

† The Nazareth round was initially scheduled to be the second round on April 9, 2000, but snow caused the race's postponement.

Milwaukee was scheduled to be on June 4, but was postponed due to rain.

Fontana was scheduled for October 29, but during a caution on lap 22 for Cristiano da Matta crashing, rain began to fall and the remainder of the race was postponed to the next day.

Race results
Round Race Pole position Fastest lap Lead Most Laps Race Winner Race
Time		 Report
Driver Team Chassis Engine
1 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Gil de Ferran Juan Pablo Montoya Gil de Ferran Max Papis Team Rahal Reynard 2KI Ford-Cosworth XF 1:22:01 Report
2 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Gil de Ferran Gil de Ferran Gil de Ferran Paul Tracy Team Green Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 1:57:11 Report
3 Rio 200 Alex Tagliani Alex Tagliani Alex Tagliani Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard 2KI Ford-Cosworth XF 1:37:12 Report
4 Firestone Firehawk 500 Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 1:58:52 Report
5 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Juan Pablo Montoya Hélio Castroneves Juan Pablo Montoya Gil de Ferran Team Penske Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 2:06:10 Report
NC Indianapolis 500 Greg Ray Buddy Lazier Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 2:58:59 Report
6 Miller Lite 225 Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B2K/00 Toyota RV8E 1:37:38 Report
7 Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit Juan Pablo Montoya Hélio Castroneves Juan Pablo Montoya Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 2:01:23 Report
8 Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Hélio Castroneves Kenny Bräck Hélio Castroneves Gil de Ferran Team Penske Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 2:00:46 Report
9 Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Roberto Moreno Juan Pablo Montoya Roberto Moreno Roberto Moreno Patrick Racing Reynard 2KI Ford-Cosworth XF 1:52:12 Report
10 Molson Indy Toronto Hélio Castroneves Michael Andretti Cristiano da Matta Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 2:00:02 Report
11 Michigan 500 Paul Tracy Juan Pablo Montoya Hélio Castroneves Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B2K/00 Toyota RV8E 2:48:49 Report
12 Target Grand Prix of Chicago Juan Pablo Montoya Adrián Fernández Juan Pablo Montoya Cristiano da Matta PPI Motorsports Reynard 2KI Toyota RV8E 2:01:23 Report
13 Miller Lite 200 Gil de Ferran Dario Franchitti Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 1:44:59 Report
14 Motorola 220 Dario Franchitti Paul Tracy Alex Tagliani Paul Tracy Team Green Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 1:37:53 Report
15 Molson Indy Vancouver Dario Franchitti Juan Pablo Montoya Dario Franchitti Paul Tracy Team Green Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 1:53:06 Report
16 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Hélio Castroneves Gil de Ferran Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Reynard 2KI Honda HR-0 1:46:11 Report
17 Motorola 300 Juan Pablo Montoya Patrick Carpentier Michael Andretti Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B2K/00 Toyota RV8E 1:55:38 Report
18 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston Gil de Ferran Michael Andretti Gil de Ferran Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B2K/00 Toyota RV8E 1:59:02 Report
19 Honda Indy 300 Juan Pablo Montoya Jimmy Vasser Adrián Fernández Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard 2KI Ford-Cosworth XF 2:01:14 Report
20 Marlboro 500 Gil de Ferran Hélio Castroneves Kenny Bräck Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 3:38:04 Report

Final driver standings
Pos Driver MIA LBH RIO MOT NAZ MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC CHI MDO ROA VAN LAG GAT HOU SUR FON Pts
1 Gil de Ferran 6* 7* 17 9 1 12 9 1 14 6 18 3 2 25 5 2 8 3* 23 3 168
2 Adrián Fernández 21 24 1 10 5 8 21 12 7 2 6 5 6 2 3 12 10 7 1* 5 158
3 Roberto Moreno 2 9 6 3 14 5 17 2 1* 13 23 6 11 4 10 25 3 11 19 2 147
4 Kenny Bräck  RY  18 17 10 5 3 4 24 6 2 10 22 4 5 3 9 5 11 15 2 13* 135
5 Paul Tracy 3 1 3 6 10 15 20 18 19 3 7 19 16 1 1 11 18 4 17 24 134
6 Jimmy Vasser 4 3 2 21 7 13 7 24 8 9 21 8 21 5 6 8 7 1 3 22 131
7 Hélio Castroneves 25 2 24 13 16 16 1 7* 21 16 5* 21 1* 9 20 1* 9 5 6 9 129
8 Michael Andretti 22 14 9 1 6 2 13 4 4 1 2 2 8 19 12 14 20* 13 20 19 127
9 Juan Pablo Montoya 23 19 22 7* 4* 1* 18* 17 6 24 1 12* 24 16 17 6 1 2 24 10 126
10 Cristiano da Matta 12 25 4 4 13 14 23 5 3 4* 17 1 17 13 7 15 4 14 4 25 112
11 Patrick Carpentier 5 21 3 5 10 5 7 4 14 7 21 24 9 2 19 5 14 101
12 Christian Fittipaldi 7 18 5 11 11 9 19 3 17 17 14 DNS 3 15 4 10 12 6 15 1 96
13 Dario Franchitti 11 23 11 2 23 6 4 9 13 25 3 20 22 12 2* 3 24 25 25 23 92
14 Max Papis 1 20 16 8 22 7 2 25 18 8 9 24 4 7 8 16 6 24 16 12 88
15 Oriol Servià  R  19 6 25 24 9 19 3 8 23 11 8 15 10 10 11 17 5 9 91 20 60
16 Alex Tagliani  R  9 4 13* 15 19 22 6 13 16 5 16 9 9 14* 18 23 14 16 22 6 53
17 Maurício Gugelmin 16 10 21 22 2 11 16 19 10 15 13 7 20 17 21 7 19 23 10 17 39
18 Bryan Herta 5 20 16 9 18 4 26
19 Tony Kanaan 10 16 18 16 8 10 DNS 24 16 13 8 14 22 13 10 8 18 24
20 Memo Gidley 21 8 18 10 10 12 6 16 19 22 21 21 20
21 Mark Blundell 13 8 7 19 17 17 11 20 12 22 19 23 14 11 25 13 23 20 11 15 18
22 Michel Jourdain Jr. 14 11 15 12 18 18 8 23 22 19 15 11 15 18 23 24 16 18 7 11 18
23 Casey Mears  R  4 12
24 Shinji Nakano  R  8 14 23 15 11 15 14 20 13 19 22 19 26 21 8 21 16 12
25 Tarso Marques Wth 17 12 20 10 15 24 21 12 18 18 23 22 18 15 17 13 7 11
26 Alex Barron 13 21 17 12 14 8 6
27 Luiz Garcia Jr. 17 12 12 23 15 21 22 14 20 12 11 17 25 24 15 20 25 22 12 DNS 6
28 Norberto Fontana  R  15 15 23 Wth 20 Wth 14 21 11 20 2
29 Takuya Kurosawa  R  24 13 19 20 DNS Wth 12 22 25 23 Wth 1
30 Gualter Salles 20 22 14 22 23 20 0
31 Jason Bright  R  18 0
Pos Driver MIA LBH RIO MOT NAZ MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC CHI MDO ROA VAN LAG GAT HOU SUR FON Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th–6th place
Light Blue 7th–12th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 12)
Purple Did not finish
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
 RY  Rookie of the Year
 R  Rookie
  1. ^ Oriol Servià was penalized 4 points for rough driving in Surfers Paradise.

Nation's Cup
  • Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.
Pos Country MIA LBH RIO MOT NAZ MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC CHI MDO ROA VAN LAG GAT HOU SUR FON Pts
1 Brazil 2 2 4 3 1 5 1 1 1 4 5 1 1 4 5 1 3 3 4 1 332
2 United States 4 3 2 1 6 2 7 4 4 1 2 2 8 5 6 8 7 1 3 4 256
3 Canada 3 1 3 6 10 3 5 10 5 3 4 9 7 1 1 9 2 4 5 6 226
4 Mexico 14 11 1 10 5 8 8 12 7 2 6 5 6 2 3 12 10 7 1 5 165
5 Sweden 18 17 10 5 3 4 24 6 2 10 22 4 5 3 9 5 11 15 2 13 135
6 Colombia 23 19 22 7 4 1 18 17 6 24 1 12 24 16 17 6 1 2 24 10 126
7 Scotland 11 23 11 2 23 6 4 9 13 25 3 20 22 12 2 3 24 25 25 23 92
8 Italy 1 20 16 8 22 7 2 25 18 8 9 24 4 7 8 16 8 24 16 12 88
9 Spain 19 6 25 24 9 19 3 8 23 11 8 15 10 10 11 17 5 9 9 20 64
10 England 13 8 7 19 17 17 11 20 12 22 19 23 14 11 25 13 23 20 11 15 18
11 Japan 8 13 19 14 DNS 23 12 11 15 14 20 13 19 22 19 26 21 8 21 16 13
12 Argentina 15 15 23 Wth 20 Wth 14 21 11 20 2
13 Australia 18 0
Pos Country MIA LBH RIO MOT NAZ MIL DET POR CLE TOR MIC CHI MDO ROA VAN LAG GAT HOU SUR FON Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup
Pos Chassis Pts Wins
1 Reynard 2KI 393 13
2 Lola B2K/00 313 7
Pos Chassis Pts Wins

Engine Manufacturer's Cup
Pos Engine Pts Wins
1
Ford-Cosworth XF		 334 7
2 Honda HR-0 314 8
3 Toyota RV8E 275 5
4 Mercedes IC 108E 66 0
Pos Engine Pts Wins

See also

References
  1. https://hondanews.com/en-US/releases/honda-championship-auto-racing-highlights?l=en-US&mode=print
  • Official site & results
  • "Standings after Fontana". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  • Entrant List
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