2000 Indy Racing League

2000 Indy Racing League season
Indy Racing Northern Light Series
2000 Indy Racing League
Season
Races	10 9
Start date	January 29
End date	October 15
Awards
Drivers' champion	Buddy Lazier
Manufacturers' Cup	Oldsmobile
Rookie of the Year	Airton Daré
Indianapolis 500 winner	Juan Pablo Montoya

Buddy Lazier (left) won his first and only Drivers' Championship while Scott Goodyear (right) finished second in the championship.

The 2000 Indy Racing Northern Light Series was another season that saw a high level of parity, as only one driver, champion Buddy Lazier, won more than a single race. It also saw the beginning of the jump from CART as Al Unser Jr. moved to the series full-time and Chip Ganassi Racing came over to run the Indy 500, which it won with driver Juan Pablo Montoya. It was also the final season for the Riley & Scott chassis, which also saw its first series win in 2000.

A planned race at Cleveland was cancelled on September 9, 1999, and reverted to a CART event.

Confirmed entries

The 5 year tire war between Goodyear and Firestone in both CART and the IRL ended after Goodyear left both series as a tire supplier in 1999. This meant from this season onward all teams used Firestone tires.

	Chassis	Engine	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Team Menard	Dallara	Oldsmobile	1	Greg Ray	All
			32	Robby Gordon	4
Galles Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	3	Al Unser Jr.	All
Panther Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	4	Scott Goodyear	All
Treadway Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	5	Robby McGehee	All
			50	Jason Leffler  R	4
			55		3
				Raul Boesel	4
				Shigeaki Hattori  R	5–9
Tri Star Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	6	Jeret Schroeder  R	All
			9	Robby Unser	1
			21	Dr. Jack Miller	3–4
				Zak Morioka  R	9
Dick Simon Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	7	Stéphan Grégoire	All
			90	Lyn St. James	4
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	8	Scott Sharp	All
			28	Mark Dismore	All
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	9	Juan Pablo Montoya  R	4
			10	Jimmy Vasser	4
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	G-Force	Oldsmobile	11	Eliseo Salazar	All
			14	Jeff Ward	All
			41	Billy Boat	4
Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	12	Buzz Calkins	All
Walker Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	15	Sarah Fisher  R	2–9
Team Xtreme	G-Force	Oldsmobile	16	John Hollansworth Jr.	1
				Davey Hamilton	2–8
				Jaques Lazier	9
			88	Airton Daré  R	All
Nienhouse Motorsports	G-Force	Oldsmobile	17	Niclas Jönsson  R	2
				Scott Harrington	3–4
PDM Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	18	Sam Hornish Jr.  R	1–6, 8–9
Logan Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	19	Billy Roe	5–6
				Stevie Reeves  R	7–9
Hubbard-Immke Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	20	Tyce Carlson	1–3, 5–9
				Roberto Guerrero	4
Indy Regency Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	22	Johnny Unser	4
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	23	Steve Knapp	4
			24	Robbie Buhl	All
Blueprint Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	27	Niclas Jönsson  R	1
				Jimmy Kite	2–9
Byrd-McCormack Racing	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile	29	Robby Unser	4
			30		5–6
	G-Force	Oldsmobile		Jon Herb  R	1
				Ronnie Johncox	2–4
				J. J. Yeley	7–9
Truscelli Team Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	33	Jaques Lazier	1, 3–6
				Bobby Regester  R	2
Team Coulson Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile	40	Davy Jones	4
				Roberto Guerrero	8
Mid America Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile	43	Doug Didero  R	1–6
				Scott Harrington	7
				Jaques Lazier	8
				Davey Hamilton	9
Sinden Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	44	Davey Hamilton	1
Fast Track Racing Enterprises	Dallara	Oldsmobile	48	Andy Hillenburg  R	4
				Dan Drinan  R	4
Team Cheever	Dallara	Infiniti	51	Eddie Cheever	All
			52	Ross Cheever	4
Pagan Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	75	Richie Hearn	4
Team Pelfrey	Dallara	Oldsmobile	81	Billy Boat	1–3, 5–9
			82	Memo Gidley	4
Hemelgarn Racing	Riley & Scott Dallara	Oldsmobile	91	Buddy Lazier	All
			92	Stan Wattles	4
Cahill Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile	98	Donnie Beechler	All

Season Summary

Schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	City
1	January 29	Delphi Indy 200	Walt Disney World Speedway	Bay Lake, Florida
2	March 19	MCI WorldCom Indy 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona
3	April 22	Vegas Indy 300	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	Las Vegas, Nevada
4	May 28	84th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
5	June 11	Casino Magic 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
6	June 18	Radisson 200	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado
7	July 15	Midas 500 Classic	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia
8	August 27	Belterra Resort Indy 300	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, Kentucky
9	October 15	Excite 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
Sources:[1][2]

Race results

Rnd	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most Laps Led	Winner
1	Walt Disney World	Greg Ray	Mark Dismore	Robbie Buhl	Robbie Buhl
2	MCI WorldCom Indy 200	Greg Ray	Tyce Carlson	Scott Sharp	Buddy Lazier
3	Vegas Indy 300	Mark Dismore	Mark Dismore	Mark Dismore	Al Unser Jr.
4	84th Indianapolis 500	Greg Ray	Buddy Lazier	Juan Pablo Montoya  R	Juan Pablo Montoya  R
5	Casino Magic 500	Buddy Lazier	Eddie Cheever	Al Unser Jr.	Scott Sharp
6	Radisson 200	Greg Ray	Buzz Calkins	Scott Sharp	Eddie Cheever
7	Midas 500 Classic	Greg Ray	Donnie Beechler	Greg Ray	Greg Ray
8	Belterra Resort Indy 300	Scott Goodyear	Buddy Lazier	Scott Goodyear	Buddy Lazier
9	Excite 500	Greg Ray	Jaques Lazier	Al Unser Jr.	Scott Goodyear

Note: All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Race summaries

Delphi Indy 200

The final Delphi Indy 200 race was held January 29 at Walt Disney World Speedway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 24- Robbie Buhl
2. 91- Buddy Lazier
3. 51- Eddie Cheever
4. 4- Scott Goodyear
5. 11- Eliseo Salazar
6. 98- Donnie Beechler
7. 14- Jeff Ward
8. 12- Buzz Calkins
9. 81- Billy Boat
10. 55- Robby McGehee

• This was Robbie Buhl's 2nd and final IndyCar victory.
• This was the final Indy Racing League event at the track.

MCI WorldCom Indy 200

This race was held March 19 at Phoenix International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 91- Buddy Lazier
2. 4- Scott Goodyear
3. 98- Donnie Beechler
4. 11- Eliseo Salazar
5. 8- Scott Sharp
6. 81- Billy Boat
7. 24- Robbie Buhl
8. 7- Stephan Gregoire
9. 3- Al Unser Jr.
10. 51- Eddie Cheever

• This was the first victory for the Riley & Scott chassis

Vegas Indy 300

This race was held April 22 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Mark Dismore won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 3- Al Unser Jr.
2. 28- Mark Dismore
3. 18- Sam Hornish Jr.  R 
4. 6- Jeret Schroeder  R 
5. 24- Robbie Buhl
6. 5- Robby McGehee
7. 81- Billy Boat
8. 20- Tyce Carlson
9. 1- Greg Ray
10. 33- Jaques Lazier

• This was Al Unser Jr.'s 1st victory since the 1995 CART Molson Indy Vancouver and his 1st IRL victory.

84th Indianapolis 500

The Indy 500 was held May 28 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Greg Ray sat on pole.

Top ten results

1. 9- Juan Pablo Montoya  R 
2. 91- Buddy Lazier
3. 11- Eliseo Salazar
4. 14- Jeff Ward
5. 51- Eddie Cheever
6. 32- Robby Gordon
7. 10- Jimmy Vasser
8. 7- Stephan Gregoire
9. 4- Scott Goodyear
10. 8- Scott Sharp

• Juan Pablo Montoya was the 1st rookie since Graham Hill (1966) to win the Indianapolis 500 as a rookie.
• Buddy Lazier took over the points lead after this race by 26 points over Robbie Buhl.

Casino Magic 500

This race was held June 11 at Texas Motor Speedway. Qualifying was rained out and Buddy Lazier was on the pole based on points standings.

Top ten results

1. 8- Scott Sharp
2. 5- Robby McGehee
3. 3- Al Unser Jr.
4. 12- Buzz Calkins
5. 4- Scott Goodyear
6. 28- Mark Dismore
7. 91- Buddy Lazier
8. 55- Shigeaki Hattori  R 
9. 51- Eddie Cheever
10. 88- Airton Daré  R 

• This was Robby McGehee's best ever finish.
• Shigeaki Hattori debuts after a disappointing 1999 CART season which ended after his CART competition license was revoked at Laguna Seca.

Radisson 200

This race was held June 18 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 51- Eddie Cheever
2. 88- Airton Daré  R 
3. 8- Scott Sharp
4. 28- Mark Dismore
5. 98- Donnie Beechler
6. 11- Eliseo Salazar
7. 6- Jeret Schroeder  R 
8. 7- Stephan Gregoire
9. 33- Jaques Lazier
10. 3- Al Unser Jr.

• This was the Infiniti engine's 1st victory.
• This was Cheevers penultimate IndyCar victory.

Midas 500 Classic

This race was held July 15 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 1- Greg Ray
2. 91- Buddy Lazier
3. 3- Al Unser Jr.
4. 5- Robby McGehee
5. 98- Donnie Beechler
6. 24- Robbie Buhl
7. 7- Stephan Gregoire
8. 81- Billy Boat
9. 55- Shigeaki Hattori  R 
10. 11- Eliseo Salazar

Belterra Resort Indy 300

The inaugural Indy Racing League event was held August 27 at Kentucky Speedway. Scott Goodyear won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 91- Buddy Lazier
2. 4- Scott Goodyear
3. 15- Sarah Fisher  R 
4. 51- Eddie Cheever
5. 7- Stephan Gregoire
6. 14- Jeff Ward
7. 1- Greg Ray
8. 55- Shigeaki Hattori  R 
9. 18- Sam Hornish Jr.  R 
10. 98- Donnie Beechler

• This was Roberto Guerrero's final IndyCar race he qualified for. He would blow an engine after completing 48 laps and would finish 23rd.
• Sarah Fisher becomes the first woman to lead laps and finish on the Podium in an IRL race.

Excite 500

This race was held October 15 at Texas Motor Speedway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 4- Scott Goodyear
2. 51- Eddie Cheever
3. 81- Billy Boat
4. 91- Buddy Lazier
5. 11- Eliseo Salazar
6. 98- Donnie Beechler
7. 55- Shigeaki Hattori  R 
8. 14- Jeff Ward
9. 12- Buzz Calkins
10. 16- Jaques Lazier

• This was the final race victory for Scott Goodyear as he lost his ride to Sam Hornish Jr. in the off-season, then during the 2001 Indianapolis 500 he would suffer career ending injuries after a huge accident during that race.

Final points standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos Driver WDW PHX LSV INDY TXS PIK ATL KTY TXS Pts 1 Buddy Lazier 2 1 22 2 7 26 2 1 4 290 2 Scott Goodyear 4 2 12 9 5 16 11 2* 1 272 3 Eddie Cheever 3 10 11 5 9 1 21 4 2 257 4 Eliseo Salazar 5 4 18 3 17 6 10 25 5 210 5 Mark Dismore 16 16 2* 11 6 4 18 11 14 202 6 Donnie Beechler 6 3 26 12 22 5 5 10 6 202 7 Scott Sharp 15 5* 27 10 1 3* 16 24 24 196 8 Robbie Buhl 1* 7 5 26 18 23 6 13 18 190 9 Al Unser Jr. 25 9 1 29 3* 10 3 27 17* 188 10 Billy Boat 9 6 7 15 23 18 8 18 3 181 11 Jeff Ward 7 11 21 4 19 15 19 6 8 176 12 Robby McGehee 10 24 6 21 2 13 4 14 24 174 13 Greg Ray 17 19 9 33 15 20 1* 7 26 172 14 Stéphan Grégoire 18 8 28 8 11 8 7 5 20 171 15 Buzz Calkins 8 23 25 18 4 12 23 12 9 145 16 Airton Daré  RY  11 22 14 25 10 2 25 19 12 142 17 Jeret Schroeder  R  19 12 4 14 21 7 24 26 16 136 18 Sarah Fisher  R  13 17 31 12 25 14 3 11 124 19 Tyce Carlson 13 15 8 Wth 13 11 13 22 23 124 20 Jaques Lazier 23 10 13 14 9 20 10 112 21 Sam Hornish Jr.  R  20 17 3 24 20 19 9 27 110 22 Shigeaki Hattori  R  8 17 9 8 7 109 23 Davey Hamilton 26 18 20 20 24 14 15 16 19 98 24 Jimmy Kite 26 16 30 16 24 12 17 21 79 25 Juan Pablo Montoya 1* 54 26 Doug Didero  R  14 25 19 DNQ 27 22 43 27 Ronnie Johncox 14 13 Wth 33 28 J. J. Yeley 17 15 25 33 29 Robby Gordon 6 28 30 Jason Leffler  R  15 17 28 31 Niclas Jönsson  R  12 21 27 32 Jimmy Vasser 7 26 33 Stevie Reeves  R  22 21 22 25 34 Robby Unser 24 DNQ 26 21 19 35 Scott Harrington 23 DNQ 20 17 36 Zak Morioka  R  15 15 37 Raul Boesel 16 14 38 Steve Knapp 19 11 39 Bobby Regester  R  20 10 40 John Hollansworth Jr. 21 9 41 Jon Herb  R  22 8 42 Johnny Unser 22 8 43 Stan Wattles 23 7 44 Roberto Guerrero DNQ 23 7 45 Dr. Jack Miller 24 DNQ 6 46 Billy Roe 25 5 47 Richie Hearn 27 3 48 Andy Hillenburg  R  28 2 49 Lyn St. James 32 1 – Dan Drinan DNQ 0 – Memo Gidley DNQ 0 – Davy Jones DNQ 0 – Ross Cheever Wth 0 – Hideshi Matsuda Wth 0 Pos Driver WDW PHX LSV INDY TXS PIK ATL KTY TXS Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish (Ret) 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 (2 points) Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps (1 point) DNS Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns all the points had they taken part.  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie

• Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.

Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (3 points), the second best qualifier (2 points), the third best qualifier (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (2 point).

See also

• 2000 Indianapolis 500
• 2000 Indy Lights season
• 2000 CART season
• 2000 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
• https://web.archive.org/web/20160304065043/http://www.champcarstats.com/year/2000i.htm
• http://media.indycar.com/pdf/2011/IICS_2011_Historical_Record_Book_INT6.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (p. 130–131)

References

1. "NTT IndyCar Series Calendar 2000". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
2. "2000 Schedule". Indy Racing League. Archived from the original on June 21, 2000. Retrieved November 17, 2023.