2000 Indy Racing League season
Indy Racing Northern Light Series
2000 Indy Racing League
Season
Races10 9
Start dateJanuary 29
End dateOctober 15
Awards
Drivers' championUnited States Buddy Lazier
Manufacturers' CupUnited States Oldsmobile
Rookie of the YearBrazil Airton Daré
Indianapolis 500 winnerColombia 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
United States Team Menard Dallara Oldsmobile 1 United States Greg Ray All
32 United States Robby Gordon 4
United States Galles Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 3 United States Al Unser Jr. All
United States Panther Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 4 Canada Scott Goodyear All
United States Treadway Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 5 United States Robby McGehee All
50 United States Jason Leffler  R  4
55 3
Brazil Raul Boesel 4
Japan Shigeaki Hattori  R  5–9
United States Tri Star Motorsports Dallara Oldsmobile 6 United States Jeret Schroeder  R  All
9 United States Robby Unser 1
21 United States Dr. Jack Miller 3–4
Brazil Zak Morioka  R  9
United States Dick Simon Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 7 France Stéphan Grégoire All
90 United States Lyn St. James 4
United States Kelley Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 8 United States Scott Sharp All
28 United States Mark Dismore All
United States Target Chip Ganassi Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 9 Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya  R  4
10 United States Jimmy Vasser 4
United States A. J. Foyt Enterprises G-Force Oldsmobile 11 Chile Eliseo Salazar All
14 United States Jeff Ward All
41 United States Billy Boat 4
United States Bradley Motorsports Dallara Oldsmobile 12 United States Buzz Calkins All
United States Walker Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 15 United States Sarah Fisher  R  2–9
United States Team Xtreme G-Force Oldsmobile 16 United States John Hollansworth Jr. 1
United States Davey Hamilton 2–8
United States Jaques Lazier 9
88 Brazil Airton Daré  R  All
United States Nienhouse Motorsports G-Force Oldsmobile 17 Sweden Niclas Jönsson  R  2
United States Scott Harrington 3–4
United States PDM Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 18 United States Sam Hornish Jr.  R  1–6, 8–9
United States Logan Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 19 United States Billy Roe 5–6
United States Stevie Reeves  R  7–9
United States Hubbard-Immke Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 20 United States Tyce Carlson 1–3, 5–9
Colombia Roberto Guerrero 4
United States Indy Regency Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 22 United States Johnny Unser 4
United States Dreyer & Reinbold Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 23 United States Steve Knapp 4
24 United States Robbie Buhl All
United States Blueprint Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 27 Sweden Niclas Jönsson  R  1
United States Jimmy Kite 2–9
United States Byrd-McCormack Racing Riley & Scott Oldsmobile 29 United States Robby Unser 4
30 5–6
G-Force Oldsmobile United States Jon Herb  R  1
United States Ronnie Johncox 2–4
United States J. J. Yeley 7–9
United States Truscelli Team Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 33 United States Jaques Lazier 1, 3–6
United States Bobby Regester  R  2
United States Team Coulson Racing G-Force Oldsmobile 40 United States Davy Jones 4
Colombia Roberto Guerrero 8
Canada Mid America Motorsports Dallara Oldsmobile 43 Canada Doug Didero  R  1–6
United States Scott Harrington 7
United States Jaques Lazier 8
United States Davey Hamilton 9
United States Sinden Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 44 United States Davey Hamilton 1
United States Fast Track Racing Enterprises Dallara Oldsmobile 48 United States Andy Hillenburg  R  4
United States Dan Drinan  R  4
United States Team Cheever Dallara Infiniti 51 United States Eddie Cheever All
52 United States Ross Cheever 4
United States Pagan Racing Dallara Oldsmobile 75 United States Richie Hearn 4
United States Team Pelfrey Dallara Oldsmobile 81 United States Billy Boat 1–3, 5–9
82 United States Memo Gidley 4
United States Hemelgarn Racing Riley & Scott
Dallara
Oldsmobile 91 United States Buddy Lazier All
92 United States Stan Wattles 4
United States Milwaukee Racing Riley & Scott Infiniti 99 United States Donnie Beechler 9

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 United States Greg Ray United States Mark Dismore United States Robbie Buhl United States Robbie Buhl
2 MCI WorldCom Indy 200 United States Greg Ray United States Tyce Carlson United States Scott Sharp United States Buddy Lazier
3 Vegas Indy 300 United States Mark Dismore United States Mark Dismore United States Mark Dismore United States Al Unser Jr.
4 84th Indianapolis 500 United States Greg Ray United States Buddy Lazier Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya  R  Colombia Juan Pablo Montoya  R 
5 Casino Magic 500 United States Buddy Lazier United States Eddie Cheever United States Al Unser Jr. United States Scott Sharp
6 Radisson 200 United States Greg Ray United States Buzz Calkins United States Scott Sharp United States Eddie Cheever
7 Midas 500 Classic United States Greg Ray United States Donnie Beechler United States Greg Ray United States Greg Ray
8 Belterra Resort Indy 300 Canada Scott Goodyear United States Buddy Lazier Canada Scott Goodyear United States Buddy Lazier
9 Excite 500 United States Greg Ray United States Jaques Lazier United States Al Unser Jr. Canada Scott Goodyear

Note: All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Race summaries

Delphi Indy 200

This 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

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

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 

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.

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

Final points standings

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

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.
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