2000 Indy Racing League season

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2000 Indy Racing League season
Indy Racing Northern Light Series
Season
Races	10 9
Start date	January 29
End date	October 15
Awards
Drivers' champion	Buddy Lazier
Indianapolis 500 winner	Juan Pablo Montoya
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
1999	2001

The 2000 Indy Racing Northern Light Series season 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 back to a CART event.

2000 Indy Racing League schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most Laps Led	Winner
1	January 29	Delphi Indy 200	Walt Disney World Speedway	Bay Lake, Florida	Greg Ray	Mark Dismore	Robbie Buhl	Robbie Buhl
2	March 19	MCI WorldCom Indy 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	Greg Ray	Tyce Carlson	Scott Sharp	Buddy Lazier
3	April 22	Vegas Indy 300	Las Vegas Motor Speedway	Las Vegas, Nevada	Mark Dismore	Mark Dismore	Mark Dismore	Al Unser, Jr.
4	May 28	84th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Greg Ray	Buddy Lazier	Juan Pablo Montoya	Juan Pablo Montoya
5	June 11	Casino Magic 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Buddy Lazier	Eddie Cheever	Al Unser, Jr.	Scott Sharp
6	June 18	Radisson 200	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado	Greg Ray	Buzz Calkins	Scott Sharp	Eddie Cheever
7	July 15	Midas 500 Classic	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	Greg Ray	Donnie Beechler	Greg Ray	Greg Ray
8	August 27	Belterra Resort Indy 300	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, Kentucky	Scott Goodyear	Buddy Lazier	Scott Goodyear	Buddy Lazier
9	October 15	Excite 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Greg Ray	Jaques Lazier	Al Unser, Jr.	Scott Goodyear

• All 2000 Indy Racing League 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. Robbie Buhl
2. Buddy Lazier
3. Eddie Cheever
4. Scott Goodyear
5. Eliseo Salazar
6. Donnie Beechler
7. Jeff Ward
8. Buzz Calkins
9. Billy Boat
10. 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. Buddy Lazier
2. Scott Goodyear
3. Donnie Beechler
4. Eliseo Salazar
5. Scott Sharp
6. Billy Boat
7. Robbie Buhl
8. Stephan Gregoire
9. Al Unser, Jr.
10. Eddie Cheever

Vegas Indy 300

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

Top ten results

1. Al Unser, Jr.
2. Mark Dismore
3. Sam Hornish, Jr.
4. Jeret Schroeder
5. Robbie Buhl
6. Robby McGehee
7. Billy Boat
8. Tyce Carlson
9. Greg Ray
10. Jaques Lazier

84th Indianapolis 500

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

Top ten results

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

Casino Magic 500

This race was held June 11 at Texas Motor Speedway. Buddy Lazier won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Scott Sharp
2. Robby McGehee
3. Al Unser, Jr.
4. Buzz Calkins
5. Scott Goodyear
6. Mark Dismore
7. Buddy Lazier
8. Shigeaki Hattori
9. Eddie Cheever
10. Airton Daré

Radisson 200

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

Top ten results

1. Eddie Cheever
2. Airton Daré
3. Scott Sharp
4. Mark Dismore
5. Donnie Beechler
6. Eliseo Salazar
7. Jeret Schroeder
8. Stephan Gregoire
9. Jaques Lazier
10. Al Unser, Jr.

Midas 500 Classic

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

Top ten results

1. Greg Ray
2. Buddy Lazier
3. Al Unser, Jr.
4. Robby McGehee
5. Donnie Beechler
6. Robbie Buhl
7. Stephan Gregoire
8. Billy Boat
9. Shigeaki Hattori
10. Eliseo Salazar

Belterra Resort Indy 300

This race was held August 27 at Kentucky Speedway. Scott Goodyear won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Buddy Lazier
2. Scott Goodyear
3. Sarah Fisher
4. Eddie Cheever
5. Stephan Gregoire
6. Jeff Ward
7. Greg Ray
8. Shigeaki Hattori
9. Sam Hornish, Jr.
10. Donnie Beechler

Excite 500

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

Top ten results

1. Scott Goodyear
2. Eddie Cheever
3. Billy Boat
4. Buddy Lazier
5. Eliseo Salazar
6. Donnie Beechler
7. Shigeaki Hattori
8. Jeff Ward
9. Buzz Calkins
10. Jaques Lazier

Final point standings

For every race points were awarded to all starters: 50 points to the winner, 40 for runner up, 35 for third place, 32 for fourth place, 30 for fifth place, 28 for sixth place, 26 seventh place, 24 eighth place, 22 for ninth place, 20 for tenth place, winding down to 1 points for 29th place. Every lower placed driver also was awarded with 1 point. 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).

Place	Name	Country	Team	Chassis	Engine	Total Points
1	Buddy Lazier	United States	Hemelgarn Racing	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile Aurora	290	40	50	8
			Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora					40	26	4	40	50	32
2	Scott Goodyear	Canada	Panther Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	272	32	40	18	22	30	14	19	45	52
3	Eddie Cheever	United States	Team Cheever	Riley & Scott	Nissan Infiniti	257	35
			Team Cheever	Dallara	Nissan Infiniti			20	19	30	22	50	9	32	40
4	Eliseo Salazar	Chile	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	210	30	32	12	36	13	28	22	7	30
5	Donnie Beechler	United States	Cahill Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	202	28	35	4	18	8	30	31	20	28
	Mark Dismore	United States	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	202	14	16	45	19	28	33	12	19	16
7	Scott Sharp	United States	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	196	15	33	4	20	50	37	14	6	17
8	Robbie Buhl	United States	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	190	52	26	30	4
			Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Nissan Infiniti						12	9	28	17	12
9	Al Unser, Jr.	United States	Galles Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	188	5	22	50	1	37	20	35	3	15
10	Billy Boat	United States	Team Pelfrey	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	181	22	28	26		7	12	24	12	35
			A. J. Foyt Enterprises	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora					15
11	Jeff Ward	United States	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	176	26	19	9	32	11	15	11	28	25
12	Robby McGehee	United States	Treadway Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	174	20	6	28	9	40	17	32	16	6
13	Greg Ray	United States	Team Menard	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	172	13	14	24	4	15	13	55	27	7
14	Stéphane Grégoire	France	Dick Simon Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	171	12	24	2	24	19	24	26	30	10
15	Buzz Calkins	United States	Bradley Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	145	24	7	5	12	32	18	7	18	22
16	Airton Daré	Brazil	TeamXtreme Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	142	19	8	16	5	20	40	5	11	18
17	Jeret Schroeder	United States	Tri-Star Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	136	11	18	32	16	9	26	6	4	14
18	Sarah Fisher	United States	Walker Racing	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile Aurora	124	-	17	13
			Walker Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora					1	18	5	16	35	19
	Tyce Carlson	United States	Hubbard-Immke Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	124	17	15	24	-	17	19	17	8	7
20	Jaques Lazier	United States	Truscelli Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	112	7	-	20	17	16	22	-
			Mid America Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora									10
			TeamXtreme Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora										20
21	Sam Hornish, Jr.	United States	PDM Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	110	10	13	35			11	-
			PDM Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora					6	10			22	3
22	Shigeaki Hattori	Japan	Treadway-Vertex Cunningham Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	109	-	-	-	-	24	13	22	24	26
23	Davey Hamilton	United States	Sinden Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	98	4
			TeamXtreme Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora			12	10	10	6	16	15	14
			Mid America Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora										11
24	Jimmy Kite	United States	Blueprint Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	79	-	4	14	1	14	6	18	13	9
25	Juan Pablo Montoya	Colombia	Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	54	-	-	-	54	-	-	-	-	-
26	Doug Didero	Canada	Mid America Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	43	16	5	11	-	3	8	-	-	-
27	Ronnie Johncox	United States	Byrd-McCormack Motorsports	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	33	-	16	17	-	-	-	-	-	-
	J. J. Yeley	United States	Byrd-McCormack Motorsports	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	33	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	15	5
29	Robby Gordon	United States	Team Menard	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	28	-	-	-	28	-	-	-	-	-
	Jason Leffler	United States	Treadway-Vertex Cunningham Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	28	-	-	15
			Treadway Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora					13	-	-	-	-	-
31	Niclas Jönsson	Sweden	Blueprint Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	27	18
			Nienhouse Motorsports	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora			9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
32	Jimmy Vasser	United States	Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	26	-	-	-	26	-	-	-	-	-
33	Stevie Reeves	United States	Logan Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	25	-	-	-	-	-	-	8	9	8
34	Robby Unser	United States	Tri-Star Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	19	6	-	-	-
			Byrd-McCormack Motorsports	Riley & Scott	Oldsmobile Aurora						4	9	-	-	-
35	Scott Harrington	United States	Nienhouse Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	17	-	-	7	-	-	-
			Mid America Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora								10	-	-
36	Zak Morioka	Brazil	Tri-Star Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
37	Raul Boesel	Brazil	Treadway-Vertex Cunningham Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	14	-	-	-	14	-	-	-	-	-
38	Steve Knapp	United States	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	G-Force	Nissan Infiniti	11	-	-	-	11	-	-	-	-	-
39	Bobby Regester	United States	Truscelli Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	10	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
40	John Hollansworth, Jr.	United States	TeamXtreme Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	9	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
41	Jon Herb	United States	Byrd-McCormack Motorsports	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	8	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Johnny Unser	United States	Indy Regency Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	8	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	-
43	Stan Wattles	United States	Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	7	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	-	-
	Roberto Guerrero	Colombia	Team Coulson	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	-
45	Jack Miller	United States	Tri-Star Motorsports	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	6	-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-
46	Billy Roe	United States	Logan Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	5	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	-	-
47	Richie Hearn	United States	Pagan Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	3	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-
48	Andy Hillenburg	United States	Fast Track Racing	Dallara	Oldsmobile Aurora	2	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
49	Lyn St. James	United States	Dick Simon Racing	G-Force	Oldsmobile Aurora	1	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-

No points (did not qualify):

• Dan Drinan
• Memo Gidley
• Hideshi Matsuda
• Davy Jones

See also

• 2000 Indianapolis 500
• 2000 Indy Lights season
• 2000 CART season
• 2000 Toyota Atlantic Championship season