2000 CART season facts for kids
Quick facts for kids 2000 CART season |
|
|---|---|
| FedEx Championship Series | |
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|
| Season | |
| Races | 20 |
| Start date | March 26 |
| End date | October 30 |
| Awards | |
| Drivers' champion |  Gil de Ferran |
| Constructors' Cup |  Reynard |
| Manufacturers' Cup |  / Ford-Cosworth |
| Nations' Cup | Brazil |
| Rookie of the Year |  Kenny Bräck |
The 2000 FedEx Championship Series season was a big year for American open-wheel car racing. It was the twenty-second season in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era. There were 20 exciting races, starting in Homestead, Florida on March 26, 2000, and ending in Fontana, California on October 30, 2000. The champion driver was Gil de Ferran from Brazil. The best new driver, called the Rookie of the Year, was Kenny Bräck from Sweden.
This season was very open, meaning many different drivers had a chance to win. In the first seven races, seven different drivers won! Overall, 11 different drivers won at least one race. This was because the top teams and car parts were very evenly matched.
Penske Racing became a top team again. They used Honda engines and a new car called the Reynard 2KI. Their drivers, Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves, won 5 races together. Four of these wins were on road courses, where the team hadn't been strong before. Even though veteran drivers Michael Andretti and Paul Tracy were leading early on, they didn't finish as strong. A big surprise was how well Patrick Racing did, with drivers Adrian Fernandez and Roberto Moreno finishing second and third in the championship.
Behind the scenes, there were some changes too. The head of CART, Andrew Craig, was replaced by Bobby Rahal during the season. Also, for the first time since 1995, CART teams could race in the famous Indianapolis 500. Chip Ganassi Racing did this, and their driver Juan Pablo Montoya won the race easily. This showed how important the Indy 500 still was to racing teams. The year 2000 was also the last season for Mercedes-Benz as an engine maker in CART. They decided to join the NASCAR Winston Cup Series with the Dodge brand in 2001.
Contents
Teams and Drivers
In the 2000 CART Championship Series, many different teams and drivers competed. All the cars used Firestone Firehawk tires because Goodyear, another tire company, stopped making tires for CART. All the teams were based in the United States.
| 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 | |||
| 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
Race Schedule
The 2000 season had 20 races held at different tracks. Some were on oval tracks, which are like big circles, and others were on road or street courses, which have turns and twists.
| Rnd | Race Name | Circuit | City/Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota |
O Homestead-Miami Speedway | Homestead, Florida | March 26 |
| 2 | Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach |
R Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California | April 16 |
| 3 | Rio 200 |
O Autódromo de Jacarepaguá | Jacarepagua, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | April 30 |
| 4 | Firestone Firehawk 500 |
O Twin Ring Motegi | Motegi, Tochigi, Japan | May 14 |
| 5 | Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota |
O Nazareth Speedway | Nazareth, Pennsylvania | May 27† |
| 6 | Miller Lite 225 Presented by Kmart |
O Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin | June 5* |
| 7 | Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit |
R The Raceway on Belle Isle Park | Detroit, Michigan | June 18 |
| 8 | Freightliner/G. I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco |
R Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon | June 25 |
| 9 | Firstar Presents the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland |
R Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport | Cleveland, Ohio | July 2 |
| 10 | Molson Indy Toronto |
R Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario | July 16 |
| 11 | Michigan 500 Presented by Toyota |
O Michigan Speedway | Brooklyn, Michigan | July 23 |
| 12 | Target Grand Prix of Chicago Presented by Energizer |
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 |
R Concord Pacific Place | Vancouver, British Columbia | September 3 |
| 16 | Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300 |
R Laguna Seca Raceway | Monterey, California | September 10 |
| 17 | Motorola 300 |
O Gateway International Raceway | Madison, Illinois | September 17 |
| 18 | Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston |
R George R. Brown Convention Center | Houston, Texas | October 1 |
| 19 | Honda Indy 300 |
R Surfers Paradise Street Circuit | Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia | October 15 |
| 20 | Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota |
O California Speedway | Fontana, California | October 29–30* |
O Oval/Speedway
R Road/Street course
† The Nazareth race was supposed to be on April 9, but it snowed, so it was moved to May 27.
The Milwaukee race was set for June 4, but rain caused it to be moved to June 5.
The Fontana race on October 29 was stopped because of rain and finished the next day.
Race Winners
The 2000 season had many different winners. Here are the winners for each race:
Final Standings
The 2000 season was very close! Here are the top drivers and how many points they earned. Points are given for how well a driver finishes in each race.
| Pos | Driver | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gil de Ferran |
168 |
| 2 | Adrián Fernández |
158 |
| 3 | Roberto Moreno |
147 |
| 4 | Kenny Bräck RY |
135 |
| 5 | Paul Tracy |
134 |
| 6 | Jimmy Vasser |
131 |
| 7 | Hélio Castroneves |
129 |
| 8 | Michael Andretti |
127 |
| 9 | Juan Pablo Montoya |
126 |
| 10 | Cristiano da Matta |
112 |
- Oriol Servià lost 4 points for rough driving in the Surfers Paradise race.
Nations' Cup
The Nations' Cup is a special award for countries based on how well their drivers do. The best result from a driver from each country in a race counts towards this cup.
| Pos | Country | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil |
332 |
| 2 | United States |
256 |
| 3 | Canada |
226 |
| 4 | Mexico |
165 |
| 5 | Sweden |
135 |
| 6 | Colombia |
126 |
| 7 |  Scotland |
92 |
| 8 | Italy |
88 |
| 9 | Spain |
64 |
| 10 |  England |
18 |
Car Makers' Cup
This cup is for the companies that build the car chassis (the main frame of the car).
| Pos | Chassis | Pts | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reynard 2KI |
393 | 13 |
| 2 | Lola B2K/00 |
313 | 7 |
Engine Makers' Cup
This cup is for the companies that make the engines for the race cars.
| 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 |
More Racing Fun
If you enjoyed learning about the 2000 CART season, you might also like to read about these other racing series from the same year:
- 2000 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
- 2000 Indianapolis 500
- 2000 Indy Racing League
- 2000 Indy Lights season
