The relative decline ofChip 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 andHelio Castroneves (the latter signed following the death ofGreg 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. VeteransMichael Andretti andPaul 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 ofPatrick Racing, with veteransAdrian Fernandez andRoberto 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 byBobby Rahal. The series left open the traditionalIndianapolis 500 date ofMemorial Day, allowing teams to enter theIndy Racing League-sanctioned race for the first time since 1995. Chip Ganassi Racing did so, with their driverJuan 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. 2000 would also be the final season forDaimlerChrysler via theMercedes-Benz brand as an engine manufacturer, after DaimlerChrysler decided to shut down their CART program and coincidentally defected to theNASCAR Winston Cup Series via theDodge brand in 2001.
The followingteams anddrivers competed in the 2000CART Championship Series season. Five years after the return of Firestone, rival tire manufacturer Goodyear withdrew from CART and its rival theIndy Racing League and hence all cars would ran onFirestone Firehawk tires for the first time in history.[1] All teams were based in the United States.
† The Nazareth round was initially scheduled to be the second round on April 9, 2000, but snow caused the race's postponement. Motegi was scheduled to be on May 13, and Milwaukee was scheduled to be on June 4. Both were 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.
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Gil de Ferran
Reynard
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Kenny Bräck
Mexico
Colombia
Scotland
Italy
Spain
England
Argentina
Mercedes IC 108E