The 2000 Indy Lights season (more commonly known as the 2000 CART Dayton Indy Lights Championship) was the 15th season of Indy Lights. The season consisted of 12 races with all of the races being supporter races for the 2000 CART season. The season would be dominated by Kiwi driver, Scott Dixon who captured six race victories to win the championship by nine points over American driver, Townsend Bell with Casey Mears coming in third.
All teams used the Lola T97/20-Buick spec car.
The scoring system was 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first 12 (twelve) finishers, with 1 (one) extra point given to the driver who took pole-position, and another extra point given to the driver who led most laps in the race.
Team and driver chart The following drivers and teams competed in the series: TeamDriversRound(s)Brian Stewart Racing8 Soheil Ayari19 Todd Snyder1–610 Rodolfo LavínAllConquest Racing11 Chris MenningaAll21 Felipe GiaffoneAll40 Rolando QuintanillaAllDorricott Racing1 Townsend BellAll2 Casey MearsAll3 Jason BrightAll Derek Higgins6Genoa Racing36 Waldemar Coronas961 Cory Witherill1–6, 10, 12Lucas Motorsports4 Geoff BossAll5 Andy BossAllMexpro Racing15 Rudy Junco Jr.All16 Derek Higgins7–9, 11–12PacWest Lights17 Scott DixonAll18 Tony RennaAllTeam KOOL Green26 Jeff SimmonsAll27 Jonny KaneAllTeam México Quaker Herdez7 Mario DomínguezAll78 Luis Díaz1–9, 11–12
Schedule Rd.DateTrackLocation1April 16 Long Beach Street CircuitLong Beach, California2June 5 Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin3June 18 The Raceway at Belle Isle ParkDetroit, Michigan4June 25 Portland International RacewayPortland, Oregon5July 22 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan6July 30 Chicago Motor SpeedwayCicero, Illinois7August 13 Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, Ohio8September 3 Concord Pacific PlaceVancouver, British Columbia9September 10 Laguna Seca RacewayMonterey, California10September 17 Gateway International RacewayMadison, Illinois11October 1 George R. Brown Convention CenterHouston, Texas12October 29 California SpeedwayFontana, California
Race results RoundCircuitPole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace WinnerDriverTeam1 Long Beach Street Circuit Jonny Kane Jonny Kane Jonny Kane Scott DixonPacWest Lights2 Milwaukee Mile Scott Dixon Scott Dixon Scott Dixon Scott DixonPacWest Lights3 The Raceway at Belle Isle Park Jonny Kane Jonny Kane Jonny Kane Jonny KaneTeam KOOL Green4 Portland International Raceway Townsend Bell Scott Dixon Jason Bright Jason BrightDorricott Racing5 Michigan International Speedway Felipe Giaffone Jason Bright Felipe Giaffone Felipe GiaffoneConquest Racing6 Chicago Motor Speedway Chris Menninga Scott Dixon Scott Dixon Scott DixonPacWest Lights7 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Jason Bright Casey Mears Townsend Bell Townsend BellDorricott Racing8 Concord Pacific Place Felipe Giaffone Scott Dixon Felipe Giaffone Scott DixonPacWest Lights9 Laguna Seca Raceway Casey Mears Scott Dixon Scott Dixon Scott DixonPacWest Lights10 Gateway International Raceway Townsend Bell Townsend Bell Townsend Bell Townsend BellDorricott Racing11 George R. Brown Convention Center Casey Mears Casey Mears Casey Mears Casey MearsDorricott Racing12 California Speedway Felipe Giaffone Cory Witherill Scott Dixon Scott DixonPacWest Lights
Race summaries Long Beach race Held April 16 at Long Beach, California Street Course. Jonny Kane won the pole.
Top Five Results 17- Scott Dixon 3- Jason Bright 21- Felipe Giaffone 26- Jeff Simmons 2- Casey Mears
Milwaukee race Held June 5 at The Milwaukee Mile. Scott Dixon won the pole.
Top Five Results 17- Scott Dixon 3- Jason Bright 7- Mario Domínguez 11- Chris Menninga 2- Casey Mears
Detroit race Held June 18 at Belle Isle Raceway. Jonny Kane won the pole.
Top Five Results 27- Jonny Kane 21- Felipe Giaffone 2- Casey Mears 17- Scott Dixon 7- Mario Domínguez
Portland race Held June 25 at Portland International Raceway. Townsend Bell won the pole.
Top Five Results 3- Jason Bright 1- Townsend Bell 26- Jeff Simmons 18- Tony Renna 11- Chris Menninga
Michigan race Held July 22 at Michigan International Speedway. Felipe Giaffone won the pole.
Top Five Results 21- Felipe Giaffone 2- Casey Mears 18- Tony Renna 1- Townsend Bell 9- Todd Snyder
Chicago race Held July 30 at The Chicago Motor Speedway. Chris Menninga won the pole.
Top Five Results 17- Scott Dixon 1- Townsend Bell 18- Tony Renna 21- Felipe Giaffone 10- Rodolfo Lavín, Jr.
Mid-Ohio race Held August 13 at The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Jason Bright won the pole.
Top Five Results 1- Townsend Bell 17- Scott Dixon 3- Jason Bright 18- Tony Renna 2- Casey Mears
Vancouver race Held September 3 at Pacific Place. Felipe Giaffone won the pole.
Top Five Results 17- Scott Dixon 21- Felipe Giaffone 26- Jeff Simmons 1- Townsend Bell 7- Mario Domínguez
Laguna Seca race Held September 10 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Casey Mears won the pole.
Top Five Results 17- Scott Dixon 1- Casey Mears 26- Jeff Simmons 18- Tony Renna 27- Jonny Kane
Gateway race Held September 17 at The Gateway International Raceway. Townsend Bell won the pole.
Top Five Results 1- Townsend Bell 2- Casey Mears 3- Jason Bright 18- Tony Renna 11- Chris Menninga
Houston race Held October 1 at The Houston Street Circuit. Casey Mears won the pole.
Top Five Results 2- Casey Mears 1- Townsend Bell 21- Felipe Giaffone 4- Geoff Boss 11- Chris Menninga
Fontana race Held October 29 at The California Speedway. Felipe Giaffone won the pole.
Top Five Results 17- Scott Dixon 1- Townsend Bell 18- Tony Renna 2- Casey Mears 10- Rodolfo Lavín, Jr.
Championship standings
Drivers' championship
Scoring system
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th Points20161412108654321
The driver who qualifies on pole is awarded one additional point. An additional point is awarded to the driver who leads the most laps in a race.
Pos DriverLBHMILDETPORMICCHIMOHVANLAGGATHOUFONPoints1 Scott Dixon11*411141*211*15151*1552 Townsend Bell17672421*4181*221463 Casey Mears553721058221*41414 Felipe Giaffone3122141*4132*67371185 Tony Renna9171743346441031056 Jason Bright22181*9Wth314831614907 Jeff Simmons479315763314116888 Mario Domínguez103567111151061216679 Chris Menninga114651891417135596110 Jonny Kane6*161*1717 DNS10155913105211 Rodolfo Lavín7813121651710168654812 Geoff Boss81111961281112124 DNS4313 Luis Díaz1210148126161277153114 Rudy Junco Jr.189121013815911111782615 Andy Boss131410131015916913912201614Wth1616817121317108111617 Todd Snyder1515818516 1518 Derek Higgins 13771414171219 Cory Witherill191315151114 DNS 13220 Waldemar Coronas 15021 Soheil Ayari16 0PosDriverLBHMILDETPORMICCHIMOHVANLAGGATHOUFON Points 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 Red Did not qualify(DNQ) Brown Withdrawn(Wth) Black Disqualified(DSQ) White Did not start(DNS) Blank Did notparticipate(DNP) Not competing
In-line notationBoldPole position(1 point)ItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps(1 point)1Qualifying cancelledno bonus point awarded Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.
References