The 2000 Michigan 500 was the eleventh round of the twenty-round 2000 CART season. It happened at the Michigan International Speedway.
Qualifying
The Canadian driver Paul Tracy, from Team Green, set the pole, followed by Michael Andretti and Christian Fittipaldi.
Qualifying - 22 July 2000 Pos. No. Driver Team Lap Time Behind Speed (mph)126 Paul TracyTeam Green30,645 234.9492 6 Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing 30,6870,042234.627311 Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing 30,7390,094234.230427 Dario Franchitti Team Green 30,8780,233233.17652 Gil de Ferran Team Penske30,9040,259232.980612 Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing30,9330,288232.76171 Juan Pablo MontoyaChip Ganassi Racing30,9630,318232.536833 Alex Tagliani Forsythe Racing30,9900,345232.333932 Patrick CarpentierForsythe Racing31,0360,391231.989108 Kenny Bräck Team Rahal31,0650,420231.772117 Max PapisTeam Rahal31,1270,482231.3101240 Adrián FernándezPatrick Racing31,1460,501231.169133 Hélio CastronevesTeam Penske31,2010,556230.7621497 Cristiano da MattaPPI Motorsports31,3210,676 229.8781596 Oriol Servià PPI Motorsports31,3710,726229.5111620 Roberto MorenoPatrick Racing31,5670,922228.0861718 Mark BlundellPacWest Racing31,7801,135 226.55818 55 Tony KanaanForsythe Racing31,8351,190226.166195 Shinji Nakano Walker Racing31,8851,240225.8122017 Mauricio GugelminPacWest Racing31,9091,264225.6422110 Memo GidleyDella Penna Motorsports32,0531,408224.6282216 Michel Jourdain Jr.Bettenhausen Racing32,1751,530223.7762325 Luiz Garcia Jr.Arciero Racing32,7142,069220.0892434 Tarso MarquesDale Coyne Racing0,000 30,6450.0002519 Takuya Kurosawa Dale Coyne Racing0,00030,6450,000 Source: Eligible for Rookie of the Year
Race
Eventual winner Juan Pablo Montoya led the race at the end of the first lap through to lap 16, where he was overtaken by eventual runner up Michael Andretti. Across the 250 laps, the race saw nine different leaders, with 52 lead changes. There were five cautions over the course of the race, taking 38 laps in total. Thirteen cars did not finish the race, and only seven cars completed the full 500-mile distance. The race culminated in a battle between Montoya and Andretti, with seven lead changes in the final twenty laps. Montoya set the race's fastest lap on lap 232 of 250. Andretti led lap 249, but was passed by Montoya on the final lap. Montoya's margin of victory was just 0.040s. Montoya's victory was Toyota's second in ChampCar, and he became the first driver since Rick Mears in 1991 to win both the Indianapolis 500 and Michigan 500 in the same year. +Race resultsRankDriver1 Juan Pablo Montoya2 Michael Andretti3 Dario Franchitti4 Patrick Carpentier5 Hélio Castroneves
Championship Battle
Michael Andretti became the new leader of the championship with 100 points. The previous leader, Roberto Moreno was in 2nd with 90 points. Race winner Juan Pablo Montoya moved up to 5th in the Championship standings with 74 points. Broadcasting The Michigan 500 was broadcast by ABC. Paul Page was the lead announcer and was joined by Parker Johnstone as color commentator.2000 Michigan 500 Telecast: ABC-TV, July 23, 2000
The race had a lead-in audience from the 2000 Open Championship as Tiger Woods won his first Open Championship. In the United States, the race had a 2.5 overnight rating. The race had a final rating of 2.0 with 2.058 million households watching. It was the most-watched CART race of 2000.
Qualifying for the race was broadcast tape-delayed on ESPN2 on the morning of Sunday, July 23. The qualifying broadcast had a rating of 0.1 and watched by 45,000 households.
Standings after the race
+ Drivers' Championship standings Rank +/– Driver Points 1 1 Michael Andretti104 2 1 Roberto Moreno90 3 1 Paul Tracy80 4 1 Gil de Ferran75 5 4 Juan Pablo Montoya74
+ Constructors' standings Rank +/– Constructor Points 1 Reynard215 2 Lola173 3 Swift 5
+ Manufacturers' standings Rank +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Ford-Cosworth 194 2 Honda 169 3 Toyota 165 4 Mercedes 46
Note: Only the top five positions are included for the drivers' standings.
References