The 84th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 2000. The race was sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was part of the 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series season. After four years of an ongoing organizational dispute and "split" in Indy car racing, Chip Ganassi Racing became the first major CART-based team to compete at the race since 1995. The Ganassi team of Jimmy Vasser and Juan Pablo Montoya competed as a one-off entry, and were well received by fans and fellow competitors. Both drivers were quickly up to speed with the IRL regulars, and were expected to be favorites in both qualifying and on race day. Also making a heralded return to Indianapolis was two-time winner Al Unser Jr. who had switched full-time to the IRL in 2000.
During qualifying, defending IRL champion Greg Ray took the pole position. However, on race day, reigning CART champion Juan Pablo Montoya dominated the race. Montoya led 167 laps, and cruised to victory, becoming the first rookie winner since Graham Hill in 1966. It was the first of two Indy victories for Montoya (2000, 2015). Buddy Lazier, the 1996 winner, and eventual season champion, finished second, his second runner-up finish at Indy, and fifth consecutive top ten.
The 2000 race was the first to feature two female starters in the field, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher. The start of the race was delayed over three hours due to rain. The green flag dropped at 2:10 p.m. EST, and the race was completed shortly after 5 p.m. Seven minutes after the checkered flag, the rain returned, and doused the victory lane celebration.
The first 65 laps of the race were run caution-free, a new Indy 500 record at the time. Montoya became only the fourth winner to complete the race in under three hours, and at 167.607 mph, it was the fastest Indy 500 since 1991. At the end of the season, Montoya promptly departed Indy car racing for Formula One, then went to NASCAR. He would not return for his second Indy start until 2014.
Race schedule Race schedule — April 2000SunMonTueWedThuFriSat 2 3 4 5 6 7ROP 8ROP 9ROP/Testing10ROP/Testing11ROP/Testing12ROP/Testing13 14 15 Race schedule — May 2000 7 8 9 10 11 12 13Practice14Practice15Practice16Practice17Practice18Practice19Practice20Pole Day21Bump Day22 23 24 25Carb Day26 27Parade28Indy 50029Memorial Day30 31 Color Notes Green Practice Dark Blue Time trials Silver Race day Red Rained out* Blank No track activity * Includes days where trackactivity was significantlylimited due to rain
ROP — denotes RookieOrientation Program
Rule changes During a yellow flag caution period, when the field is one lap away from going back to green flag conditions, the pace car would now drop off the track in turn one, and the race leader would pace the field back to the green flag and the ensuing restart. This was an effort to prevent any chance of the leader(s) accidentally passing the pace car on a restart (which happened to Scott Goodyear in the 1995 race).
A year later, this would be combined with the "wave around" rule.
Time trials Time trials were scheduled for two days in 2000, May 20–21. During practice, IRL regulars generally topped the speed charts, with different names leading nearly each day. Jimmy Vasser and Juan Pablo Montoya were quickly up to speed in the IRL machines, and each managed to lead one day of practice. Both were considered contenders for the front row. Greg Ray (223.948 mph) set the fastest lap of the week on "Fast Friday".
Pole day - Saturday May 20 Pole qualifying began at 11 a.m. The weather was cool and cloudy. Al Unser Jr. (220.293 mph) was the first car in the field. At 12:07 p.m., Eliseo Salazar took over the top spot with a run of 223.231 mph. Salazar remained on top for over an hour, as most cars waved off, awaiting better conditions.
At 1:19 p.m., Juan Pablo Montoya took to the track. His run of 223.372 mph took over the provisional pole position. Greg Ray pulled his car out of line due to handling issues, and Team Menard announced that they were planning to wait until later in the day to make a qualifying attempt. Jimmy Vasser went out next, and at 221.976 mph, he was not able to join his Ganassi teammate on the front row.
Later in the afternoon, conditions improved slightly, and several cars returned to the track. At 3:49 p.m., Greg Ray completed his run at 223.471 mph, and secured the pole position. The front row of Ray, Montoya, and Salazar was separated by only 0.173 seconds, the closest such margin in Indy history. The front row shaped up such that the reigning champions of IRL (Ray) and CART (Montoya) would line up 1st–2nd.
A total of 23 cars qualified for the field. Lyn St. James wrecked on her first attempt, flipping the car up on its side in the south chute. Also into the wall were Jimmy Kite, Scott Harrington, rookie Memo Gidley and veteran Hideshi Matsuda. None of the drivers were seriously injured.
Sarah Fisher (220.237 mph) qualified 19th, becoming the third female driver in Indy history.
Bump day - Sunday May 21 The second and final day of time trials opened with ten spots remaining. Raul Boesel was the first car out, and at 222.113 mph, he would be the fastest driver of the afternoon. After two wave-offs on Saturday, Billy Boat wrecked on his first attempt on Sunday. He would be forced to find a backup car.
The field was filled to 33 cars by 5:30 p.m.. Among the drivers who completed attempts were Jimmy Kite, Davey Hamilton, and popular hometown rookie Andy Hillenburg. Independent driver and co-owner Hillenburg was fielding a "throwback" entry named the Sumar Special, a gesture to the car driven by Pat O'Connor, which won the pole position in 1957.
Billy Boat secured a backup car with the Foyt team, but the car (#41, previously driven by Roberto Guerrero) only had one attempt left. After stalling three times trying to pull away, Boat's first two laps were fair. The car lost power on the third lap, and his speed dropped to 150 mph. It picked back up for the final lap, and he ran it at 198 mph. His four lap average was 192.105 mph, by far the slowest car in the field, and he was the first car on the bubble.
Lyn St. James and Dick Simon Racing reorganized after Saturday's crash, and she qualified comfortably. She bumped Boat's #41 car with 25 minutes left in the day. With less than a minute until the 6 o'clock gun, Billy Boat climbed into another Foyt backup, (#11) a car that had not been driven all week. Boat managed a run of 218.872 mph out of the unproven machine. He shockingly bumped his way into the field as time expired.
Davy Jones attempted a comeback after breaking his neck in 1997, but he was bumped.
Carb Day The final practice took place on Thursday May 25. All 33 cars took laps with Juan Pablo Montoya (218.257 mph) the fastest of the day. No major incidents were reported, though Scott Sharp suffered mechanical problems which delayed his arrival on pit lane. He managed to only take a few shake down laps in the final five minutes.
Jimmy Kite took laps in the car of Jason Leffler, as Leffler was in Charlotte for the day. Robby Gordon stayed for about an hour and twenty minutes, then he too departed for Charlotte.
Pit Stop Challenge The 24th annual Coors Pit Stop Challenge was held Thursday May 25. Twelve teams competed in a single-elimination bracket. Nine teams earned berths based on winning the Coors Light Pit Performance Award at the Indy Racing League events since the previous year's Indianapolis 500. Two spots would be filled by a last-chance qualifying session on May 16. The final spot would be filled by the highest race qualifier not already in the contest. Al Unser Jr. (Galles) with a time of 9.42 seconds, along with Buddy Lazier (Hemelgarn) with a time of 13.48 seconds, advanced from the last-chance qualifying session. Juan Pablo Montoya (Ganassi), who qualified for the middle of the front row, secured the final berth.
The bracket was determined by a blind draw. Four teams received byes for the first round. Billy Boat, who actually qualified for the race in a Foyt back-up car, participated in the contest with his original entrant, Team Pelfrey. During the first round matches, Mark Dismore's crew was issued a 5-second penalty for improper handoff of an air gun, but he would have lost either way. Buddy Lazier was issued a 5-second penalty for a loose lug nut, but it did change the outcome. In the quarterfinals, Juan Pablo Montoya was disqualified for stalling the engine and not leaving the pits under power. During the semifinal match between race polesitter Greg Ray and Robby McGehee, Ray lost a wheel while exiting the pit stall. The finals pitted Panther versus Treadway, with the crew of Scott Goodyear defeating Robby McGehee. The Treadway crew was penalized 3 seconds for a tire rolling outside the pit stall. It was the second win in the event for Panther Racing.
Starting grid FilaInsideMiddleOutside1 1 - Greg RayTeam Conseco/Quaker State/MenardsTeam MenardDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora223.471 mph 9 - Juan Pablo Montoya TargetChip Ganassi RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora223.372 mph 11 - Eliseo SalazarRioA. J. Foyt RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora223.231 mph2 32 - Robby GordonTurtle Wax/Burger King/Moen/Johns Manville/MenardsTeam MenardDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora222.885 mph 8 - Scott SharpDelphi Automotive Systems/MCI WorldcomKelley RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora222.810 mph 14 - Jeff WardHarrah'sA. J. Foyt RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora222.639 mph3 10 - Jimmy VasserTargetChip Ganassi RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora221.976 mph 92 - Stan WattlesMetro RacingHemelgarn RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora221.508 mph 24 - Robbie BuhlTeam PurexDreyer & Reinbold RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora221.357 mph4 51 - Eddie Cheever Jr. #51 Excite@Home Indy Race CarTeam CheeverDallara-Infiniti221.270 mph 28 - Mark DismoreOnStar/GM BuyPower/Bryant Heating & CoolingKelley RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora220.970 mph 5 - Robby McGeheeMeijer / Energizer Advanced FormulaTreadway RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora220.611 mph5 4 - Scott GoodyearPennzoilPanther RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora220.496 mph 18 - Sam Hornish Jr. Hornish Trucking / Advantage Powder CoatingPDM RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora220.496 mph 98 - Donnie BeechlerCahill RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora220.482 mph6 91 - Buddy Lazier Delta Faucet/Coors Light/Tae -BoHemelgarn RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora220.482 mph 50 - Jason Leffler United Auto Group Special Treadway RacingG-Force Oldsmobile220.417 mph 3 - Al Unser Jr. ECR / RacingTickets.comGalles RacingG-Force Oldsmobile Aurora220.293 mph7 15 - Sarah Fisher CumminsWalker RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora220.237 mph 7 - Stéphan GrégoireMexmil/Tokheim/Viking Air ToolsDick Simon RacingG-Force Oldsmobile Aurora219.970 mph 88 - Airton Daré USACredit.comTeam XtremeG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora219.970 mph8 12 - Buzz CalkinsBradley Motorsports / Team CANBradley MotorsportsDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora219.862 mph 75 - Richie HearnNetZeroPagan RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora219.816 mph 55 - Raul BoeselEPSONTreadway RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora222.113 mph9 27 - Jimmy KiteBig Daddy's BBQ/Founders BankBlueprint RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora 220.718 mph 33 - Jaques Lazier Miles of HopeTruscelli Team RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora220.675 mph 23 - Steve KnappDreyer & Reinbold RacingG-Force-Nissan Infiniti220.290 mph10 16 - Davey HamiltonFreeInternet.comTeam XtremeG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora219.878 mph 6 - Jeret SchroederKrogerTri Star MotorsportsDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora219.322 mph 22 - Johnny UnserDelco-Remy/Microdigicom/Homier ToolsIndy Regency RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora219.066 mph11 41 - Billy BoatHarrah'sA. J. Foyt RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora218.872 mph 90 - Lyn St. JamesYellow Freight SystemDick Simon RacingG-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora218.826 mph 48 - Andy Hillenburg The Sumar Special By Irwindale SpeedwayFast Track RacingDallara-Oldsmobile Aurora218.285 mph
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