CART Announces 20 Race Schedule for 2000 FedEx Championship Series
6 November 1999
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
DETROIT - For the fourth consecutive year, the FedEx
Championship Series will kick off its season in Homestead, Fla., and the
2000 schedule runs through the end of October when the Champ Cars visit
California Speedway in Fontana to drop the curtain on Championship Auto
Racing Teams 22nd season of open-wheel racing.
The 2000 schedule - announced today by CART Chairman and CEO Andrew Craig - marks the second straight year CART has run a 20-race slate of events, the most CART teams have run in a single season.
The 2000 schedule includes stops at each of the same race venues where we raced in 1999, said Craig. We look forward to again visiting each of these 20 race sites to provide our fans with the kind of exciting and competitive racing they have come to expect from some of the worlds best drivers in the FedEx Championship Series.
Homestead-Miami Speedway serves as the site for the season-opening race - the Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Presented by Toyota - on March 26. The series then takes a week off before visiting the mile oval in Nazareth, Pa. on April 9 for the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota.
The Championship moves to Long Beach, Calif., for the 17th annual race through the streets, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 16. The CART road show moves to South America on April 30 for the fifth time on the exciting oval at Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway at Nelson Piquet International Raceway for the Telemar Rio 200 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
After a weekend off, the Champ Cars are back in the air for the trip to Japan where they will race on Saturday, May 13 in the third annual Firestone Firehawk 500 on the oval at Twin Ring Motegi.
The next two weeks, which include the Memorial Day weekend, have been left open to facilitate participation by CARTs Champ Car teams in the 84th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 28 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The historic Milwaukee Mile serves as the backdrop for the June 4 Milwaukee Mile 225 at Wisconsin State Fair Park.
Belle Isle is the backdrop for the Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit on June 18 and the Champ Cars make their annual visit to Portland on June 25 for the Budweiser/G.I. Joes 200 Presented by Texaco/Havoline at Portland International Raceway. The July Fourth weekend finds the series back in the Midwest for the Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar July 2 on the runways of Burke Lakefront Airport.
After a weekend off, CART moves to Canada for the Molson Indy Toronto on July 16 followed by the Champ Cars annual visit to Brooklyn, Mich. for the Michigan 500 Presented by Toyota at Michigan Speedway on July 23.
The third race of three-in-a-row is set for July 30 at Chicago Motor Speedway. In its inaugural year, the Target Grand Prix of Chicago was judged an unqualified success on CARTs first visit to the Windy City.
Two of the worlds premier road courses provide the backdrop for the next two Champ Car events. CART makes its yearly stop at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course August 13 for the Miller Lite 200 in Lexington, Ohio. The next week finds CARTs teams headed to Wisconsin for the four-mile circuit in Elkhart Lake for the Road America 220 on August 20.
The series travels to North Americas West Coast on September 3 to race through the streets for the Molson Indy Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. The next weekend puts the FedEx Series in California for the Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Texaco/Havoline 200 at Laguna Seca Raceway on September 10.
Rounding out the three consecutive race streak is CARTs fourth visit to the 1.27-mile oval at Gateway International Raceway, just outside St. Louis, for the Motorola 300 on September 17.
The first of October finds the Champ Cars deep in the heart of Texas for the Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston. Following a weekend off, the series moves outside North America again, jetting across the Pacific for the third off-shore race of the season, Honda Indy 300 through the streets of Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia is set for October 15.
The 2000 season concludes with the annual CART stop at California Speedway for the Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota in Fontana on October 29.
All FedEx Championship Series races will be carried on either ABC or ESPN television. An announcement regarding the network carrying each race and the broadcast times will be made at a later date.
-CART-
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