The 2000 Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) race that was held on June 18, 2000 on the Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. It was the seventh race of the 2000 CART season. The race was won by Hélio Castroneves for Team Penske. Max Papis finished second, and Oriol Servià clinched third.
Preparations for the race were overshadowed by the news that CART CEO Andrew Craig had been voted out from his position, and his duties had been temporarily taken on by Bobby Rahal. Juan Pablo Montoya claimed pole position for the race, and led the first 58 laps of the race before he briefly relinquished the lead to Roberto Moreno when he made a pit stop. He regained first position a lap later, but only led for one more lap before he slowed down, and eventually cruised into the pit lane, and retired with a broken drive shaft. Castroneves took over the lead, and remained at the front for the rest of the race. To celebrate his win, Castroneves parked his car on the track, leapt out and climbed the fence, shaking it in jubilation. It was the first win that Castroneves, or any other racing driver, celebrated in this fashion, and he has since repeated the celebration for each of his victories, and it has also been mimicked by other drivers.
There were three cautions, totalling 10 laps during the race. It was Castroneves's first victory of his CART career, and he was the seventh different winner in the first seven races of the 2000 season. Of the 24 drivers that started, 14 were listed as running at the end of the race; four retired after contact, five retired with mechanical issues, and Paul Tracy was disqualified after he hit a crew member during service on pit lane.
Classification Race results
Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points 13 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske842:01:2332420 27 Max Papis Team Rahal845016 396 Oriol Servià PPI Motorsports8412014 427 Dario Franchitti Team Green842012 532 Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing849010 633 Alex Tagliani Forsythe Racing841408 712 Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing841706 816 Michel Jourdain Jr. Bettenhausen Racing841605 92 Gil de Ferran Team Penske83+1 lap404 1034 Tarso Marques Dale Coyne Racing82+2 laps2103 1118 Mark Blundell PacWest Racing81+3 laps1502 1219 Takuya Kurosawa Dale Coyne Racing81+3 laps2301 136 Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing80Mechanical1100 1410 Norberto Fontana Della Penna Motorsports78Mechanical2000 155 Shinji Nakano Walker Motorsport78+6 laps2200 1617 Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing78+6 laps1800 1720 Roberto Moreno Patrick Racing65Contact1010 181 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing61Mechanical1592 1911 Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing60Contact800 2026 Paul Tracy Team Green59Disqualified1900 2140 Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing31Contact1300 2225 Luiz Garcia Jr. Arciero Racing25Mechanical2400 2397 Cristiano da Matta PPI Motorsports14Mechanical600 248 Kenny Bräck Team Rahal10Contact700Source: Racing-Reference
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship Pos +/– Driver Points 1 59 2 1 54 3 1 52 4 5 47 5 1 47
Constructors' standings Pos +/– Constructor Points 1 Reynard 137 2 Lola 107 3 Swift 4
Manufacturer's Standings Pos +/- Manufacturer Points 1 Ford-Cosworth 120 2 Honda 116 3 Toyota 108 4 Mercedes 39
References