2000 Las Vegas - World Challenge GT

The World Challenge series was divided into two separate classes – World Challenge GT and World Challenge Touring. The series featured production based cars modified for racing. The races for both classes were 50-minutes in length.

In 2000 World Challenge series organisers decided to make a number of changes to the series in an effort to attract car enthusiasts and to copy the success of European Touring Car series:

Aligning with trends in the automotive aftermarket competitors were allowed to use larger wheels and tires (up to 18-inches in GT and up to 17-inches in Touring), spec rear wings and more aerodynamic bodywork.

Also introduced for 2000 was standing starts.

The series also boasted larger purses and a great television package as the result of sponsorship from Speedvision. All these factors attracted bigger fields - at some events as many as 80-cars were entered for the two classes.

The penultimate round of the 2000 World Challenge season took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. There was a close battle between Jeff McMillin and Bobby Archer for the Driver’s Championship.

During the 2000 season, the Champion Audi team had made tremendous improvements to their S4 Competition. At Las Vegas Michael Galati grabbed the pole. Unlike other races where Galati's four-wheel-drive car provided an advantage only on the first lap his car was competitive for the entire race. He led flag-to-flag to score Audi's first GT class win.

Mike Fitzgerald qualified the No. 38 Porsche GT3 Cup next to pole-sitter Galati. For 12-laps Fitzgerald trailed Galati with the possibility of adding to his World Challenge win streak – as of Las Vegas he had three consecutive victories. Unfortunately, on lap-14, he pitted and retired with a bent control arm on the right rear of the car.

Jeff McMillin qualified fourth at Las Vegas. During the race, he was passed by a number of cars including his chief rival for the title – Bobby Archer. But despite not winning a single event in 2000 McMillin was able to capture the World Challenge GT title. This feat was accomplished through top ten finishes – his best result and only podium of the year was a second at Road Atlanta and his worst a ninth at Laguna Seca.

Bill Cooper in the No. 01 Pirate Racing Chevrolet Corvette leads championship contender Bobby Archer in the Dodge Viper GTS, the Ford Mustang of Boris Said, the RealTime Racing BMW of Peter Cunningham and 2000 series champion Jeff McMillin.

Boris Said qualified fifth and ran with the lead pack during the race until he received a 'stop and go' penalty for passing under the yellow. He ignored the black flag four times before he came into the pits. Despite this setback, which sent him back to twelfth place, he was able to move his Mustang up to fourth at the checkered flag.

David Schardt driving the Hikari Racing Porsche GT3 Cup started eight and was third late in the race. He had a poor start after the full-course caution and was passed by Bill Cooper and Boris Said – Schardt would finish fifth.

Towards the end of the race, Galati held a 12.834-second lead over Terry Borcheller in the No. 52 AASCO Performance Saleen SR. A late race full-course caution to retrieve the Chevrolet Corvette of Peter Polli bunched the field. Second place Borcheller made a great restart and finished just 0.105-seconds behind Galati – the closest margin of victory in the series 11-year history.

The No. 42 BMW M3 of former series champion, Peter Cunningham, started last (forty-fifth position) after a qualifying infraction. By lap-8, Cunningham had moved up to fifteenth place and was fifth by lap-26. At the checkered flag, he was in seventh position.

Although he would have a difficult race at Las Vegas Justin Jackson would earn the 2000 'Rookie of the Year' title at the penultimate round. He qualified fourteenth in his Porsche 993 RSR but after an on- track clash finished in twentieth. Despite his difficulties at Las Vegas Jackson had a good year finishing fifth in the final standings - 36 points clear of the next rookie competitor.

Former series champion Peter Kitchak ran the opening rounds of the series, however, an accident at Sears Point prevented him from returning until the Las Vegas event. He was able to qualify sixteenth and finish tenth in his Porsche GT3 Cup.

The World Challenge GT podium at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In the center is Michael Galati - all smiles – after giving Audi their first World Challenge GT win. To his right is second place finisher Terry Borcheller who would win the 2000 finale at San Diego. And, third is Bill Cooper who finished fourth in the final standings with a season that included two wins.

FINISH	START	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	1	Michael Galati	Audi S4	30	-
2	3	Terry Borcheller	Saleen Mustang SR	30	-
3	6	Bill Cooper	Chevrolet Corvette C5	30	-
4	5	Boris Said	Ford Mustang	30	-
5	8	David Schardt	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	30	-
6	7	Bobby Archer	Dodge Viper GTS	30	-
7	45	Peter Cunningham	BMW M3	30	-
8	4	Jeff McMillin	BMW M3	30	-
9	9	John Heinricy	Chevrolet Corvette C5	30	-
10	16	Peter Kitchack	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	30	-
11	12	Eric Curren	Chevrolet Corvette C5	30	-
12	10	Derek Bell	Audi S4	30	-
13	20	Paul Brown	Saleen Mustang SR	30	-
14	19	Joe Varde	Dodge Viper GTS	30	-
15	13	Frank Allers	Chevrolet Corvette C5	30	-
16	11	Scott Bove	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	30	-
17	18	Reese Cox	Chevrolet Corvette C5	30	-
18	28	Ross Thompson	Chevrolet Corvette C4	30	-
19	15	Phil McClure	Chevrolet Corvette C5	29	-
20	14	Justin Jackson	Porsche 911 RSR	29	-
21	21	Alain Chebeir	BMW Z3 Coupe	29	-
22	38	Michael Judy	Saleen Mustang SR	29	-
23	33	Tom Edwards	Dodge Viper GTS	29	-
24	24	Ken Stinnett	Chevrolet Camaro	29	-
25	24	Rael	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	29	-
26	31	Bob Taylor	Chevrolet Corvette C5	29	-
27	30	John Rutherford IV	Audi S4	29	-
28	23	Thomas Safar II	Saleen Mustang SR	29	-
29	39	Steve Carvajal	Saleen Mustang	28	-
30	41	Dan Tomlin	Dodge Viper GTS	28	-
31	44	Walter Dethier	Ford Mustang	27	-
32	29	Walter Swick	BMW M3	27	-
33	35	John Werner	Chevrolet Corvette C4	26	-
34	37	Rick Knoop	Chevrolet Corvette C5	23	-
35	40	Peter Polli	Chevrolet Corvette	22	-
36	26	G.J. Mennen	Chevrolet Corvette C5	22	-
37	21	Scotty B. White	Chevrolet Corvette C5	21	-
38	32	Jason Ott	Pontiac Firebird	17	-
39	2	Mike Fitzgerald	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup	12	Accident
40	22	Daniel Eastman	Porsche 911 RSR	12	Mechanical
41	43	Carol Hollfelder	Ferrari F355 Challenge	11	Mechanical
42	34	James Sofronas	BMW M3	9	Mechanical
43	27	Mark Anderson	Porsche 928	9	Accident
44	42	Dennis Petersen	Chevrolet Corvette C5	0	Mechanical
45	36	Dan Kellermeyer	Chevrolet Corvette C5	0	DNS

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