2000 Mosport - Motorola Cup

The 2000 edition of the Motorola Cup consisted of 10-events (Daytona, Sebring, Phoenix International Raceway, Homestead-Miami, Mid-Ohio, Road America, Toronto Exhibition Place, Mosport, Watkins Glen and Virginia International Raceway) for showroom stock cars. With a few exceptions the races were mainly 3-hours in length. The cars were relatively unchanged from their road going versions – modifications were mandated primarily for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also used spec DOT-approved tires produced by Hoosier. Based on performance potential the cars were divided into four groups:

Super Grand Sport: The quickest of all groups, this class was introduced in 2000 for the fastest mass produced vehicles. Cars competing in this group included the Chevrolet Corvette C5, Dodge Viper, Saleen Mustang SR, Porsche 911 Turbo, etc.
Grand Sport: Was an existing class that included cars such as Pontiac Firebird, BMW M3, Acura NSX, Ford Mustang Cobra R, Porsche 993, etc.
Sport Touring: Another new class was the result of combining the former Sport and Touring into one group. Popular vehicles found in this group were the BMW Z3 Coupe, Acura Integra Type R, BMW 328, Lexus GS 400, etc.
C2K: The previous year this category was called Compact but renamed C2K for 2000. It included the Honda Civic Si, Acura Integra GSR, Hyundai Tiburon, Mazda Miata, etc.

Close competitive racing with cars that fans could relate to contributed to the popularity of the series. It also provided an environment for automotive manufacturers to test and showcase their products.

To encourage participation and competition, the prize money was distributed based on class size – more cars competing in a class meant that more money was allocated to that group. The series prize fund was also bolstered by a Contingency Awards Program.

In early August, Mosport hosted the eighth round of the 2000 Motorola Cup. With only two events left and many championships yet to be decided drivers and teams had to balance risk with reward when thinking about their race strategy.

The Porsche 911 Turbo driven by Richard Spenard and Jean-Francois Dumoulin entered the Mosport round with two wins and four podiums in only five races. They added to these statistics with another win but not before they overcame a stop-and-go penalty. The NewTech team was penalized twenty-seconds for having too many men over the wall. Apparently, a member of a TV crew was mistaken for one of the team members.

It is Saturday afternoon and forty-five cars funnel into Mosport’s corner one for round nine of the Motorola Cup Championship. The NewTech Porsche gets the jump on the pole sitting Phoenix American Corvette. Close behind are the series top SGS Corvettes and the point leading Dodge Viper of Amick Racing.

The combination of Howie Liebengood and Andy Lally came on very strong as the 2000 season wrapped up. Heading into Mosport the duo had captured three poles and three wins in the last five races. Driving a BMW 328, they scored another victory at Mosport which padded Liebengood’s championship lead in the Sport Touring class.

Finishing third in the C2K class were Honda Civic Si drivers Bryan Johnson and Pete Halsmer. Johnson was in a season long battle for the Driver’s title with Hyundai Tiburon competitor Mark Craig. Craig and his co-driver Jocelyn Hebert finished fourth at Mosport which allowed Johnson to increase his lead to seventeen points.

For Mike Fitzgerald and Michael Culver, it would be their third second place finish of the season. In 2000, Fitzgerald had a very busy season also competing in the ALMS, Grand Am and World Challenge series. In ALMS, Grand Am and World Challenge GT he was driving a Porsche and was leading the International Porsche Cup standings.

John Kohler and David Brown qualified second in the Grand Sport class. On the first lap, they passed Stu Hayner in the pole sitting Grand Sport Pontiac Firebird and never looked back. The Ford Cobra R drivers led flag-to-flag and finished a lap in front of the second place Grand Sport Chevrolet Camaro of Jocelyn Hebert and Rejean Vincent.

Canadian open wheel racing veterans Gord Cullen and Didier Schraenen shared the No. 8 Hyundai Tiburon. Near the end of the race, Schraenen was within striking distance of C2K class leader Peter Cunningham. But Cunningham in a Honda Civic Si could pull away at will. Cullen and Schraenen would finish second to the winning HART Honda.

The No. 00 HART Honda Civic Si qualified sixth in the C2K category. This car was shared by John Schmitt and, veteran showroom stock endurance racer, Peter Cunningham. The pair moved up the order and were able to take a relatively easy win with Cunningham at the wheel during the final stint.

John Heinricy put Phoenix American Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette on the SGS pole. He shared the driving duties with 1998 Motorola Cup Touring Champion Paolo Dal Cin. The duo was having a strong run when mechanical issues dropped them to a seventh place finish.

The 2000 Manufacturer’s Championship in Grand Sport had been a season-long battle between Ford and Pontiac. Finishing second in this class was the Chevrolet Camaro SS driven by Jocelyn Hebert and Rejean Vincent. Ironically, this result negatively impacted General Motors title aspirations by taking away points from the Pontiac brand.

When the TF Racing Ford Mustang Saleen was withdrawn Terry Borcheller was left without a ride. Chuck Goldsborough was quick to recruit Borcheller and early in the race it was looking good for the No. 9 Lexus GS400 – they set the fastest race lap. Unfortunately, they were forced to retire after 55-laps with mechanical problems.

The father and son team of Sam and Brett Shanaman could only qualify their Pontiac Firebird eleventh in the Grand Sport category. During the race, the title contenders moved up to third in class only one lap behind the Grand Sport victor. This result closed the gap on championship leaders, Wortzman and McCalmont, who finished eighth in class.

The Planet Earth Motorsport Corvette was running third in the closing stages of the race when motor issues forced the team to retire. Benefiting from their misfortune was the No. 50 Team Amick Motorsports Dodge Viper. This allowed Joe Varde and David Amick to finish third overall and in the Super Grand Sport category.

The Team Spartanburg Racing BMW Z3 Coupe co-driven by Ray Shaffer and Jeff Trask finished third in the Sport Touring category. At this point in the season, Trask was third in the standings which could be attributed to the reliability of the car. In fact, Trask had only finished out of the top five twice.

Finishing second the Sport Touring class was the Power Racing Acura Integra Type R. Driving the car were Jason Potter and Michael Keravich. This was Keravich's first podium of the season. Potter already had a finish on the podium at Mid-Ohio with Power Racing.

FN.	ST.	NO.	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS	STATUS
1	2	19	SGS	Dumoulin / Spenard	Porsche 911 Turbo	109	-
2	3	22	SGS	Culver / Fitzgerald	Chevrolet Corvette	109	-
3	4	50	SGS	Amick / Varde	Dodge Viper	109	-
4	7	7	SGS	Lacey / Malowney	Ford Mustang SVT	105	-
5	8	82	SGS	Courtade / Negri	Porsche 993 Super	105	-
6	10	17	GS	Brown / Kohler	Ford Mustang Cobra R	105	-
7	26	89	GS	Vincent / Hebert	Chevrolet Camaro SS	104	-
8	19	84	GS	Shanaman / Shanaman	Pontiac Firebird	104	-
9	11	28	GS	Potter / Sherk	Acura NSX	104	-
10	16	73	GS	Shep / Theetge	Acura NSX	104	-
11	27	49	ST	Liebengood / Lally	BMW 328	103	-
12	15	74	GS	Mountain / Bye	Ford Mustang Cobra R	103	-
13	40	00	C2K	Schmitt / Cunningham	Honda Civic Si	103	-
14	35	8	C2K	Cullen / Schraenen	Hyundai Tiburon	102	-
15	28	24	ST	Keravich / Potter	Acura Integra R	102	-
16	34	69	C2K	Halsmer / Johnson	Honda Civic Si	102	-
17	31	45	GS	Danaher / Baughman	Pontiac Firebird	102	-
18	12	16	GS	McCalmont / Wortzman	Porsche 993	102	-
19	32	6	C2K	Hebert / Craig / Schraenen	Hyundai Tiburon	101	-
20	36	70	ST	Shaffer / Bonneau / Trask	BMW Z3 Coupe	101	-
21	39	41	C2K	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Acura Integra GSR	101	-
22	23	40	GS	Shanaman / Tonelli / Del Vecchio	Pontiac Firebird	101	-
23	38	34	ST	Villamil / Connolly	BMW Z3 Coupe	100	-
24	33	90	ST	Bunting / Piscelli	Lexus GS400	99	-
25	41	60	ST	Pawley / Henderson	Toyota Supra	98	-
26	20	06	SGS	Kreaden / Tandon	Porsche 993 Super	97	-
27	21	64	ST	Van Sicklen / Moser / Endicott	Acura Integra R	97	-
28	25	10	GS	Bourassa / Stewart	Audi S4	97	-
29	42	86	ST	Mandeville / Lorriman	Nissan Maxima	96	-
30	46	67	C2K	Quinette / Kiel	Honda Civic Si	94	-
31	9	32	GS	Weinberg / Hayner / Yarosz	Pontiac Firebird	93	-
32	14	87	GS	Fix / Meindl	Ford Mustang	91	Mechanical
33	43	42	C2K	Heffron / Starita	Acura Integra GSR	91	Accident
34	1	37	SGS	Heinricy / Dal Cin	Chevrolet Corvette	89	Mechanical
35	6	43	SGS	Nonnamaker / Pate	Chevrolet Corvette	80	Engine
36	17	59	GS	Pacione / Goddard	Ford Cobra SVT	64	Mechanical
37	44	0	C2K	Gelinas / Cullen / Craig	Hyundai Tiburon	62	Mechanical
38	24	9	ST	Borcheller / Goldsborough	Lexus GS400	55	Mechanical
39	37	27	C2K	Beede / Fenton	Honda Civic Si	54	Accident
40	13	52	GS	Rehagen / Martin	Ford Mustang Cobra R	45	Accident
41	29	56	ST	Gargiulo / Schwarzott	Acura Integra R	45	Accident
42	45	12	ST	Linder / Colletti	Acura Integra R	22	Off Track
43	5	30	SGS	Conway / Tonelli	Chevrolet Corvette	17	Engine
44	22	39	GS	Bartone / Yarosz	Pontiac Firebird	12	Mechanical
45	30	72	ST	Patch / Trask / Shaffer	BMW Z3 Coupe	10	Accident

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