2000 Watkins Glen - 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 and Porsche 993.
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 and Lexus GS 400.
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 and Mazda Miata.

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.

The penultimate round of the 2000 Motorola Cup season took place at Watkins Glen. It was a support event to the new Grand Am series and shared the weekend with US Formula 3, Formula 2000 and the American City Racing League series.

Joe Varde and David Amick had some problems at the 'Inner Loop' during practice but it was a different story for the race. The duo won the event driving the No. 50 Viper. Varde also finished first in the Super Grand Sport Driver's Championship with Amick a close second.

Bob Endicott and Mike Van Sicklen had a spectacular race. The pair not only won the Sport Touring class but also beat the quicker Grand Sport entries. The Acura Integra Type R drivers finished one lap in front of the second place Sport Touring team of Andy Lally and Howie Liebengood.

On lap-46, the No. 9 Lexus GS400 lost control at the entrance of 'The Boot' and clipped the tire wall, which caused the car to roll and land on its roof. Fortunately, no other competitors were involved in the incident.

The Honda of America Race Team entered the Watkins Glen weekend with a good chance of clinching the C2K Manufacturer’s Championship for Honda. As long as they could finish ahead of the Hyundai Tiburon team, they would secure the title. The No. 00 driven by John Schmitt and Michael Galati achieved this goal by leading a Honda sweep of the podium.

Heading into the Watkins Glen event, the Shanaman’s were in contention for the Driver’s and Manufacturer’s Championships. They were tied for wins with the Mical Motorsports Porsche which were their rivals for the Driver’s crown and were in a fierce battle with Ford for the Manufacturer’s title. At Watkins Glen the No. 40 car took the Grand Sport win.

The Watkins Glen weekend was a bright spot for the Phoenix American Motorsports team after a season of bad luck. Co-drivers John Heinricy and Stu Hayner started at the back of the grid but were making good progress midway through the race when they encountered wheel issues. With the problem solved Heinricy charged back to finish just 3-seconds behind the winning Viper.

Leading the Sport Touring class Driver’s standings was Howie Liebengood. At Watkins Glen, he shared the driving duties with open wheel racer Andy Lally. The pair finished second in class at the Glen – their record in the last five races was five podiums and three wins.

The Grand Sport Mical Motorsports Porsche 911 driven by Al Wortzman and Mike McCalmont finished second. Their main rival for the Driver’s title, Brett Shanaman won but they left Watkins Glen with a 17-point advantage. The pair would only need an eleventh place finish in the final round at Virginia International Raceway to win the championship.

During the 2000 season, the TF Racing team struggled with the reliability of the Ford Mustang Saleen SR. The cars often qualified well - at Watkins Glen the No. 44 of Terry Borcheller and Michael DeFontes started second. The car completed the race without mechanical difficulties and finished third in Super Grand Sport.

The No. 69 HART Honda Civic Si was piloted by Peter Halsmer and Bryan Johnson. This pair qualified second in the C2K class and finished behind their teammates in the race. These results were enough for Johnson to secure the Driver’s Championship in his first year of professional racing.

The Mariusz Kowalski and Toto Lassally Acura Integra GSR slides through the 'Heel of the Boot'. The pair continued and finished sixth in the C2K class and thirty-sixth overall.

Wayne and Will Nonnamaker took delivery of the first of their two Acuras just 4-weeks before the season opener at Daytona. The 2000 season was spent developing these cars. After some banging and bumping at Watkins Glen the brothers drove their Acura Integra GSR to a fifth place finish in C2K.

Pontiac and Ford were tied with 87-points for the Grand Sport Manufacturer’s Championship. The No. 17 Mustang of David Brown and John Kohler was the highest finishing Ford in fourth place. This allowed Pontiac to take a 5-point lead in the title chase.

The Phoenix American Motorsport Pontiac Firebird captured the pole position in Grand Sport. Stu Hayner and Mike Weinberg drove the car. They finished fifth in class and fourteenth overall at Watkins Glen.

Doug Goad and Devon Powell qualified third in the Super Grand Sport category. However, the Chevrolet Corvette duo encountered problems during the race and finished forty-eighth overall and twelfth in class.

FN.	NO.	CL	DRIVER	LAPS	CARS
1	50	SGS	D. Amick/Varde	66	Dodge Viper
2	37	SGS	Heinricy/Hayner	66	Chevrolet Corvette
3	44	SGS	DeFontes/Borcheller	66	Ford Saleen SR
4	19	SGS	Spenard/ Dumoulin	66	Porsche 911 Turbo
5	22	SGS	Culver/Fitzgerald	66	Chevrolet Corvette
6	53	SGS	L. Amick/Parker Jr	66	Dodge Viper
7	65	SGS	Schultheis/Gilbert	66	Porsche 993 Supercup
8	43	SGS	Nonnamaker/Pate	65	Chevrolet Corvette
9	64	ST	Van Sicklen/Endicott	65	Acura Integra Type R
10	40	GS	Argetsinger/B Shanaman	65	Pontiac Firebird
11	16	GS	Wortzman/McCalmont	65	Porsche 993
12	13	GS	Black/Danaher	65	Pontiac Firebird
13	17	GS	Brown/Kohler	65	Ford Mustang Cobra R
14	32	GS	Weinberg/Hayner	65	Pontiac Firebird
15	46	GS	Sachs/Snipes	65	Ford Mustang Cobra R
16	49	ST	Liebengood/Lally	64	BMW 328
17	72	ST	Trask/Patch	64	BMW Z3 Coupe
18	39	GS	Kahn/Yarosz/Stewart	64	Pontiac Firebird
19	56	ST	Gargiulo/Schwartzott	64	Acura Integra Type R
20	76	GS	Lynch Jr/G. Thompson	64	Mazda RX-7 Turbo
21	84	GS	S Shanaman/Hall	64	Pontiac Firebird
22	33	GS	Bartone/Lester	64	Pontiac Firebird
23	00	C2K	Schmitt/Galati	64	Honda Civic Si
24	69	C2K	Halsmer/Johnson	64	Honda Civic Si
25	34	ST	Villamil/Connolly	64	BMW Z3 Coupe
26	82	SGS	Negri/Clark	64	Porsche 993 Supercup
27	70	ST	Robertson/Pfeifer	63	BMW Z3 Coupe
28	60	ST	Pawley/Henderson	63	Toyota Supra
29	27	C2K	Fenton/Beede	63	Honda Civic Si
30	95	C2K	Himes/Moorcones	63	Mazda Miata
31	06	SGS	Wilton/Courtade	63	Porsche 993
32	41	C2K	Wa Nonnamaker/Wi Nonnamaker	63	Acura GSR
33***	74	GS	Houk/Mountain	64	Ford Mustang Cobra R
34	45	GS	Baughman/Mitchell II	63	Pontiac Firebird
35	87	GS	Meindl/Fix II	63	Ford Mustang
36	21	C2K	Kowalski/Lassally	63	Acura Integra GSR
37	185	ST	Ellinger/Baker	63	Mercedes Benz
38	90	ST	Piscelli/Bunting	62	Lexus GS400
39	75	GS	Schuler/Duke	62	Ford Mustang Cobra R
40	05	ST	Lowman/Zarcadoolas	62	Porsche 944 S2
41	51	C2K	Baglier/Luffy	62	Mazda MX6
42	67	C2K	J Kiel/Quinette	62	Honda Civic Si
43	20	SGS	Hornkohl/McAndrew	61	Dodge Viper
44	186	ST	Merril/Arzola	61	Mercedes Benz
45	29	C2K	Speakman/Johnson	60	Nissan 240 SX
46	35	GS	Ziegelman/Lima/Masessa	59	Pontiac Firebird
47	61	GS	McQuiston/Bakes	58	Audi S4
48	11	SGS	Powell/Goad	57	Chevrolet Corvette
49	42	C2K	Starita/Heffron	57	Acura GSR
50	62	GS	Peter/Kopperl	54	Pontiac Firebird
51	48	C2K	Magner/Del Vecchio	51	Chev Cavalier Z24
52	79	GS	J Seafuse/B Seafuse	49	Ford Mustang Cobra R
53	66	GS	Cole/Richards	46	Mazda RX-7
54	9	ST	Goldsborough/Fairbanks	46	Lexus GS400
55	24	ST	Potter/Keravich III	42	Acura Integra R
56	63	ST	R Moser/J Moser	42	Acura Integra R
57	6	C2K	Hebert/Cullen	41	Hyundai Tiburon
58	12	ST	Linder	35	Acura Integra Type R
59	8	C2K	McCullough/Cullen	33	Hyundai Tiburon
60	57	ST	Winchester/Thornley	26	Acura Integra Type R
61	73	GS	Shep/Theetge	24	Acura NSX
62	93	GS	Lacourte/Heggs	10	Chevrolet Camaro
63	10	GS	Bourassa/Stewart	9	Audi S4
64	03	ST	Bleustein/Gabel	1	Porsche 944 S2
65	55	GS	Joseph/Elias/ Gilbert	0	Ford Mustang Cobra R

*** Car #74 (Grand Sport) Penalized 1-lap by Chief Steward for passing the pace car under yellow.

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