Home » Sports » Indy Racing League » Lazier Wins Northern Light Cup

Lazier Wins Northern Light Cup

© Seth Ronald Eichhorn

The Indy Northern Light Racing Series season 2000 came to a close this weekend, as Scott Goodyear won the Excite 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. For Goodyear, this race was the one bright light during his season, as he failed to capture a victory until the final race of the year. Goodyear, who was driving his final race for Panther Racing, passed Eddie Cheever, Jr. on turn three of the final lap to win the race. The margin of victory, one of the narrowest in recent history, was a mere .140 seconds. In an interesting note, Goodyear has a standing offer from Cheever to drive for him next season. Next year, Goodyear will be replaced by Sam Hornish, Jr. in the Pennzoil Panther Racing entry.

Third place finisher, Billy Boat was only 245 of a second behind the winner and Buddy Lazier was fourth, only .701 behind the winner. That finish gave Lazier the Northern Light cup for being the season's champion and a bonus check of One Million Dollars. Lazier finished the season just eighteen points ahead of Goodyear in the points race. Rounding out the top five was, Eliseo Salazar.

It was a disappointing day for Pole Sitter Greg Ray, who was forced to drop out after only 18 laps due to electrical problems. For Ray it was his 5th Pole of the season, putting him one ahead of the record held by Billy Boat.

Rookie driver Zak Morioka broke a string of 401 consecutive laps at Texas Motor Speedway without an accident when he hit the wall on lap 188. For a track that began with a reputation for safety concerns by the drivers, the Texas facility has become one of the safest on the IRL circuit. Speaking of rookies, the Rookie of the Year title went to Airton Dare' who finished twelfth in the race.

Now that the IRL season has come to a close, this column will be bringing you the latest press releases from the Indy Northern Light Racing Series, profiles of teams and drivers, and other information designed to set the scene for the thirteen race 2001 season which begins March 18, 2001, at the Phoenix International Raceway. With major changes in teams and drivers coming up, the new expanded season looks to be every bit as exciting as the 2000 season was, and should be a real fan pleaser. With new tracks, IRL racing will have a different look and is already generating excitement.

The copyright of the article Lazier Wins Northern Light Cup in Indy Racing League is owned by Seth Ronald Eichhorn. Permission to republish Lazier Wins Northern Light Cup in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.