2001 Indy Racing League

2001 Indy Racing League season

Indy Racing Northern Light Series
Season
Races	13
Start date	March 18
End date	October 6
Awards
Drivers' champion	Sam Hornish, Jr.
Indianapolis 500 winner	Hélio Castroneves
Chronology
Previous season	Next season
2000	2002

The 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series saw the addition of five races and loss of one to bring the total to 13. Chip Ganassi Racing returned to the Indy 500 with four cars and were joined on the grid by Penske Racing and Team Kool Green. Many other CART teams made clear their intention to enter the IRL given their series' financial difficulties. Sam Hornish, Jr. won 3 races on his way to the championship while the less consistent Buddy Lazier won four races on his way to second place in his title defense.

Race summaries

Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200

This race was held March 18 at Phoenix International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami

This race was held April 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jeff Ward won the pole.

Top ten results

zMax 500

This race was held April 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

85th Indianapolis 500

The Indy 500 was held May 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Scott Sharp sat on pole.

Top ten results

Casino Magic 500

This race was held June 9 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mark Dismore won the pole. The race was marred by a severe crash involving Davey Hamilton, who lost control after Jeret Schroeder blew an engine, and Hamilton drove in the oil. Hamilton then crashed hard into the turn 2 wall, causing serious injuries to both legs and feet. The crash effectively ended Hamilton's full-time racing career.

Top ten results

Radisson Indy 200

This race was held June 17 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

SunTrust Indy Challenge

This race was held June 30 at Richmond International Raceway. Jaques Lazier won the pole.

Top ten results

Ameristar Casino Indy 200

This race was held July 8 at Kansas Speedway. Scott Sharp won the pole.

Top ten results

Harrah's 200

This race was held July 21 at Nashville Superspeedway. Greg Ray won the pole.

Top ten results

Belterra Resort Indy 300

This race was held August 12 at Kentucky Speedway. Scott Sharp won the pole.

Top ten results

Gateway Indy 250

This race was held August 26 at Gateway International Raceway. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the pole.

Top ten results

Delphi Indy 300

This race was held September 2 at Chicagoland Speedway. Jaques Lazier won the pole.

Top ten results

Chevy 500

This race was held October 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the pole.

Top ten results

Season Summary

Race results

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most Laps Led	Winner
1	March 18	Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	Greg Ray	Billy Boat	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.
2	April 8	Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida	Jeff Ward	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.
3	April 29	zMax 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway	Hampton, Georgia	Greg Ray	Greg Ray	Greg Ray	Greg Ray
4	May 27	85th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Scott Sharp	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves
5	June 9	Casino Magic 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Mark Dismore	Eddie Cheever	Greg Ray	Scott Sharp
6	June 17	Radisson Indy 200	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado	Greg Ray	Billy Boat	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Buddy Lazier
7	June 30	SunTrust Indy Challenge	Richmond International Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	Jaques Lazier	Buddy Lazier	Buddy Lazier	Buddy Lazier
8	July 8	Ameristar Casino Indy 200	Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, Kansas	Scott Sharp	Mark Dismore	Eddie Cheever	Eddie Cheever
9	July 21	Harrah's 200	Nashville Superspeedway	Lebanon, Tennessee	Greg Ray	Buddy Lazier	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Buddy Lazier
10	August 12	Belterra Resort Indy 300	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, Kentucky	Scott Sharp	Mark Dismore	Scott Sharp	Buddy Lazier
11	August 26	Gateway Indy 250	Gateway International Raceway	Madison, Illinois	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Robbie Buhl	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Al Unser, Jr.
12	September 2	Delphi Indy 200	Chicagoland Speedway	Joliet, Illinois	Jaques Lazier	Robbie Buhl	Jaques Lazier	Jaques Lazier
13	October 6	Chevy 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Felipe Giaffone	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.

Note: All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Final points standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems

Pos	Driver	PHX	HOM	ATL	INDY	TXS	PIK	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TXS	Pts
1	Sam Hornish, Jr.	1*	1*	4	14	3	2*	2	2	6*	3	3*	2	1*	503
2	Buddy Lazier	3	20	6	18	4	1	1*	5	1	1	13	11	17	398
3	Scott Sharp	4	8	2	33	1	8	5	17	5	2*	8	25	2	355
4	Billy Boat	5	13	14	9	5	4	18	9	2	6	6	12	12	313
5	Eliseo Salazar	2	3	5	7	7	14	12	7	11	15	17	18	4	308
6	Felipe Giaffone	6	4	10	10	2	7	11	4	8	8	20	10	21	304
7	Al Unser, Jr.	23	6	17	30	8	11	3	20	14	4	1	8	6	287
8	Eddie Cheever	19	9	24	26	12	6	13	1*	15	21	4	3	18	261
9	Buzz Calkins	9	16	3	12	15	15	10	13	9	16	22	9	10	242
10	Airton Daré	10	23	9	8	19	5	15	6	17	20	9	19	7	239
11	Jeff Ward	7	5	7	24	16	12	8	Wth	20	10	7	4	24	238
12	Robbie Buhl	11	24	20	15	21	3	9	21	13	9	5	22	3	237
13	Shigeaki Hattori	13	15	8	DNQ	10	DNS	14	8	7	7	15	21	16	215
14	Mark Dismore	25	7	26	16	20	13	6	11	16	22	2	17	23	205
15	Donnie Beechler				25	6	16	7	3	10	5	14	5		204
16	Robby McGehee	8	12	21	11	14			10	4	18	10	20	14	196
17	Jaques Lazier				22	9	17	19	18	3	12	16	1*	20	195
18	Greg Ray	22	21	1*	17	11*	18	DNS	14	18	13			8	193
19	Sarah Fisher	17	2	11	31	18	10	17	12	19	19	11	24	25	188
20	Didier André	27	10	13	DNQ	17	19	4	16	21	11	12	13	15	188
21	Billy Roe					13	20	20	22	12	14	23	23	22	101
22	Jeret Schroeder	26	14	19	20	23		16	15						77
23	Jon Herb		25	16	27	DNS			19				15	9	70
24	Hélio Castroneves	18			1*										64
25	Rick Treadway				17		14							5	59
26	Davey Hamilton	12	19	18	23	24									54
27	Richie Hearn				DNQ		9						6		50
28	Gil de Ferran	24			2										46
29	Laurent Rédon												7	11	45
30	Brandon Erwin	14	17	27	DNQ	22									40
31	Casey Mears	20	11	23	DNQ										36
32	Stan Wattles	16	26	12	DNQ										36
33	Chris Menninga											19	16	19	36
34	Michael Andretti				3										35
35	Stéphane Grégoire	21	22	15	28	DNQ									34
36	Jimmy Vasser				4										32
37	Bruno Junqueira				5										30
38	Anthony Lazzaro											18		13	29
39	Tony Stewart				6										28
40	Cory Witherill			22	19										19
41	Arie Luyendyk				13										17
42	Tyce Carlson	15			DNQ										15
43	John Hollansworth, Jr.		18												12
44	Alex Barron											21			9
45	Robby Gordon				21										9
46	Dr. Jack Miller			25	DNQ										5
47	Nicolas Minassian				29										1
48	Scott Goodyear				32										1
-	Raul Boesel				DNQ										0
-	Memo Gidley				DNQ										0
-	Roberto Guerrero				DNQ										0
-	Jim Guthrie				DNQ										0
-	Jimmy Kite				DNQ										0
-	Steve Knapp				DNQ										0
-	John Paul, Jr.				DNQ										0
-	Lyn St. James				DNQ										0
-	Johnny Unser				DNP										0
-	Johnny Herbert													DNP	0
Pos	Driver	PHX	HOM	ATL	INDY	TXS	PIK	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TXS	Pts

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place
Light Blue	6th-10th place
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps (2 points)
DNS	Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns all the points had they taken part.
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.

American Championship car racing (IndyCar) seasons

AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955

NASCAR	1952 1953

USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95

CART / CCWS	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~

INDYCAR	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Years marked in italics are not official championship years.

IndyCar Series

Seasons

Indianapolis 500

Champions

Tracks

Ovals	Gateway Indianapolis Iowa Phoenix Pocono Texas

Road courses	Barber Indianapolis Mid-Ohio Road America Sonoma Watkins Glen

Street circuits	Detroit Long Beach St. Petersburg Toronto

Former	Atlanta Baltimore Charlotte Chicagoland Dover Edmonton Fontana Homestead Houston Kansas Kentucky Las Vegas Louisiana Michigan Milwaukee Motegi Nashville Nazareth New Hampshire Pikes Peak Richmond São Paulo Surfers Paradise (exhibition) Walt Disney World

Cancelled	Boston Brasília Qingdao

Road to Indy

History of IndyCar racing • All-time winners • Races • Drivers • Teams

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2001 Indy Racing League

Race summaries

Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200

Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami

zMax 500

85th Indianapolis 500

Casino Magic 500

Radisson Indy 200

SunTrust Indy Challenge

Ameristar Casino Indy 200

Harrah's 200

Belterra Resort Indy 300

Gateway Indy 250

Delphi Indy 300

Chevy 500

Season Summary

Race results

Final points standings

See also