2001 Indianapolis 500

85th running of the Indianapolis 500

The 85th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 27, 2001. Race rookie Hélio Castroneves, a three year veteran of the CART series, led the final 52 laps and won his first of four Indy 500 victories. Team Penske swept 1st 2nd with Gil de Ferran finishing as the runner up. Winning car owner Roger Penske scored his eleventh victory at the Indianapolis 500, and notched his first ever 1 2 finish in the race. It was a redemption from the team's previous attempt at Indy (1995) in which both of his cars failed to qualify. Team Penske did not compete at Indianapolis from 1996 to 2000 due to the ongoing open wheel "Split". The race was sanctioned by the Indy Racing League, and was part of the 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series season. The 2001 race was notable in that several top CART teams returned to Indy for the first time since 1995. IRL based teams excelled in time trials, taking the front row, and the top four starting positions overall. However, the CART based teams swept the top six finishing positions on race day. Former IRL champion Tony Stewart (who was competing full time in NASCAR), returned to Indy after a missing the 2000 race. Stewart raced "Double Duty", becoming the first driver in history to complete all 1,100 miles. He finished 6th at Indy, and 3rd at the Coca Cola 600. The race experienced two rain delays, one lengthy yellow flag around the midway point, and one brief red flag period later in the day. The race, however, was run to its full 500 mile distance. This race marked the final IndyCar start for the previous year's championship runner up, and two time Indy 500 runner up Scott Goodyear. Goodyear suffered an injury in a crash, and retired from racing. He would move to color commentary duties for ESPN the following season.

In the seventh year of the ongoing IRL/CART split, Team Penske and Team Green purchased IRL type machines, and returned to race at Indianapolis. Ganassi, who had returned in 2000, entered as well. For the first time during the open wheel split, the CART series did not schedule any races for the weekend of Indy 500 pole qualifying, nor the race itself, to allow their teams the opportunity to participate at Indy without interference. Because of his move to Formula One for the 2001 season, reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya did not return to defend his title. Montoya would not race in the Indy 500 again until 2014. After one year of retirement, two time Indy winner Arie Luyendyk returned to the cockpit. After an experimental two week schedule was used for the Indy 500 from 1998 to 2000, the Speedway reverted to the more traditional three week schedule for practice, time trials, and the race. Rookie orientation was held April 13–14. Time trials were set at three days, however, instead of the original four. The week long open test held in April from 1998 to 2000 was also eliminated, essentially replaced by the reinstatement of the second week of May practice. Due to the MSA, tobacco brand sponsorship became an issue during the month of May. Team Penske drivers Hélio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran were sponsored by Marlboro full time in the CART. The MSA, however, allowed brand sponsorship in only one sport per season. To skirt the regulations, CART sanctioned the participation of its teams in the race. The Penske cars practiced and qualified with Marlboro logos during the first week of activity. By mid month, however, they were required to remove the logos when the state attorney general's office objected to their use. Rather than repaint the liveries, or add generic logos (such as the familiar Marlboro "barcode" insignia), the sidepods were simply left blank; the familiar white/red Marlboro paint scheme was maintained.

During yellow flag caution periods, the "wave around" rule would now be employed. When the field is one lap away from going back to green flag conditions, all lapped cars behind the pace car that happen to be ahead of the actual race leader would be waved around the pace car, get their lap back, and be permitted to catch up to the tail end of the line of cars. This would continue until the race leader became the first car behind the pace car. Following the precedent set in 2000, the pace car would then drop off the track in turn one, and the race leader would pace the field back to the green flag and the ensuring restart. The new restart rules were an attempt to ensure the leaders would get back to green flag racing without interference from lapped cars. It also created a strategy for lapped cars to earn one lap back (ostensibly by not pitting under a caution flag while all of the leader do), since Indy car racing had never allowed "racing back to the caution", nor did they want to implement a hard rule like the "Lucky Dog" in NASCAR.

IRL regular Greg Ray led the practice speeds for four of the first six days. Casey Mears, Eliseo Salazar, and Stan Wattles suffered crashes during the week. On Fast Friday, Indy 500 rookie Hélio Castroneves brushed the wall in turn one, but continued. The car suffered minor damage. Later that evening, Castroneves joked around with track workers, and helped them repaint the retaining wall which he had hit.

During the morning practice session, Tony Stewart turned the fastest practice lap of the month at 226.996 mph. However, the session was later halted when Eliseo Salazar blew an engine and crashed in turn one. IRL regular Scott Sharp won the pole position with a four lap average of 226.037 mph. Greg Ray, who had been among the fastest cars all week, waved off during his first attempt qualified, then returned later in the day to qualify second. Robby Gordon, driving an Indy only entry for A. J. Foyt Racing, rounded out the front row. The highest of the CART regulars was Gil de Ferran, who qualified 5th. Former Indy 500 winners Arie Luyendyk, Buddy Lazier, Al Unser Jr., and Eddie Cheever also made the field. At the end of the day, the field was filled to 27 cars.

On the second day of qualifying, veterans Michael Andretti, Eddie Cheever, and Buzz Calkins withdrew their slow times from Saturday and re qualified with better speeds. Rookie Bruno Junqueira was the fastest of the afternoon. At the end of the first weekend of qualifying, the field was filled to 32 cars in the field.

Tony Stewart attempted the Indy/Charlotte "Double Duty" for the second time in his racing career. Criticized by members of the media as being overweight and unfit for the grueling task, Stewart undertook a month long fitness and dietary program with a personal trainer. Stewart, still driving the #20 The Home Depot sponsored Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, signed with Chip Ganassi Racing, part of a four driver effort at Indy. Stewart qualified in 7th at Indy and 12th at Charlotte. Due to the new television package on Fox, the start of the Coca Cola 600 was moved up. A strict schedule was put into place, and regardless if the race was not over at Indy, Stewart was allegedly required to get out of the car at 4:00 p. m. to fly to Charlotte on time. During a 17 minute red flag, he had to visit first aid for a cramping leg. Relief driver Richie Hearn almost took over, but Stewart got back in the car. The race was eventually resumed, and Stewart continued. The race was completed, and he finished 6th, on the lead lap. Immediately he flew to Lowe's Motor Speedway, and made the start of the race on time. He was moved to the back of the pack during the pace lap for missing the drivers' meeting. On the second lap, Stewart spun while running last, in an incident he claimed was unrelated to fatigue. As the race wore on, he steadily climbed the standings, and finished 3rd on the lead lap. He became the first and still only driver ever to complete all 1100 mile (1770 km). Feeling that he proved his critics wrong, Stewart called them "idiots".

For the pre race ceremonies, the Speedway invited Steven Tyler of Aerosmith to perform "The Star Spangled Banner". The performance was widely regarded by observers as one of the worst and most controversial renditions of the U. S. national anthem ever. The national anthem performer at the Indianapolis 500 is normally backed up by the Purdue All American Marching Band; however, the band was only allowed to play the opening chorus. Tyler began the song with a harmonica solo, then tossed the instrument into the crowd. He finished the song a cappella. Tyler took artistic license to the extreme, and altered the last line of the song from " the home of the brave" to " the home of the Indianapolis 500." The crowd, television and radio commentators, along with military Medal of Honor recipients in attendance due to the Memorial Day holiday, had a largely negative response to the performance. The harmonica Tyler threw into the crowd was reported to be retrieved by Purdue band member David Hornthal. On the February 20, 2012 episode of Pawn Stars, a harmonica purported to be the one Tyler threw into the crowd was presented, but did not sell.