2001 CART FedEx Championship Series

File:BryanHerta 2001.jpg

Bryan Herta's #77 Forsythe Reynard at Rockingham Motor Speedway in 2001

The 2001 FedEx Championship Series season was the twenty-third in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 20 of the 22 originally scheduled races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 11 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 4. What would have been the third race in the season, the Firestone Firehawk 600 in Fort Worth, Texas, was canceled after qualifying due to safety concerns. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Gil de Ferran, while the Rookie of the Year was Scott Dixon.

Off the track, the 2001 season was an unmitigated disaster for CART under the leadership of Joseph Heitzler. It included two race cancellations; a disastrous European tour that coincided with the September 11 attacks and witnessed a severe accident to former series champion Alex Zanardi in which he lost both of his legs; infighting amongst engine manufacturers that saw litigation and the announced future departure of Honda and Toyota; the loss of the series' television contract with ABC/ESPN; the departure of longtime tracks Michigan International Speedway and Nazareth Speedway; the loss of Firestone as the series' tire supplier and its replacement by parent company Bridgestone; and the defection of Team Penske to the rival Indy Racing League (IRL) at the conclusion of the season.

Team Penske and Team Motorola joined Chip Ganassi Racing in having concurrent IRL teams to run in the 2001 Indianapolis 500, with Penske's Helio Castroneves winning the race. In an unusual move, CART "sanctioned" the participation of teams in the race; this was an attempt to allow Penske's primary sponsor, Marlboro, to appear on cars in the 500, as they were prohibited from being in more than one racing series by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. This legal maneuver was not successful, and Penske's cars ran without advertising. DaimlerChrysler shut down their CART program as an engine manufacturer via Mercedes-Benz brand as the company decided to move to NASCAR Winston Cup Series via the Dodge brand in the same year.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2001 CART Championship Series season. All cars ran on Firestone Tires.

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Races	Primary Sponsors
Template:Flagicon Team Penske	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	1	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	All	Marlboro 19 Penske Racing 2
			3	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	All
Template:Flagicon Chip Ganassi Racing	Lola B01/00	Toyota RV8E	4	Template:Flagicon Bruno Junqueira  R	All	Target
			12	Template:Flagicon Nicolas Minassian  R	1–7
				Template:Flagicon Memo Gidley	8–21
Template:Flagicon Walker Motorsport	Reynard 01i	Toyota RV8E	5	Template:Flagicon Toranosuke Takagi  R	All	Pioneer 20 Walker Racing 1
Template:Flagicon Newman-Haas Racing	Lola B01/00	Toyota RV8E	6	Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta	All	Texaco-Havoline
			11	Template:Flagicon Christian Fittipaldi	All	Kmart
Template:Flagicon Team Rahal	Lola B01/00	Ford-Cosworth XF	7	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	All	Miller Lite 17 Miller Genuine Draft 4
			8	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	All	Shell
Template:Flagicon Bettenhausen Racing	Lola B01/00	Ford-Cosworth XF	16	Template:Flagicon Michel Jourdain Jr.	All	Herdez
Template:Flagicon PacWest Racing	Reynard 01i	Toyota RV8E	17	Template:Flagicon Maurício Gugelmin	All	Nextel
			18	Template:Flagicon Scott Dixon  R	All	Powerware 19 Nextel 2
Template:Flagicon Patrick Racing	Reynard 01i	Toyota RV8E	19	Template:Flagicon Townsend Bell	16–17	Visteon
			20	Template:Flagicon Roberto Moreno	All
			40	Template:Flagicon Jimmy Vasser	All	OXXO 1 Patrick Racing 4 Visteon 15
Template:Flagicon Dale Coyne Racing	Lola B2K/00	Ford-Cosworth XF	19	Template:Flagicon Michael Krumm	1–2	The Dark Dog
			21	Template:Flagicon Luiz Garcia Jr.	1–2	Embratel
Template:Flagicon Sigma Autosport	Lola B01/00	Ford-Cosworth XF	22	Template:Flagicon Oriol Servià	All	Sigma Autosport
Template:Flagicon Arciero-Blair Racing	Lola B2K/00	Ilmor	25	Template:Flagicon Max Wilson  R	1–4	winnerB2B.com 9 Driving 101 10
		Ford-Cosworth XF			6–11, 13–19
				Template:Flagicon Alex Barron	20–21
Template:Flagicon Team Green	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	26	Template:Flagicon Paul Tracy	All	KOOL 19 Team Green 2
			27	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	All
Template:Flagicon Team Motorola			39	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	All	Motorola
Template:Flagicon Forsythe Racing	Reynard 01i	Ford-Cosworth XF	32	Template:Flagicon Patrick Carpentier	All	Player's 19 Racing Since 1961 2
			33	Template:Flagicon Alex Tagliani	All
			77	Template:Flagicon Bryan Herta	All	Indeck
Template:Flagicon Fernández Racing	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	51	Template:Flagicon Adrián Fernández	All	Tecate
			52	Template:Flagicon Shinji Nakano	All	Avex
Template:Flagicon Mo Nunn Racing	Reynard 01i	Honda HR-1	55	Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan	All	Hollywood Cigarettes 19 No Limits 2
			66	Template:Flagicon Alex Zanardi	1–16	Pioneer 19 Mo Nunn Racing 1
				Template:Flagicon Casey Mears  R	18–21

 Eligible for Rookie of the Year

Season summary

Schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Circuit	City/Location
1	March 11	Template:Flagicon Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey Presented by Herdez	R  Fundidora Park	Monterrey, Mexico
–	March 25	Template:Flagicon Rio 200 (Cancelled)	O  Autódromo de Jacarepaguá	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2	April 8	Template:Flagicon Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	R  Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California
3	April 29	Template:Flagicon Firestone Firehawk 600 Presented by Pioneer (Cancelled)	O  Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
4	May 6	Template:Flagicon Lehigh Valley Grand Prix Presented by Toyota	O  Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania
5	May 19	Template:Flagicon Firestone Firehawk 500	O  Twin Ring Motegi	Motegi, Japan
6	June 3	Template:Flagicon Miller Lite 225	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
7	June 17	Template:Flagicon Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit	R  The Raceway on Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan
8	June 24	Template:Flagicon Freightliner/G. I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco	R  Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
9	July 1	Template:Flagicon Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar	R  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
10	July 15	Template:Flagicon Molson Indy Toronto	R  Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario
11	July 22	Template:Flagicon Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota	O  Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
12	July 29	Template:Flagicon Target Grand Prix of Chicago Presented by Energizer	O  Chicago Motor Speedway	Cicero, Illinois
13	August 12	Template:Flagicon Miller Lite 200	R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
14	August 19	Template:Flagicon Motorola 220	R  Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
15	September 2	Template:Flagicon Molson Indy Vancouver	R  Concord Pacific Place	Vancouver, British Columbia
16	September 15	Template:Flagicon The American Memorial	O  EuroSpeedway Lausitz	Klettwitz, Germany
17	September 22	Template:Flagicon Rockingham 500	O  Rockingham Motor Speedway	Corby, United Kingdom
18	October 7	Template:Flagicon Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston	R  George R. Brown Convention Center	Houston, Texas
19	October 14	Template:Flagicon Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300	R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California
20	October 28	Template:Flagicon Honda Indy 300	R  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia
21	November 4	Template:Flagicon Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota	O  California Speedway	Fontana, California

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road/Street course

• The original calendar called for 22 races on five continents, by far the most ambitious calendar CART had ever attempted. With the race at Texas being canceled and the Rio 200 being dropped, the 2001 season ultimately had the same number of races as the previous year.
• For the first time, CART would race in the United Kingdom and Germany and also return to Mexico for the first time in almost twenty years.
• The original calendar released on August 5, 2000, had the first round of the season at Jacarepaguá in Brazil, but disagreements with the track owners several months later led to the event being dropped.
• The events at Homestead-Miami and Gateway were dropped after negotiations with the owners of the track; rival series Indy Racing League secured the contracts instead, and both tracks were featured in the 2001 Indy Racing League season.
• The removal of Gateway from the calendar meant that Memorial Day weekend would be empty, allowing several teams and drivers the opportunity to compete at the Indianapolis 500.
• The 2001 season was the final time Michigan Speedway appeared on the calendar.

Race results

Rnd	Race Name	Pole position	Fastest lap	Lead most laps	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	Template:Flagicon Monterrey	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta	Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report
2	Template:Flagicon Long Beach	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
3	Template:Flagicon Texas	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Race cancelled				Report
4	Template:Flagicon Nazareth	Template:Flagicon Bruno Junqueira  R	Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Scott Dixon  R	PacWest Racing	Report
5	Template:Flagicon Motegi	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Alex Zanardi	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
6	Template:Flagicon Milwaukee	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
7	Template:Flagicon Belle Isle	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
8	Template:Flagicon Portland	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	Team Rahal	Report
9	Template:Flagicon Cleveland	Template:Flagicon Maurício Gugelmin	Template:Flagicon Roberto Moreno	Template:Flagicon Memo Gidley	Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti	Team Green	Report
10	Template:Flagicon Toronto	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti	Team Motorola	Report
11	Template:Flagicon Michigan	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Patrick Carpentier	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	Template:Flagicon Patrick Carpentier	Forsythe Racing	Report
12	Template:Flagicon Chicago	Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
13	Template:Flagicon Mid-Ohio	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Report
14	Template:Flagicon Road America	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Bruno Junqueira  R	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Bruno Junqueira  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Report
15	Template:Flagicon Vancouver	Template:Flagicon Alex Tagliani	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Alex Tagliani	Template:Flagicon Roberto Moreno	Patrick Racing	Report
16	Template:Flagicon EuroSpeedway	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Team Rahal	Report
17	Template:Flagicon Rockingham	Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck	Template:Flagicon Patrick Carpentier	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Team Penske	Report
18	Template:Flagicon Houston	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Jimmy Vasser	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Team Penske	Report
19	Template:Flagicon Laguna Seca	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves	Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	Team Rahal	Report
20	Template:Flagicon Surfers Paradise	Template:Flagicon Roberto Moreno	Template:Flagicon Jimmy Vasser	Template:Flagicon Roberto Moreno	Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report
21	Template:Flagicon Fontana	Template:Flagicon Alex Tagliani	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	Template:Flagicon Max Papis	Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta	Newman-Haas Racing	Report

Final driver standings

Pos Driver MTY Template:Flagicon LBH Template:Flagicon TMS Template:Flagicon NAZ Template:Flagicon MOT Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon BEL Template:Flagicon POR Template:Flagicon CLE Template:Flagicon TOR Template:Flagicon MIS Template:Flagicon CHI Template:Flagicon MOH Template:Flagicon ROA Template:Flagicon VAN Template:Flagicon LAU Template:Flagicon ROC Template:Flagicon HOU Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon SUR Template:Flagicon FON Template:Flagicon Pts 1 Template:Flagicon Gil de Ferran 2 3 C 23 13 7 6 13 4 14* 24 3 2 5 2 8 1* 1* 3* 4 6 199 2 Template:Flagicon Kenny Bräck1 5 25 C 2* 1 1* 9 11 6 20 17 1 20 14 8 1* 2 7 25 5 26 163 3 Template:Flagicon Michael Andretti 4 28 C 6 23 2 4 8 15 1 19 24 26 2 3 4 5 21 14 2 7 147 4 Template:Flagicon Hélio Castroneves 8 1* C 11 2* 26 1* 17 12 19 8 7* 1* 7* 18 12 4 5 6 20 22 141 5 Template:Flagicon Cristiano da Matta 1* 2 C 10 25 25 7 10 7 15 4 19 10 6 20 26 3 6 20 1 1 140 6 Template:Flagicon Max Papis 12 17 C 24 6 8 11 1* 18 8 16* 13 24 16 22 2 11 9 1 9 2* 107 7 Template:Flagicon Dario Franchitti 9 6 C 8 17 9 2 6 1 24 2 15 16 19 9 25 9 2 19 23 23 105 8 Template:Flagicon Scott Dixon  RY  13 19 C 1 9 3 22 7 20 5 10 4 12 4 13 9 22 18 4 15 17 98 9 Template:Flagicon Tony Kanaan 7 7 C 16 3 6 DNS 24 16 10 21 8 5 12 4 7 8 12 8 17 5 93 10 Template:Flagicon Patrick Carpentier 25 23 C 25 19 17 8 5 26 21 1 2 3 9 16 3 16 10 26 11 10 91 11 Template:Flagicon Alex Tagliani 21 18 C 22 22 12 21 12 9 2 6 6 7 8 23* 21 14 19 15 3 3 80 12 Template:Flagicon Jimmy Vasser 6 5 C 4 5 21 18 16 5 26 23 14 23 21 19 15 7 11 5 6 12 77 13 Template:Flagicon Roberto Moreno 27 11 C 12 10 15 3 2 8 11 12 20 6 11 1 23 13 22 22 22* 19 76 14 Template:Flagicon Paul Tracy 3 4 C 3 18 24 14 21 24 6 7 12 4 26 26 10 6 24 18 14 24 73 15 Template:Flagicon Christian Fittipaldi 20 24 C 5 4 18 5 3 11 12 18 25 8 18 11 19 24 8 9 8 13 70 16 Template:Flagicon Bruno Junqueira  R  22 9 C 7 24 4 19 23 23 13 9 17 13 1 12 11 25 23 7 21 4 68 17 Template:Flagicon Memo Gidley 25 2* 17 14 5 11 20 10 14 18 3 2 10 14 65 18 Template:Flagicon Adrián Fernández 19 16 C 19 16 5 12 19 21 3 25 10 22 3 21 24 23 14 10 19 18 45 19 Template:Flagicon Oriol Servià 14 14 C 9 14 14 16 9 17 23 11 18 9 10 5 5 10 26 17 25 11 42 20 Template:Flagicon Michel Jourdain Jr. 17 13 C 13 11 13 25 15 25 16 3 23 17 17 6 17 19 25 23 7 16 30 21 Template:Flagicon Toranosuke Takagi  R  10 20 C 14 20 DSQ 20 18 14 222 13 11 21 22 7 6 26 4 13 16 15 29 22 Template:Flagicon Bryan Herta 16 10 C 21 21 22 15 14 3 18 5 21 25 24 17 27 15 13 12 18 25 28 23 Template:Flagicon Alex Zanardi 24 26 C 20 7 11 24 26 13 4 20 9 19 13 24 203 24 24 Template:Flagicon Maurício Gugelmin 15 22 Wth 12 10 10 20 10 7 15 22 14 23 15 16 20 20 16 24 20 17 25 Template:Flagicon Max Wilson  R  28 21 C 17 23 23 4 19 25 Wth 15 25 25 18 21 16 24 12 26 Template:Flagicon Shinji Nakano 18 12 C 15 8 16 13 22 22 9 22 16 18 15 14 22 17 15 21 12 21 11 27 Template:Flagicon Nicolas Minassian  R  11 8 C 18 15 19 17 7 28 Template:Flagicon Casey Mears  R  17 11 26 8 7 29 Template:Flagicon Alex Barron 13 9 4 30 Template:Flagicon Townsend Bell  R  13 12 1 31 Template:Flagicon Michael Krumm  R  23 15 0 32 Template:Flagicon Luiz Garcia Jr. 26 27 0 Pos Driver MTY Template:Flagicon LBH Template:Flagicon TMS Template:Flagicon NAZ Template:Flagicon MOT Template:Flagicon MIL Template:Flagicon BEL Template:Flagicon POR Template:Flagicon CLE Template:Flagicon TOR Template:Flagicon MIS Template:Flagicon CHI Template:Flagicon MOH Template:Flagicon ROA Template:Flagicon VAN Template:Flagicon LAU Template:Flagicon ROC Template:Flagicon HOU Template:Flagicon LAG Template:Flagicon SUR Template:Flagicon FON Template:Flagicon Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th–6th place Light Blue 7th–12th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 12) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps  RY  Rookie of the Year  R  Rookie

1. ^ Kenny Bräck also awarded 1 point for his pole position in Fort Worth. The race was canceled after qualifying due to excessively high speeds.
2. ^ Toranosuke Takagi was penalized 2 points for rough driving in Toronto.
3. ^ Alex Zanardi's car was impacted from the side by Alex Tagliani's car at EuroSpeedway Lausitz. He lost both of his lower legs in the impact. This signaled the end of his open-wheel racing career.

Nations' Cup

• Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.

Pos	Country	MTY Template:Flagicon	LBH Template:Flagicon	NAZ Template:Flagicon	MOT Template:Flagicon	MIL Template:Flagicon	BEL Template:Flagicon	POR Template:Flagicon	CLE Template:Flagicon	TOR Template:Flagicon	MIS Template:Flagicon	CHI Template:Flagicon	MOH Template:Flagicon	ROA Template:Flagicon	VAN Template:Flagicon	LAU Template:Flagicon	ROC Template:Flagicon	HOU Template:Flagicon	LAG Template:Flagicon	SUR Template:Flagicon	FON Template:Flagicon	Pts
1	Template:Flagicon Brazil	1	1	5	2	4	1	2	4	7	5	3	1	1	1	7	1	1	3	1	1	341
2	Template:Flagicon United States	4	5	4	5	2	4	8	2	1	4	5	11	2	3	4	5	3	2	2	7	240
3	Template:Flagicon Canada	3	4	3	18	12	8	5	9	2	1	2	3	8	16	3	6	10	15	3	3	187
4	Template:Flagicon Sweden	5	25	2	1	1	9	11	6	20	17	1	20	14	8	1	2	7	25	5	26	163
5	Template:Flagicon Italy	12	17	20	6	8	11	1	18	4	16	9	19	13	22	2	11	9	1	9	2	118
6	Template:Flagicon United Kingdom	9	6	8	17	9	2	6	1	24	2	15	16	19	9	25	9	2	19	23	23	105
7	Template:Flagicon New Zealand	13	19	1	9	3	22	7	20	5	10	4	12	4	13	9	22	18	4	15	17	98
8	Template:Flagicon Mexico	17	13	9	11	5	12	15	21	3	3	10	17	3	6	17	19	14	10	7	16	75
9	Template:Flagicon Japan	10	12	14	8	16	13	18	14	9	13	11	18	15	7	6	17	4	13	12	15	42
10	Template:Flagicon Spain	14	14	9	14	14	16	9	17	23	11	18	9	10	5	5	10	26	17	25	11	42
11	Template:Flagicon France	11	8	18	15	19	17															7
12	Template:Flagicon Germany	23	15																			0
Pos	Country	MTY Template:Flagicon	LBH Template:Flagicon	NAZ Template:Flagicon	MOT Template:Flagicon	MIL Template:Flagicon	BEL Template:Flagicon	POR Template:Flagicon	CLE Template:Flagicon	TOR Template:Flagicon	MIS Template:Flagicon	CHI Template:Flagicon	MOH Template:Flagicon	ROA Template:Flagicon	VAN Template:Flagicon	LAU Template:Flagicon	ROC Template:Flagicon	HOU Template:Flagicon	LAG Template:Flagicon	SUR Template:Flagicon	FON Template:Flagicon	Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

Pos	Chassis	Pts
1	Template:Flagicon Reynard 01i	378
2	Template:Flagicon Lola B1/00 & B2K/00	335
Pos	Chassis	Pts

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

Pos	Engine	Pts
1	Template:Flagicon Honda	342
2	Template:Flagicon Toyota	309
3	Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Ford-Cosworth	297
4	Template:Flagicon Ilmor	0
Pos	Engine	Pts

See also

• 2001 Toyota Atlantic Championship season
• 2001 Indianapolis 500
• 2001 Indy Racing League
• 2001 Indy Lights season