2001 Indianapolis 500

In the seventh year of the 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.[1]

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. After one year of retirement, two-time winner Arie Luyendyk returned to the cockpit.

After an experimental two-week schedule was used for the Indy 500 from 1998–2000, 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 1998-2000 was also eliminated, essentially replaced by the reinstatement of the second week of May practice.

Due to the MSA, tobacco brand sponsorship was an issue during the month of May. Penske Racing drivers Hélio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran were sponsored by Marlboro full-time in the CART series. The MSA, however, allows brand sponsorship in only one sport per season. To skirt the regulations, CART sanctioned the participation of its teams in the race.[1][2] 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.[3] Rather than repaint the liveries, or add generic logos, the sidepods were simply left blank with the familiar white/red Marlboro paint scheme maintained.

IRL regular Greg Ray led 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.

Tony Stewart led the speed chart for morning practice on pole day, but IRL regular Scott Sharp won the battle for the pole position with a run above 226MPH in the heat of the day. Greg Ray, who had been among the fastest cars all week, qualified second with a run late after waving off earlier in the day while Robby Gordon, driving an Indy-only entry for AJ Foyt Racing, rounded out the front row. The highest of the CART qualifiers was Gil de Ferran (5th). Former Indy 500 winners Arie Luyendyk, Buddy Lazier, Al Unser, Jr., and Eddie Cheever also made the field on pole day. At the end of pole day the field was filled to 27 cars.[4]

On the second day of qualifying, veterans Michael Andretti, Eddie Cheever, and Buzz Calkins withdrew their slow times from pole day and re-qualified safely while rookie Bruno Junqueira was the fastest of the day. At the end of second day qualifying there were 32 cars in the field.[4]

On bump day, Billy Boat was the first car to complete a qualifying attempt, and the field was subsequently filled to 33 cars. Six cars were bumped during the afternoon, and Boat dropped to the bubble spot as of 5:07 p.m. Over the final 53 minutes Boat survived 12 attempts to be bumped from the field. Eight cars waved off, and four were too slow. With 10 seconds to go before the 6 o'clock gun, Memo Gidley was the final driver to make a qualifying attempt. He missed bumping his way into the field by 0.242 seconds.

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 driver ever to complete all 1,100 miles (1,800 km). Feeling that he proved his critics wrong, Stewart called them "idiots."

Steven Tyler

For the pre-race ceremonies, the Speedway invited Steven Tyler of Aerosmith to perform "The Star-Spangled Banner."[6][7] At the time, Aerosmith was kicking off their Just Push Play Tour, and in the days leading up to the race, struck a deal with Heritage Motorsports to sponsor Jeff Ward's car during the race.[6][7] The performance was widely regarded by observers as one of the worst and most controversial renditions of the U.S. national anthem ever.[6][8][9]

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.[10] 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."[6][8][10][11] 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.[6][10][11] Tyler apologized and stated he meant no disrespect. Said Tyler, "I'm very proud to be an American, and live in the home of the brave."[6][8][11]

Speedway president Tony George released a statement the following Tuesday citing "While we are certainly sorry that some were offended, it was neither our intention nor that of Mr. Tyler to be disrespectful. All of us have the utmost respect for the sacrifice our veterans have made for us."[12]

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.[13]

Finish	Start	No	Name	Qual	Rank	C	E	Laps	Led	Status	Entrant
1	11	68	Hélio Castroneves  R	224.142	13	D	O	200	52	Running	Team Penske
2	5	66	Gil de Ferran	224.406	6	D	O	200	27	Running	Team Penske
3	21	39	Michael Andretti	223.441	16	D	O	200	16	Running	Team Green
4	12	44	Jimmy Vasser	223.455	15	G	O	200	0	Running	Chip Ganassi Racing
5	20	50	Bruno Junqueira  R	224.209	11	G	O	200	0	Running	Chip Ganassi Racing
6	7	33	Tony Stewart	224.248	8	G	O	200	13	Running	Chip Ganassi Racing
7	28	14	Eliseo Salazar	223.740	14	D	O	199	0	Running	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
8	30	88	Airton Daré	222.236	25	G	O	199	0	Running	TeamXtreme
9	32	98	Billy Boat	221.528	33	D	O	199	0	Running	CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports
10	33	21	Felipe Giaffone  R	221.879	29	G	O	199	0	Running	Treadway Racing
11	14	10	Robby McGehee	222.607	21	D	O	199	0	Running	Cahill Racing
12	24	12	Buzz Calkins	222.467	24	D	O	198	0	Running	Bradley Motorsports
13	6	5	Arie Luyendyk  W	224.257	7	G	O	198	1	Running	Treadway Racing
14	13	4	Sam Hornish, Jr.	223.333	17	D	O	196	0	Running	Panther Racing
15	9	24	Robbie Buhl	224.213	10	G	I	196	0	Running	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
16	4	28	Mark Dismore	224.964	4	D	O	195	29	Running	Kelley Racing
17	2	2	Greg Ray	225.194	2	D	O	192	40	Running	Team Menard
18	10	91	Buddy Lazier  W	224.190	12	D	O	192	0	Running	Hemelgarn Racing
19	31	16	Cory Witherill  R	221.621	31	G	O	187	0	Running	Indy Regency Racing
20	23	9	Jeret Schroeder	222.785	20	D	O	187	0	Running	PDM Racing
21	3	41	Robby Gordon	224.994	3	D	O	184	22	Running	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
22	17	77	Jaques Lazier	222.145	27	G	O	183	0	Running	Jonathan Byrd/TeamXtreme
23	26	99	Davey Hamilton	221.696	30	D	O	182	0	Engine	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
24	8	35	Jeff Ward	224.222	9	G	O	168	0	Running	Heritage Motorsports
25	27	84	Donnie Beechler	224.449	5	D	O	160	0	Running	A.J. Foyt Enterprises
26	25	51	Eddie Cheever  W	222.152	26	D	I	108	0	Electrical	Team Cheever
27	18	6	Jon Herb  R	222.015	28	D	O	104	0	Accident	Tri-Star Racing
28	29	36	Stéphan Grégoire	222.888	19	G	O	86	0	Oil Leak	Heritage Motorsports
29	22	49	Nicolas Minassian  R	223.006	18	G	O	74	0	Gearbox	Chip Ganassi Racing
30	19	3	Al Unser, Jr.  W	221.615	32	G	O	16	0	Accident	Galles Racing
31	15	15	Sarah Fisher	222.548	22	D	O	7	0	Accident	Walker Racing
32	16	52	Scott Goodyear	222.529	23	D	I	7	0	Accident	Team Cheever
33	1	8	Scott Sharp	226.037	1	D	O	0	0	Accident	Kelley Racing

 W  = Former Indianapolis 500 winner;  R  = Indianapolis 500 rookie

*C Chassis: D=Dallara, G=G-Force

*E Engine: O=Oldsmobile, I=Infiniti