2001 Miller Lite 200
The 2001 Miller Lite 200 was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on August 12, 2001 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, USA. It was the 13th round of the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series season. Team Penske dominated the event, with Gil de Ferran taking pole position and Hélio Castroneves finishing ahead of de Ferran in the race itself. Patrick Carpentier finished 3rd.
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Race 13 of 21 in the 2001 CART season | |
 | |
| Date | August 12, 2001 |
| Official name | 2001 Miller Lite 200 |
| Location | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, United States |
| Course | Road course 2.258 mi / 3.634 km |
| Distance | 83 laps 187.414 mi / 301.613 km |
| Pole position | |
| Driver |  Gil de Ferran (Team Penske) |
| Time | 1:05.442 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
| Time | 1:07.669 (on lap 51 of 83) |
| Podium | |
| First | Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
| Second | Gil de Ferran (Team Penske) |
| Third | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Patrick Carpentier (Forsythe Racing) |
Castroneves had earned his third win of the season and the last of his CART career by taking advantage of a faster pitstop during the first half of the race and staying ahead the rest of the way. Castroneves was now within one point of championship leader Kenny Bräck, who collided with his teammate in the race and ended up three laps down in 20th place. de Ferran was also continuing a streak of high points-paying positions, and his podium at the race put him 3rd overall. Carpentier scored his third consecutive podium and continued a run of good results for Forsythe Racing.
The race hinged on pitstops and fuel strategy, as many drivers gambled on off-schedule stops to try and make up positions on a track that was notoriously difficult to pass on. Nevertheless, it was Team Penske's conventional strategy that allowed both drivers to finish 1-2.
Qualifying
| August 11, 2001 - Qualifying Speeds | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Driver | Time | Leader | Speed (mph) | Team |
| 1 | Gil de Ferran |
1:05.442 | — | 124.214 | Team Penske |
| 2 | Hélio Castroneves |
1:05.877 | +0.435 | 123.394 | Team Penske |
| 3 | Patrick Carpentier |
1:05.905 | +0.463 | 123.341 | Forsythe Racing |
| 4 |  Jimmy Vasser |
1:05.931 | +0.489 | 123.293 | Patrick Racing |
| 5 |  Dario Franchitti |
1:06.012 | +0.570 | 123.141 | Team Green |
| 6 | Alex Tagliani |
1:06.093 | +0.651 | 122.990 | Forsythe Racing |
| 7 | Tony Kanaan |
1:06.196 | +0.754 | 122.799 | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 8 | Paul Tracy |
1:06.361 | +0.919 | 122.494 | Team Green |
| 9 | Christian Fittipaldi |
1:06.364 | +0.922 | 122.488 | Newman-Haas Racing |
| 10 | Bruno Junqueira (R) |
1:06.395 | +0.953 | 122.431 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 11 | Cristiano da Matta |
1:06.469 | +1.027 | 122.295 | Newman-Haas Racing |
| 12 |  Scott Dixon (R) |
1:06.480 | +1.038 | 122.274 | PacWest Racing |
| 13 |  Kenny Bräck |
1:06.494 | +1.052 | 122.249 | Team Rahal |
| 14 | Bryan Herta |
1:06.510 | +1.068 | 122.219 | Forsythe Racing |
| 15 | Roberto Moreno |
1:06.550 | +1.108 | 122.146 | Patrick Racing |
| 16 |  Adrian Fernández |
1:06.649 | +1.207 | 121.964 | Fernandez Racing |
| 17 | Memo Gidley |
1:06.776 | +1.334 | 121.732 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 18 | Michael Andretti |
1:06.806 | +1.364 | 121.678 | Team Motorola |
| 19 |  Max Papis |
1:06.939 | +1.497 | 121.436 | Team Rahal |
| 20 | Alex Zanardi |
1:07.068 | +1.626 | 121.202 | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 21 | Maurício Gugelmin |
1:07.105 | +1.664 | 121.134 | PacWest Racing |
| 22 |  Tora Takagi (R) |
1:07.168 | +1.726 | 121.022 | Walker Motorsport |
| 23 | Shinji Nakano |
1:07.235 | +1.793 | 120.901 | Fernandez Racing |
| 24 | Max Wilson (R) |
1:07.508 | +2.066 | 120.412 | Arciero Racing |
| 25 | Michel Jourdain, Jr. |
1:07.678 | +2.236 | 120.110 | Bettenhausen Racing |
| 26 |  Oriol Servià |
1:08.364 | +2.922 | 120.110 | Sigma Autosport |
Source:[1] | |||||
Race
- Notes
Race statistics
- Lead changes: 3 among 3 drivers
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Standings after the race
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References
- "2001 Miller Lite 200 Qualifying Results". Championship Auto Racing Teams. August 11, 2001. Archived from the original on July 2, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- "2001 Miller Lite 200 Race Results". Championship Auto Racing Teams. August 12, 2001. Archived from the original on May 4, 2003. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- Championship Auto Racing Teams (March 2001). "CART FedEx Championship Series - 2001 Rule Book". Archived from the original on 2016-05-28. Retrieved 2017-05-22.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- "2001 Miller Lite 200". Racing-Reference.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- "2001 Miller Lite 200 Sunday Press Notes". Championship Auto Racing Teams. August 12, 2001. Archived from the original on March 25, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
- "Toyota Elkhart Lake Preview". Championship Auto Racing Teams. August 14, 2001. Archived from the original on March 25, 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
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CART Indycar World Series 2001 season |
Next race: 2001 Motorola 220 |
| Previous race: 2000 Miller Lite 200 |
Miller Lite 200 | Next race: 2002 CART Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio |