Login
Login

2001 Target Grand Prix of Chicago

{{more citations needed|date=July 2019}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{coord|41|49|50|N|87|44|55|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=title}}

{{American Championshp Car race report infobox

|Country = United States

|Race = Target Grand Prix

|Image = Chicago Motor Speedway.svg

|Caption =

|Date = July 29

|Year = 2001

|Series = CART

|Official name = 2001 Target Grand Prix Presented by Energizer

|Race_No = 12

|Season_No = 21

|Location = Chicago Motor Speedway, Cicero, Illinois, United States

|Course = Oval

|Course_mi = 1.029

|Course_km = 1.656

|Distance_laps = 225

|Distance_mi = 231.525

|Distance_km = 372.6

|Weather =

|Pole_Driver = {{flagicon|Brazil}} Tony Kanaan

|Pole_Team = Mo Nunn Racing

|Pole_Time = 23.145

|Pole_Country = Brazil

|Fast_Driver = {{flagicon|Sweden}} Kenny Bräck

|Fast_Team = Team Rahal

|Fast_Time = 24.687

|Fast_Lap = 164

|Fast_Country = Sweden

|First_Driver = {{flagicon|Sweden}} Kenny Bräck

|First_Team = Team Rahal

|First_Country = Sweden

|Second_Driver = {{flagicon|Canada}} Patrick Carpentier

|Second_Team = Forsythe Racing

|Second_Country = Canada

|Third_Driver = {{flagicon|Brazil}} Gil de Ferran

|Third_Team = Team Penske

|Third_Country = Brazil

}}

The 2001 Target Grand Prix, known informally as the 2001 Grand Prix of Chicago, was a Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) motor race held on July 29, 2001 at Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Illinois, USA. It was the 12th round of the 2001 CART FedEx Championship Series season. Kenny Bräck won his third race of the season and of his CART career for Team Rahal ahead of Patrick Carpentier and Gil de Ferran.

Bräck's quick pace allowed him to make up ground in the second half of the race and ultimately win the race itself, further distancing himself from second place Hélio Castroneves in the drivers' standings. Carpentier and Forsythe Racing were in the middle of a powerful surge in form, with teammates earning podiums at Cleveland and Toronto and Carpentier taking his first career win just a week earlier at the Michigan 500. de Ferran was also beginning an improvement in form and consistency that would make him a championship contender at the end of the season.

The race saw much clean on-track action and multiple lead changes, something that was not common for open-wheel cars on oval tracks. Only three cars retired from the race, and only one was a result of contact with the barriers.

Qualifying

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
colspan=6|July 28, 2001 - Qualifying Speeds
RankDriverTimeLeaderSpeed (mph)Team
1

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Tony Kanaan

|23.145

|—

|160.052

|Mo Nunn Racing

2

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Hélio Castroneves

|23.148

| +0.003

|160.031

|Team Penske

3

|{{flagicon|Mexico}} Adrian Fernández

|23.203

| +0.058

|159.652

|Fernandez Racing

4

|{{flagicon|USA}} Memo Gidley

|23.221

| +0.076

|159.528

|Chip Ganassi Racing

5

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Alex Zanardi

|23.315

| +0.170

|158.885

|Mo Nunn Racing

6

|{{flagicon|USA}} Jimmy Vasser

|23.317

| +0.172

|158.871

|Patrick Racing

7

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Roberto Moreno

|23.327

| +0.182

|158.803

|Patrick Racing

8

|{{flagicon|Sweden}} Kenny Bräck

|23.340

| +0.195

|158.715

|Team Rahal

9

|{{flagicon|Canada}} Patrick Carpentier

|23.371

| +0.226

|158.504

|Forsythe Racing

10

|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Dario Franchitti

|23.395

| +0.250

|158.342

|Team Green

11

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Bruno Junqueira (R)

|23.409

| +0.264

|158.247

|Chip Ganassi Racing

12

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Gil de Ferran

|23.458

| +0.313

|157.916

|Team Penske

13

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Maurício Gugelmin

|23.459

| +0.314

|157.910

|PacWest Racing

14

|{{flagicon|Canada}} Alex Tagliani

|23.471

| +0.326

|157.829

|Forsythe Racing

15

|{{flagicon|USA}} Bryan Herta

|23.498

| +0.353

|157.647

|Forsythe Racing

16

|{{flagicon|Japan}} Shinji Nakano

|23.501

| +0.356

|157.627

|Fernandez Racing

17

|{{flagicon|USA}} Michael Andretti

|23.513

| +0.368

|157.547

|Team Motorola

18

|{{flagicon|Japan}} Tora Takagi (R)

|23.539

| +0.394

|157.373

|Walker Motorsport

19

|{{flagicon|New Zealand}} Scott Dixon (R)

|23.568

| +0.423

|157.179

|PacWest Racing

20

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Cristiano da Matta

|23.592

| +0.447

|157.019

|Newman-Haas Racing

21

|{{flagicon|Spain}} Oriol Servià

|23.678

| +0.533

|156.449

|Sigma Autosport

22

|{{flagicon|Canada}} Paul Tracy

|23.742

| +0.597

|156.027

|Team Green

23

|{{flagicon|Mexico}} Michel Jourdain Jr.

|23.805

| +0.660

|155.614

|Bettenhausen Racing

24

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Christian Fittipaldi

|23.957

| +0.812

|154.627

|Newman-Haas Racing

25

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Max Papis

|23.984

| +0.839

|154.453

|Team Rahal

colspan="6"|{{center|{{small|Source:{{cite web|title=2001 Target Grand Prix Qualifying Results |publisher=Championship Auto Racing Teams |date=July 28, 2001 |url=http://www.cart.com:80/Results/SessionResults.asp?ID=336 |accessdate=June 2, 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030702014931/http://www.cart.com/Results/SessionResults.asp?ID=336 |archivedate=July 2, 2003 |url-status=dead }}}}}}

Race

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"
PosNoDriverTeamLapsTime/retiredGridPoints
1

|8

|{{flagicon|Sweden}} Kenny Bräck

|Team Rahal

|225

|1:45:12.835

|8

|20

2

|32

|{{flagicon|Canada}} Patrick Carpentier

|Forsythe Racing

|225

| +4.480

|9

|16

3

|1

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Gil de Ferran

|Team Penske

|225

| +5.190

|12

|14

4

|18

|{{flagicon|New Zealand}} Scott Dixon (R)

|PacWest Racing

|225

| +5.563

|19

|12

5

|12

|{{flagicon|USA}} Memo Gidley

|Chip Ganassi Racing

|225

| +9.651

|4

|10

6

|33

|{{flagicon|Canada}} Alex Tagliani

|Forsythe Racing

|225

| +13.037

|14

|8

7

|3

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Hélio Castroneves

|Team Penske

|225

| +13.597

|2

|7{{ref|1|1}}

8

|55

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Tony Kanaan

|Mo Nunn Racing

|225

| +14.558

|1

|6{{ref|2|2}}

9

|66

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Alex Zanardi

|Mo Nunn Racing

|225

| +17.157

|5

|4

10

|51

|{{flagicon|Mexico}} Adrian Fernández

|Fernandez Racing

|225

| +20.914

|3

|3

11

|5

|{{flagicon|Japan}} Tora Takagi (R)

|Walker Motorsport

|225

| +21.199

|18

|2

12

|26

|{{flagicon|Canada}} Paul Tracy

|Team Green

|225

| +22.098

|22

|1

13

|7

|{{flagicon|Italy}} Max Papis

|Team Rahal

|225

| +39.483

|25

|—

14

|40

|{{flagicon|USA}} Jimmy Vasser

|Patrick Racing

|224

| +1 Lap

|6

|—

15

|27

|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Dario Franchitti

|Team Green

|224

| +1 Lap

|10

|—

16

|52

|{{flagicon|Japan}} Shinji Nakano

|Fernandez Racing

|224

| +1 Lap

|16

|—

17

|4

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Bruno Junqueira (R)

|Chip Ganassi Racing

|223

| +2 Laps

|11

|—

18

|22

|{{flagicon|Spain}} Oriol Servià

|Sigma Autosport

|223

| +2 Laps

|21

|—

19

|6

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Cristiano da Matta

|Newman-Haas Racing

|223

| +2 Laps

|20

|—

20

|20

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Roberto Moreno

|Patrick Racing

|223

| +2 Laps

|7

|—

21

|77

|{{flagicon|USA}} Bryan Herta

|Forsythe Racing

|222

| +3 Laps

|15

|—

22

|17

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Maurício Gugelmin

|PacWest Racing

|220

| +5 Laps

|13

|—

23

|16

|{{flagicon|Mexico}} Michel Jourdain Jr.

|Bettenhausen Racing

|189

|Contact

|23

|—

24

|39

|{{flagicon|USA}} Michael Andretti

|Team Motorola

|187

|Engine

|17

|—

25

|11

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Christian Fittipaldi

|Newman-Haas Racing

|102

|Engine

|24

|—

colspan="8"|{{center|{{small|Source:{{cite web|title=2001 Target Grand Prix Race Results |publisher=Championship Auto Racing Teams |date=July 29, 2001 |url=http://www.cart.com:80/Results/SessionResults.asp?ID=338 |accessdate=June 1, 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030504132602/http://www.cart.com/Results/SessionResults.asp?ID=338 |archivedate=May 4, 2003 |url-status=dead }}}}}}

;Notes

  • {{ref|1|1}}– Includes one bonus point for leading the most laps.{{Cite web|url=http://pdfsr.com/pdf/cart-2001-rule-book-electronic-version-1 |title=CART FedEx Championship Series - 2001 Rule Book |last=Championship Auto Racing Teams |date=March 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528174124/http://pdfsr.com/pdf/cart-2001-rule-book-electronic-version-1 |archive-date=2016-05-28 |url-status=bot: unknown |access-date=2017-05-22 }}
  • {{ref|2|2}}– Includes one bonus point for being the fastest qualifier.

Race statistics

  • Lead changes: 14 among 9 drivers

{{col-begin}}

{{col-break}}

class="wikitable"

!colspan=2|Lap Leaders{{cite web|title=2001 Target Grand Prix of Chicago|publisher=Racing-Reference.com|url=http://racing-reference.info/race/2001_Target_Grand_Prix_of_Chicago/R|accessdate=June 2, 2017}}

Laps

! Leader

1–47Tony Kanaan
48-79Helio Castroneves
80-81Tony Kanaan
82Jimmy Vasser
83Roberto Moreno
84-89Scott Dixon
90-121Helio Castroneves
122-161Kenny Bräck
162-165Helio Castroneves
166-167Tony Kanaan
168Adrian Fernández
169-187Dario Franchitti
188-196Memo Gidley
197-206Scott Dixon
207-225Kenny Bräck

{{col-break}}

class="wikitable"

!colspan=2|Total laps led

Leader

! Laps

Helio Castroneves68
Kenny Bräck59
Tony Kanaan51
Dario Franchitti19
Scott Dixon16
Memo Gidley9
Jimmy Vasser1
Roberto Moreno1
Adrian Fernández1

{{col-break}}

class="wikitable"

!colspan=2|Cautions: 2 for 20 laps{{cite web|title=Target Grand Prix Sunday Press Notes |publisher=Championship Auto Racing Teams |date=July 29, 2001 |url=http://www.cart.com:80/News/Article.asp?ID=1433 |accessdate=June 2, 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030325015235/http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=1433 |archivedate=March 25, 2003 |url-status=dead }}

Laps

! Reason

112-121Jourdain Jr. spins in Turn 1
200-211Gugelmin spins in Turn 1

{{col-end}}

Standings after the race

{{col-begin}}

{{col-break}}

;Drivers' standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
Pos

!+/-

!Driver

!Points

1

|align="left"| 10px

|{{flagicon|Sweden}} Kenny Bräck

|align="center"|104

2

|align="left"| 10px 1

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Hélio Castroneves

|align="center"|82

3

|align="left"| 10px 1

|{{flagicon|Scotland}} Dario Franchitti

|align="center"|81

4

|align="left"| 10px

|{{flagicon|USA}} Michael Andretti

|align="center"|73

5

|align="left"| 10px 1

|{{flagicon|Brazil}} Gil de Ferran

|align="center"|72

{{col-break}}

;Constructors' standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
Pos

! +/–

! Constructor

! Points

1

|align="left"| 10px

|{{flagicon|UK}} Reynard

|align="center"| 207

2

|align="left"| 10px

|{{flagicon|UK}} Lola

|align="center"| 186

{{col-break}}

;Manufacturer's Standings{{cite web|title=Ford Race Report |publisher=Championship Auto Racing Teams |date=July 29, 2001 |url=http://www.cart.com:80/News/Article.asp?ID=1443 |accessdate=June 2, 2017 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030325015846/http://www.cart.com/News/Article.asp?ID=1443 |archivedate=March 25, 2003 |url-status=dead }}

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
Pos

! +/-

! Manufacturer

! Points

1

|align="left"| 10px

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Honda

|align="center"| 190

2

|align="left"| 10px 1

|{{flagicon|UK}} Ford-Cosworth

|align="center"| 171

3

|align="left"| 10px 1

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Toyota

|align="center"| 166

4

|align="left"| 10px

|{{flagicon|UK}} Phoenix

|align="center"| 0

{{col-end}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{CART World Series race report|

Name_of_race = Target Grand Prix |

Year_of_race = 2001 |

Previous_race_in_season = 2001 Harrah's 500 |

Next_race_in_season = 2001 Miller Lite 200 |

Previous_year's_race = 2000 Grand Prix of Chicago |

Next_year's_race = 2002 Grand Prix of Chicago |

}}

{{2001 CART Season}}

Chicago Grand Prix, 2001