# 2001 Target Grand Prix of Chicago

41°49′50″N 87°44′55″W﻿ / ﻿41.83056°N 87.74861°W﻿ / 41.83056; -87.74861
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

July 28, 2001 - Qualifying Speeds :
| Rank | Driver | Time | Leader | Speed (mph) | Team |
| 1 | Tony Kanaan | 23.145 | — | 160.052 | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 2 | Hélio Castroneves | 23.148 | +0.003 | 160.031 | Team Penske |
| 3 | Adrian Fernández | 23.203 | +0.058 | 159.652 | Fernandez Racing |
| 4 | Memo Gidley | 23.221 | +0.076 | 159.528 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 5 | Alex Zanardi | 23.315 | +0.170 | 158.885 | Mo Nunn Racing |
| 6 | Jimmy Vasser | 23.317 | +0.172 | 158.871 | Patrick Racing |
| 7 | Roberto Moreno | 23.327 | +0.182 | 158.803 | Patrick Racing |
| 8 | Kenny Bräck | 23.340 | +0.195 | 158.715 | Team Rahal |
| 9 | Patrick Carpentier | 23.371 | +0.226 | 158.504 | Forsythe Racing |
| 10 | Dario Franchitti | 23.395 | +0.250 | 158.342 | Team Green |
| 11 | Bruno Junqueira (R) | 23.409 | +0.264 | 158.247 | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 12 | Gil de Ferran | 23.458 | +0.313 | 157.916 | Team Penske |
| 13 | Maurício Gugelmin | 23.459 | +0.314 | 157.910 | PacWest Racing |
| 14 | Alex Tagliani | 23.471 | +0.326 | 157.829 | Forsythe Racing |
| 15 | Bryan Herta | 23.498 | +0.353 | 157.647 | Forsythe Racing |
| 16 | Shinji Nakano | 23.501 | +0.356 | 157.627 | Fernandez Racing |
| 17 | Michael Andretti | 23.513 | +0.368 | 157.547 | Team Motorola |
| 18 | Tora Takagi (R) | 23.539 | +0.394 | 157.373 | Walker Motorsport |
| 19 | Scott Dixon (R) | 23.568 | +0.423 | 157.179 | PacWest Racing |
| 20 | Cristiano da Matta | 23.592 | +0.447 | 157.019 | Newman-Haas Racing |
| 21 | Oriol Servià | 23.678 | +0.533 | 156.449 | Sigma Autosport |
| 22 | Paul Tracy | 23.742 | +0.597 | 156.027 | Team Green |
| 23 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | 23.805 | +0.660 | 155.614 | Bettenhausen Racing |
| 24 | Christian Fittipaldi | 23.957 | +0.812 | 154.627 | Newman-Haas Racing |
| 25 | Max Papis | 23.984 | +0.839 | 154.453 | Team Rahal |
| Source: ||||||

## Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 8 | Kenny Bräck | Team Rahal | 225 | 1:45:12.835 | 8 | 20 |
| 2 | 32 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 225 | +4.480 | 9 | 16 |
| 3 | 1 | Gil de Ferran | Team Penske | 225 | +5.190 | 12 | 14 |
| 4 | 18 | Scott Dixon (R) | PacWest Racing | 225 | +5.563 | 19 | 12 |
| 5 | 12 | Memo Gidley | Chip Ganassi Racing | 225 | +9.651 | 4 | 10 |
| 6 | 33 | Alex Tagliani | Forsythe Racing | 225 | +13.037 | 14 | 8 |
| 7 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | 225 | +13.597 | 2 | 7 |
| 8 | 55 | Tony Kanaan | Mo Nunn Racing | 225 | +14.558 | 1 | 6 |
| 9 | 66 | Alex Zanardi | Mo Nunn Racing | 225 | +17.157 | 5 | 4 |
| 10 | 51 | Adrian Fernández | Fernandez Racing | 225 | +20.914 | 3 | 3 |
| 11 | 5 | Tora Takagi (R) | Walker Motorsport | 225 | +21.199 | 18 | 2 |
| 12 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | 225 | +22.098 | 22 | 1 |
| 13 | 7 | Max Papis | Team Rahal | 225 | +39.483 | 25 | — |
| 14 | 40 | Jimmy Vasser | Patrick Racing | 224 | +1 Lap | 6 | — |
| 15 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 224 | +1 Lap | 10 | — |
| 16 | 52 | Shinji Nakano | Fernandez Racing | 224 | +1 Lap | 16 | — |
| 17 | 4 | Bruno Junqueira (R) | Chip Ganassi Racing | 223 | +2 Laps | 11 | — |
| 18 | 22 | Oriol Servià | Sigma Autosport | 223 | +2 Laps | 21 | — |
| 19 | 6 | Cristiano da Matta | Newman-Haas Racing | 223 | +2 Laps | 20 | — |
| 20 | 20 | Roberto Moreno | Patrick Racing | 223 | +2 Laps | 7 | — |
| 21 | 77 | Bryan Herta | Forsythe Racing | 222 | +3 Laps | 15 | — |
| 22 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | 220 | +5 Laps | 13 | — |
| 23 | 16 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Bettenhausen Racing | 189 | Contact | 23 | — |
| 24 | 39 | Michael Andretti | Team Motorola | 187 | Engine | 17 | — |
| 25 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 102 | Engine | 24 | — |
| Source: ||||||||

### Notes

* – Includes one bonus point for leading the most laps.
* – Includes one bonus point for being the fastest qualifier.

## Race statistics

* Lead changes: 14 among 9 drivers
Lap Leaders :
| Laps | Leader |
| 1–47 | Tony Kanaan |
| 48-79 | Helio Castroneves |
| 80-81 | Tony Kanaan |
| 82 | Jimmy Vasser |
| 83 | Roberto Moreno |
| 84-89 | Scott Dixon |
| 90-121 | Helio Castroneves |
| 122-161 | Kenny Bräck |
| 162-165 | Helio Castroneves |
| 166-167 | Tony Kanaan |
| 168 | Adrian Fernández |
| 169-187 | Dario Franchitti |
| 188-196 | Memo Gidley |
| 197-206 | Scott Dixon |
| 207-225 | Kenny Bräck |
Total laps led :
| Leader | Laps |
| Helio Castroneves | 68 |
| Kenny Bräck | 59 |
| Tony Kanaan | 51 |
| Dario Franchitti | 19 |
| Scott Dixon | 16 |
| Memo Gidley | 9 |
| Jimmy Vasser | 1 |
| Roberto Moreno | 1 |
| Adrian Fernández | 1 |
Cautions: 2 for 20 laps :
| Laps | Reason |
| 112-121 | Jourdain Jr. spins in Turn 1 |
| 200-211 | Gugelmin spins in Turn 1 |

## Standings after the race

| Pos | +/- | Driver | Points |
| 1 | | Kenny Bräck | 104 |
| 2 | 1 | Hélio Castroneves | 82 |
| 3 | 1 | Dario Franchitti | 81 |
| 4 | | Michael Andretti | 73 |
| 5 | 1 | Gil de Ferran | 72 |
| Pos | +/– | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | | Reynard | 207 |
| 2 | | Lola | 186 |
| Pos | +/- | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | | Honda | 190 |
| 2 | 1 | Ford-Cosworth | 171 |
| 3 | 1 | Toyota | 166 |
| 4 | | Phoenix | 0 |