# 2001 Miller Lite 200

40°41′21.46″N 82°38′10.94″W﻿ / ﻿40.6892944°N 82.6363722°W﻿ / 40.6892944; -82.6363722
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.
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 third 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 to 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: ||||||

## Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | Team Penske | 83 | 1:44:54.931 | 2 | 21 |
| 2 | 1 | Gil de Ferran | Team Penske | 83 | +1.568 | 1 | 17 |
| 3 | 32 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 83 | +2.548 | 3 | 14 |
| 4 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | 83 | +5.326 | 8 | 12 |
| 5 | 55 | Tony Kanaan | Mo Nunn Racing | 83 | +6.155 | 7 | 10 |
| 6 | 20 | Roberto Moreno | Patrick Racing | 83 | +6.703 | 15 | 8 |
| 7 | 33 | Alex Tagliani | Forsythe Racing | 83 | +7.537 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 83 | +11.322 | 9 | 5 |
| 9 | 22 | Oriol Servià | Sigma Autosport | 83 | +14.561 | 26 | 4 |
| 10 | 6 | Cristiano da Matta | Newman-Haas Racing | 83 | +15.247 | 11 | 3 |
| 11 | 12 | Memo Gidley | Chip Ganassi Racing | 83 | +15.938 | 17 | 2 |
| 12 | 18 | Scott Dixon (R) | PacWest Racing | 83 | +16.336 | 12 | 1 |
| 13 | 4 | Bruno Junqueira (R) | Chip Ganassi Racing | 83 | +17.001 | 10 | — |
| 14 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | 83 | +21.843 | 21 | — |
| 15 | 25 | Max Wilson (R) | Arciero Racing | 83 | +23.739 | 24 | — |
| 16 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 83 | +49.669 | 5 | — |
| 17 | 16 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Bettenhausen Racing | 82 | +1 Lap | 25 | — |
| 18 | 52 | Shinji Nakano | Fernandez Racing | 82 | +1 Lap | 23 | — |
| 19 | 66 | Alex Zanardi | Mo Nunn Racing | 80 | +3 Laps | 20 | — |
| 20 | 8 | Kenny Bräck | Team Rahal | 80 | +3 Laps | 13 | — |
| 21 | 5 | Tora Takagi (R) | Walker Motorsport | 72 | Off course | 22 | — |
| 22 | 51 | Adrian Fernández | Fernandez Racing | 50 | Contact | 16 | — |
| 23 | 40 | Jimmy Vasser | Patrick Racing | 34 | Contact | 4 | — |
| 24 | 7 | Max Papis | Team Rahal | 30 | Contact | 19 | — |
| 25 | 77 | Bryan Herta | Forsythe Racing | 14 | Engine | 14 | — |
| 26 | 39 | Michael Andretti | Team Motorola | 5 | Engine | 18 | — |
| Source: ||||||||

### Notes

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

## Race statistics

* Lead changes: 3 among 3 drivers
Lap Leaders :
| Laps | Leader |
| 1–28 | Gil de Ferran |
| 29-54 | Helio Castroneves |
| 55-65 | Oriol Servià |
| 66-83 | Helio Castroneves |
Total laps led :
| Leader | Laps |
| Helio Castroneves | 44 |
| Gil de Ferran | 28 |
| Oriol Servià | 11 |
Cautions: 3 for 11 laps :
| Laps | Reason |
| 31-34 | Papis and Bräck collide |
| 51-56 | Fernández crashes at Turn 4 |
| 74-76 | Takagi stalls |

## Standings after the race

| Pos | +/- | Driver | Points |
| 1 | | Kenny Bräck | 104 |
| 2 | | Hélio Castroneves | 103 |
| 3 | 2 | Gil de Ferran | 89 |
| 4 | 1 | Dario Franchitti | 81 |
| 5 | 1 | Michael Andretti | 73 |
| Pos | +/– | Constructor | Points |
| 1 | | Reynard | 228 |
| 2 | | Lola | 191 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1 | Honda | 212 |
| 2 | Ford-Cosworth | 185 |
| 3 | Toyota | 174 |
| 4 | Phoenix | 0 |