2001 Casino Magic 500

  2001 Texas

Race details
5th round of the 2001 Indy Racing League season
Date	June 9, 2001
Official name	Casino Magic 500
Location	Texas Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.455 mi / 2.342 km
Distance	200 laps, 291.000 mi / 468.319 km
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 91.9 °F (33.3 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Mark Dismore	Kelley Racing
Time	24.305
Fastest lap
Driver	Eddie Cheever	Team Cheever
Time	23.951 (on lap 177 of 200)
Podium
First	Scott Sharp	Kelley Racing
Second	Felipe Giaffone	Treadway Racing
Third	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Panther Racing

The 2001 Casino Magic 500 was the 5th round of the 2001 Indy Racing League season. It happened on June 9, 2001 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Qualifying

Mark Dismore, for the 4th time on his Indy Racing League career, had set the pole. The Kelley Racing driver set a speed of 215.508 mph. His teammate Scott Sharp started alongside him at the first row.

Race

Lap 1 - Lap 78

At the end of lap 1, Mark Dismore was the leader, Eddie Cheever was in second and Sam Hornish, Jr. was in third. After 3 laps, Cheever, Jr. took the lead from Dismore. The top 12 after 10 laps was the following: Eddie Cheever, Jr., Sam Hornish, Jr., Scott Sharp, Mark Dismore, Shigeaki Hattori, Robbie Buhl, Billy Boat, Donnie Beechler, Buddy Lazier, Airton Daré, Greg Ray and Jeff Ward. After some debris were on the backstretch, 1st caution came out at lap 25. Restart came out at lap 32, with Jaques Lazier leading the field. Lazier didn't make his pitstop, so, he took the lead. At lap 72, a major crash happened. Sarah Fisher, Davey Hamilton and Jeret Schroeder were involved. Schroeder suffered a blown engine and Hamilton had hit him and almost flipped. Fisher had hit a tyre. 2nd caution. After pitstops, the top 10 after 78 laps was: Greg Ray, Eddie Cheever, Jr., Felipe Giaffone, Scott Sharp, Sam Hornish, Jr., Jeff Ward, Airton Daré, Billy Boat, Didier Andre and Eliseo Salazar.

Lap 89 - Lap 116

Restart came out at lap 89. At lap 102, Cheever, Jr. did a pitstop. Some laps later, Airton Daré, had an engine problem and was forced to retire, but he would finish this race, although, many laps behind the winner. 3rd caution. Restart came out at lap 116.

Closing Stages: Last 44 laps

With 44 laps to go, another caution came out. The reason of the caution was debris on the track. Restart came out with 40 laps to go, with Scott Sharp leading the field. With 27 laps to go, Eddie Cheever tried a three-wide with Greg Ray and Sharp, but there wasn't space to try to overtake. He lost the 3rd place to Jeff Ward. Caution came out laps later, after Ward having wheel bearing problems. Restart came out with 12 laps to go with Scott Sharp leading the field. With 11 laps to go, Cheever, Sharp and Ray were battling for the lead. Ray won that battle, but not the race. Because with 5 laps to go, a major crash happened on the backstretch involving Greg Ray, Eddie Cheever and Robby McGehee. Caution came out, and Scott Sharp won, as no restart happened. About the accident, Ray was hit by McGehee, who had hit Cheever right after.

Final results

1. Scott Sharp
2. Felipe Giaffone
3. Sam Hornish, Jr.
4. Buddy Lazier
5. Donnie Beechler
6. Billy Boat
7. Eliseo Salazar
8. Al Unser, Jr.
9. Jaques Lazier
10. Shigeaki Hattori
11. Greg Ray DNF, but was classified
12. Eddie Cheever DNF, but was classified
13. Billy Roe
14. Robby McGehee DNF, but was classified
15. Buzz Calkins
16. Jeff Ward
17. Didier Andre
18. Sarah Fisher
19. Airton Daré
20. Mark Dismore
21. Robbie Buhl
22. Brandon Erwin
23. Jeret Schroeder DNF Accident with Fisher and Hamilton
24. Davey Hamilton DNF Accident with Fisher and Schroeder

Point standings after 5 races

1. Sam Hornish, Jr. 192 points
2. Eliseo Salazar -35
3. Scott Sharp -45
4. Felipe Giaffone (R) -57
5. Buddy Lazier -75
6. Billy Boat -79
7. Buzz Calkins -88
8. Greg Ray -89
9. Jeff Ward -90
10. Robby McGehee -106

• (R) denotes a contender for the Rookie of the Year award

Notes

1. Sarah Fisher, Robbie Buhl, Airton Daré had retired, but came back to race, although, many laps behind the leader
2. This win was Scott Sharp's sixth win in his IRL career. At that time, it was a record.
3. Davey Hamilton, who was involved in a crash with Jeret Schroeder and Sarah Fisher, suffered fractures on his feet. He passed for 21 operations to reconstruct his feet.

References