The 2001 Indy Racing Northern Light Series saw the addition of five races and loss of one to bring the total to 13. Chip Ganassi Racing returned to the Indy 500 with four cars and were joined on the grid by Penske Racing and Team Kool Green. Sam Hornish Jr. won 3 races on his way to the championship while the less consistent Buddy Lazier won four races on his way to second place in his title defense. Confirmed entries Season Summary Schedule Race results Note: All races running on Oval/Speedway. Race summaries Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200 This race was held March 18 at Phoenix International Raceway. Greg Ray won the pole. Top ten results 4- Sam Hornish Jr. 14- Eliseo Salazar 91- Buddy Lazier 8- Scott Sharp 98- Billy Boat 21- Felipe Giaffone 35- Jeff Ward 10- Robby McGehee 12- Buzz Calkins 88- Airton Daré Inaugural Infiniti Grand Prix of Miami This race was held April 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jeff Ward won the pole. Sarah Fisher's second place was the highest finish in an Indy car race by a female driver at the time. Top ten results 4- Sam Hornish Jr. 15- Sarah Fisher 14- Eliseo Salazar 21- Felipe Giaffone 35- Jeff Ward 3- Al Unser Jr. 28- Mark Dismore 8- Scott Sharp 51- Eddie Cheever 32- Didier André zMax 500 This race was held April 28 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Greg Ray won the pole. A huge 11-car pileup occurred on lap 54, sending Dr. Jack Miller to the hospital with a concussion. It would be Miller's final race. This is also the final Indy car race held at Atlanta to-date. Top ten results 2- Greg Ray 8- Scott Sharp 12- Buzz Calkins 4- Sam Hornish Jr. 14- Eliseo Salazar 91- Buddy Lazier 35- Jeff Ward 55- Shigeaki Hattori 88- Airton Daré 21- Felipe Giaffone 85th Indianapolis 500 The Indy 500 was held May 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Scott Sharp sat on pole. Sharp crashed on the opening lap, and finished last. Team Penske returned to Indy after failing to qualify in 1995 and boycotting the race due to the IRL/CART "split" from 1996 to 2000. Penske finishes 1st–2nd with Hélio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran, Roger Penske's first-ever 1–2 at Indy as an owner. Top ten results 68- Hélio Castroneves 66- Gil de Ferran 39- Michael Andretti 44- Jimmy Vasser 50- Bruno Junqueira 33-