Time Trials
Tony Stewart led the speed chart for morning practice on pole day, but IRL regular Scott Sharp won the battle for the pole position. Greg Ray, who had been among the fastest cars all week, qualified second. Robby Gordon, driving an Indy-only entry for AJ Foyt Racing, rounded out the front row.
The highest of the CART qualifiers was Gil de Ferran (5th). Former Indy 500 winners Arie Luyendyk, Buddy Lazier, and Al Unser, Jr. also made the field on pole day.
On the second day of qualifying, veterans Michael Andretti and Eddie Cheever made the field, while rookie Bruno Junqueira was the fastest of the day.
On bump day, Billy Boat was the first car to complete a qualifying attempt, and the field was subsequently filled to 33 cars. Six cars were bumped during the afternoon, and Boat dropped to the bubble spot as of 5:07 p.m. Over the final 53 minutes Boat survived 12 attempts to be bumped from the field. Eight cars waved off, and four were too slow. With 10 seconds to go before the 6 o'clock gun, Memo Gidley was the final driver to make a qualifying attempt. He missed bumping his way into the field by 0.242 seconds.
Read more about this topic: 2001 Indianapolis 500
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