CART Announces Record 22-Race Schedule for 2001 FedEx Championship Series
5 August 2000
CART Announces Record 22-Race Schedule for 2001 FedEx Championship Series
DETROIT, Aug. 4 A new race in the Dallas-Fort Worth
Metroplex as well as first-time events in England, Germany and Mexico
highlight the record 22-race FedEx Championship Series schedule for the 2001
season.
The schedule was announced by Championship Auto Racing Teams interim
president and CEO Bobby Rahal.
"The 2001 FedEx Championship Series schedule reaches out to more fans in
more markets than at any time in the history of CART," said Rahal, who made
completing the schedule the No.1 priority since he was named to run the
company on June 16.
"At the core of our series are the 14 races we run here in the U.S. and,
with the addition of the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, we visit many of the country's
leading cities," continued the three-time CART champion. "Couple that with
races we run in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Germany and England
and you have a schedule that serves our fans, teams, sponsors and
manufacturers very well."
The season gets underway at Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway at Nelson Piquet
International Raceway as the FedEx Championship Series makes its yearly visit
to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Champ Cars will roar into action at the Rio
200, tentatively scheduled for February 11.
The schedule continues its Latin flavor on March 11 when the series visits
Monterrey, Mexico for the inaugural Monterrey Grand Prix on the temporary
circuit that winds its way through the city's Fundidora Park.
The streets of Long Beach, Calif., provide the backdrop for Round 3 of the
2001 Championship, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 8. Three
weeks later, the CART series visits the high banks of Texas Motor Speedway for
the first time in its 23-year history for the Texas 600 on April 29.
Pennsylvania's Nazareth Speedway mile oval is the site of the next round
of the series -- the Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Presented by Toyota -- on May
6. Then it's across the Pacific for the May 19 Firestone Firehawk 500 on the
exciting 1.5-mile circuit at Japan's Twin Ring Motegi, about 2 1/2 hours north
of Tokyo.
CART sanctions the participation of those of its teams that wish to accept
the invitation to participate in the 2001 Indianapolis 500-mile race event.
The Indianapolis race is scheduled for May 27.
The historic Milwaukee Mile serves as stop No.7 on the 2001 FedEx Series
schedule for the Miller Lite 225 on June 3 in West Allis, Wis. On June 17,
CART visits The Raceway on Belle Isle for the Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of
Detroit.
The FedEx Series returns to action June 24 when it makes its annual visit
to Portland International Raceway for the Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200
Presented by Texaco. The next weekend, Burke Lakefront Airport is the site
for the Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar on the temporary
circuit on the shores of Lake Erie.
After a weekend off, the series returns to the streets that run around and
through Canada's National Exhibition grounds for the July 15 Molson Indy in
Toronto. The following week finds the Champ Cars dueling on the high-banked,
two-mile oval -- the scene of 162 unofficial lead changes just two weeks ago
-- at Michigan Speedway in the Michigan 500 Presented by Toyota on July 22.
CART closes out the three-consecutive-race string with the Target Grand
Prix on July 29 at Chicago Motor Speedway.
The FedEx Series roars into the rolling hills of north-central Ohio for
the Miller Lite 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 12. The next
week, the CART machines head to Wisconsin for the Motorola 220 at Road America
in Elkhart Lake.
The series returns to Canada for its next stop, the Molson Indy Vancouver
on the streets of the British Columbia city on September 2.
CART's first-ever European races occur back-to-back on September 15 and
22. The series visits the oval at EuroSpeedway for the German 500 and then
travels to Rockingham, England for the inaugural CART Champ Car stop the next
weekend in Great Britain.
Back in the United States on October 7, the FedEx Series is on the streets
of Houston for the Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix and then returns to the West
Coast for the annual race at Laguna Seca Raceway, the Honda Grand Prix of
Monterey Featuring the Shell 300, on October 14.
Round 21 finds CART in Australia for the October 28 race through the
streets of Surfers Paradise, Queensland in the Honda Indy 300 and the series
wraps up November 4 when the Champ Cars race on the world's fastest speedway
-- California Speedway -- for Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota in Fontana.
All events in the 2001 FedEx Championship Series will be broadcast on
either ABC or ESPN television in the United States. An announcement regarding
specifics on television will be made at a later date.
Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. owns, operates and
markets the FedEx Championship Series, which is comprised of 20 races in five
countries on four continents in 2000. Champions Juan Montoya, Michael Andretti
and Jimmy Vasser are among the drivers who battle for the series title at
speeds of more than 230 miles per hour on oval circuits as well as temporary
and permanent road courses. CART also owns and operates its top two
development series -- the Dayton Indy Lights Championship and the Toyota
Atlantic Championship. Learn more about CART's open-wheel racing series at
http://www.cart.com.
CART FedEx Championship Series
2001 Race Schedule
[RND] DATE EVENT
[1] Feb. 11** Rio 200
Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway at
Nelson Piquet International Raceway
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
[2] Mar. 11 Monterrey Grand Prix
Fundidora Park
Monterrey, Mexico
[3] April 8 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Long Beach, California USA
[4] April 29 Texas 600
Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, Texas USA
[5] May 6 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix
Presented by Toyota
Nazareth Speedway
Nazareth, Pennsylvania USA
[6] May 19* Firestone Firehawk 500
Twin Ring Motegi
Motegi, Japan
[7] June 3 Miller Lite 225
The Milwaukee Mile
West Allis, Wisconsin USA
[8] June 17 Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit
The Raceway on Belle Isle
Detroit, Michigan USA
[9] June 24 Freightliner/G.I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco
Portland International Raceway
Portland, Oregon USA
[10] July 1 The Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar
Burke Lakefront Airport
Cleveland, Ohio USA
[11] July 15 Molson Indy
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
[12] July 22 Michigan 500 Presented by Toyota
Michigan Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan USA
[13] July 29 Target Grand Prix
Chicago Motor Speedway
Cicero, Illinois USA
[14] Aug. 12 Miller Lite 200
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Lexington, Ohio USA
[15] Aug. 19 Motorola 220
Road America
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin USA
[16] Sept. 2 Molson Indy Vancouver
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
[17] Sept. 15* German 500
EuroSpeedway
Lausitz, Germany
[18] Sept. 22* Rockingham 500
Rockingham Motor Speedway
Corby, England
[19] Oct. 7 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston
Houston, Texas USA
[20] Oct. 14 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300
Laguna Seca Raceway
Monterey, California USA
[21] Oct. 28 Honda Indy 300
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
[22] Nov. 4 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota
California Speedway
Fontana, California USA
8/4/00 * Saturday ** Tentative date