Race rookie Hélio Castroneves, a three-year veteran of the CART series, led the final 52 laps and won his first of four Indy 500 victories.

Winning car owner Roger Penske scored his record-extending eleventh victory at the Indianapolis 500, and notched his first-ever 1-2 finish in the race.

[1] Because of his move to Formula One for the 2001 season, reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya did not return to defend his title.

The week-long open test held in April from 1998 to 2000 was also eliminated, essentially replaced by the reinstatement of the second week of May practice.

Team Penske drivers Hélio Castroneves and Gil de Ferran were sponsored by Marlboro full-time in the CART series.

The new restart rules were an attempt to ensure the leaders would get back to green flag racing without interference from lapped cars.

Former Indy 500 winners Arie Luyendyk, Buddy Lazier, Al Unser Jr., and Eddie Cheever also made the field.

[4] On the second day of qualifying, veterans Michael Andretti, Eddie Cheever, and Buzz Calkins withdrew their slow times from Saturday and re-qualified with better speeds.

With ten seconds left before the 6 o'clock gun, Memo Gidley was the final driver to make a qualifying attempt.

Cool temperatures caused problems at the start, as pole sitter Scott Sharp crashed in the first turn on the first lap.

Greg Ray and Robby Gordon barely avoided the crash, and slipped by the lead the field around for the first several laps.

Hornish did not hit anything, but Al Unser Jr. moved high to avoid the crash, and brushed along the outside wall on the main stretch.

Gil de Ferran inherited the lead, Team Penske teammate Hélio Castroneves second.

Castroneves and de Ferran were both penalized for exiting out of the pits incorrectly, giving Tony Stewart the lead for the first time of the day.

Trailing by less than a half-second on lap 166, Buhl suddenly spun exiting turn 2, and tapped the inside wall.

In a public relations setback for the IRL, the top six finishers were all visiting drivers from the rival CART series.

The first regular IRL series driver to finish was Eliseo Salazar in seventh place, running a lap down.

Scott Sharp's crash on the first lap meant for the second year in a row, the pole sitter finished 33rd and last.

"I think we redeemed ourselves for the lousy thing we did in 1995 ... this is the best day of my life coming back like this" said Roger Penske in pit lane immediately after Castroneves took the checkered flag.

Criticized by members of the media as being overweight and unfit for the grueling task, Stewart undertook a month-long fitness and dietary program with a personal trainer.

A strict schedule was put into place, and regardless if the race was not over at Indy, Stewart was allegedly required to get out of the car at 4:00 p.m. to fly to Charlotte on time.

[6][7] At the time, Aerosmith was kicking off their Just Push Play Tour, and earlier in the year had performed in the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXV.

"[6][8][10][11] The crowd, television and radio commentators, along with military Medal of Honor recipients in attendance due to the Memorial Day holiday, had a largely negative response to the performance.

"[6][8][11] Speedway president Tony George released a statement the following Tuesday citing "While we are certainly sorry that some were offended, it was neither our intention nor that of Mr. Tyler to be disrespectful.

"[12] The harmonica Tyler threw into the crowd was reported to be retrieved by Purdue band member David Hornthal.

On the February 20, 2012 episode of Pawn Stars, a harmonica purported to be the one Tyler threw into the crowd was presented, but did not sell.

Kevin Lee joined the crew, taking the turn two position, which was now atop the Southeast Vista grandstand (it was previously on the roof of the VIP Suites).

Chris Denari moved from the pits to turn four, where he remains as of today with the exception of 2014 when he was in Miami calling an Indiana Pacers playoff game.

Newcomers Adam Alexander and Kim Morris served as pit reporters along with Mike Lewis, who had debuted just one year earlier.

King interviewed Dr. Robert Hubbard, the 2001 co-recipient of the Louis Schwitzer Award for development of the HANS device.