Kenny Bräck took pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying, and held the lead until the race was stopped because of a flooded track on the backstraight.

Castroneves led a race-high 24 laps until his final pit stop for fuel to reach the end of the race.

Gil de Ferran maintained the third position, Andretti's second-place result advanced him from fifth to fourth, and Scott Dixon took fifth from Dario Franchitti.

Lola lowered Reynard's advantage at the top of the Constructors' Championship to 37 points with seven races left in the season.

The Motorola 220 was confirmed as part of the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) 2001 schedule for the series in August 2000.

[6] Andretti, who won at Road America three times, said he was feeling additional positive pressure heading into the race.

Castroneves won the previous race of the season (at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) and stated he needed to maintain his recent momentum and increase his points tally.

Bräck said his team had to improve his car, which he hoped would be fast on the straightaways since its engine produced a large amount of horsepower.

The second was for Scott Dixon who spun into the turn five gravel trap and stalled his car, necessitating its removal from the circuit.

[7] Tora Takagi was fastest with a time of 1:42:202; Jimmy Vasser, de Ferran, Bräck, Franchitti, Bruno Junqueira, Moreno, Andretti, Bryan Herta and Castroneves rounded out the session's top ten drivers.

[8] De Ferran recorded the fastest lap of the day in the second practice session with a time of 1:41.055, ahead of Vasser, Franchitti.

A further five stoppages occurred; Max Papis spun into the turn 12 tire barrier, sustaining rear wing damage.

[10] Weather conditions became cloudy for the Saturday practice session due to a low pressure area developing to the west of the track.

[11] De Ferran was fastest with a time of 1:40.511; Moreno, Vasser, Junqueira, Takagi, Castroneves, Fernández, Franchitti, Herta and Bräck completed the top ten.

[14] A heavy rain shower, which ended one hour before qualifying began, made the track surface slippery and all cars were required to use wet-weather tires.

[19] De Ferran spun twice and entered the pit lane to make changes to his car to allow him to go faster; he took fourth, ahead of da Matta.

Moreno and Maurício Gugelmin, Herta (who was delayed by Zanardi) and Kanaan, Oriol Servià, Wilson and Michel Jourdain Jr. filled the next six positions.

Takagi swerved to avoid the collision between Junqueira and Fittipaldi and Moreno attempted to overtake him around the outside, but both drivers made contact heading into turn nine.

The third caution was necessitated on the same lap when Gugelmin lost control of his car after driving through standing water on the backstraight and veered right.

[30] Gidley's car was split into two pieces; he flipped and rolled several times before landing upside down in a nearby gravel trap at the outside of the circuit.

[29] Gidley was briefly knocked unconscious by the impact,[31] but he awoke by the time safety officials came to his aid and he communicated with his team over the radio.

[25] He was transported via ambulance to the HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, for precautionary x-rays to his neck and had a CT scan.

[21] Carpentier lost second to de Ferran at turn twelve and he then dropped to fifth after da Matta and Moreno passed him.

[24] Franchitti had lost radio communication with his team, and smoke bellowed from the rear of his car due to an engine failed leaving the second corner on lap 32.

"[27] Andretti spoke of an "unbelievable day" for himself and accepted his second-place result despite his collision with Fittipaldi, "There were tough conditions at the start, and I'm glad I wasn't [CART Chief Steward] Chris Kneifel.

"[29] Fittipaldi responded by saying he did not anticipate Andretti drawing alongside him, and spoke of his feeling it was slightly optimistic of Andretti to attempt his overtaking manoeuvre, "I doubted our strategy after we made our last stop but it would have ultimately put us in position to challenge Bruno or finish third at the worse but Michael made that an over optimistic pass and my car was too damaged to continue.

[34] Herta disagreed with the decision to start the race with a wet track at turn twelve, and he told his team over the radio that officials made an error in judgement.

"[34] Kneifel stated he observed the track with safety officials before the race began, and acknowledged his decision-making would come under scrutiny.

Bräck said he felt this gave Castroneves, Carpentier, Jourdain and Nakano an unfair advantage and prevented from finishing in a higher position.

[36] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Reynard still led but their advantage over Lola had been reduced by four points with seven races left in the season.