It was the 17th race of the 2001 CART season, the second (and final) event of the year to be held in Europe, and the series' first visit to the United Kingdom.

Bräck passed de Ferran to reclaim the lead on the 45th lap and remained the leader until the second round of pit stops.

De Ferran held the first position until a slower car delayed him and allowed Bräck to retake the lead on the race's penultimate lap.

Honda's increased its lead over Ford Cosworth in the Manufacturers' Championship, while Toyota maintained third place, with four races left in the season.

[1] It was the conclusion of a two-week European stretch for the series; the American Memorial was held at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Klettwitz, Germany one week earlier.

[8] Bräck said his car's engine and chassis had been fast on oval tracks and felt that he and his team would compete for the victory at Rockingham.

All crew members who worked on Zanardi's car were sent to the United States to recover from the incident, although his wife protested the decision.

[16] Course officials resumed work by drilling shafts into the surface to form a well in an attempt to reduce the drainage problem before the start of Friday's scheduled sessions.

This was unfeasible since the circuit did not hold a licence from motorsport's world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, to race on it, and the teams had not brought a suitable aerodynamic package.

[19] Andretti, Castroneves, Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Patrick Carpentier, Cristiano da Matta, Roberto Moreno and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top ten.

[17] Drying efforts continued overnight with additional equipment and extra workers from across England brought in to improve the track's drainage.

[20] Rockingham Motor Speedway's chief executive David Grace apologised for the delays and denied the anticipation of a drainage problem.

CART's chairman and CEO Joseph Heitzler rejected suggestions that it was the incorrect decision to stage the race in September as he had been informed that the month was one of the driest of the year.

[18] Problems on the back straight had been mostly rectified although a damp track surface in the first and fourth turns was created by water coming from under the grandstands.

Three yellow caution flags were shown: the first was for Max Papis who cut his right-rear tyre, the second was for Maurício Gugelmin who slid out of the groove and hit the turn one outside barrier.

[24] Jourdain's car generated oversteer and he spun leaving turn four, and slid down the frontstretch triggering the second caution on the 50th lap.

[24][27] Fittipaldi reported to his team that he had a problem with either his gearbox or drivetrain and drove slowly into the pit lane on lap 53 becoming the race's second retirement.

[30] The third caution was shown fourteen laps later when Adrián Fernández lost engine power driving into the second turn; he steered to the bottom of the track on the backstretch to retire.

[27][30] Castroneves passed da Matta and Andretti around the inside in the pit lane and Newman/Haas Racing believed he had committed an infraction.

[24][27] De Ferran remained the leader for the rest of the final lap to win his first victory of the season, his second on an oval track, and the sixth of his career.

Papis, Townsend Bell, Moreno, Alex Tagliani, Bryan Herta, Carpentier, Shinji Nakano, Gidley, Jourdain, Gugelmin and Wilson were the last of the classified finishers.

Da Matta said the circuit was faster than the drivers anticipated though he felt the speeds of the cars drove at exceeded those normally considered safe and that overtaking was difficult.

Tracy stated the Rockingham Motor Speedway was a good track to drive on, and felt it would be "a great facility" to show CART in the United Kingdom.

[35] Da Matta stated he believed Castroneves had not abided by the series' regulations and forgot a change in the pit lane speed limit.

His team manager Phil Howard met with CART officials to discuss the issue and Servià's final finishing position was corrected to tenth.

Kevin Eason of The Times said, "What the inaugural Rockingham 500 CART FedEx race in Britain lacked in quantity, it made up for with driving of the highest quality.

[31] Writing for The Sunday Telegraph, Brough Scott stated, "Births have always come with their share of noise, difficulty, danger and the odd touch of absurdity.

But never can all the elements have been mixed as heavily as in yesterday's much-delayed launch of the Rockingham 500, which opened and closed with overtaking manoeuvres dramatic enough to take your breath away.

[43] Honda increased their advantage over Ford Cosworth in the Manufacturers' Championship to be 38 points ahead, while Toyota remained in third with four races left in the season.

[19] Despite being set for a tape delay broadcast at 12 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the race was eventually carried live as the start was postponed an hour further.