2001 Indy Lights season

The 2001 CART PPG/Dayton Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick consisted of 12 races. It was dominated by Townsend Bell who captured six victories on his way to the championship. It was the last Indy Lights season, as the series organizer, CART, decided to drop the Indy Lights series and concentrate its efforts on the Toyota Atlantic Championship. Most former Indy Lights teams that wished to stay in business went either to the Atlantic series, which replaced Indy Lights as the support race at most CART events, or the new Infiniti Pro Series, which ran in support of Indy Racing League events.

Team and driver chart
All teams utilized Lola T97/20 chassis with Buick V6 engines.

Monterrey

 * March 11, 2001
 * Fundidora Park, Monterrey, Mexico
 * Pole position: Derek Higgins, 1:25.345, 88.750 mi/h

Long Beach

 * April 8, 2001
 * Long Beach street circuit, Long Beach, California
 * Pole position: Mario Domínguez, 1:15.968, 93.260 mi/h

Texas

 * April 28, 2001
 * Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
 * Pole position: Damien Faulkner, 0:29:060, 183.593 mi/h
 * The CART race that weekend was cancelled due to track incompatibility, so this was the only race completed that weekend.

Milwaukee

 * June 3, 2001
 * Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin
 * Pole position: Townsend Bell (qualifying rained out; grid determined by championship points)

Portland

 * June 24, 2001
 * Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon
 * Pole position: Townsend Bell, 1:04.991, 109.067 mi/h

Kansas

 * July 8, 2001
 * Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas
 * Pole position: Mario Domínguez, 0:30.252, 180.881 mi/h

‡Townsend Bell was penalized two positions for aggressive driving.

Toronto

 * July 15, 2001
 * Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario
 * Pole position: Townsend Bell, 1:04.202, 98.408 mi/h

Mid-Ohio

 * August 12, 2001
 * Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio
 * Pole position: Townsend Bell, 1:13.809, 110.133 mi/h

Gateway

 * August 26, 2001
 * Gateway International Raceway, Madison, Illinois
 * Pole position: Townsend Bell (qualifying rained out; grid determined by championship points)

Road Atlanta

 * October 5, 2001
 * Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia
 * Pole position: Townsend Bell, 1:14.883, 122.110 mi/h

Laguna Seca

 * October 14, 2001
 * Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California
 * Pole position: Townsend Bell, 1:16.313, 105.576 mi/h

Fontana

 * November 4, 2001
 * California Speedway, Fontana, California
 * Pole position: Townsend Bell (qualifying rained out; grid determined by championship points)
 * This was the last CART-sanctioned Indy Lights race.

Drivers' championship

 * Scoring system


 * The driver who qualifies on pole is awarded one additional point.
 * An additional point is awarded to the driver who leads the most laps in a race.