2001 Harrah's 500 (CART)

Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a 2 mi (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Cambridge Township, Michigan, approximately four miles (6.4 km) south of the village of Brooklyn. Situated on more than 1,400 acres (5.7 km2) in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan, the track is 70 miles (110 km) west of the center of Detroit, 40 miles (64 km) from Ann Arbor, and 60 miles (97 km) south and northwest of Lansing, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio, respectively. MIS is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is sometimes known as a sister track to Texas World Speedway, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by NASCAR. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).

The 1982 Michigan 500, the second running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, July 18, 1982. Branded as the 1982 Norton Michigan 500 for sponsorship reasons, the event was race number 5 of 11 in the 1982 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. The race was won by Gordon Johncock, two months after his victory in the 1982 Indianapolis 500, giving him wins in the first two legs of Indy car's Triple Crown.

The 1994 Michigan 500, the fourteenth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, July 31, 1994. Branded as the 1994 Marlboro 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Scott Goodyear, his second Michigan 500 win. It was race number 10 of 16 of the 1994 PPG IndyCar World Series.

The 1996 Michigan 500, the sixteenth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, July 28, 1996. Branded as the 1996 Marlboro 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Andre Ribeiro, his last Indy Car victory. The event was race number 12 of 16 in the 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series.

The 1997 Michigan 500, the seventeenth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, July 27, 1997. The race was branded as the 1997 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota, for sponsorship reasons, and in an attempt to create a link to the 1996 U.S. 500, which had been run on Memorial Day the previous season. The race was won by Alex Zanardi, his first Indy Car victory on an oval. The race was round 12 of 17 in the 1997 CART PPG World Series.

The 1984 Michigan 500, the fourth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, July 22, 1984. The event was race number 8 of 16 in the 1984 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. The race was won by Mario Andretti, his first Michigan 500 victory.

The 1983 Michigan 500, the third running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, July 17, 1983. Branded as the 1983 Norton Michigan 500 for sponsorship reasons, the event was race number 5 of 13 in the 1983 CART PPG Indy Car World Series. The race was won by John Paul Jr. - his first Indy Car victory - who made a last lap pass over Rick Mears.

The 1993 Michigan 500, the thirteenth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, August 1, 1993. Branded as the 1993 Marlboro 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Nigel Mansell, his only Michigan 500 win. The event was race number 10 of 16 of the 1993 PPG Indy Car World Series.

The 1986 Michigan 500, the sixth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Saturday, August 2, 1986. The race was won by Johnny Rutherford, his 27th and final Indy Car victory. It was Rutherford's sixth win in IndyCar racing's Triple Crown of 500 mile races, and his first at the Michigan 500. The event was race number 9 of 17 in the 1986 CART PPG Indy Car World Series.

The 1988 Michigan 500, the eighth running of the event, was held at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan, on Sunday, August 7, 1988. Branded as the 1988 Marlboro 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was won by Danny Sullivan, his first Michigan 500 victory and the first Michigan 500 win for Team Penske at the track Roger Penske owned. The event was race number 9 of 15 in the 1988 CART PPG Indy Car World Series.

The 1995 Michigan 500 was the thirteenth round of the 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series season. Branded as the 1995 Marlboro 500 for sponsorship reasons, the race was held on July 30, 1995, at the 2.00 mi Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The race marked Firestone's first Indy Car victory since 1974. Patrick Racing driver Scott Pruett took his first win in American open-wheel competition after a late-race battle with defending series champion Al Unser Jr., winning by just over half a second. Adrian Fernández came in third place, one lap behind Pruett and Unser. Parker Johnstone earned his first pole position and fastest lap in the series but suffered brake problems that forced him to retire; rookie André Ribeiro led the first ever laps of his career, ultimately earning a point for leading the most laps during the race. Danny Sullivan's IndyCar career would come to an end at leader's lap 194 as he would be involved in a crash where he would suffer a broken pelvis and other injuries. This was the first time the series competed on the newly resurfaced circuit, which made the track smoother and easier to drive on. Nevertheless, the race still saw massive attrition knock out many of the front-runners over the grueling 500-mile distance. Many cars suffered problems with failing wheel bearings and blistering tires. By the halfway point in the race, it was essentially a two-horse race between Pruett and Unser while the rest of the field simply struggled to make it to the end. Points leader Jacques Villeneuve, despite spending extensive time on pit lane trying to diagnose an engine problem, managed to finish tenth and keep his substantial lead in the points standings.

The 2003 Firestone Indy 400 was the tenth round of the 2003 IndyCar Series season. The race was held on July 27, 2003 at the 2.00 mi Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. In one of the closest finishes in series history, Mo Nunn Racing driver Alex Barron beat Sam Hornish Jr. by about one hundredth of a second, with polesitter Tomas Scheckter finishing 3rd. Reminiscent of Danny Sullivan's "spin and win" at the 1985 Indianapolis 500, Barron spun while in the lead with thirty seven laps to go but he avoided contact with the wall or other cars and was able to use the draft to work his way back to the front and remain side-by-side with Hornish for the lead during the final twenty laps. Barron was in his second race for Mo Nunn Racing as a replacement for an injured Felipe Giaffone and was looking for a good result after a solid qualifying. Chip Ganassi Racing locked out the front row, but it was Hornish and his exclusive next-generation Chevrolet Indy V8 engine, (controversially manufacturered by Cosworth, who was owned by Ford at the time) that dominated the race. Barron's spin on Lap 163 brought out a caution that bunched up the field and allowed the drivers to make a pit stop, setting up a thirty five-lap sprint to the finish. Multiple cars raced side-by-side and even three-wide as the laps ran down, but by Lap 180 it was a two-car race between Barron and Hornish for the win. Hornish stuck to the inside of the track and forced Barron to pass on the outside, but the air resistance generated by the 220 mph (350 km/h) speeds meant that Barron physically could not complete the pass and move down to the inside line that Hornish was running. On the final lap of the race, Barron moved his car directly behind Hornish on the back-straight to take advantage of the draft; from there he used the extra momentum to dart back to the outside in Turns 3 and 4, get alongside Hornish, and cross the finish line first by just 0.0121 seconds, at the time the fourth closest finish in IndyCar history.The win was both Barron's and Mo Nunn Racing's second win in IndyCar competition; it would also be the last win for both driver and team. It was also the race with the fastest average speed in IndyCar history at 180.917 mph (291.158 km/h) until next year's race in 2004.