| series | Champcar current |
| race | Michigan |
| year | 1981 |
| team | car | entry | driver | start | finish | chassis | engine | laps led | * | |
| Morales | 5 | Alex Foods | Pancho Carter | | 4 | 1 | Penske PC-7/79 [a] | Cosworth DFX | 91 | |
| H&R Racing | 16 | Provimi Veal | Tony Bettenhausen Jr. | | 20 | 2 | McLaren M24 [001] | Cosworth DFX | 5 | |
| Penske | 6 | Gould Charge | Rick Mears | | 3 | 3 | Penske PC-9B/81 | Cosworth DFX | 2 | |
| Penske | 7 | AB Dick Pacemaker | Bill Alsup | | 7 | 4 | Penske PC-9B/81 | Cosworth DFX | 2 | |
| Gohr Racing | 56 | Genesee Beer | Tom Bigelow | | 21 | 5 | Penske PC-7/79 [006] | Chevy Donovan 355 V8 | ||
| Rhoades | 12 | Rhoades Racing | Gary Bettenhausen | | 18 | 6 | Wildcat Mk.VIII | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Brayton | 37 | Forsythe-Brayton | Scott Brayton | | 31 | 7 | Penske PC-7/79 [n] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Caliva Racing | 47 | Polaroid Time Zero | Phil Caliva | | 37 | 8 | McLaren M16C/D [C-4] | Chevy 355 V8 | ||
| Machinists Union | 31 | Machinists Union | Larry Dickson | | 24 | 9 | Penske PC-7/79 [k] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Fletcher | 35 | Montgomery Ward | Bob Lazier | | 17 | 10 | Penske PC-7/79 [002] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Longhorn | 8 | Longhorn Racing | Al Unser | | 10 | 11 | Longhorn LR-02 [02] | Cosworth DFX | 46 | |
| Kraco | 99 | Kraco | Larry Cannon | | 16 | 12 | Penske PC-7/79 [l] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Rager | 66 | Seymour Enterprises | Roger Rager | | 32 | 13 | Wildcat Mk.V [1] | Chevy 355 V8 | ||
| William R Compton | 38 | Tonco Trailer | Jerry Karl | | 22 | 14 | McLaren M16C/D Karl [C/D-6] | Chevy Donovan 355 V8 | ||
| Rattlesnake | 42 | Steve Vuckovich Racing | Billy Vukovich | | 26 | 15 | Watson 77 [1] | Offy Drake tc | ||
| Penske | 3 | Norton Spirit | Bobby Unser | | 9 | 16 | Penske PC-9B/81 | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Patrick | 40 | STP | Steve Krisiloff | | 5 | 17 | Wildcat Mk.VIII | Cosworth DFX | ||
| All American Racers | 48 | Pepsi Challenger | Mike Mosley | | 12 | 18 | Eagle 81 [8103] | Chevy Donovan 355 V8 | 34 | |
| Garza | 55 | Esso/Psachie-Garza | Josele Garza | | 19 | 19 | Penske PC-9/80 | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Jet Engineering | 64 | Jet Engineering | Steve Chassey | | 34 | 20 | Eagle 81 [8102] | Chevy Jet 355 V8 | ||
| AMI Racing | 45 | Armstrong Mould | Harry MacDonald | | 36 | 21 | Lola T500B | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Hall Racing | 1 | Pennzoil | Johnny Rutherford | | 2 | 22 | Chaparral 2K | Cosworth DFX | 38 | |
| Bignotti-Cotter | 2 | Blue Poly | Tom Sneva | | 1 | 23 | March 81C [02] | Cosworth DFX | 32 | |
| Vern Schuppan | 33 | Red Roof Inns | Vern Schuppan | | 25 | 24 | McLaren M24 [003] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Metro Racing | 57 | Metro Racing | Cliff Hucul | | 33 | 25 | McLaren M16C/D [B-2] | Offy Drake tc | ||
| AJ Foyt | 14 | Valvoline | AJ Foyt | | 6 | 26 | Coyote V [81-1] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Hodgdon | 74 | National Engineering | Michael Chandler | | 14 | 27 | Penske PC-7/79 [m] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| O'Connell | 32 | Jerry O'Connell Racing | Kevin Cogan | | 11 | 28 | Phoenix 80 [a] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Ohio Racing Associates | 49 | Space Racing | Chip Mead | | 29 | 29 | Eagle 81 [8101] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Cannon Racing | 96 | Kraco | Dick Ferguson | | 27 | 30 | Wildcat Mk.I [1] | DGS | ||
| Leader Card | 22 | Vermont American | Dick Simon | | 30 | 31 | Watson PC7 [1] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Bignotti-Cotter | 21 | Bignotti-Cotter | Salt Walther | | 28 | 32 | Phoenix 80 March [005] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Menard | 28 | Menard's | Herm Johnson | | 23 | 33 | Lightning Mk1/77 [d] | Chevy 355 V8 | ||
| Bill Tempero | 15 | O'Hanlon | Bill Tempero | | 35 | 34 | McLaren M24B [002] | Chevy 355 V8 | ||
| Beaudoin Racing | 29 | Beaudoin Racing | Bill Engelhart | | 15 | 35 | McLaren M24B [003] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Patrick | 20 | STP | Gordon Johncock | | 13 | 36 | Wildcat Mk.VIII | Cosworth DFX | ||
| Whittington Bros | 94 | Whittington Bros. | Bill Whittington | | 8 | 37 | March 81C [03] | Cosworth DFX | ||
| AMI Racing | 43 | Armstrong Mould | Jerry Sneva | | DNS | Armstrong SEA [1] | Cosworth DFX | |||
| Bignotti-Cotter | 2 | Bignotti-Cotter | Tom Sneva | | DNS | March 81C [05] | Cosworth DFX | |||
| Buick Racing | 86 | Buick Racing | Jim Buick | | DNS | Eagle 74 Fletcher [7405] | Chevy 355 V8 | |||
| Intercomp | 92 | Intercomp | John Mahler | | DNS | Finley PC-6 [4] | Offy Drake tc | |||
| Longhorn | 8 | Longhorn Racing | Al Unser | | DNS | Longhorn LR-02 [FW07B/5] | Cosworth DFX | |||
| Tom Frantz | 71 | BUF/Jolly Rancher | Bob Frey | | DNS | Eagle 72 [7204] | Offy Drake tc |
