Top 10 Weirdest Stats of 2001

January 1, 2002
3:03 PM EST (2233 GMT)

1. The Sponsor's Curse.

Michael Waltrip, sponsored by NAPA, finished 43rd in the NAPA Parts 500 at Fontana and 26th in the NAPA 500 at Atlanta.

Shawna Robinson

Todd Bodine, sponsored by Kmart, finished 42nd in the Kmart 400 at Michigan. John Andretti, sponsored by Pop Secret, wound up 29th in the Pop Secret 400 at Rockingham.

Shawna Robinson picked up Tropicana sponsorship for the inaugural Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland, but did not qualify.

Jeff Gordon ran a special Pepsi paint scheme in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona and finished 37th.

The Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond was won by Ricky Rudd, driving a Ford. The Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington was won by Dale Jarrett, driving a Ford.

The UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas was won by Jeff Gordon, driving a Chevy. The Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma was won by Tony Stewart in a Pontiac. Sterling Marlin won the UAW-GM 500 at Charlotte in a Dodge.

Only Pontiac claimed its own race -- Stewart won the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond.

2. Lucky Charms for Gordon and Jarrett

There were three occasions where Jeff Gordon started from the pole and Dale Jarrett won the race (Darlington, Martinsville, Loudon).

There were three occasions where Dale Jarrett started from the pole and Jeff Gordon won the race (Las Vegas, Dover, Watkins Glen).

3. Less than $300 out of $3.5 million

Brett Bodine

Todd and Brett Bodine ran neck-and-neck all season in the standings and in earnings. Todd finished the season 29th in the standings, just 12 points ahead of Brett, who finished 30th. Brett ($1,740,530) earned $220 more than Todd ($1,740,310).

4. Ford falters in finale

By failing to lead a lap at the New Hampshire 300, Ford came up one race short of leading at least a lap in every event in 2001, the only manufacturer that could make that claim.

5. Ultimate parity

Las Vegas, Indianapolis and the New Hampshire 300 were the only events in 2001 in which the four competing manufacturers each had a car in the top-four finishers.

6. Gordon's struggles at Daytona, Talladega

Jeff Gordon was not in the top 25 in points earned in the four restrictor plate races in 2001. Gordon was 7th in the EA Sports 500 at Talladega; but he finished 30th in the Daytona 500, 27th in the Talladega 500 and 37th in the Pepsi 400.

7. Bobby pulls away

After nine races, Bobby and Terry Labonte were tied at 966 points in the season standings. Bobby eventually rallied to finish sixth in the standings, while Terry remained in the middle of the pack (he finished 23rd in the standings.)

8. Lead the last lap

The driver who led the most laps won only 13 of 36 races, and six of those came in the final 10 races.

9. Musical chairs

Sterling Marlin

There was a different point leader following each of the first five Winston Cup races in 2001. Michael Waltrip led after Daytona, Rusty Wallace led after Rockingham, Sterling Marlin led after Las Vegas, Jeff Gordon led after Atlanta and Dale Jarrett led after Darlington.

10. Qualifying counts.

Jeff Gordon was the only driver to not use a provisional in 2001.