Top 10 Races of 2001
December 23, 2001
1:05 PM EST (1705 GMT)
1. Cracker Barrel 500
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Date: March 9, 2001
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Chocolate Myers
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Race Excerpt: Driving the same car that Dale Earnhardt drove to Victory Lane here in a photo finish last year, Kevin Harvick fended off a furious last-lap charge by Jeff Gordon to win by a mere six thousandths of a second.
Over the final two laps, Harvick was engaged in a five-car, door-to-door, bumper-to-bumper battle with Dale Jarrett, Jerry Nadeau, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Gordon.
Several times over the final two laps, the pack of cars went three-wide. It was at one of those moments when Harvick made the move that sent him to Victory Lane quicker than any driver in NASCAR's 52 years.
Cracker Barrel 500 Race Story
2. Daytona 500
Track: Daytona International Speedway
Date: Feb. 18, 2001
Race Excerpt: Michael Waltrip broke the longest losing streak in NASCAR Winston Cup racing in the sport's biggest race when he won the 43rd Daytona 500 Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.
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Michael Waltrip
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Waltrip's No. 15 Chevrolet held off Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Monte Carlo in a race to the caution with less than a quarter-mile remaining when a wild accident broke out behind their Dale Earnhardt, Inc., Chevrolets in Turns 3 and 4.
Seven-time NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, who seconds before was watching his son and his newly-hired debut driver sprint to a one-two finish, was killed instantly in the crash into the outside wall in Turn 4, according to trauma surgeon Dr. Steve Bohannon, emergency medical services director at Daytona International Speedway.
Daytona 500 race story
3. Pepsi 400
Track: Daytona International Speedway
Date: July 5, 2001
Race Excerpt: With Michael Waltrip running as rear guard, Earnhardt Jr. scored his first NASCAR Winston Cup points victory 11 years to the day his late father, Dale Earnhardt, won his first Winston Cup points race at Daytona.
Earnhardt Sr., the career victories leader at Daytona, was killed on the final lap of the season-opening Daytona 500 while he ran third behind his two drivers.
Earnhardt ended up .123 seconds ahead of Waltrip. Elliott Sadler finished third, Ward Burton was fourth and Bobby Labonte was fifth.
"Y'all know who that's for, guys," Earnhardt Jr. said over his in-car radio back to his crew on his cool-down lap.
Pepsi 400 Race Story
4. Old Dominion 500
Track: Martinsville Speedway
Date: Oct. 12, 2001
Race Excerpt: Ricky Craven stood in Victory Lane for the first time in his Winston Cup career, a span of 174 races.
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Ricky Craven
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Having just won the Old Dominion 500 at quirky Martinsville Speedway, Craven was understandably emotional, tears streaming down his cheeks while smiling from ear-to-ear.
On that final stop, Craven had pitted for just two tires, while Jarrett had taken on four, enabling him to close-in on Craven with each passing lap, until the duo eventually ran door-to-door into Turn 3 of the final lap. Coming off of Turn 4, Craven managed to hold the low line and go on to victory.
Old Dominion 500 Race Story
5. Pennsylvania 500
Track: Pocono Raceway
Date: July 27, 2001
Race Excerpt: Defending NASCAR Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with less than two laps to go and went on to win the Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.
Labonte, who swept both Pocono races in 1999, won for the first time this season. Labonte averaged 134.579 mph and finished 1.680 seconds ahead of Earnhardt Jr. after three hours, 42 minutes and 55 seconds.
Labonte, whose No. 18 Interstate Batteries Pontiac had battled to pass Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet over the last five laps, finally passed him on the outside on lap 199 of 200 going into the infamous Tunnel Turn.
Pennsylvania 500 Race Story
6. NAPA 500
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway
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Bobby Labonte
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Date: Nov. 16, 2001
Race Excerpt: Jerry Nadeau had a dominant racecar in the waning stages of the NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a race he won one year ago. Nadeau nabbed the lead from Bobby Labonte with 19 laps remaining, and had built a substantial lead as they took the white flag.
However, as Nadeau coursed through Turns 3 and 4, he began to slow noticeably. By the time the exited Turn 4, he was well off the pace, having run out of fuel.
That allowed Labonte to speed by unimpeded to the take the checkered flag at AMS for the fifth time in his career.
NAPA 500 Race Story
7. Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400
Track: Richmond International Raceway
Date: Sept. 7, 2001
Just when it appeared that Kevin Harvick had yet again bullied his way to Victory Lane on the Winston Cup playground, Ricky Rudd reared back with a counter punch for the ages.
Rudd was leading the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 with 17 laps remaining when Harvick, in what has become characteristic fashion, stormed to his rear bumper, got under him, lifted him up and turned him sideways coming out of Turn 2.
Rudd somehow managed to save the car, then collected himself and began a furious charge after Harvick that ended when he moved Harvick from his path on lap 394.
Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 Race Story
8. Dodge/Save Mart 350
Track: Sears Point Raceway
Date: June 22, 2001
Race Excerpt: Tony Stewart used a masterful strategy and took advantage of a downright stubborn Robby Gordon to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Dodge/Save Mart 350 Sunday at Sears Point Raceway.
The race's critical moment came when Robby Gordon was threatening to drive away on cruise control to win over the six-time Winston Cup road race winner Jeff Gordon.
Going into the new "Bud Bottleneck" section, Harvick tapped the Gordon trying to get around him and both cars slid wide on the exit.
Stewart had hung back to get a run and he blew by both cars exiting the Bottleneck onto the backstretch Esses.
Dodge/Save Mart 350 Race Story
9: Food City 500
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
Date: March 23, 2001
Race Excerpt: Not only did Elliott Sadler win his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series race in Sunday's Food City 500, but he rewrote the Bristol Motor Speedway record book as well.
Sadler, a third-year pilot for Wood Brothers Racing, won from the 38th starting position, something no other driver has ever achieved in the 40 years of racing at Bristol.
In fact, just two other drivers have won from a backstretch starting spot - Davey Allison and Dale Earnhardt.
Sadler took the lead on lap 431 when then-leader Kevin Harvick was forced to pit with a punctured left-front tire. From there, it was all Sadler, who on the strength of a late-race gamble to stay out on the track became the third first-time winner of the 2001 season in his 75th career Winston Cup start.
Food City 500 Race Story
10. Pennzoil 400
Track: Homestead-Miami Speedway
Date: Nov. 9, 2001
Race Excerpt: Rookie Casey Atwood was victimized by veteran teammate Bill Elliott, who won the NASCAR Winston Cup Pennzoil Freedom 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Elliott drove under Atwood's Dodge in Turns 3 and 4 with less than five laps remaining when his young teammate got loose coming to four laps to go. It was Dodge's fourth win this season and Elliott's first since he won his 40th career victory on Sept. 4, 1994 at Darlington, S.C.
Michael Waltrip charged his Chevrolet past Atwood on the last lap to finish second, 1.420 seconds behind Elliott.
Pennzoil 400 Race Story
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