2001 EA Sports 500
31st race of 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup
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The 2001 EA Sports 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on October 21, 2001, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It was the 31st race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series.[2]
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 31 of 36 in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
|
2001 EA Sports 500 program cover | |||
| Date | October 21, 2001 | ||
| Official name | EA Sports 500 | ||
| Location | Talladega, Alabama, U.S. | ||
| Course | Talladega Superspeedway | ||
| Course length | 2.66 miles (4.28 km) | ||
| Distance | 188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.801 km) | ||
| Average speed | 164.185 miles per hour (264.230 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Melling Racing | ||
| Time | 50.415 sec (185.24 mph, 298.119 km/h) | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Laps | 67 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers | Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Jr. | ||
Race report
The race is known for its wild finish. Coming out of the tri-oval to the white flag, Dale Earnhardt Jr. attempted to pull to the inside of race leader Bobby Labonte. Instead of going with his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Tony Stewart moved down and got behind Dale Jr. and Earnhardt took the lead in turn 1. Bobby Hamilton got a run after a push from Ricky Craven and attempted to pass Labonte but Labonte blocked Hamilton. Out of turn 2, Labonte got hooked by Hamilton in the left rear causing Labonte to spin into Ricky Craven collecting Johnny Benson shooting Labonte back to the right and Labonte went upside down. This would cause the big one on the backstretch collecting as many as 15 cars. In the race back to the line, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would hold off Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton to win the race. This race would be Dale Earnhardt Jr's first of six career wins at Talladega including 4 in a row from this race to the 2003 Aaron's 499.
Results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | 188 | 67 | running | 185 |
| 2 | 37 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Pontiac | 188 | 0 | running | 170 |
| 3 | 33 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Ford | 188 | 4 | running | 170 |
| 4 | 24 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 188 | 3 | running | 165 |
| 5 | 2 | 55 | Bobby Hamilton | Chevrolet | 188 | 14 | running | 160 |
| 6 | 15 | 1 | Kenny Wallace | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | running | 150 |
| 7 | 11 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | running | 146 |
| 8 | 9 | 33 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | running | 142 |
| 9 | 14 | 6 | Mark Martin | Ford | 188 | 0 | running | 138 |
| 10 | 40 | 7 | Kevin Lepage | Ford | 188 | 0 | running | 134 |
| 11 | 1 | 92 | Stacy Compton | Dodge | 188 | 4 | running | 135 |
| 12 | 16 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Ford | 188 | 0 | running | 127 |
| 13 | 20 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | running | 124 |
| 14 | 35 | 4 | Bobby Hamilton Jr. | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | running | 121 |
| 15 | 41 | 01 | Jason Leffler | Dodge | 188 | 6 | running | 123 |
| 16 | 32 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Ford | 188 | 0 | running | 115 |
| 17 | 3 | 40 | Sterling Marlin | Dodge | 188 | 4 | running | 117 |
| 18 | 38 | 12 | Mike Wallace | Ford | 188 | 0 | running | 109 |
| 19 | 39 | 31 | Robby Gordon | Chevrolet | 188 | 0 | running | 106 |
| 20 | 5 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Dodge | 188 | 1 | running | 108 |
| 21 | 18 | 22 | Ward Burton | Dodge | 188 | 0 | running | 100 |
| 22 | 34 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Pontiac | 187 | 28 | crash | 102 |
| 23 | 4 | 10 | Johnny Benson Jr. | Pontiac | 187 | 0 | crash | 94 |
| 24 | 12 | 32 | Ricky Craven | Ford | 187 | 0 | crash | 91 |
| 25 | 10 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Ford | 187 | 1 | crash | 93 |
| 26 | 23 | 28 | Ricky Rudd | Ford | 187 | 0 | crash | 85 |
| 27 | 36 | 77 | Robert Pressley | Ford | 187 | 2 | crash | 87 |
| 28 | 22 | 44 | Buckshot Jones | Dodge | 187 | 0 | running | 79 |
| 29 | 27 | 97 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 187 | 0 | running | 76 |
| 30 | 31 | 93 | Dave Blaney | Dodge | 187 | 0 | running | 73 |
| 31 | 28 | 36 | Ken Schrader | Pontiac | 187 | 0 | running | 70 |
| 32 | 19 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 187 | 0 | running | 67 |
| 33 | 8 | 45 | Kyle Petty | Dodge | 187 | 0 | running | 64 |
| 34 | 7 | 43 | John Andretti | Dodge | 182 | 0 | running | 61 |
| 35 | 29 | 25 | Jerry Nadeau | Chevrolet | 175 | 0 | handling | 58 |
| 36 | 43 | 90 | Hut Stricklin | Ford | 174 | 0 | engine | 55 |
| 37 | 30 | 15 | Michael Waltrip | Chevrolet | 167 | 53 | overheating | 57 |
| 38 | 42 | 14 | Ron Hornaday Jr. | Chevrolet | 148 | 0 | transmission | 49 |
| 39 | 26 | 19 | Casey Atwood | Dodge | 107 | 0 | crash | 46 |
| 40 | 17 | 21 | Elliott Sadler | Ford | 96 | 0 | crash | 43 |
| 41 | 21 | 66 | Todd Bodine | Ford | 94 | 1 | crash | 45 |
| 42 | 13 | 51 | Jeff Purvis | Ford | 86 | 0 | rear end | 37 |
| 43 | 25 | 26 | Jimmy Spencer | Ford | 18 | 0 | engine | 34 |
| Source:[3] | ||||||||
