2001 Talladega 500
| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 36 in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
 Map of the Talladega Superspeedway | |||
| Date | April 22, 2001 | ||
| Official name | Talladega 500 | ||
| Location | Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.660 mi (4.280 km) | ||
| Distance | 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures ranging between 57.9 °F (14.4 °C) and 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); average wind speeds of 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 184.003 miles per hour (296.124 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Mark Melling | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Sterling Marlin | Chip Ganassi | |
| Laps | 51 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 55 | Bobby Hamilton | Andy Petree | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers |
Mike Joy Darrell Waltrip Larry McReynolds | ||
The 2001 Talladega 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on April 22, 2001, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. A prize purse with a grand total of $3,233,740 was used ($5,564,390.8 when adjusted for inflation); with $173,855 being used as the winner's portion of the earnings ($299,157.37 when adjusted for inflation).
Summary
Kenny Wallace, Kyle Petty, Rick Mast, Hut Stricklin and Andy Hillenburg would fail to qualify for this race.[3][4]
Stacy Compton would be credited with a last-place finish due to his troublesome engine on lap 116 of this 188-lap race.[3][4] All 43 of the drivers that appeared on the grid were American-born.[3] Bobby Hamilton would defeat Tony Stewart (who drove the #20 Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing at that time) by nearly 2/10ths of a second after racing a completely caution-free race for almost three hours.[3][4][5] The last-place finisher, Compton, would qualify for the pole position with speeds up to 184.661 miles per hour (297.183 km/h).[3][4] Other notable drivers in this race included: Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, Joe Nemechek, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton.[3][4]
Before this race, the last event to end without any caution periods was in 1999. It would be Hamilton's last win. He died 6 years later from head and neck cancer.
References
- ^ "Weather information for the 2001 Talladega 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ^ "Prize purse for the 2001 Talladega 500". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ^ a b c d e f "2001 Talladega 500 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ^ a b c d e "2001 Talladega 500 racing information". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ^ "Bobby Hamilton wins 2001 Talladega 500". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-03-23.