2001 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400
Fifth race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 2001 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 was the fifth stock car race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 45th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, March 18, 2001, in Darlington, South Carolina , at Darlington Raceway , a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 293 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would manage to hold off the field on the final restart with seven to go to take his 25th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] To fill out the top three, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. driver Steve Park and Penske Racing South driver Jeremy Mayfield would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of Darlington Raceway , the venue where the race was held.
Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina . It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Practice
First practice
The first practice session was held on Saturday, March 17, at 7:45 AM EST . The session would last for one hour and 45 minutes.[ 4] Mark Martin , driving for Roush Racing , would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.787 and an average speed of 165.203 miles per hour (265.868 km/h).[ 5]
Final practice
The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, March 17, after the preliminary 2001 SunCom 200 NASCAR Busch Series race. The session would last for one hour.[ 4] Jeff Gordon , driving for Hendrick Motorsports , would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.899 and an average speed of 164.474 miles per hour (264.695 km/h).[ 6]
Qualifying
Qualifying was originally scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 17, at 10:40 AM EST .[ 4] However, due to intense fog, qualifying was cancelled and the lineup was set by the current 2001 owner's points. Per the NASCAR rules at the time, the first 35 spots were determined by the owner's points standings. Then, the next few positions were given to cars who had won the year before, but had not qualified in the top 35. The rest of the starting lineup was then determined by who had attempted to qualify for the previous four races by order of owner's points. As a result, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would earn the pole.[ 7]
Three drivers would fail to qualify: Dave Marcis , Andy Houston , and Rick Mast .
Full starting lineup
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
2
88
Dale Jarrett
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
293
16
running
180
$214,612
2
13
1
Steve Park
Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Chevrolet
293
164
running
180
$105,173
3
37
12
Jeremy Mayfield
Penske Racing South
Ford
293
0
running
165
$98,049
4
23
26
Jimmy Spencer
Haas-Carter Motorsports
Ford
293
2
running
165
$83,640
5
5
40
Sterling Marlin
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
Dodge
293
13
running
160
$68,998
6
34
43
John Andretti
Petty Enterprises
Dodge
293
0
running
150
$86,402
7
4
10
Johnny Benson Jr.
MBV Motorsports
Pontiac
293
25
running
151
$50,670
8
10
28
Ricky Rudd
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
293
0
running
142
$71,187
9
12
55
Bobby Hamilton
Andy Petree Racing
Chevrolet
293
0
running
138
$47,460
10
9
2
Rusty Wallace
Penske Racing South
Ford
293
0
running
134
$82,170
11
26
18
Bobby Labonte
Joe Gibbs Racing
Pontiac
293
0
running
130
$90,927
12
21
22
Ward Burton
Bill Davis Racing
Dodge
293
0
running
127
$70,930
13
11
36
Ken Schrader
MB2 Motorsports
Pontiac
293
0
running
124
$51,751
14
3
29
Kevin Harvick (R)
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
293
0
running
121
$81,487
15
17
77
Robert Pressley
Jasper Motorsports
Ford
293
0
running
118
$51,870
16
14
20
Tony Stewart
Joe Gibbs Racing
Pontiac
293
0
running
115
$53,735
17
19
21
Elliott Sadler
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
293
0
running
112
$47,265
18
36
99
Jeff Burton
Roush Racing
Ford
292
0
running
109
$78,216
19
30
17
Matt Kenseth
Roush Racing
Ford
292
0
running
106
$43,640
20
8
25
Jerry Nadeau
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
292
0
running
103
$47,170
21
25
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
292
1
running
105
$76,606
22
33
93
Dave Blaney
Bill Davis Racing
Dodge
292
0
running
97
$34,740
23
7
9
Bill Elliott
Evernham Motorsports
Dodge
292
0
running
94
$59,148
24
22
33
Joe Nemechek
Andy Petree Racing
Chevrolet
291
0
running
91
$62,380
25
6
15
Michael Waltrip
Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Chevrolet
291
0
running
88
$41,795
26
32
19
Casey Atwood (R)
Evernham Motorsports
Dodge
291
0
running
85
$30,685
27
20
32
Ricky Craven
PPI Motorsports
Ford
290
0
running
82
$30,500
28
42
90
Hut Stricklin
Donlavey Racing
Ford
290
0
running
79
$30,345
29
38
4
Robby Gordon
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
288
0
running
76
$33,140
30
27
97
Kurt Busch (R)
Roush Racing
Ford
288
0
running
73
$41,010
31
41
27
Kenny Wallace
Eel River Racing
Pontiac
287
0
running
70
$29,855
32
35
7
Mike Wallace
Ultra Motorsports
Ford
287
0
running
67
$37,725
33
28
66
Todd Bodine
Haas-Carter Motorsports
Ford
285
0
running
64
$29,545
34
16
8
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Chevrolet
285
0
running
61
$64,138
35
43
45
Kyle Petty
Petty Enterprises
Dodge
285
0
running
58
$29,285
36
31
11
Brett Bodine
Brett Bodine Racing
Ford
284
0
running
55
$29,155
37
15
31
Mike Skinner
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
281
0
crash
52
$61,374
38
18
5
Terry Labonte
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
280
0
crash
49
$61,655
39
40
01
Jason Leffler (R)
Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
Dodge
263
0
handling
46
$36,800
40
1
24
Jeff Gordon
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
228
72
engine
48
$85,052
41
39
44
Buckshot Jones
Petty Enterprises
Dodge
214
0
engine
40
$36,500
42
24
14
Ron Hornaday Jr. (R)
A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Pontiac
149
0
crash
37
$28,375
43
29
92
Stacy Compton
Melling Racing
Dodge
113
0
crash
34
$28,267
Failed to qualify
44
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
45
96
Andy Houston (R)
PPI Motorsports
Ford
46
50
Rick Mast
Midwest Transit Racing
Chevrolet
Official race results
Standings after the race
References
^ Poole, David (March 18, 2001). "Jarrett's Ford first at Darlington" . That's Racin' . The Charlotte Observer . Archived from the original on March 31, 2001. Retrieved October 4, 2022 .
^ Thomas, Stephen (March 19, 2001). "Jarrett conquers Darlington, takes points lead" . NASCAR . CNN . Archived from the original on March 31, 2001. Retrieved October 4, 2022 .
^ Iacobelli, Pete (March 19, 2001). "Jarrett rallies down stretch to win Dodge Dealers 400" . The Tampa Tribune . p. 20. Retrieved October 4, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ a b c "Jayski's Silly Season Site - 2001 Darlington 1 Race Info Page" . Jayski's Silly Season Site . Archived from the original on April 14, 2001. Retrieved October 4, 2022 .
^ "Saturday morning practice speeds" . That's Racin' . March 16, 2001. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved October 4, 2022 .
^ "Saturday's `Happy Hour' practice speeds" . That's Racin' . March 16, 2001. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved October 4, 2022 .
^ Poole, David (March 17, 2001). "Fog scuttles Winston Cup qualifying" . That's Racin' . The Charlotte Observer . Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved October 4, 2022 .
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