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2001 New Hampshire 300
Race details [1]
Race 36 of 36 in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2001 New Hampshire 300 program cover, with the cover advertising its original scheduled date of September 16.
The 2001 New Hampshire 300 program cover, with the cover advertising its original scheduled date of September 16.
Date November 23, 2001 (2001-November-23)
Official name New Hampshire 300
Location New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.058 mi (1.703 km)
Distance 300 laps, 317.4 mi (510.806 km)
Weather Cold with temperatures approaching 51.1 °F (10.6 °C); wind speeds up to 5.1 miles per hour (8.2 km/h)
Average speed 127.48 miles per hour (205.16 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 2001 Owner Points as of Richmond
Most laps led
Driver Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 257
Winner
No. 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network NBC
Announcers Allen Bestwick
Benny Parsons
Wally Dallenbach

The 2001 New Hampshire 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup race held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Originally scheduled to be run on September 16, 2001, the September 11 attacks forced a postponement of the race until November 23, 2001. Thus, the race served as the final event of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.

The race was won by Robby Gordon, driving the #31 Lowe's Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. It was his first of three victories in the Cup Series and was the only one of the three that did not take place on a road course.

Background

NASCAR did not want to cancel the New Hampshire 300 outright, but this created a logistical issue as there were no scheduled off weeks for the Cup Series cars for the remainder of the season. This left Thanksgiving weekend as the only remaining option, which NASCAR decided to take. The problem this presented was that the weather conditions in New England during November were significantly different than those in September, with snow potentially being a factor if temperatures were cold enough. The series' tire supplier, Goodyear, were tasked with coming up with a racing tire that could hold up against the potentially adverse conditions. NASCAR decided to schedule the New Hampshire 300 for Black Friday, November 23, to allow for two potential weather postponement dates. The race went off as scheduled, however, with no weather delays.

Practice results

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 29.223 130.336
2 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 29.293 130.024
3 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 29.342 129.807
Official practice results

Qualifying

NASCAR did not conduct qualifying for the race. Instead, the field was set by the points standings following the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond, which was the race run the week before the originally scheduled New Hampshire 300.

Thus, the front row was occupied by Jeff Gordon in the #24 DuPont Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, the pole sitter due to his having led the points following the race, and Ricky Rudd in the #28 Havoline Ford for Robert Yates Racing, who had won the Richmond race and who had been sitting second in the points race afterward.

There were originally 46 entries slated for the race, but after NASCAR elected to set the field by the points following Richmond this resulted in Morgan Shepherd's #89 Racing for Jesus Ford and Hermie Sadler's #13 Little Trees Chevrolet being withdrawn. The 43rd place team in the points after Richmond, the #27 Pontiac from Eel River Racing, had shut down in October after losing both its driver, Rick Mast, and its sponsor, Duke's Mayonnaise, to Donlavey Racing. The other team on the original entry list, the #96 Ford from PPI Motorsports that had been driven by Andy Houston earlier in 2001, had also shut down in the fall after its sponsor McDonald's left the team due to Houston's lack of results.

Starting Lineup

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2 28 Ricky Rudd Robert Yates Racing Ford
3 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford
4 29 Kevin Harvick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
5 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac
6 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge
7 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac
8 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet
9 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford
10 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MBV Motorsports Pontiac
11 1 Kenny Wallace Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet
12 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford
13 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford
14 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge
15 26 Jimmy Spencer Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford
16 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford
17 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge
18 21 Elliott Sadler Wood Brothers Racing Ford
19 55 Bobby Hamilton Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet
20 36 Ken Schrader MBV Motorsports Pontiac
21 77 Robert Pressley Jasper Motorsports Ford
22 12 Mike Wallace Penske Racing South Ford
23 25 Jerry Nadeau Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
24 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Ford
25 93 Dave Blaney Bill Davis Racing Dodge
26 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
27 97 Kurt Busch (R) Roush Racing Ford
28 33 Joe Nemechek Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet
29 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet
30 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Dodge
31 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 19 Casey Atwood (R) Evernham Motorsports Dodge
33 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford
34 66 Todd Bodine Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford
35 01 Jason Leffler (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge
36 7 Kevin Lepage Ultra Motorsports Ford
37 92 Stacy Compton Melling Racing Dodge
38 4 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet
39 14 Ron Hornaday Jr. (R) A.J. Foyt Racing Pontiac
40 90 Rick Mast Donlavey Racing Ford
41 44 Buckshot Jones Petty Enterprises Dodge
42 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge

Results

The race saw Robby Gordon, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, pick up his first career win. [2] [3]

However, it was a controversial win, as he and Jeff Gordon, who had been up front all day, were facing each other, made contact with 16 laps to go. This would put Robby in the lead during the final caution of the race. Jeff would retaliate under yellow and be black flagged. This did not affect Jeff's title hopes, as he had already clinched the title at Atlanta Motor Speedway the week before.

Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1 31 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 300 180
2 6 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 300 175
3 7 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 300 170
4 16 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 300 160
5 5 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 300 155
6 23 25 Jerry Nadeau Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 300 150
7 21 77 Robert Pressley Jasper Motorsports Ford 300 146
8 33 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 300 142
9 13 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 300 138
10 3 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 300 134
11 25 93 Dave Blaney Bill Davis Racing Dodge 300 130
12 10 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MBV Motorsports Pontiac 299 127
13 2 28 Ricky Rudd Robert Yates Racing Ford 299 124
14 15 26 Jimmy Spencer Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford 299 121
15 1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 299 128
16 32 19 Casey Atwood (R) Evernham Motorsports Dodge 299 115
17 12 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 298 112
18 9 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 298 109
19 18 21 Elliott Sadler Wood Brothers Racing Ford 298 106
20 28 33 Joe Nemechek Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 298 103
21 27 97 Kurt Busch (R) Roush Racing Ford 298 100
22 14 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 298 97
23 42 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 297 94
24 8 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 297 91
25 11 1 Kenny Wallace Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 297 88
26 4 29 Kevin Harvick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 297 90
27 26 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 297 82
28 40 90 Rick Mast Donlavey Racing Ford 297 79
29 19 55 Bobby Hamilton Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 297 76
30 35 01 Jason Leffler (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 296 73
31 34 66 Todd Bodine Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford 296 70
32 39 14 Ron Hornaday Jr. (R) A.J. Foyt Racing Pontiac 296 67
33 22 12 Mike Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 295 64
34 37 92 Stacy Compton Melling Racing Dodge 295 61
35 36 7 Kevin Lepage Ultra Motorsports Ford 295 58
36 30 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Dodge 295 55
37 38 4 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 294 52
38 24 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Ford 268 49
39 20 36 Ken Schrader MBV Motorsports Pontiac 261 46
40 29 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 246 43
41 41 44 Buckshot Jones Petty Enterprises Dodge 138 40
42 17 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 129 37
Official race results

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points [3]
1 Jeff Gordon 5112
2 Tony Stewart 4768
3 Sterling Marlin 4710
4 Ricky Rudd 4706
5 Dale Jarrett 4612
6 Bobby Labonte 4561
7 Rusty Wallace 4481
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4460
9 Kevin Harvick 4406
10 Jeff Burton 4394

References