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2001 Talladega 500

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2001 Talladega 500
Race details[1][2]
Race 9 of 36 in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Map of the Talladega Superspeedway
Map of the Talladega Superspeedway
Date April 22, 2001 (2001-April-22)
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 Home Depot 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

  1. ^ "Weather information for the 2001 Talladega 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  2. ^ "Prize purse for the 2001 Talladega 500". Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "2001 Talladega 500 racing information". Racing Reference. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  4. ^ a b c d e "2001 Talladega 500 racing information". Race Database. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  5. ^ "Bobby Hamilton wins 2001 Talladega 500". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
Preceded by NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season
2001
Succeeded by