2001 NASCAR RCA Cup Series (Johnsonverse)

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The 2001 NASCAR RCA Cup Series was the 53rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 30th modern-era Cup series. It began on January 28, 2001, at Sears Point Raceway and ended on December 16, 2001, at Ontario Motor Speedway. Davey Allison of Robert Yates Racing was declared as the series champion. Fourth-generation driver Adam Petty ran away with Rookie of the Year honors with four wins, beating Tony Stewart's 1999 record of three rookie wins. Chevrolet captured the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship with 16 wins and 248 points.

The season was marred by the terrorist attacks of September 11, which resulted in the Tyson Holly Farms 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway being delayed from September 16 to November 23. As a result, the final three races of the season at Denver, San Jose, and Ontario were pushed back a week each, and the Los Angeles Times 500 occurred almost a week before Christmas.

Starting this season, networks ESPN and TNN began using studios for pre-race coverage as WBC had already done since 1988, with longtime pit reporters Jerry Punch and Glenn Jarrett as their respective hosts; Bill Weber succeeded the retiring Ken Squier as WBC's studio host.

Teams, drivers, and manufacturers

Manufacturers

Company	Marquee	Model	Status	Teams
General Motors	Chevrolet	Monte Carlo LS	Full factory support	All full-time teams
		Cavalier	Full factory support	Part-time teams
		Camaro Z28	Full factory support	Part-time teams
		Malibu	Full factory support	Part-time teams
	Pontiac	Grand Prix	Full factory support	Joe Gibbs Racing, MBV Motorsports
		Firebird	Full factory support	A. J. Foyt Racing
	Oldsmobile	Intrigue	Full factory support	Andy Petree Racing
		Alero	Full factory support	Morgan McClure Motorsports
Ford Motor Company	Ford-Cosworth	Taurus	Full factory support	Penske Racing, Robert Yates Racing
		Crown Victoria	Full factory support	Part-time teams
		Mustang SVT Cobra	Full factory support	PPI Motorsports
		Roush Mustang	In-house variant	Roush Racing
	Mercury	Sable	Full factory support	Cale Yarborough Motorsports, Jasper Motorsports, Wood Brothers Racing
		Grand Marquis	Full factory support	Orr Motorsports
	Lincoln	Continental	Full factory support	All teams
Chrysler Corporation	Dodge	Intrepid	Full factory support	AK Racing, Bill Davis Racing, Evernham Motorsports, Melling Racing, Petty Enterprises
		Stratus	Full factory support	Donlavey Racing, McDuffie Racing, Moroso-Rudd Racing

Manufacturer notes

2001 saw the continuation of the "Third Aero War", with races chiefly contested between the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, Ford Taurus, Dodge Intrepid, and Mercury Sable, the four being referred to as the "New Aero Warriors". Starting this year, Ford teamed with Cosworth (which had been working with Ford in USAC since 1992) to develop the Ford-Cosworth EFA V8 engine for NASCAR.

Complete schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Crew chief	Model	Primary Sponsor
Chevrolet	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Tony Eury	2001 Monte Carlo	ACDelco
		17	Michael Waltrip			NAPA Auto Parts
		38	Kelley Earnhardt			Pennzoil
	Hendrick Motorsports *	5	Terry Labonte	Gary DeHart	2001 Monte Carlo	Kellogg's
		24	Jeff Gordon	Robbie Loomis		DuPont
		25	Jack Sprague	Tommy Baldwin Jr.		Lowe's
		52	Ricky Craven			M&M's
	Richard Childress Racing *	3	Dale Earnhardt	Kevin Hamlin	2001 Monte Carlo	GM Goodwrench
		29	Steve Park			AOL
		31	Mike Skinner	Royce McGee		Budweiser
Dodge	AK Racing	7	Alan Kulwicki		2001 Intrepid	Walmart
		11	Ernie Irvan			Burger King
	Bill Davis Racing *	22	Bobby Labonte		2001 Intrepid	Caterpillar
		23	Ward Burton			Sprite
		93	Dave Blaney	Doug Randolph		Tab
	Chip Ganassi Racing	1	Jimmie Johnson (R)	Lee McCall	2001 Intrepid	UAW-Delphi
		41	Emily Senn (R)			Target
	Donlavey Racing	90	Tammy Jo Kirk	Bobby King	2001 Stratus	Hills Brothers Coffee
	Elliott-Evernham Motorsports	9	Bill Elliott		2001 Intrepid	Coors Light
		13	Jerry Nadeau			BellSouth
		94	Casey Elliott			Dodge Dealers
	Moroso-Rudd Racing	82	Rob Moroso	Dan Stillman	2001 Stratus	Mountain Dew
		83	Ricky Rudd	Billy Ingle		Tide
	Petty Enterprises *	43	Adam Petty (R)	Greg Steadman	2001 Intrepid	STP
	Team SABCO	40	Shawna Robinson		2001 Intrepid	Kmart
		42	Kyle Petty			Mello Yello
		45	Patty Moise			Barbie
		46	Kenny Irwin Jr.			Spam
Ford	Penske Racing	2	Rusty Wallace	Robin Pemberton	2001 Taurus	Miller Lite
		12	Tim Richmond	Peter Sospenzo		Mobil 1
	PPI Motorsports	32	Stacy Compton	Mike Beam	2001 Mustang	Nickelodeon
	Robert Yates Racing *	28	Davey Allison	Michael McSwain	2001 Taurus	Texaco/Havoline
		88	Sterling Marlin	Todd Parrott		UPS
	Roush Racing *	6	Mark Martin	Jimmy Fennig	2001 Roush Mustang	Viagra/Pfizer
		60	Matt Kenseth	Robbie Reiser		DeWalt Tools
		97	Kurt Busch (R)	Matt Chambers Ben Lesie		Sharpie/Rubbermaid
		99	Jeff Burton	Frank Stoddard		Citgo Supergard
	Steele-Favre Racing	15	Tim Steele		2002 Taurus	Nike/Sony
Lincoln	Brett Bodine Racing	27	Brett Bodine	Mike Hillman	2001 Continental	Ralph's Supermarkets
	Haas-Carter Motorsports *	26	Jimmy Spencer	Donnie Wingo	2001 Continental	Kmart
		66	Todd Bodine	Larry Carter		Route 66
	Ultra Motorsports	70	Kenny Wallace	Jim Long	2001 Continental	NationsRent
Mercury	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	98	Jeremy Mayfield		2001 Sable	Sonic
	Jasper Motorsports	77	Robert Pressley	Ryan Pemberton	2001 Sable	Jasper Engines
			Boris Said
	Orr Motorsports	37	Rodney Orr		2001 Grand Marquis	Craftsman
	Wood Brothers Racing *	21	Elliott Sadler	Pat Tryson	2001 Sable	Motorcraft
Oldsmobile	Andy Petree Racing	33	Joe Nemechek	Chris Carrier	2001 Intrigue	Oakwood Homes
		55	Bobby Hamilton	Jimmy Elledge		Square D
	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	4	Clifford Allison	David Ifft	2001 Alero	Kodak Film
Pontiac	Joe Gibbs Racing *	18	Dale Jarrett	Jimmy Makar	2001 Grand Prix	Interstate Batteries
		19	Kelly Watson			Circuit City
	MBV Motorsports	10	Johnny Benson	James Ince	2001 Grand Prix	Valvoline
		36	Ken Schrader	Sammy Johns		Jimmy Dean Sausage
	Stacker-Foyt Racing	14	Tony Stewart	Greg Zipadelli	2001 Firebird	Home Depot

Limited schedule

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Race driver	Crew chief	Model
Chevrolet	Bill McAnally Racing	62	Brendan Gaughan		1999 Malibu
	Dark Horse Motorsports	47	Lance Hooper		1999 Cavalier
	Hendrick Motorsports	48	Casey Atwood	Ken Howes	2001 Monte Carlo
	Marcis Auto Racing	71	Dave Marcis	Bob Marcis	2001 Camaro
			Dick Trickle
		72	Dwayne Leik
	Midwest Transit Racing	50	Rick Mast	Greg Connors	2000 Cavalier
			Rich Bickle
	NEMCO Motorsports	87	Ron Fellows	Brian Pattie	1999 Monte Carlo
	Norm Benning Racing	84	Norm Benning		2001 Malibu
	Richard Childress Racing	92	Kevin Harvick	Todd Berrier	2001 Monte Carlo
Dodge	A.J. Foyt Racing	114	Mark Green	Philippe Lopez	2001 Intrepid
	Bill Davis Racing	123	Hut Stricklin	Tommy Baldwin Jr.	2001 Intrepid
	Bogart Racing	70	Rick Bogart		1999 Avenger
	Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates	04	Jason Leffler	Kevin Cram	2001 Intrepid
	Donlavey Racing	91	Rick Mast	Junie Donlavey	2001 Intrepid
	Eel River Racing	30	Kenny Wallace	Barry Dodson	2000 Intrepid
			Mike Bliss
			Rick Mast
Ford	Bob Schacht Motorsports	75	Stuart Kirby		2000 Taurus
	Dark Horse Motorsports	47	Lance Hooper		1999 Taurus
	Hover Motorsports	180	Morgan Shepherd		2001 Crown Victoria
	Penske Racing	39	Ryan Newman (R)	Matt Borland	2001 Taurus
	PPI Motorsports	96	Andy Houston (R)	Joe Garone	2001 Taurus
	Team CLR	57	David Keith		2001 Mustang
			Derrike Cope
Lincoln	Mansion Motorsports	185	Carl Long		1999 Continental
	Phoenix Racing	51	Jeff Purvis		2001 Continental
	Shepherd Racing Ventures	89	Morgan Shepherd		2000 Continental
Mercury	BAM Racing	49	Rich Bickle		2000 Sable
	Larry Clement Racing	46	Frank Kimmel		1999 Grand Marquis
	Sadler Brothers Racing	95	Ed Berrier		2001 Sable
	SCORE Motorsports	13	Hermie Sadler	Jim Long	2000 Sable
	TWC Motorsports	68	Anthony Lazzaro		1999 Sable
Pontiac	BAM Motorsports	49	Andy Hillenburg		1999 Grand Prix
			Rich Bickle
	Qwest Motor Racing	137	Derrike Cope	Joey Knuckles	2000 Grand Prix

Schedule

No.	Race title	Track	Date	TV
1	Dodge/Save Mart 350	Sears Point Raceway, Sonoma	January 21	WBC
	Budweiser Shootout	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 4	WBC
	Gatorade 125's		February 8	WBC
2	Daytona 500		February 11	WBC
3	Dura Lube 400	North Carolina Speedway, Rockingham	February 18	WBC
4	San Jose 500	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy	February 25	WBC
5	UAW-Dodge 400	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas	March 4	WBC
6	Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton	March 11	ESPN
7	Carolina Dodge Dealers 400	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	March 18	ESPN
8	Food City 500	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	March 25	TNN
9	Harrah's 500	Texas World Speedway, College Station	April 1	WBC
10	Virginia 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	April 8	TNN
11	Talladega 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	April 22	WBC
12	NAPA Auto Parts 500	California Speedway, Fontana	April 29	WBC
13	Pontiac Excitement 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond	May 5	TNN
14	Diet Coke 500	Denver International Speedway, Denver	May 13	WBC
	RCA Shootout	Texas World Speedway, College Station	May 19	TNN
	RCA Open			TNN
	RCA All-Star Challenge XVII		May 19-20	WBC
15	Coca-Cola 600	Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord	May 27	WBC
16	MBNA Platinum 400	Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover	June 3	TNN
17	Pabst Blue Ribbon 400	The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis	June 10	ESPN
18	Chrysler 400	Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth	June 17	WBC
19	Budweiser 400	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside	June 24	WBC
20	Music City USA 420	Music City Motorplex, Nashville	July 1	TNN
21	Pepsi 400	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	July 7	WBC
22	Tropicana 400	Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet	July 15	ESPN
23	New Hampshire 300	New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon	July 22	WBC
24	Pennsylvania 500	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond	July 29	ESPN
25	Brickyard 400	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway	August 5	WBC
26	Global Crossing at the Glen	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen	August 12	ESPN
27	Pepsi 400 presented by Meijer	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn	August 19	TNN
28	Sharpie 500	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol	August 25	TNN
29	Southern 500	Darlington Raceway, Darlington	September 2	ESPN
30	Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400	Richmond International Raceway	September 9	TNN
31	MBNA Cal Ripkin Jr. 400	Dover Downs International Speedway, Dover	September 23	TNN
32	Protection One 400	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City	September 30	TNN
33	UAW-GM Quality 500	Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord	October 7	WBC TNN
34	Old Dominion 500	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway	October 15	ESPN
35	EA Sports 500	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln	October 21	WBC
36	Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil	Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale	October 28	TNN
37	Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400	North Carolina Speedway, Rockingham	November 4	TNN
38	Pennzoil Freedom 400	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead	November 11	WBC
39	NAPA 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton	November 18	ESPN
40	Tyson Holly Farms 400	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro	November 23	WBC
41	Sprite 500	Denver International Speedway, Denver	December 1	WBC
42	Gilead 500	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy	December 9	WBC
43	Los Angeles Times 500	Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario	December 16	WBC

Results

No.	Race	Pole Position	Most Laps Led	Winner	Make/Model
1	Dodge/Save Mart 350	Tony Stewart	Adam Petty	Adam Petty	Dodge Intrepid
	Budweiser Shootout	Ken Schrader	Tony Stewart	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Grand Prix
	Gatorade 125s Race 1	Bill Elliott	Dale Earnhardt	Sterling Marlin	Dodge Intrepid
	Gatorade 125s Race 2	Stacy Compton	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Mike Skinner	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
2	Daytona 500	Bill Elliott	Ward Burton	Michael Waltrip	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
3	Dura Lube 500	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Steve Park	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
4	San Jose 500	Michael Waltrip	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
5	UAW-Dodge 500	Dale Jarrett	Mark Martin	Dale Jarrett	Pontiac Grand Prix
6	Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500	Davey Allison	Jeff Gordon	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
7	Carolina Dodge Dealers 400	Jeff Gordon	Steve Park	Ernie Irvan	Ford Taurus
8	Food City 500	Mark Martin	Dale Earnhardt	Elliott Sadler	Mercury Sable
9	Harrah's 500	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Davey Allison	John Andretti	Dodge Intrepid
10	Virginia 500	Jeff Gordon	Bobby Hamilton	Davey Allison	Ford Taurus
11	Talladega 500	Stacy Compton	Sterling Marlin	Bobby Hamilton	Oldsmobile Intrigue
12	NAPA Auto Parts 500	Bobby Labonte	Rusty Wallace	Rusty Wallace	Ford Taurus
13	Pontiac Excitement 400	Mark Martin	Rusty Wallace	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Grand Prix
14	Diet Coke 500	Adam Petty	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
	RCA Open	Johnny Benson	Ryan Newman	Johnny Benson	Pontiac Grand Prix
	No Bull Sprint	Mike Wallace	Todd Bodine	Todd Bodine	Lincoln Continental
	The Coca-Cola	Rusty Wallace	Ward Burton Johnny Benson	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
15	Coca-Cola 600	Ryan Newman	Jeff Burton	Jeff Burton	Roush Mustang
16	MBNA Platinum 400	Dale Jarrett	Dale Jarrett	Dale Jarrett	Pontiac Grand Prix
17	Pabst Blue Ribbon 400	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Adam Petty	Dodge Intrepid
18	Chrysler 400	Ricky Rudd	Jeff Gordon	Rob Moroso	Dodge Stratus
19	Budweiser 400	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Grand Prix
20	Music City USA 420	Ernie Irvan	Jeff Gordon	Kyle Petty	Dodge Intrepid
21	Pepsi 400	Sterling Marlin	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
22	Tropicana 400	Todd Bodine	Dale Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
23	New Hampshire 300	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Dale Jarrett	Pontiac Grand Prix
24	Pennsylvania 500	Todd Bodine	Jeff Gordon	Bobby Labonte	Dodge Intrepid
25	Brickyard 400	Jimmy Spencer	Steve Park	Adam Petty	Dodge Intrepid
26	Global Crossing @ The Glen	Dale Jarrett	Jeff Burton	Dale Jarrett	Pontiac Grand Prix
27	Pepsi 400 presented by Meijer	Ricky Craven	Bill Elliott	Sterling Marlin	Dodge Intrepid
28	Sharpie 500	Jeff Green	Dale Jarrett	Tony Stewart	Pontiac Grand Prix
29	Mountain Dew Southern 500	Kurt Busch	Dale Jarrett	Ward Burton	Dodge Intrepid
30	Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400	Jeff Gordon	Rusty Wallace	Ricky Rudd	Dodge Stratus
31	MBNA Cal Ripkin Jr. 400	Davey Allison	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
32	Protection One 400	Jason Leffler	Rusty Wallace	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
33	UAW-GM Quality 500	Jimmy Spencer	Sterling Marlin	Sterling Marlin	Dodge Intrepid
34	Old Dominion 500	Todd Bodine	Ricky Craven	Ricky Craven	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
35	EA Sports 500	Stacy Compton	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet Monte Carlo
36	Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil	Casey Atwood	Jeff Burton	Jeff Burton	Roush Mustang
37	Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400	Kenny Wallace	Joe Nemechek	Joe Nemechek	Oldsmobile Intrigue
38	Pennzoil Freedom 400	Bill Elliott	Tony Stewart	Bill Elliott	Dodge Intrepid
39	NAPA 500	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Jarrett	Pontiac Grand Prix
40	Tyson Holly Farms 400	Jeff Gordon	Jeff Gordon	Robby Gordon	Lincoln Continental
41	Sprite 500	Michael Waltrip	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Adam Petty	Dodge Intrepid
42	Gilead 500	Mark Martin	Adam Petty	Adam Petty	Dodge Intrepid
43	Los Angeles Times 500	Johnny Benson	Mark Martin	Tim Richmond	Ford Taurus

Cars Used in 2001 (incomplete)

Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Ford Taurus

Dodge Intrepid

Pontiac Grand Prix

Lincoln Continental

Mercury Sable