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 (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 of 57.9 °F (14.4 °C) and 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); 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	Stacy Compton	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 race that took place on April 22, 2001, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. A total prize purse of $3,233,740 ($5,344,391.95 when adjusted for inflation); with $173,855 to the winner ($287,329.61 when adjusted for inflation).

Race report

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 engine failure on lap 116 of the 188-lap race.^[3][4] All 43 of the drivers on the grid were American-born.^[3] Bobby Hamilton would defeat Tony Stewart (who drove the No. 20 Pontiac for Joe Gibbs Racing at that time) by 2/10ths of a second after racing a completely caution-free race for almost three hours.^[3][4][5] The last-place finisher, Compton, qualified for the pole position with a speed of 184.661 miles per hour (297.183 km/h).^[3][4]

Sterling Marlin had the best car in the race but finished in 23rd place; leading 51 laps and overtaking competitors like Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Burton, and Stacy Compton.^[3][4] While Marlin was the class of the field, late in the race he got shuffled back.^[3][4]

This was the only time Andy Houston led a lap in a Cup race.^[3][4] Mike Skinner, who finished 29th, crossed the finish line less than 4 seconds behind winner Bobby Hamilton.^[3][4] Hamilton, who qualified with a speed of 182.99mph, was like most of the field which ran the 500 miles faster than their 1-lap qualification.

Despite the lack of a big crash in the crucial moments of the race, there were still some exciting parts in the race for NASCAR fans in the form of lead changes and drivers leading multiple laps. 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.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Practice

First practice

Happy hour

Qualifying

Race results

Standings after the race

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Dale Jarrett	1,345
	2	Jeff Gordon	1,200 (–145)
	3	Johnny Benson Jr.	1,195 (–150)
3	4	Bobby Hamilton	1,175 (–170)
1	5	Sterling Marlin	1,153 (–192)
	6	Rusty Wallace	1,137 (–208)
2	7	Steve Park	1,109 (–236)
	8	Ricky Rudd	1,096 (–249)
4	9	Tony Stewart	1,047 (–298)
1	10	Bill Elliott	1,015 (–330)