17th iteration of the NASCAR All-Star Race
The 2001 edition of
The Winston
was held on May 19, 2001, at
Lowe's Motor Speedway
in
Concord, North Carolina
. This was the 17th running of the event. The race is mostly remembered for the start, when rain progressed onto the track, causing cars to get loose and crash into the wall. One of the first ones to crash was
Kevin Harvick
, in his first appearance at the speedway. Then
Jeff Gordon
got sideways and wrecked after tapping
Jeff Burton
from behind, then
Michael Waltrip
wrecked Gordon, destroying his car, at which point the race was stopped. All of the drivers returned with back-up cars. At the end, Gordon came across the line and won his third All-Star race, tying
Dale Earnhardt
. Drivers
Johnny Benson
and
Todd Bodine
advanced from The Winston Open, with Benson winning the Open and Bodine winning the
No Bull 5
Sprint race. This was the first Winston event without
Darrell Waltrip
and
Dale Earnhardt
. Waltrip retired at the end of 2000 and called the 2001 race from the booth, and Earnhardt was
killed
earlier in the season at the
Daytona 500
. Both drivers competed in the first 16 events.
2001 The Winston drivers and eligibility
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The Winston Open/No Bull 5 Sprint
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Johnny Benson
started on the pole and led the first 7 laps of the 30 lap Winston Open. After a caution for a single car accident by
Stacy Compton
on lap 3, part-time driver and second-place starter
Ryan Newman
passed Benson for the lead. Newman led most of the race until his engine blew with 2 laps to go, causing a caution. Johnny Benson would take the lead under caution, win the race, and advance to The Winston.
[1]
In the 16 lap No Bull 5 Sprint Race,
Buckshot Jones
got loose in turn one and touched
Jason Leffler
, who also spun. After crashing hard into the wall, Jones came down across the track into the path of 60-year-old driver
Dave Marcis
. Jones was seen wearing a
HANS Device
upon exiting his car. Marcis was making his final attempt at The Winston and all 3 drivers failed to finish the race. After the race restarted,
Todd Bodine
took the lead, held on to win and advance to the Winston.
[2]
The Winston Open top five results
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- 10-
Johnny Benson
(advances to feature)
- 28-
Ricky Rudd
- 32-
Ricky Craven
- 7-
Mike Wallace
- 77-
Robert Pressley
No Bull 5 Sprint top five results
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- 66-
Todd Bodine
(advances to feature)
- 26-
Jimmy Spencer
- 77-
Robert Pressley
- 33-
Bobby Hamilton, Jr.
- 36-
Ken Schrader
First lap mayhem
[
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]
| This section
needs expansion
. You can help by
adding to it
.
(
August 2011
)
|
At the start of the race, pole sitter
Rusty Wallace
led off the green flag when rain was starting to fall at the track. Then
Kevin Harvick
, the third car in line, got loose and hit the wall in turn one.
Jeff Gordon
then hit
Jeff Burton
from behind, and both hit the wall. Gordon was spinning and was hit by
Michael Waltrip
as rain was coming down even more, Gordon's car was lying at the grass. The red flag came out once the rain was coming down hard. The drivers involved in the crash restarted the race with back-up cars. Harvick would be the only driver to not finish the race, only completing 19 laps.
Comeback and victory
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.
(
August 2011
)
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After the wreck,
Jeff Gordon
came back from the mayhem to win his third career All-Star race victory, tying
Dale Earnhardt
.
[4]
Gordon led for 10 laps during the race and earned $515,000 for the win.
Race results
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- 24-
Jeff Gordon
- 88-
Dale Jarrett
- 20-
Tony Stewart
- 18-
Bobby Labonte
- 25-
Jerry Nadeau
- 22-
Ward Burton
- 8-
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- 66-
Todd Bodine
(Segment 2 winner)
- 10-
Johnny Benson
(Open Segment 1 winner)
- 55-
Bobby Hamilton
- 5-
Terry Labonte
- 12-
Jeremy Mayfield
- 6-
Mark Martin
- 17-
Matt Kenseth
- 2-
Rusty Wallace
- 99-
Jeff Burton
- 9-
Bill Elliott
- 21-
Elliott Sadler
- 1-
Steve Park
- 15-
Michael Waltrip
- 29-
Kevin Harvick
References
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Points races
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Exhibition races
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Networks
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Current
programs
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Current
commentators
| Play-by-play announcers
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Color commentators
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Pit reporters
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Pre-race show
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Spanish
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Other commentators
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Former
commentators
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Music
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Daytona 500
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Coca-Cola 600
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Related articles
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