| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 6 of 36 in the2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 Map of the Bristol Motor Speedway | |||
| Date | March 25, 2001 (2001-03-25) | ||
| Location | Bristol Motor Speedway,Bristol, Tennessee | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.533 miles (0.858 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 48.2 °F (9.0 °C); wind speeds up to 23.02 miles per hour (37.05 km/h)[3] | ||
| Average speed | 86.949 mph (139.931 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Roush Racing | ||
| Time | 15.192 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kevin Harvick | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 137 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | Elliott Sadler | Wood Brothers Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip,Larry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen ratings |
| ||
The2001 Food City 500 was the sixthstock car race of the2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. It was held on March 25, 2001 at theBristol Motor Speedway inBristol, Tennessee. The 500-lap race was won byElliott Sadler for theWood Brothers Racing team; it was Sadler's first win in the Winston Cup Series and Wood Brothers Racing first since 1993, and the last until the2011 Daytona 500 10 years later.John Andretti finished second andJeremy Mayfield came in third.
The track,Bristol Motor Speedway, is one of fiveshort tracks to holdNASCAR races; the others areRichmond International Raceway,Dover International Speedway,Martinsville Speedway, andPhoenix International Raceway.[5] Its standard track at Bristol Motor Speedway is a four-turn short trackoval that is 0.533 miles (0.858 km) long.[6] The track's turns arebanked from twenty-four to thirtydegrees, while both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch are banked from six to ten degrees.[6]
Before the raceDale Jarrett led theDrivers' Championship with 756 points, withSterling Marlin andJohnny Benson Jr. tied for second place with 691 points each.Jeff Gordon andSteve Park rounded out the top five, andRicky Rudd,Rusty Wallace,Michael Waltrip,Bill Elliott andKen Schrader rounded out the top ten.[7] In theManufacturers' Championship,Chevrolet led with 42 points;Ford was second with 31 points.Pontiac was third with 19 points, withDodge a close fourth with 17 points.[8] Wallace was the race's defending champion.[9]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 15.213 | 126.129 |
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 15.245 | 125.884 |
| 3 | 29 | Kevin Harvick(R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 15.300 | 125.412 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 15.864 | 120.953 |
| 2 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 15.920 | 120.528 |
| 3 | 19 | Casey Atwood(R) | Evernham Motorsports | Dodge | 15.936 | 120.407 |
| Official practice results | ||||||
| Pos[2] | Grid | No | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 38 | 21 | Elliott Sadler | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 500 | 180 |
| 2 | 11 | 43 | John Andretti | Petty Enterprises | Dodge | 500 | 175 |
| 3 | 30 | 12 | Jeremy Mayfield | Penske Racing South | Ford | 500 | 165 |
| 4 | 15 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 165 |
| 5 | 18 | 22 | Ward Burton | Bill Davis Racing | Dodge | 500 | 155 |
| 6 | 25 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 150 |
| 7 | 4 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 500 | 146 |
| 8 | 6 | 55 | Bobby Hamilton | Andy Petree Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 142 |
| 9 | 17 | 1 | Steve Park | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 500 | 143 |
| 10 | 14 | 28 | Ricky Rudd | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 500 | 134 |
| 11 | 41 | 92 | Stacy Compton | Melling Racing | Dodge | 500 | 130 |
| 12 | 2 | 40 | Sterling Marlin | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dodge | 500 | 132 |
| 13 | 13 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 500 | 124 |
| 14 | 24 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Racing | Ford | 500 | 126 |
| 15 | 42 | 4 | Kevin Lepage | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 500 | 118 |
| 16 | 19 | 88 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 500 | 115 |
| 17 | 12 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Evernham Motorsports | Dodge | 500 | 112 |
| 18 | 33 | 31 | Mike Skinner | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 109 |
| 19 | 23 | 26 | Jimmy Spencer | Haas-Carter Motorsports | Ford | 500 | 106 |
| 20 | 16 | 19 | Casey Atwood(R) | Evernham Motorsports | Dodge | 500 | 103 |
| 21 | 40 | 14 | Ron Hornaday Jr.(R) | A.J. Foyt Racing | Pontiac | 500 | 100 |
| 22 | 29 | 15 | Michael Waltrip | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 500 | 97 |
| 23 | 34 | 32 | Ricky Craven | PPI Motorsports | Ford | 500 | 94 |
| 24 | 3 | 29 | Kevin Harvick(R) | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 500 | 101 |
| 25 | 37 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac | 500 | 88 |
| 26 | 28 | 10 | Johnny Benson Jr. | MBV Motorsports | Pontiac | 499 | 85 |
| 27 | 35 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Brett Bodine Racing | Ford | 493 | 82 |
| 28 | 26 | 77 | Robert Pressley | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 487 | 79 |
| 29 | 8 | 93 | Dave Blaney | Bill Davis Racing | Dodge | 472 | 76 |
| 30 | 22 | 25 | Jerry Nadeau | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 459 | 73 |
| 31 | 9 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | Chevrolet | 456 | 70 |
| 32 | 5 | 66 | Todd Bodine | Haas-Carter Motorsports | Ford | 437 | 67 |
| 33 | 21 | 44 | Buckshot Jones | Petty Enterprises | Dodge | 420 | 64 |
| 34 | 1 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 412 | 66 |
| 35 | 10 | 36 | Ken Schrader | MBV Motorsports | Pontiac | 350 | 58 |
| 36 | 27 | 50 | Rick Mast | Midwest Transit Racing | Chevrolet | 349 | 55 |
| 37 | 43 | 7 | Mike Wallace | Ultra Motorsports | Ford | 345 | 57 |
| 38 | 31 | 27 | Kenny Wallace | Eel River Racing | Pontiac | 307 | 54 |
| 39 | 36 | 96 | Andy Houston(R) | PPI Motorsports | Ford | 265 | 46 |
| 40 | 32 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford | 245 | 43 |
| 41 | 7 | 45 | Kyle Petty | Petty Enterprises | Dodge | 228 | 40 |
| 42 | 39 | 97 | Kurt Busch(R) | Roush Racing | Ford | 118 | 37 |
| 43 | 20 | 33 | Joe Nemechek | Andy Petree Racing | Chevrolet | 108 | 34 |
| Official race results | |||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 1 | Dale Jarrett | 871 |
 2 | 2 | Jeff Gordon | 826 (–45) |
 1 | 3 | Sterling Marlin | 823 (–48) |
| 1 | 4 | Johnny Benson Jr. | 776 (–95) |
| 5 | Steve Park | 758 (–113) |
| 1 | 6 | Rusty Wallace | 752 (–119) |
| 1 | 7 | Ricky Rudd | 743 (–128) |
| 4 | 8 | Bobby Hamilton | 716 (–155) |
| 9 | 9 | Elliott Sadler | 709 (–162) |
| 1 | 10 | Bill Elliott | 701 (–170) |
| Previous race: 2001 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 | Winston Cup Series 2001 season | Next race: 2001 Harrah's 500 |