| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 17 of 36 in the2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 2001 Pepsi 400 program cover | |||
| Date | July 7, 2001 (2001-07-07) | ||
| Location | Daytona International Speedway,Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.5 miles (4.02 km) | ||
| Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.27 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds approaching 11.10 miles per hour (17.86 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 157.601 mph (253.634 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Chip Ganassi Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Laps | 116 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers | Allen Bestwick,Benny Parsons,Wally Dallenbach Jr.[2] | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 6.1/13 (25 million viewers)[3] | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | MRN | ||
| Booth announcers | Joe Moore, Barney Hall | ||
| Turn announcers | Kurt Becker (1 & 2),Dave Moody (Backstretch) and Kevin O'Neal (3 & 4) | ||
The2001 Pepsi 400 was aNASCARWinston Cup Seriesstock car race held on July 7, 2001, atDaytona International Speedway inDaytona Beach,Florida as the 17th of the2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. It was the first race held at Daytona since the2001 Daytona 500, in whichDale Earnhardt waskilled on the final lap.Sterling Marlin ofChip Ganassi Racing won thepole position.Dale Earnhardt Jr. ofDale Earnhardt, Inc. won the race, while DEI teammateMichael Waltrip andElliott Sadler finished second and third, respectively.
(R) denotes rookie driver
Qualifying was scheduled for July 5,[2] but was rained out; rain also delayed the start of qualifying the next day.[4] On the ten-year anniversary of his first career pole position, Sterling Marlin clinched the pole with a lap speed of 183.778 miles per hour (295.762 km/h).Dodge drivers claimed the first four spots, withWard Burton (183.597 mph (295.471 km/h)),Stacy Compton (182.678 mph (293.992 km/h)) andCasey Atwood (182.597 mph (293.861 km/h)).Chevrolet driver and Cup points leaderJeff Gordon qualified fifth at 182.312 mph (293.403 km/h).[5]Buckshot Jones,Ron Hornaday Jr.,Hut Stricklin,Mike Bliss andAndy Hillenburg failed to qualify.[6]
The Rev. Hal Marchman gave the traditional invocation,Edwin McCain sang the National Anthem, and Pop singerBritney Spears gave the command to start the engines.[2]Ward Burton took the lead from Sterling Marlin on lap one, but relinquished it to Marlin on lap three. AfterKevin Harvick, Marlin andMichael Waltrip shared the lead from laps 10 to 26,[6]Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead on lap 27, leading 22 laps.[7]Matt Kenseth andTodd Bodine would lead for a combined seven laps, before Earnhardt reclaimed the lead and led 33 more laps. The first caution of the race flew on lap 89, when Andy Houston crashed in turn 4.Robert Pressley took the lead on lap 90, which Earnhardt reclaimed the following lap.[6] With 18 laps to go, cars enteredpit road for final stops, but ten cars (Mike Skinner, Pressley, Sterling Marlin, Jeff Gordon,Kurt Busch,Terry Labonte,Bobby Hamilton,Kevin Harvick,John Andretti,Mark Martin,Dave Marcis,Jason Leffler) were involved in a crash in turn 4.[6] Earnhardt would surrender the lead again toJohnny Benson Jr., who had made a late-race gamble to pull ahead. Dale Jr had to deal with lap traffic on the restart, but the Caution flew for the final time when Jeff Gordon's oil line cut. The race restarted with six laps to go with Johnny Benson still leading. But with five laps remaining, Earnhardt took back the lead,[7] and with drafting assistance from Waltrip, claimed the victory.[8]Elliott Sadler,Ward Burton andBobby Labonte finished in the top five.[6]Tony Stewart crossed the line in sixth, but was officially classified in 26th due to receiving the black flag,[9] had his finishing spot taken byJerry Nadeau;Rusty Wallace,Jeff Burton,Brett Bodine andMike Wallace rounded out the top ten.[6]
To celebrate, Earnhardt climbed onto his car's roof, and shared an embrace with Waltrip (who had been unable to celebrate his victory in the500 that February because of Dale Earnhardt's fatal crash) before diving into his pit crew.[8]
After the race, Tony Stewart, who ignored a black flag and orders to return to pit road due to passing Johnny Benson andDave Blaney[10] below the track's yellow line, knocked atape recorder away from aWinston-Salem Journal reporter[11] and kicked it under a hauler, and attempted to confront Cup directorGary Nelson, but was restrained by ownerJoe Gibbs and crew chiefGreg Zipadelli.[9] Stewart argued that he had been forced below the yellow line by Benson. Stewart was later fined $10,000, had his probation (dating back to spinning out Jeff Gordon atBristol Motor Speedway) extended and was penalized 65 points.[12]
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Gordon | 2403 |
| 2 | Dale Jarrett | 2355 |
| 3 | Ricky Rudd | 2327 |
| 4 | Tony Stewart | 2207 |
| 5 | Rusty Wallace | 2184 |
| 6 | Sterling Marlin | 2159 |
| 7 | Bobby Labonte | 2061 |
| 8 | Johnny Benson Jr. | 2051 |
| 9 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 2010 |
| 10 | Kevin Harvick | 1987 |
The 2001 Pepsi 400 was broadcast byNBC,[7] as the first race broadcast by the network under a new centralized NASCAR contract which gave a consortium ofNBC Sports andTurner Sports rights to broadcast the second half of the season.[13]
25 million viewers watched the race, setting a viewership record for night races.[14]
| Previous race: 2001 Dodge/Save Mart 350 | Winston Cup Series 2001 season | Next race: 2001 Tropicana 400 |