2001 New Hampshire 300

Race 36 of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series February 2025 May 2026 NASWINSTON New Hampshire 300 Weather information for the 2001 Kroger 300 at The Old Farmers Almanac 2001 11 23 2001 36 36 2001_New_Hampshire_300_program_cover.jpg The 2001 New Hampshire 300 program cover, with the cover advertising its original scheduled date of September 16. New Hampshire 300 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Cold with temperatures approaching 51.1 F C; wind speeds up to 5.1 mph km/h 1.058 1.703 300 317.4 510.806 127.48 mi/h Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports 2001 Owner Points as of Richmond Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports 257 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing NBC Allen Bestwick Benny Parsons Wally Dallenbach The 2001 New Hampshire 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup race held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Originally scheduled to be run on September 16, 2001, the September 11 attacks forced a postponement of the race until November 23, 2001. Thus, the race served as the final event of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. The race was won by Robby Gordon, driving the #31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing. It was his first of three victories in the Cup Series and was the only one of the three that did not take place on a road course. Background The 9/11 attacks left the sports world in somewhat of disarray and NASCAR was no exception. The major issue that the Winston Cup Series had was that their last scheduled off week had been the week between the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Sears Point at the end of June at the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in early July. There were no other open dates scheduled between then and the final race, the NAPA 500 in Atlanta, so NASCAR had two options: either cancel the New Hampshire 300 outright or extend the season by one week and finish it in Loudon instead of Atlanta. NASCAR opted for the latter and rescheduled the New Hampshire 300 for the week after the NAPA 500, which resulted in the race being held on Thanksgiving weekend. The series' tire supplier, Goodyear, were tasked with coming up with a racing tire that could hold up against potentially hazardous conditions; the weather in New England, especially in New Hampshire, is significantly different in autumn than it is during the summer months when NASCAR typically visits Loudon and the possibility of the race being disrupted by wintry conditions and snow would have to be considered. With this in mind, NASCAR tenatively scheduled the New Hampshire 300 for Black Friday, November 23, 2001, the day after Thanksgiving; this allowed for two days of leeway in case the weather would cause a postponement. In the end, weather did not play a factor—in fact, the conditions at Loudon that day were unseasonably mild and the race went off as planned. Still, this was the latest date that a Cup Series season had ended since 1974, when the final points race was run on November 24 of that year. Practice results Pos No. Car number Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed MPH 1 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 29.223 130.336 2 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 29.293 130.024 3 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 29.342 129.807Official practice results Qualifying NASCAR did not conduct qualifying for the race. Instead, the field was set by the points standings following the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 at Richmond, which was the race run the week before the originally scheduled New Hampshire 300; this meant that the top 43 teams in the standings would receive spots in the race. Jeff Gordon, driving the #24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was set as the pole sitter as he had been leading the points following the Richmond race and would eventually win the Winston Cup. Ricky Rudd, driving the #28 Ford for Robert Yates Racing and having won the Richmond event, was on the outside of the front row as he had been second in the points behind Gordon at the time. 42 drivers would start the race, with the last row occupied by Kyle Petty in the #45 Dodge and Buckshot Jones in the #44 Dodge, both driving for Petty Enterprises. Four additional cars were originally entered for the race when it was originally scheduled for September, but since qualifying was not run, Morgan Shepherd's #89 Ford and Hermie Sadler's #13 Chevrolet did not return to Loudon for the fall race. The other two cars were from disbanded teams. One of them, PPI Motorsports, who fielded the #32 Ford for Ricky Craven in this race, had begun the season with a second car, the #96 driven by Andy Houston and sponsored by McDonald's; due to Houston's struggles to qualify and run well, McDonald’s pulled its sponsorship from the team after the Protection One 400 at Kansas Speedway and PPI opted to shutter the team after sponsorship could not be found. The other was the #27 Pontiac fielded by Eel River Racing, which at the time of the postponement was sponsored by Duke's Mayonnaise and C.F. Sauer and had been driven by several drivers over the course of the year. The team was 43rd in the points after Richmond, by which point Rick Mast had been driving for the team, and would have earned the final spot in the starting lineup. However, Duke's left the team after agreeing to sponsor Donlavey Racing's #90 Ford in 2002 after they lost Hills Bros. Coffee as a sponsor; shortly thereafter, Eel River Racing shut down and Mast moved over to drive the #90 (which was originally entered with Hut Stricklin as the driver; Stricklin and the sponsor moved to Bill Davis Racing). Starting Lineup Pos No. Car number Driver Team Manufacturer 1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2 28 Ricky Rudd Robert Yates Racing Ford 3 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 4 29 Kevin Harvick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 5 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 6 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 7 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 8 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 9 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 10 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MBV Motorsports Pontiac 11 1 Kenny Wallace Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 12 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 13 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 14 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 15 26 Jimmy Spencer Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford 16 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 17 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 18 21 Elliott Sadler Wood Brothers Racing Ford 19 55 Bobby Hamilton Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 20 36 Ken Schrader MBV Motorsports Pontiac 21 77 Robert Pressley Jasper Motorsports Ford 22 12 Mike Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 23 25 Jerry Nadeau Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 24 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Ford 25 93 Dave Blaney Bill Davis Racing Dodge 26 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 97 Kurt Busch (R) Roush Racing Ford 28 33 Joe Nemechek Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 29 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 30 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Dodge 31 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 19 Casey Atwood (R) Evernham Motorsports Dodge 33 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 34 66 Todd Bodine Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford 35 01 Jason Leffler (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 36 7 Kevin Lepage Ultra Motorsports Ford 37 92 Stacy Compton Melling Racing Dodge 38 4 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 39 14 Ron Hornaday Jr. (R) A.J. Foyt Racing Pontiac 40 90 Rick Mast Donlavey Racing Ford 41 44 Buckshot Jones Petty Enterprises Dodge 42 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge Results The race saw Robby Gordon, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, pick up his first career win.Robby Gordon's first NASCAR win at Race DatabaseRacing information for the 2001 New Hampshire 300 at Racing-Reference However, it was a controversial win, as he and Jeff Gordon, who had been up front all day, were facing each other, made contact with 16 laps to go. This would put Robby in the lead during the final caution of the race. Jeff would retaliate under yellow and be black flagged. This did not affect Jeff's title hopes, as he had already clinched the title at Atlanta Motor Speedway the week before. Pos Grid No Car Number Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points1 31 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 300 1802 6 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 300 1753 7 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 300 1704 16 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 300 1605 5 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 300 1556 23 25 Jerry Nadeau Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 300 1507 21 77 Robert Pressley Jasper Motorsports Ford 300 1468 33 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 300 1429 13 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 300 13810 3 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 300 13411 25 93 Dave Blaney Bill Davis Racing Dodge 300 13012 10 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MBV Motorsports Pontiac 299 12713 2 28 Ricky Rudd Robert Yates Racing Ford 299 12414 15 26 Jimmy Spencer Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford 299 12115 1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 299 12816 32 19 Casey Atwood (R) Evernham Motorsports Dodge 299 11517 12 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 298 11218 9 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 298 10919 18 21 Elliott Sadler Wood Brothers Racing Ford 298 10620 28 33 Joe Nemechek Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 298 10321 27 97 Kurt Busch (R) Roush Racing Ford 298 10022 14 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 298 9723 42 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 297 9424 8 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 297 9125 11 1 Kenny Wallace Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 297 8826 4 29 Kevin Harvick (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 297 9027 26 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 297 8228 40 90 Rick Mast Donlavey Racing Ford 297 7929 19 55 Bobby Hamilton Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 297 7630 35 01 Jason Leffler (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 296 7331 34 66 Todd Bodine Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford 296 7032 39 14 Ron Hornaday Jr. (R) A.J. Foyt Racing Pontiac 296 6733 22 12 Mike Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 295 6434 37 92 Stacy Compton Melling Racing Dodge 295 6135 36 7 Kevin Lepage Ultra Motorsports Ford 295 5836 30 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Dodge 295 5537 38 4 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 294 5238 24 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Ford 268 4939 20 36 Ken Schrader MBV Motorsports Pontiac 261 4640 29 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 246 4341 41 44 Buckshot Jones Petty Enterprises Dodge 138 4042 17 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 129 37Official race results Standings after the race Pos Driver Points 1 Jeff Gordon 5112 2 Tony Stewart 4768 3 Sterling Marlin 4710 4 Ricky Rudd 4706 5 Dale Jarrett 4612 6 Bobby Labonte 4561 7 Rusty Wallace 4481 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4460 9 Kevin Harvick 4406 10 Jeff Burton 4394 References collapsed New Hampshire 300 New Hampshire 300 Category:NASCAR races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Category:Sports events affected by the September 11 attacks