2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series - New Hampshire 300

New Hampshire 300

The New Hampshire 300 was scheduled for September 16 but was moved to November 23 (the Friday after Thanksgiving) due to the September 11 terrorist attacks. The starting order was set according to owner's points as of September 10. The win was Robby Gordon's first career victory in the Cup series and one of the rare times he raced in 2001 due to having been unexpectedly fired from his team after just racing 5 times for them. This race was also notable for the battle between Robby Gordon and Jeff Gordon that led to much controversy and retaliation due to the bumping between the two and resulting in Jeff Gordon spinning away from the lead on the final caution. Jeff Gordon was black-flagged for the way he showed retaliation and after being held one lap down he ended up in 15th place and although losing the race securing his fourth championship over Tony Stewart by a few hundred points. Robby Gordon held onto Sterling Marlin for the win thus giving him the #31 RCR car for a multi-year deal, the #31 team's very first win in NASCAR and his first and only oval win in his motorsports career; Mike Skinner who originally drove the #31 car was injured and barely avoided death in a previous incident ending his season; and that Spring he chose to retire from RCR after 2001 and so thus Gordon got the car from him when he won the race. In victory lane Robby Gordon when asked about the incident with Jeff Gordon said that the incident was an accident and that he was not embarrassed about his win since he saw Jeff Gordon do something similar to win at another past race. Gordon also promised to donate all his won money to the victims of the 9/11 attacks and was so emotional about getting his first oval win.

Top Ten Results

1. 31 - Robby Gordon
2. 40 - Sterling Marlin
3. 18 - Bobby Labonte
4. 17 - Matt Kenseth
5. 20 - Tony Stewart
6. 25 - Jerry Nadeau
7. 77 - Robert Pressley
8. 11 - Brett Bodine
9. 6 - Mark Martin
10. 88 - Dale Jarrett

• 42 cars were entered for this race instead of the traditional 43, as the Eel River Racing Team had folded. As of 2012, this is the last time a NASCAR Cup race had less than 43 cars entered.