2001 New Hampshire 300
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 36 of 36 in the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
Layout of New Hampshire Motor Speedway
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| Date | November 23, 2001 | ||
| Official name | New Hampshire 300 | ||
| Location | New Hampshire Motor Speedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.058 mi (1.703 km) |
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| Distance | 300 laps, 317.4 mi (510.806 km) | ||
| Weather | Cold with temperatures approaching 51.1 °F (10.6 °C); wind speeds up to 5.1 miles per hour (8.2 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 127.48 miles per hour (205.16 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 2001 Owner Points as of Richmond | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 257 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 31 | Robby Gordon | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NBC | ||
| Announcers |
Allen Bestwick Benny Parsons Wally Dallenbach |
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The 2001 New Hampshire 300 was a NASCAR Winston Cup race held at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The race was originally scheduled for September 16, but was postponed to November 23 due to the September 11 attacks of that year. New Hampshire was the season finale as a result.
NASCAR did not want to cancel the event, but there were no scheduled off weeks from the September 16 date. This left NASCAR with only one option: Thanksgiving weekend. The race was rescheduled for Friday, November 23 to allow for two potential weather reschedulings if necessary.
The postponement would be a challenge for Goodyear, as they were not expecting a New Hampshire race in November. Goodyear brought a tire they hoped would suit the cold conditions. NBC carried the broadcast live except for the Pacific Coast, which was on tape delay to allow the third hour of Today.
NASCAR did not conduct qualifying for the race. Instead, the points standings following the race at Richmond International Raceway the weekend before 9/11 were used to set the field. This put 2001 series champion Jeff Gordon on the pole for the event, as he had been in the points lead at the time of the postponement, with Richmond winner Ricky Rudd alongside him on the front row as he had been second in the points standings at the time. Forty-one other drivers qualified for the race, with the final row filled by Petty Enterprises' Buckshot Jones and Kyle Petty. The forty-third spot would have gone to the entry fielded by Eel River Racing. However, after driver Rick Mast and sponsor Duke's Mayonnaise both left the team in October, the team folded operations.
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