2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

Jeff Gordon, the 2001 Winston Cup Series champion.
Tony Stewart came in second behind Gordon by 349 points.
Sterling Marlin (pictured here in 1996), finished third in the championship.
Kevin Harvick (pictured here in 2006), won Rookie of the year.

The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 53rd season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 30th modern-era Cup series. It began on February 11, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was declared as the series champion for the fourth time in seven years.

The season was marred by a two-car collision at the end of the season-opening Daytona 500, which claimed the life of seven-time Series champion Dale Earnhardt. The accident resulted in safety upgrades being instituted. It also was the first year to have a unified television contract with Fox Sports, NBC Sports, and Turner Sports/TNT broadcasting the season's races; previous seasons saw each racetrack negotiate their own TV coverage, creating a patchwork of broadcast companies covering races throughout the season. Dodge returned to the sport for the first time since 1985 after DaimlerChrysler spent six years in the CART FedEx Championship Series via the Mercedes-Benz brand as an engine supplier. Chevrolet captured the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship with 16 wins and 248 points.[1]

  1. ^ "Standings: 2001 Manufacturer Standings". NASCAR; Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network. Archived from the original on September 18, 2009. Retrieved September 23, 2009.