The 2001 Sam's Town 300 was the third stock car race of the 2001 NASCAR Busch Series and the fifth iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, March 3, 2001, in North Las Vegas, Nevada at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a permanent D-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Buckshot Racing driver Todd Bodine came back after a bad pit stop to pull away on the final restart with four to go to win his 13th career NASCAR Busch Series win and his second and final win of the season. To fill out the podium, Greg Biffle of Roush Racing and Jason Keller of ppc Racing would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada outside the Las Vegas city limits and about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a 1,200-acre (490 ha) complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Entry list #DriverTeamMakeSponsor00Todd BodineBuckshot RacingChevroletShasta1P. J. JonesPhoenix RacingChevroletYellow Transportation2Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevroletACDelco7Randy LaJoieEvans MotorsportsChevroletCottonelle, Kleenex8Blaise AlexanderHighLine Performance GroupChevroletChannellock9Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFordGain10Jeff Greenppc RacingFordNesquik11Marty HoustonHighLine Performance GroupChevroletChannellock14Larry FoytA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevroletHarrah's16Sammy SandersDay Enterprise RacingPontiac31-W Insulation17Matt KensethReiser EnterprisesChevroletVisine18Jeff PurvisJoe Gibbs RacingPontiacMBNA20Mike McLaughlinJoe Gibbs RacingPontiacJoe Gibbs Racing21Mike DillonRichard Childress RacingChevroletRockwell Automation23Scott WimmerBill Davis RacingPontiacJani-King25Chad ChaffinTeam Rensi MotorsportsChevroletU.S. Marines26Bobby Hamilton Jr.Carroll RacingChevroletDr Pepper27Jamie McMurrayBrewco MotorsportsChevroletWilliams Travel Centers28Brad BakerBrewco MotorsportsChevroletBrewco Motorsports33Tony RainesBACE MotorsportsChevroletAlka-Seltzer34David GreenCicci-Welliver RacingChevroletAFG Glass36Hank Parker Jr.Cicci-Welliver RacingChevroletGNC37Kevin GrubbBrewco MotorsportsChevroletTimber Wolf38Christian ElderAkins MotorsportsFordGreat Clips43Jay SauterCurb Agajanian MotorsportsChevroletQuality Farm Stores46Ashton Lewis Jr.Lewis MotorsportsChevroletLewis Motorsports48Kenny WallaceInnovative MotorsportsChevroletGoulds Pumps49Brian TylerJay Robinson RacingChevroletJay Robinson Racing52Scott GaylordMeans RacingFordMeans Racing55Mark GreenST MotorsportsFordST Motorsports57Jason Kellerppc RacingFordAlbertsons59Rich BickleST MotorsportsChevroletKingsford60Greg BiffleRoush RacingFordGrainger61Tim SauterXpress MotorsportsChevroletStoops Freightliner63Shane HallHensley MotorsportsFordLance Snacks66Tim FedewaCicci-Welliver RacingChevroletPhillips 6671Kevin LepageMatrix MotorsportsFordState Fair Corn Dogs74Chad LittleBACE MotorsportsChevroletStaff America77Kelly DentonPRW RacingFordMerck-Medco87Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevroletCellular One92Jimmie JohnsonHerzog MotorsportsChevroletExcedrin98Elton SawyerAkins MotorsportsFordHot Tamales99Michael WaltripMichael Waltrip RacingChevroletAaron'sOfficial entry list

Practice Originally, there were two planned practice sessions to occur, with both being held on Friday, March 2, with the first being an hour-long session held at 11:15 AM PST, and the second being held after qualifying. However, both sessions were cancelled due to rain.

Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, March 2, at 12:15 PM PST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 1-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champ needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.

Matt Kenseth of Reiser Enterprises would win the pole, setting a time of 31.880 and an average speed of .

No drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed117Matt KensethReiser EnterprisesChevrolet31.880169.385200Todd BodineBuckshot RacingChevrolet32.050168.487360Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord32.058168.445426Bobby Hamilton Jr.Carroll RacingChevrolet32.117168.135546Ashton Lewis Jr.Lewis MotorsportsChevrolet32.155167.937627Jamie McMurrayBrewco MotorsportsChevrolet32.183167.790792Jimmie JohnsonHerzog MotorsportsChevrolet32.226167.567820Mike McLaughlinJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac32.228167.556987Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet32.245167.4681048Kenny WallaceInnovative MotorsportsChevrolet32.295167.2091171Kevin LepageMatrix MotorsportsFord32.321167.0741274Chad LittleBACE MotorsportsChevrolet32.359166.8781310Jeff Greenppc RacingFord32.392166.7081498Elton SawyerAkins MotorsportsFord32.400166.6671537Kevin GrubbBrewco MotorsportsChevrolet32.421166.559162Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32.424166.5431755Mark GreenST MotorsportsFord32.428166.5231811Marty HoustonHighLine Performance GroupChevrolet32.432166.5021914Larry FoytA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet32.449166.4152057Jason Kellerppc RacingFord32.495166.1792161Tim SauterXpress MotorsportsChevrolet32.500166.1542236Hank Parker Jr.Cicci-Welliver RacingChevrolet32.529166.006231P. J. JonesPhoenix RacingChevrolet32.532165.990247Randy LaJoieEvans MotorsportsChevrolet32.535165.9752525Chad ChaffinTeam Rensi MotorsportsChevrolet32.553165.883269Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord32.599165.6492734David GreenCicci-Welliver RacingChevrolet32.615165.5682877Kelly DentonPRW RacingFord32.616165.5632943Jay SauterCurb Agajanian MotorsportsChevrolet32.620165.5433066Tim FedewaCicci-Welliver RacingChevrolet32.625165.5173133Tony RainesBACE MotorsportsChevrolet32.798164.6443238Christian ElderAkins MotorsportsFord32.832164.4743399Michael WaltripMichael Waltrip RacingChevrolet32.866164.3043418Jeff PurvisJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac32.882164.2243523Scott WimmerBill Davis RacingPontiac32.913164.069368Blaise AlexanderHighLine Performance GroupChevrolet32.969163.790Provisionals3759Rich BickleST MotorsportsChevrolet33.002163.6263821Mike DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet33.171162.7933963Shane HallHensley MotorsportsFord33.028163.4984028Brad BakerBrewco MotorsportsChevrolet33.512161.1364116Sammy SandersDay Enterprise RacingPontiac33.841159.5704249Brian TylerJay Robinson RacingChevrolet35.379152.6334352Scott GaylordMeans RacingFord34.780155.262Official qualifying results

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings1200Todd BodineBuckshot RacingChevrolet200104running185$94,4502360Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord20039running175$59,92532057Jason Kellerppc RacingFord2000running165$53,10043133Tony RainesBACE MotorsportsChevrolet2008running165$35,50051310Jeff Greenppc RacingFord2000running155$39,0006269Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord2000running150$23,3507987Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet2000running146$22,30081498Elton SawyerAkins MotorsportsFord2001running147$25,3509820Mike McLaughlinJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac2000running138$20,300102943Jay SauterCurb Agajanian MotorsportsChevrolet2000running134$25,550113523Scott WimmerBill Davis RacingPontiac2000running130$19,10012162Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet2000running127$28,150132161Tim SauterXpress MotorsportsChevrolet2000running124$18,00014792Jimmie JohnsonHerzog MotorsportsChevrolet19912running126$21,490153759Rich BickleST MotorsportsChevrolet1990running118$21,880161274Chad LittleBACE MotorsportsChevrolet1990running115$17,070173418Jeff PurvisJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac1990running112$20,960183821Mike DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet1990running109$19,850191537Kevin GrubbBrewco MotorsportsChevrolet1994running111$19,74020627Jamie McMurrayBrewco MotorsportsChevrolet1990running103$20,430211171Kevin LepageMatrix MotorsportsFord1990running100$16,520222236Hank Parker Jr.Cicci-Welliver RacingChevrolet1990running97$24,190233238Christian ElderAkins MotorsportsFord1990running94$16,275241048Kenny WallaceInnovative MotorsportsChevrolet1980running91$19,165252525Chad ChaffinTeam Rensi MotorsportsChevrolet1980running88$18,130262877Kelly DentonPRW RacingFord1980running85$15,92027231P. J. JonesPhoenix RacingChevrolet1970running82$23,310283066Tim FedewaCicci-Welliver RacingChevrolet1960running79$24,200293963Shane HallHensley MotorsportsFord1940running76$18,59030546Ashton Lewis Jr.Lewis MotorsportsChevrolet1910crash73$15,580311914Larry FoytA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet1900crash70$15,370321755Mark GreenST MotorsportsFord1870vibration67$16,260334249Brian TylerJay Robinson RacingChevrolet1850running64$15,15034117Matt KensethReiser EnterprisesChevrolet18232running66$21,740354028Brad BakerBrewco MotorsportsChevrolet1810running58$14,930361811Marty HoustonHighLine Performance GroupChevrolet1520crash55$14,89537426Bobby Hamilton Jr.Carroll RacingChevrolet1220overheating52$17,86038247Randy LaJoieEvans MotorsportsChevrolet1030engine49$20,325393399Michael WaltripMichael Waltrip RacingChevrolet970crash46$14,790402734David GreenCicci-Welliver RacingChevrolet590engine43$17,755414116Sammy SandersDay Enterprise RacingPontiac220ignition40$14,720424352Scott GaylordMeans RacingFord150engine37$14,68543368Blaise AlexanderHighLine Performance GroupChevrolet50crash34$14,650Official race results

References