The 2001 NAPA 500 was the 35th stock car race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, November 18, 2001, in Hampton, Georgia at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 325 laps to complete. On the final lap of the race, Jerry Nadeau, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would run out of fuel heading into turn 3, leading to Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte stealing the victory away from Nadeau. The win was Labonte's 18th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the podium, Sterling Marlin, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, and Kevin Harvick, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would finish second and third, respectively.

Meanwhile, sixth-place finisher, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon, would clinch the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship after a dominant 2001 season, earning his fourth and final NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship.

Background Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in Hampton, Georgia, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Kenny WallaceDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet01Jason Leffler (R)Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord4Bobby Hamilton Jr.Morgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Kevin LepageUltra MotorsportsFord8Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet9Bill ElliottEvernham MotorsportsDodge10Johnny Benson Jr.MBV MotorsportsPontiac11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord12Mike WallacePenske Racing SouthFord13Hermie SadlerSCORE MotorsportsChevrolet14Ron Hornaday Jr. (R)A. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac15Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet17Matt KensethRoush RacingFord18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac19Casey Atwood (R)Evernham MotorsportsDodge20Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac21Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingDodge23Hut StricklinBill Davis RacingDodge24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord28Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord29Kevin Harvick (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet30Jeff GreenRichard Childress RacingChevrolet31Robby GordonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Ricky CravenPPI MotorsportsFord33Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36Ken SchraderMBV MotorsportsPontiac40Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge41Mark GreenA. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac43John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesDodge44Buckshot JonesPetty EnterprisesDodge45Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodge46Frank KimmelLarry Clement RacingFord47Lance HooperDark Horse MotorsportsChevrolet48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet55Bobby HamiltonAndy Petree RacingChevrolet66Todd BodineHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord85Carl LongMansion MotorsportsFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Rick MastDonlavey RacingFord92Stacy ComptonMelling RacingDodge93Dave BlaneyBill Davis RacingDodge97Kurt Busch (R)Roush RacingFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFordOfficial entry list

Practice

First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, November 16, at 11:20a.m. EST. The session would last for two hours. Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.275 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed18Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.275189.377222Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingDodge29.276189.370323Hut StricklinBill Davis RacingDodge29.332189.009Full first practice results

Second practice The second practice session was held on Saturday, November 17, at 10:00a.m. EST. The session would last for 45 minutes. Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.125 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed120Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac30.125184.033226Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord30.180183.698318Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac30.196183.600Full second practice results

Third and final practice The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, November 17, at 11:15a.m. EST. The session would last for 45 minutes. Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.373 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed120Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac30.373182.531293Dave BlaneyBill Davis RacingDodge30.468181.961340Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge30.472181.938Full Happy Hour practice results

Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, November 16, at 3:00p.m. EST. 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.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., would win the pole, setting a time of 28.868 and an average speed of .

Eight drivers would fail to qualify: Mark Green, Robby Gordon, Jason Leffler, Kurt Busch, Rick Mast, Ron Hornaday Jr., Dave Marcis, and Frank Kimmel.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed18Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet28.868192.04726Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.108190.463393Dave BlaneyBill Davis RacingDodge29.195189.896422Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingDodge29.211189.792515Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.222189.72069Bill ElliottEvernham MotorsportsDodge29.231189.66277Kevin LepageUltra MotorsportsFord29.282189.331810Johnny Benson Jr.MBV MotorsportsPontiac29.298189.228992Stacy ComptonMelling RacingDodge29.298189.2281033Joe NemechekAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.300189.2151123Hut StricklinBill Davis RacingDodge29.301189.2091220Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.305189.1831332Ricky CravenPPI MotorsportsFord29.368188.7771466Todd BodineHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.382188.6871521Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord29.416188.469161Kenny WallaceDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet29.425188.4111730Jeff GreenRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.477188.0791811Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord29.487188.0151955Bobby HamiltonAndy Petree RacingChevrolet29.496187.9582044Buckshot JonesPetty EnterprisesDodge29.501187.9262148Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.502187.9192219Casey Atwood (R)Evernham MotorsportsDodge29.514187.8432317Matt KensethRoush RacingFord29.521187.7992424Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.538187.6902513Hermie SadlerSCORE MotorsportsChevrolet29.538187.6902685Carl LongMansion MotorsportsDodge29.542187.665272Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord29.551187.6082840Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge29.556187.576294Bobby Hamilton Jr.Morgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29.558187.5633026Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord29.590187.3613112Mike WallacePenske Racing SouthFord29.601187.2913245Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodge29.602187.2853388Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord29.608187.2473499Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord29.609187.2403543John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesDodge29.620187.1713647Lance HooperDark Horse MotorsportsChevrolet29.620187.171Provisionals3728Ricky RuddRobert Yates RacingFord29.964185.0223829Kevin Harvick (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet29.628187.1203918Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac29.628187.1204036Ken SchraderMB2 MotorsportsPontiac29.702186.6544125Jerry NadeauHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.634187.0824277Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord29.648186.994435Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet30.093184.229Failed to qualify4441Mark GreenA. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac29.630187.1084531Robby GordonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.642187.0324601Jason Leffler (R)Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix SabatesDodge29.722186.5284797Kurt Busch (R)Roush RacingFord29.734186.4534890Rick MastDonlavey RacingFord29.766186.2534914Ron Hornaday Jr. (R)A. J. Foyt EnterprisesPontiac29.870185.6045071Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet30.015184.7085146Frank KimmelLarry Clement RacingFord30.015184.708Official qualifying results

Race results