|| *Comments on the 2001 NAPA Auto Parts 300:* View the most recent comment <#28> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. je24go posted: 08.03.2005 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tony Raines flew (literally) down the backstretch in a crash on lap 100 when he got turned coming out of turn 2. Luckily he didn't roll over, or get on his roof, as the roof flaps deployed and sat the backend back on the track... 2. Thomas posted: 03.08.2006 - 5:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Busch race for FOX. Rain-delayed about 2 hours. Jeff Purvis tangled heavily with another car on the superstretch with 2 laps to go to end the race under caution. 3. HomeDepot20TS posted: 05.27.2006 - 7:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Matt Kenseth pulled under Joe Nemechek, trying to take either first or second. Nemewrek blocked, getting turned around. He collected the dominant Pontiac of Jeff Purvis and wound up ending the race under the yellow. 4. Rusty posted: 08.13.2006 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Busch Series race for FOX, their last would be at Daytona in June 2006 with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. dominating. 5. McMurrayFan26 posted: 04.16.2007 - 2:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jamie McMurray's first race in the 27 car 6. RaceFanX posted: 02.19.2008 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Randy LaJoie's penultimate career victory comes in his first career race in the NEMCO Motosports #7 7. The Grate Dave posted: 08.25.2008 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Armando Fitz first NASCAR race as an owner 8. RaceFanX posted: 10.28.2008 - 12:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Marty Houston's best career finish, 13th. 9. Schwab posted: 11.01.2010 - 1:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First career top five finish in the Nationwide Series for Jimmie Johnson. 10. 83andJoe posted: 06.24.2013 - 9:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #60 crew chief: Randy Goss (same for all 2001 races) 11. Foyt14 posted: 08.04.2013 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 49 Driver: Andy Kirby not Brian Tyler. 12. 83andJoe posted: 08.20.2013 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #36 crew chief: Billy Nacewicz (same through Nazareth). 13. Foyt14 posted: 01.02.2014 - 1:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 49 Sponsor: Bob Williams Used Car Factory 14. Paul posted: 04.20.2014 - 7:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates: #7 - Kleenex / Winn-Dixie #8 - Channellock / InvenCom #20 - World Vision #77 - Merck-Medco (no slashes necessary; hyphen is part of sponsor's name) 15. Paul posted: 05.14.2014 - 4:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor update: #08 - Diet Dr. Pepper 16. Paul posted: 09.27.2015 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To the back: Chad Little - #74 - driver change (Phil Parsons qualified the car.) Also, Bobby Hamilton had a stomach virus prior to the race and had his Craftsman Truck Series driver, Joe Ruttman, on standby as a relief driver. Hamilton stayed in the car until falling out of the race after completing 56 laps. 17. Paul posted: 10.03.2015 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Tim Sauter recorded his first career Busch Series top-10 finish. Rookie drivers Greg Biffle and Larry Foyt led their first laps in Busch Series competition. Foyt would lead only one more lap after this race (Fontana in April 2001). Joe Bessey recorded his final lead lap finish in the Busch Series. He would make just four more starts over the next two seasons after this race. Steve Grissom and Mike Bliss each made their lone starts during the 2001 Busch Series season. Grissom's next start came at Michigan in August 2002, while Bliss would be gone from the series for two years when he drove full-time for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2003. Christian Elder failed to qualify in his first series attempt. It would be the only time he DNQ'd in 25 Busch Series attempts between 2001 and 2002. He went on to make his series debut two weeks later at Las Vegas. 18. Windows Millennium Edition posted: 03.21.2016 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor update: #55 MSN/Jensen Speakers 19. jC... posted: 02.24.2017 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The pole speed was higher than the pole for the Winston Cup race. 20. RaceFanX posted: 03.21.2017 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver Change for DNQ List- #74 Phil Parsons- #74 Staff America Chevrolet (owned by Bill Baumgardner) 21. RaceFanX posted: 03.21.2017 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Randy LaJoie races to victory in a Pontiac Grand Prix to make this his only one of his 15 Busch series wins that wasn't at the wheel of a Chevrolet. Coming into the 2001 it was thought that the Pontiacs would be more aerodynamic under this year's rule package than the Chevrolet Monte Carlos so LaJoie's new Kleenex #7 team built a Grand Prix for this race while running a Chevrolet in all the non-plate races later in the year. They weren't the only ones as the teams of #61 Tim Sauter, #27 Jamie McMurray, #6 Joe Bessey, #35 Lyndon Amick, #1 P.J. Jones, #87 Joe Nemechek, #00 Todd Bodine, and #37 Kevin Grubb also defected from Chevy to GM corporate sibling for one-offs here. This race marked Greg Biffle's ascension to being a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Busch Series. He, car owner Jack Roush, and sponsor Grainger all moved up into the series together after winning the Truck series title in 2000 with Biffle taking over the #60 car following Mark Martin's retirement as the team transitioned into its first full-time campaign. Jimmie Johnson and the Herzog team had new colors for 2001 as Excedrin pain reliever came aboard their #92 after being with Jason Keller the year before. The team's speed was much improved this year with the now red-and-white #92 becoming a regular site near the front of the field as shown with this top-5 to kick off the season. Larry Foyt makes his NASCAR Busch Series debut, moving up after a single season in the ASA series. The Foyt #14 team acquired much of its equipment for this season from DEI when A.J. Foyt bought out the #3 Chevrolet team as Dale Earnhardt, Sr. closed it down set up his new #15 NAPA Winston Cup team (which paid with a Daytona 500 win for that team the next day). Larry's new eye-catching purple #14 Harrah's Casino Chevy led a lap and finished in the top-20 here but his tenure in the series would more often than not become a struggle. 22. RaceFanX posted: 03.21.2017 - 6:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Defending Busch Series champion Jeff Green and his PPC Racing teammate Jason Keller had new wheels for the 2001 season following their 1-2 points finish in 2000. The PPC team made the big switch from Chevrolet to Ford as the Blue Oval brand upped its investment in the series with both cars earning top-10s in their first start after the change here. This was also Keller's first race with his Taurus decked out in the blue colors of new sponsor Albertson's grocery store. 23. Seibaru posted: 10.24.2018 - 11:59 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Elton Sawyer apparently used a Ford Cosworth engine in this race. He started midfield with the engine, whose makers are best known for their Formula One involvement, and lasted six laps before a piston blew. 24. Evan posted: 02.27.2019 - 8:52 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Randy LaJoie also raced the exact same winning car at the 2003 Koolerz 300 as well. 25. SweetRich posted: 06.30.2020 - 6:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip. The pit road reporters were Dr. Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Jeanne Zelasko. 26. SweetRich posted: 07.09.2020 - 11:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The final career race for owner David Ridling. 27. rm posted: 07.25.2020 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Chad Chaffin, Ed Rensi's #25 team and the Marines teamed up for the first time in this race, though Chaffin dropped out early after crashing in the opening laps. The team's fortunes greatly improved when Bobby Hamilton Jr. took over for Chaffin the next season, and won five races for the team over the next two+ years. This wasn't the first time the Marines had sponsored a #25 stock car - in 1984, ARCA competitor-turned-offroad racer Jerry Churchill carried sponsorship from the Marines on his Chevrolets. The interesting quirk about that deal: Churchill was Canadian! He later moved way out west and spent many of his last years in racing running offroad trucks in Mexico (as well as California). 28. Rich posted: 12.08.2020 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joining the race coverage were Chris Myers, Jeff Hammond and Ken Squier, all three of which were in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: