|| *Comments on the 2001 NAPA Auto Parts 500:* View the most recent comment <#18> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. James Reisdorf posted: 12.19.2004 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Rusty won this race on what would've been Dale Earnhardt's 50th birthday. In his victory lap, Rusty held a Dale Earnhardt outside his window. 2. James Reisdorf posted: 12.19.2004 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) (Held a Dale Earnhardt FLAG outside his window, of course...) 3. Jake posted: 12.23.2004 - 12:15 am Rate this comment: (2) (3) One of the classiest moments in the history of NASCAR. On a day in which Dale Sr, NASCAR's greatest driver, could've turned 50, his best friend Rusty wins and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishes 3rd. Rusty then takes a no. 3 flag for a Victory Lap. Very emotional. Too bad Dale Jr. didn't pass Gordon to make a run at Rusty, but if there were 2 guys that you wanted to win that day, it'd be Rusty or Dale Jr. 4. Miller4Prez6 posted: 04.18.2006 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Rusty won!!! and it was awesome when he did his celebration with the Earnhardt flag, this was the day I became a Rusty fan 5. Steve posted: 06.29.2006 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) On a smaller note, Kevin Lepage failed to qualify the #4 Morgan-McClure Racing Chevy. This was the first race that the team had missed since Richmond in February 21st, 1988 with Rick Wilson. 6. mike posted: 10.30.2006 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) i had gone to cali for the coachella festival on this race weekend, i ended hearing rusty won on the news the next morning from riverside county jail:), i was so happy when he won at marty in 04 cuz it meant that i didnt miss his last win because i got arrested 7. Darrell posted: 11.26.2006 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ....why were you arrested? Do you really want to mention that on the internets? Shawna Robinson's first attempt in the 84. 8. BurtonRuddFan posted: 04.28.2007 - 1:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace has his next to last win and what a good run for Jimmy Spencer that day. 9. Mr. Big posted: 08.12.2007 - 3:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first race in the 2001 season in which Sterling Marlin did not lead a lap (led at least one for each of the first 9 races). 10. RaceFanX posted: 01.01.2008 - 9:52 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) As mentioned, the biggest story for weeks leading up to this race was Shawna Robinson becoming the first woman in years to attempt to qualify for a NASCAR race. The hype proved to be unjust, the #84 Aaron's Ford was just too slow to make the race. I think Shawna cited transmission problems as the reason she DNQed. Qualifing took a strange turn when news seemingly broke before it started that Bobby Labonte had been killed in an auto accident coming to the track. Proving the rumors of his death were highly exaggerated, Bobby went out and won the pole. 11. most posted: 02.20.2008 - 11:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember the Bobby died rumor, if anyone has any articles about that, I would like to read.... 12. Matito posted: 12.01.2008 - 11:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Heres the story from Jayski, circa 2001. Didn't Hear This but - the false Labonte rumor UPDATE the response: NASCAR.com is reporting - All rumors that NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte was injured Friday in a crash -- be it plane or on the track -- are completely untrue. An ABC affiliate out of Nashville, TN(WKRN-2), incorrectly reported Friday morning that Labonte was injured in a plane crash Friday morning en route to California Speedway AND False rumo Winston Cup Series practice started at 1:30pm/et, well after the story broke. False rumors also swirled throughout the East Coast that Labonte was hurt in a crash during practice. Oddly enough, Cup practice started at 1:30pm/et, well after the story broke. (NASCAR.com), see it's not always the Internet sites(4-27-2001) UPDATE: Rumors of an accident involving 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion, Bobby Labonte, are completely false. Earlier today, reports of Labonte being involved in some sort of accident were being spread nationwide and being talked about in the garage area of the California Speedway where the NASCAR Winston Cup Series will be running the NAPA Auto Parts 500 this Sunday. In addition, the initial reports of these rumors, which were reported to the team through the track and other sources, were erroneously attributed to WKRN-Nashville. Unfortunately, before all of the facts could be verified and sifted through, WKRN was falsely attributed to something they had nothing to do with. ??This is really bad, and strange, that??s for sure,? said Labonte. ??It??s hard to believe a lot of stuff you read or might see on TV. It??s bad because of my family being back home, even though I just talked to them about 30 minutes before that. When there??s a rumor like that out there, and now it??s just so spread out it just becomes a big catastrophe and probably like a death threat, I guess you might say. So it??s pretty bad. When you listen to something next time you??ll wonder, is that true or not? I??m not sure. It makes you think you??ve really got to be on top of the game, everybody needs to be, to make sure they??ve got the right information before they say anything. When asked if he knew how it got started, Labonte responded, ??No, I have no idea. We didn??t even have any close calls this morning (in practice) or last night getting here, so I have no idea.?(Joe Gibbs Racing PR/Site)(4-28-2001) 13. bigjohnson posted: 05.13.2009 - 8:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) My gf and I were talking about this just yesterday, She brought it up , saying that this was one of the coolest things she'd ever seen. We has gone to all the previous races here but this one fell on my mother's birthday so we didn't. Of course Rusty wins when we don't go for the first time. We have a full size replica Taurus hood from a car that he raced later on. It was part of a store display but it hangs on our living room wall now. bigjohnson 14. RaceFanX posted: 04.09.2012 - 10:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #10 Johnny Benson, Jr.- Eagle One #26 Jimmy Spencer- Kmart / The Mummy Returns #27 Kenny Wallace- The Man Show (Mostly as a joke, see below) #36 Ken Schrader- Snickers Cruncher (that was a new candy bar at the time) Scenes for an episode of the popular-at-the-time Comedy Central TV show "The Man Show" were shot during this race weekend with hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla (a serious car guy who now vintage races Datsuns) hanging around the track doing their comedic bits. Amongst things they did included interviewing "Dale Earnhardt Jr." (aka an Asian-American fan in a Dale Earnhardt Jr. shirt who was in on it) and putting up a some money to sponsor Kenny Wallace's #27 Pontiac as a joke. Wallace appeared in the bit and was thrilled to get a sponsor, the #27 was still almost entirely blank white as "The Man Show" logo was only placed on the trunk lid of the car (the program didn't exactly fit NASCAR's family-friendly image) but at least they paid something to a team that really needed any exposure it could get at the time. When the episode aired they joked in the bit Kenny was due for a win but concluded the segment by noting his 37th-place of 43 finish in 'their' car for laughs. This was the first race for RCR's #30 America Online team. The team had originally been scheduled to debut at Atlanta earlier in the year with Kevin Harvick as its driver before the shake up after they lost Dale Earnhardt. Then-defending Busch series champion Jeff Green became the team's new driver for its limited campaign in 2001 before going full-time in 2002 (originally intended to phase in Harvick), this was Green's first Cup start since Pocono in June of 1999. 15. CBASS posted: 09.29.2012 - 1:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor corrections #6 Viagra #66 Kmart Blue Light Special #45 Sprint PCS #96 McDonald's Drive Thru #20 Home Depot/ Rigid #11 Ralph's/ RedCell Batteries #4 Kodak Max Film #93 Amoco Ultimate #21 Motorcraft Quality Parts 16. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 06.20.2014 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Owner Updates #4 Larry McClure 17. 18fan posted: 12.17.2016 - 12:58 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kurt Busch started this race a lap down. He pitted during the pace laps for left side tires, but his team put fuel in the car, which was not allowed before the green flag, so Kurt was penalized a lap. It took him 150 laps to make the lap up. 18. Rich posted: 04.21.2021 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy along with Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the commentators. Dr. Dick Berggren along with Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Jeanne Zelasko were the pit road reporters. Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond were in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: