|| *Comments on the 2001 Pennzoil Freedom 400:* View the most recent comment <#57> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. HomeDepot20TS posted: 12.22.2004 - 5:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Awesome Bill breaks back in! 2. MASH_guy posted: 06.06.2005 - 3:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Like the other driver (Rudd) to break a long winless streak in 2001, Bill wins from the pole. First win since the 1994 Southern 500. 3. Darrell posted: 11.26.2005 - 8:07 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) This race proves Casey Atwood would have been a star if given the proper patience and development. 4. smoke20ri posted: 04.03.2006 - 4:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, that was a long drought for Bill between wins. 5. CBCMikeyfan posted: 06.02.2006 - 12:49 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Good point about Atwood. The race makes it even more puzzling that Evernham shafted him the next year. The guy has the best run of his young career, along with his teammate, and nearly wins until his teammate passes him (and no one could have beaten Bill this day, I don't believe), and he gets moved to the 7 car. Evernham was supposed to be involved with the 7 team, but it obviously didn't show much. Who knows how big a star Casey could have become if he was treated better? 6. mcmurrayfan posted: 06.14.2006 - 11:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only Cup Top 10 (as of now) for Jason Leffler. 7. Rusty posted: 07.28.2006 - 10:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last race at Homestead before the tracks become the season finale date in 2002. 8. Brock posted: 01.18.2007 - 5:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Casey Atwood, having won at Milwaukee's similarly-configured track, just about had this one wrapped up until Bill got him at the end. 9. biffle16 posted: 02.20.2007 - 4:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, the first win for the #9 since Bill brought it to Victory Lane in the Pepsi 400 on July 6, 1991. 10. biffle16 posted: 02.20.2007 - 4:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is also the race where two of Rudd's pit crew members were hit by Ward Burton. Bobby Burrell, one of the pit crew members, later went on to work for, guess who, Ward Burton. 11. biffle16 posted: 03.11.2007 - 5:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And, come to think of it, this could be the longest modern-era dry spell between wins. 12. most posted: 04.17.2007 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hopefully Jamie gets one soon so that he doesn't take that honor! 13. Clayton Caldwell posted: 06.27.2007 - 6:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill's first win since 1994, man I remember being at my friends house, and I asked my mom, who had won, when she said Bill Elliott, I nearly died! I've always been a huge Bill Elliott fan, and of course the one race I missed Bill broke his streak! I remember watching the news and they showed Bill's car crossing the finish line! I was so happy! I know he beat Atwood, who i think stunk by the way, and it was nice to see his teammate upthere as well! Atwood struggled in the Busch series in cars that weren't great, but okay! If he was so good he would have figured out how to run well, that's what good drivers do! 14. Mr. Big posted: 08.12.2007 - 3:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last time Homestead was not the final race of the year. 15. samfan08 posted: 03.11.2008 - 2:47 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Clayton, Atwood was 20 when he was in the 19. Not many 20 year olds can run consistently at the front. Just because of this one year and his struggles in decent at best equipment since then doesn't mean he wasn't good. Evernham screwed Casey Atwood, and there's no doubt in my mind that he would have been a star if given the chance. 16. Anonymous posted: 04.26.2008 - 7:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am a longtime Casey fan, and I was as angry as could be when he lost this race. Had it not been for that late caution, he would have won. Had he won, he would have stayed in the 19, and become ome of the dominat young stars of NASCAR. Casey is only 27, so maybe some will give him another chance. 17. Schafe posted: 06.02.2008 - 4:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Michael Waltrip's average finish in the three 2001 Florida races = 1.67. 18. Matito posted: 12.02.2008 - 10:40 am Rate this comment: (2) (2) Also, a nice touch by Pennzoil to rename the race the Pennzoil Freedom 400. 19. NASCAR 24/7 posted: 03.31.2010 - 11:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Jimmie Johnson's best finish in 3 starts in 2001, 25th. 20. Steve posted: 06.07.2010 - 3:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 227th race since Awesome Bill's 40th Cup win in the '94 Southern 500. I do believe that is the longest gap between wins in Cup history. Perhaps two new annual awards could be added: the Bill Elliott "First TiIme in a Long Time" Award for the driver who broke the longest winless streak among the season's winners (like Jeff Burton in 2006) and the Michael Waltrip "Long Time Coming" Award for the driver who took longer than anyone else in his career to win his first Cup race (Mikey took 463 races). Kinda weird that Gordon ran like crap just when people were considering when he might clinch the title. 21. Madison posted: 07.22.2010 - 2:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ward Burton ran through Ricky Rudd's pit during this race. This was the incident that mandated EVERY crew member who goes over the wall during a pit stop must wear a helmet. And, as biffle16 said, Bobby Burell, who I believe at the time was the front tire changer for Ricky, later went to work for Ward. 22. JakeTV370 posted: 09.18.2010 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Casey had the race won, but Awesome Bill's 7 years without a win pushed him out of the way. He also should've won Phoenix. 23. racefabrob posted: 11.17.2010 - 10:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This win made history for Bill Elliott, who I've been a fan of since 1981. Was this the first year for the progressive banking at Homestead ? I believe it was. Casey Atwood suffered from Sponcer demands. Dodge wanted someone more experienced in their other Dodge Dealers car. And Jeremy Mayfield is the only driver to ever, ever win using the #19 as well as get into the Championship hunt (the Chase). Casey Atwood didn't get a sophmore season to prove himself with Evernham. 24. NASCAR 24/7 posted: 01.15.2011 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Jimmie Johnson's best finish of the year in 3 starts, 25th. Also he beat Jeff Gordon :0. Was that an omen for years to come? 25. Elliott posted: 03.28.2011 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @STEVE Actually Gordon had quite a good car at the beginning, running in the top 3, but he suffered some damage in the Ward/Rudd pit road accident if I remember correctly 26. Dodge posted: 06.11.2011 - 9:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I bet Ray wishes he never did hire Mayfield due to his falling out with Mayfield. 27. Matthew Tesfaye posted: 07.06.2011 - 10:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Comment 25: Actually Gordon made contact with Jeff Green when Green tries to exit his pit stall 28. jarhead posted: 12.26.2011 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Homestead race NOT won by Tony Stewart, who did manage to lead the most laps. 29. Matthew Tesfaye posted: 02.22.2012 - 5:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tony Stewart had the car to beat, but was penalized for entering the pits incorrectly, ruining his chances to win, and to gain huge ground in the points 30. Aldo posted: 03.30.2012 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) #23 Progressive banking was introduced in 2003. Curiously, this track was redesigned twice (1998 and 2003) in seven years after the inaugural event (1996). Big waste of money. 31. RaceFanX posted: 04.13.2012 - 5:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #5 Terry Labonte- Kellogg's / Monsters, Inc. (Monsters, Inc. wasn't a company but a Pixar animated movie just released at this time) #33 Joe Nemechek- Oakwood Homes / Charlie Daniels Band (same scheme he ran in the Bud Shootout that year) #77 Robert Pressley- USA Veterans Day 2001 (Jasper Engines again decided to run a patriotic paint scheme for the day, this time in red, white and blue) 32. Ty (fourturns.blogspot.com) posted: 09.01.2012 - 3:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was an awesome race. I was watching it with my grandparents, my grandmother of which was a gigantic Bill Elliott fan -- and taught me the same thing. We were both fans of Casey Atwood as well, but we wanted Bill to win so bad. I remember, in the waning laps, we were cheering so loud and were so anxious to see Bill back in victory lane. And finally, Bill was able to get past the No. 19 and capture his first win in 227 races. Epic. Additionally, the race had a very odd top-ten as well. - Bill won the race, his first win in 227 races. - His teammate, Casey Atwood, finished third for his best career Cup finish (also his only top-five finish in 75 career Cup races) - Michael Waltrip finished in second to finish off an amazing 2001 Florida season. Waltrip won the Daytona 500 earlier in the season for his first career Cup win and then finished second behind Dale Jr. in the Pepsi 400 in July. To top it all off, he finished second at Homestead -- which accumulates to an average finish of a stellar 1.67. - Sterling Marlin finished fifth and arguably had the best season of his career in the process -- he also finished second in both races after Homestead, thus securing a third-place finish in the standings. - Dave Blaney finished sixth, the eighth top-ten finish of his career. It was also the second year that he had posted a top-ten effort at Homestead. - Kevin Harvick, a rookie that season after replacing the late Dale Sr., registered a seventh-place effort -- his first top-ten finish since Charlotte five weeks prior. Harvick would finish ninth in the standings. - Jeff Green participated in just eight races in 2001. It was also the only race he spent in the No. 31 Lowe's machine, as his other seven races were in the No. 30 AOL machine. Green finished ninth in the race, his only top-ten in those eight races. His next best finish that season was 17th at Michigan earlier in the season. - Jason Leffler came home in tenth in the horrible No. 01 Cingular Wireless Dodge for Chip Ganassi. To date, it is Leffler's only top-ten finish in 70 career Cup races. - Kenny Wallace finished the race in 14th in the No. 1 Pennzoil machine. After a horrible first 18 races, Wallace finished sixth at Talladega and 11th at Phoenix. He also won the pole at Rockingham, had the most dominant car but finished in second. He then finished 14th at Homestead, giving him an average finish of 7.75 in that four-race stretch. I wish Kenny could have gotten that win at Rockingham, though. - Kyle Petty came home in 16th, tying his best finish of the season in 24 starts -- the first of which came in the season-opening Daytona 500. It was also Petty's second top-20 finish of the season, as well. - Todd Bodine came home in 17th in that mediocre No. 66 for Travis Carter. It was only Bodine's 12th top-20 finish of the season. 33. aaron posted: 06.12.2013 - 11:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only career top 10 for leffler rip 34. Anthony posted: 06.24.2013 - 3:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Waltrip finished 2nd on a flat track, what is this? Did everyone else wreck out or something? 35. numbah10hatah posted: 01.10.2014 - 1:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I assume that the owner of Rich Bickle's #49 DNQ would be Beth Ann Morgenthau, since she owns every other BAM Racing #49. 36. 52 posted: 03.06.2014 - 12:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I still get Geary eyed when I watch bill win 37. Evan W. posted: 05.24.2014 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors * 2nd place finisher #15 Michael Waltrip NAPA/"We Keep America Running" Michael Waltrip ran the Patriotic scheme from the Pepsi 400 here and all events after September 11th. 38. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 06.20.2014 - 5:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Owner Update #49 Beth Ann Morganthau 39. Evan posted: 11.12.2014 - 9:07 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Last race where the pit crews(with the exception of Cal Wells team and a few others) were not mandated to wear helmets going over the wall. That changed when Casey Atwood hit Ward Burton as he was leaving his pit stall and hitting a NASCAR official, crew members John Brien and Bobby Burrell who worked with Ricky Rudd's team. One was knocked unconscious and the other had some injuries but both crew members were able to return to their respective crews after recovering from their injuries. Glad they were all okay. The accident made NASCAR mandate that helmets had to be worn while in the pits for safety which is a move I agree with. Many helmets were used when the rule was first in place, bike helmets, hockey helmets among other choices of headgear, and later the crews got open-faced helmets as the years wore on. 40. Walter White posted: 02.28.2015 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (4) It was not heartwarming to see Elliott win when it contributed to the downfall of a promising young driver. I hated Elliott for years because of this race when I was a kid. Atwood was a mentally weak pansy though so I guess he got what he deserved. 41. mister83 posted: 07.08.2015 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Mentally weak pansy?" He suffered from depression that affected his racing performance after his best friend Adam Petty died, just so you know. That is the main reason why he never became the "next Jeff Gordon" that he was hyped out to be. That and the fact that Evernham screwed him over by sending him to Ultra and that crook Jimmy Smith. 42. Windows Millennium Edition posted: 03.14.2016 - 10:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Withdrew: WD|Morgan Shepherd|89|Racing for Jesus|Morgan Shepherd|Ford 43. Windows Millennium Edition posted: 03.20.2016 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates: #5 Monsters Inc. #20 Home Depot/RIDGID 44. Nascarfan2429 posted: 06.27.2016 - 9:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Such a shame. This was Casey Atwood's best shot at getting a win. He probably could have done better is he was given another year with Ray Evernham 45. Jared DiCarlo posted: 08.03.2016 - 8:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) R.I.P. Casey Atwood's career 46. Ak47 posted: 08.04.2016 - 6:58 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) This is what I miss about the "good old days" of parity in the sport. The results of this race look like someone literally put all 43 names in a hat and started pulling randomly. Waltrip, Blaney, Atwood, Green, and Leffler all in the top 10, while Rusty, Stewart, Jr, Rudd, Gordon, Martin and others were back in the field, you just don't see anything like it these days... 47. Steve posted: 09.15.2016 - 7:42 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Yes, AK47. These days, unless you drive for Gibbs, Hendrick, Penske, or Stewart-Haas, you have very little chance of winning. Granted, as of September 2016, Buescher scored the rain-shortened upset win @ Pocono, Truex has won and been strong for Furniture Row (pretty much a Gibbs satellite team now), and Larson finally broke his duck for Ganassi, but those powerhouse teams have won about 90% of the races in the last 3 years. Though they're on par with Ganassi, Childress and Roush Racing have been winless the past 2 years. If 7 racing teams scoring a win in a season is considered competitive, consider that Bill Elliott made Evernham Motorsports the 13th different racing organisation to win a Winston Cup race in the 2001 season. DEI, Hendrick, RCR, Yates, Wood Brothers, APR, Penske, JGR, Roush, Ganassi, Bill Davis, PPI, and Evernham won races, while Travis Carter, MBV, Jasper, and the Pettys nearly joined that list. How did the level of competition drop off so much? 48. Anthony posted: 01.08.2017 - 7:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If the cars weren't so aero dependant, then it would be a bit closer 49. Ty posted: 05.05.2017 - 7:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 18/Bobby Labonte/MBNA/Interstate Batteries 50. Gabriel posted: 05.12.2018 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, this race is known for Ward Burton and Ricky Rudd colliding on pit road that injured some crew members, leading to mandatory helmets the next week for pit crew members. 51. @Statscrash posted: 12.08.2018 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Happiest day of my childhood, being 10 years old I had no memories of my favorite driver winning since I was 3 when he last won a race. I'm glad I got to see him win a few more of the next couple years after this. 52. YAHBOI posted: 04.27.2019 - 4:29 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Awesome win by Awesome Bill! 53. Matthew posted: 12.01.2019 - 11:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Until the 2020 season, this was the last season where Homestead wasn't the final race. 54. Julia posted: 01.19.2020 - 7:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If anyone is trying to buy a Bobby Labonte 2002 Grand Prix lets roll tin with car, or a pre-race track pass (Pennzoil 400, Miami) or admission tickets, email me at juliabeau@icloud.com 55. Anonymous posted: 03.26.2020 - 12:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) you might forget it was Jimmie Johnson's first lead lap run in this race. 56. SweetRich posted: 06.28.2020 - 9:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach. The pit road reporters were Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider and Dave Burns. 57. Mile501 posted: 08.28.2020 - 11:13 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Lowe's was a mainstay as a Cup sponsor from 1995 through 2018 (as well as during the 1960 season and a handful of other races), but this was the only time that the company sponsored 2 teams in the same race. Lowe's would move from RCR to Hendrick in 2002, but the company also sponsored Jimmie Johnson in 3 races during the fall of 2001 as he prepared for his rookie season. There would have been two Lowe's cars in all 3 of those races, but Robby Gordon failed to qualify the #31 car in the other two. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: