2001
Dale Jr. looked very strong in Speed Weeks 2001 at Daytona. He started the beginning of the 2001 season by competing for the first time in the Rolex 24 hour race. He was on a team consisting of himself, his father Dale Earnhardt, and two other men. They came in second in their class and fourth overall in the event. He then came in second in his Twin 125 qualifying race and ran up front most of the day in the official season opening Daytona 500. What started out to look like a great season for Jr. Turned tragic by the end of the 500. HIs team mate Michael Waltrip came in first with Jr. close behind... But his father who was helping the pair of DEI team mates stay out in front had been hit from behind and turned into the outside wall. He had died instantly. What started as a great season became a very sad and rocky first half of the year for Dale Jr. BUt at the half way point in the year, he came back to win the first race at Daytona since his fathers untimely death there... A fitting tribute to dear old dad. He then won twice more, once at Dover in the first race after the tragedy of 9-11-01, and again in the EA Sports 500 at Talladega where he won the No Bull million dollar bonus. Upon winning the bonus, Jr. became the first driver to do so since his father one year earlier, and the last driver to win the coveted prize when Winston quit the bonus program in 2002.
This is the car Jr. drove in the
Rolex 24 hour race at Daytona
during Speed Weeks leading up to
the 2001 Daytona 500.
One of his three team mates for
the event was his dad, Dale Earnhardt.
The four team mates took turns driving
their 2001 Chevy
Corvette during the 24 hour event.
They came in
second in their class and fourth
overall in the event.
.
Jr. came within inches of winning
in his Twin 125 event, but Mike Skinner was able to hold onto the win.
Dale Jr. talking to Mark Martin
during qualifying for the 2001 Pepsi 400. This is the Winston Cup
tour's first race at the track since the death of Dale Jr.'s father in
the Daytona 500 in February.
.
Dale Jr. led almost all night at
the Pepsi 400, driving this Major League Baseball special paint scheme
on rout to his first win of the 2001 season.
A late race pit stop under caution
dropped him back in the pack.
But with his strong car, Dale Jr.
had retaken the lead by lap five!
Michael Waltrip pushes Dale Jr.
to victory, pay back for when Jr.
did the same for him at the Daytona
400 earlier in the season.
Chocolate Meyers, long time gas
man for Dale Earnhardt, was the first to get to
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and give him
a big hug! HIs team mate, Waltrip, pulled up next to
Jr. in the grass after Jr. was
done whipping doughnuts in the grass!
Waltrip, who never got a chance
to celebrate after his Daytona victory,
due to what had just happened in
that race, gets a big hug from Dale Jr.
Dale Earnhardt Incorporated team
mates celebrate in the infield.
Dale Jr. pulls into victory lane.
For more pictures and information
about Dale Jr.'s win in the
2001 Pepsi 400 at, please see:
Eric's
2001 Daytona Pepsi 400 Page.
Middle: With some encouragement
from other drivers, Dale Jr. was one of the final drivers to begin wearing
the Hutchins Device after his fathers death. Later in the year NASCAR
ruled that all drivers had to wear either the HANS or Hutchins Device to
protect their head and neck in case of a head on collision. Tony
Stewart and Jimmy Spencer were the final two drivers to finally wear one
of the devices, when NASCAR made the rule.
.
.
Dale Jr. accidentally gets into
Bill Elliott during a race
Dale Jr. races with Sterling Marlin
Dale Jr. passing Mark Martin at
Atlanta
After NASCAR canceled the race at
New Hampshire the weekend after the 9-11 terror attacks in New York City,
Dale Jr. came back the next weekend and won the race at Dover.
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Dale Jr.'s co-pilot from the 9/27/01
weekend, Wilson the Volleyball!
Wilson got to ride along for much
of the rest of the season!
Dale Jr. won the Bud Pole Award
at the second Atlanta race, the NAPA 500.
Carrying on the Earnhardt tradition,
Dale Jr. won the 2001 EA Sports 500 at Talladega. It was Jr.'s first
No Bull million dollar bonus, and as it turns out, the last, because Winston
canceled the NO BUll bonus program after 2001. Dale's father, The
Intimidator, had won the race and No Bull Million the previous year in
what would be his final Winston Cup victory.
Continue...2000 and before
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This site was created in August, 2001, and last edited on January 20, 2007. If you have
any questions or comments, please e-mail me at ericunderwood@hotmail.com
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