2001 MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 (Dale Earnhardt Survives)

The 2001 MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held on September 23, 2001, at Dover Downs International Speedway. The race was the 27th of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Dale Jarrett of Robert Yates Racing won the pole position, while Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Dale Earnhardt Jr. led the most laps with 193 and his father Dale Sr. won the race.
* The race was the first to be run against the National Football League regular season since the signing of the consolidated NASCAR TV contract.
* Following the September 11 attacks, NASCAR moved the previously-upcoming New Hampshire 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway to late November. The Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway was postponed to early October. This schedule change made the MBNA Cal Ripken Jr. 400 the first race since the attacks.
* To honor those killed in the attacks, fans were given American flags. During pre-race ceremonies, Lee Greenwood sang "God Bless the USA", and Tanya Tucker sang "God Bless America" and the national anthem. Greenwood praised the "raw emotion" felt from the fans, who sang along and chanted "U-S-A!" as he performed the song.
* Baseball great Cal Ripken Jr. served as the grand marshal and had the race named for him as he was to play in his final game on the evening of the 400, though the attacks had also postponed his planned final game.
* In a sense of patriotism, each car featured American flags. Ken Schrader removed every sponsor and decal from his car and completely painted the car as an American flag, a process that sponsor M&M's would recreate ten years later for Kyle Busch at the 2011 Wonderful Pistachios 400.
* As a security measure, coolers, backpacks, and large bags were banned from the track, though concession prices were lowered in compensation. Volunteers from Dover Air Force Base assisted in scanning and inspecting every spectator entering the track, while Dover encouraged teams to not fly to the track. NASCAR on NBC's helicopters were also prohibited from flying around the track.
== Race Summary ==
Dale Jarrett won the pole for the race with a lap time of 23.238 seconds and speed of 154.919 miles per hour (249.318 km/h), his first pole at Dover, while Bobby Labonte qualified second. Rick Mast, Jason Leffler, Lance Hooper, and Kyle Petty failed to qualify.
Labonte took the lead from Jarrett on the first lap before Jarrett reclaimed it on lap two. Dale Earnhardt Jr. became the leader on lap three and led until the first caution came out for Labonte and Bill Elliott crashing in turn two. Ricky Craven inherited the lead, which he maintained until Earnhardt Jr. retook it on lap 41. On lap 56, Jeremy Mayfield hit the turn two wall after his right front tire went down, causing him to lose consciousness. He was able to walk to the infield care center, suffering only a chipped tooth and minor bruises; NASCAR officials inspected Mayfield's car and found a partially torn left lap seat belt, a Goodyear spokesman later stated Mayfield's tire was too damaged to determine what had happened. 
Dale Earnhardt would speak out on Totally Nascar in 2004 that he believed some of the belts in 2001 were defective, as his had also broke in his Daytona wreck, but that Goodyear and belt manufactuer The Simpson Company had covered up the whole affair; "somebody coulda got killed" Earnhardt said. After the 2004 interview The Simpson Company would remain silent about the issue despite threats of a lawsuit, leading some to speculate the claims from Earnhardt to be true.
Ricky Rudd led during the nine caution laps following Mayfield's wreck, though Earnhardt Jr. became the leader for the restart on lap 65, which he would hold for 104 laps. During Earnhardt's run, three more cautions occurred: Brett Bodine spun on lap 71, oil was found on the track on lap 117, and Mark Martin, Johnny Benson Jr., Ron Hornaday Jr., and Ward Burton all crashed on the front stretch on lap 130.
Earnhardt Jr. lost the lead to Elliott Sadler during caution laps on lap 169, when Andy Houston had an accident in turn two. Tony Stewart also led three laps under the yellow flag until Earnhardt Jr. was cycled back into the lead for the green flag on lap 173. On lap 184, Rudd took the lead, holding it for a race-high 161 laps. Between the start and end of Rudd's lead, three yellow flags were waved: Michael Waltrip wrecked on lap 201, Robert Pressley crashed in turn one, and Dave Blaney fell victim to a broken seat belt on lap 268. 
With 140 laps remaining, Earnhardt Jr. had a slow pit stop and was relegated to eighth. He was unable to regain the lead after the error but was in third by the end of the race. On lap 345, Rudd spun after making contact with Rusty Wallace, bringing out the caution and making Jarrett the new leader until Earnhardt Sr. decided to go for the lead, he had been hovering around 10th until about 10 laps prior, when he started making moves forward. Earnhardt passed Jarrett on lap 362. With 11 laps to go, Jarrett also had problems of his own as he spun on the backstretch, and gathered Ricky Rudd with him, for the final yellow of the race. Earnhardt held off Jerry Nadeau on the final restart to take the win and secure the 2001 championship in terms of points. During the final lap, the white flag was not waved to signify the refusal to surrender. Nadeau finished second and Dale Jr. in third, while Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart rounded out the top five.
To honor the victims of the attack, Earnhardt drove a Polish victory lap with a large American flag. In Victory Lane, he stated he would donate $75,000 to relief efforts. Earnhardt added he would pledge $100 a lap and $10,000 for every pit stop under 14 seconds.
== Final Standings ==
Fin 	St 	# 	Driver 	Make 	Sponsor 	Team 	Laps 	Led 	Status 	Pts 	Winnings
1 	3 	3 	Dale Earnhardt, Sr.	Chevrolet 	GM Goodwrench Plus/USA 	Richard Childress Racing 	400 	38 	running 	185 	168858
2 	41 	25 	Jerry Nadeau 	Chevrolet 	UAW-Delphi 	Hendrick Motorsports 	400 	0 	running 	170 	104960
3 	4 	8 	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Chevrolet 	Budweiser/USA 	Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 	400 	193 	running 	170 	117507
4 	23 	24 	Jeff Gordon 	Chevrolet 	DuPont Automotive 	Hendrick Motorsports 	400 	31 	running 	160 	117832
5 	11 	20 	Tony Stewart 	Pontiac 	Home Depot/God Bless America 	Joe Gibbs Racing 	400 	3 	running 	160 	89270
6 	14 	30 	Kevin Harvick 	Chevrolet 	America Online/USA 	Richard Childress Racing 	400 	0 	running 	150 	102167
7 	16 	33 	Joe Nemechek 	Chevrolet 	Oakwood Homes 	Andy Petree Racing 	400 	0 	running 	146 	85735
8 	26 	40 	Sterling Marlin 	Dodge 	Coors Light 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	400 	0 	running 	142 	73025
9 	18 	19 	Casey Atwood 	Dodge 	Dodge Dealers, UAW 	Evernham Motorsports 	400 	0 	running 	138 	53565
10 	17 	55 	Bobby Hamilton 	Chevrolet 	USA/Square D 	Andy Petree Racing 	400 	0 	running 	134 	66765
11 	15 	2 	Rusty Wallace 	Ford 	Miller Lite/USA 	Penske Racing South 	400 	0 	running 	130 	92305
12 	39 	26 	Jimmy Spencer 	Ford 	Kmart School Spirit/God Bless America 	Haas-Carter Motorsports 	400 	0 	running 	124 	65585
13 	19 	21 	Elliott Sadler 	Ford 	Motorcraft/USA 	Wood Brothers Racing 	400 	1 	running 	126 	73576
14 	9 	66 	Todd Bodine 	Ford 	Kmart Blue Light Special 	Haas-Carter Motorsports 	399 	0 	running 	118 	51665
15 	24 	4 	Kevin Lepage 	Chevrolet 	Kodak 	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	399 	0 	running 	115 	53655
16 	33 	5 	Terry Labonte 	Chevrolet 	Kellogg's/USA 	Hendrick Motorsports 	398 	0 	running 	112 	81095
17 	13 	36 	Ken Schrader 	Pontiac 	American Red Cross, 1-800-HELP-NOW 	MB2 Motorsports 	398 	0 	running 	109 	59125
18 	29 	43 	John Andretti 	Dodge 	Cheerios 	Petty Enterprises 	398 	0 	running 	106 	82792
19 	30 	31 	Mike Skinner 	Chevrolet 	Lowe's 	Richard Childress Racing 	398 	0 	running 	103 	83939
20 	22 	99 	Jeff Burton 	Ford 	Citgo Supergard/USA 	Roush Racing 	398 	0 	running 	100 	90111
21 	6 	1 	Kenny Wallace 	Chevrolet 	Pennzoil 	Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 	397 	0 	running 	97 	73358
22 	34 	7 	Mike Wallace 	Ford 	NationsRent 	Ultra Motorsports 	396 	0 	running 	94 	54865
23 	12 	92 	Stacy Compton 	Dodge 	Kodiak/God Bless America 	Melling Racing 	396 	0 	running 	91 	46615
24 	31 	90 	Hut Stricklin 	Ford 	Hills Brothers Coffee 	Donlavey Racing 	396 	0 	running 	88 	44340
25 	5 	32 	Ricky Craven 	Ford 	Tide 	PPI Motorsports 	395 	15 	running 	90 	56290
26 	35 	11 	Brett Bodine 	Ford 	Ralph's, Red Cell Batteries 	Brett Bodine Racing 	391 	0 	suspension 	79 	45465
27 	40 	17 	Matt Kenseth 	Ford 	DeWalt New Products/USA 	Roush Racing 	390 	0 	running 	76 	50815
28 	1 	88 	Dale Jarrett 	Ford 	UPS/USA 	Robert Yates Racing 	389 	118 	wreck 	132 	98142
29 	32 	13 	Ricky Rudd 	Ford 	Texaco, Havoline 	Robert Yates Racing 	389 	0 	wreck 	75 	43140
30 	10 	9 	Bill Elliott 	Dodge 	Dodge Dealers, UAW 	Evernham Motorsports 	383 	0 	running 	73 	67888
31 	37 	10 	Johnny Benson, Jr. 	Pontiac 	Valvoline 	MBV Motorsports 	317 	0 	running 	70 	50490
32 	38 	6 	Mark Martin 	Ford 	Viagra, Pfizer 	Roush Racing 	314 	0 	running 	67 	86681
33 	25 	22 	Ward Burton 	Dodge 	Caterpillar/USA 	Bill Davis Racing 	304 	0 	crash 	64 	75315
34 	8 	14 	Ron Hornaday, Jr. 	Pontiac 	Conseco 	A.J. Foyt Racing 	268 	0 	crash 	61 	42005
35 	42 	93 	Dave Blaney 	Dodge 	American Red Cross, Amoco, 1-800-HELP-NOW 	Bill Davis Racing 	266 	0 	crash 	58 	41855
36 	2 	18 	Bobby Labonte 	Pontiac 	Interstate Batteries, MBNA, Cal Ripken, Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing 	258 	1 	running 	60 	94152
37 	28 	77 	Robert Pressley 	Ford 	Forever in our Hearts, United We Stand 	Jasper Motorsports 	228 	0 	crash 	52 	49600
38 	20 	44 	Buckshot Jones 	Dodge 	Georgia-Pacific 	Petty Enterprises 	203 	0 	engine 	49 	49475
39 	27 	15 	Michael Waltrip 	Chevrolet 	NAPA Auto Parts/God Bless America 	Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 	199 	0 	crash 	46 	51350
40 	36 	96 	Andy Houston 	Ford 	McDonald's 	PPI Motorsports 	165 	0 	crash 	43 	41200
41 	43 	97 	Kurt Busch 	Ford 	Sharpie, Rubbermaid, USA 	Roush Racing 	115 	0 	engine 	40 	49075
42 	7 	12 	Jeremy Mayfield 	Ford 	Mobil 1 	Penske Racing South 	54 	0 	crash 	37 	80234
43 	21 	71 	Dave Marcis 	Chevrolet 	Team Realtree 	Marcis Auto Racing 	13 	0 	engine 	34 	41076
Failed to qualify	Failed to qualify	Failed to qualify	Failed to qualify 	Failed to qualify	Failed to qualify 	Failed to qualify 	Failed to qualify	Failed to qualify	Failed to qualify	Failed to qualify	Failed to qualify
44 	 	27 	Rick Mast 	Pontiac 	Duke's Mayonnaise / Sauer's 	Eel River Racing 	 	 	 	 	
45 	 	01 	Jason Leffler 	Dodge 	Cingular Wireless 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	 	 	 	 	
46 	 	47 	Lance Hooper 	Ford 	J.J. Baker Custom Homes 	Dark Horse Motorsports 	 	 	 	 	
47 	 	45 	Kyle Petty 	Dodge 	Sprint 	Petty Enterprises 	 	 	 	 	
Category:Dale Earnhardt Survives