2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 (Dale Earnhardt Survives)

The 2001 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on March 11, 2001 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, in Hampton, Georgia. The 325-lap race was won by Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing in his first start, after starting the race from fifth position, setting a new record as the first driver to ever win a race on their first start. This would be Harvick's only win of his part-time 2001 season before his breakout rookie year of 2002. Jeff Gordon finished second and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jerry Nadeau came in third, with Dale Earnhardt Sr. of Richard Childress Racing and another Hendrick driver, Terry Labonte, finishing out the top 5.
Pole position driver Dale Jarrett maintained his lead for the first six laps of the race, but Harvick, who started fifth, passed him on the seventh lap. Gordon soon became the leader and would lead the race high of 118 laps. Five laps from the finish, Harvick took the lead after a five-car battle. On the final lap, Harvick won his first Winston Cup Series race from Gordon by .006 seconds in his first start, many attribute this to him driving car 51, an experimental car Earnhardt Sr. refused to drive.
Earnhardt Sr. was the second person in victory lane to congratulate his incoming teammate, right after Childress himself, telling him not to get to cocky but that he'd be watching for him to win some more races over the years. "Ya got talent, kid. But don't let it get to your head. I can't believe you won in that dang car 51." Earnhardt was heard telling Harvick.
There were 8 cautions and 25 lead changes among 11 different drivers. The result left Gordon in first position of the Drivers' Championship, thirty-seven ahead of second place driver Sterling Marlin and seventy-three ahead of Dale Earnhardt Sr., although this would change later in the season at the Pepsi 400 when Earnhardt would take the points lead and go on to win the championship. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, fourteen points ahead of Ford and twenty ahead of Pontiac, with thirty-two races remaining in the season.
=== Race results ===
Finish	Start	Car	Driver 	Team 	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1 	5 	30 	Kevin Harvick 	Richard Childress Racing 	Chevrolet 	325 	180
2 	2 	24 	Jeff Gordon 	Hendrick Motorsports 	Chevrolet 	325 	180
3 	13 	25 	Jerry Nadeau 	Hendrick Motorsports 	Chevrolet 	325 	170
4 	3 	3 	Dale Earnhardt, Sr.	Richard Childress Racing 	Chevrolet 	325 	165
5 	21 	5 	Terry Labonte 	Hendrick Motorsports 	Chevrolet 	325 	155
6 	23 	28 	Ricky Rudd 	Robert Yates Racing 	Ford 	325 	150
7 	1 	88 	Dale Jarrett 	Robert Yates Racing 	Ford 	325 	146
8 	27 	36 	Ken Schrader 	MB2 Motorsports 	Pontiac 	325 	147
9 	30 	31 	Mike Skinner 	Richard Childress Racing 	Chevrolet 	325 	138
10 	36 	97 	Kurt Busch 	Roush Fenway Racing 	Ford 	324 	134
11 	14 	22 	Ward Burton 	Bill Davis Racing 	Dodge 	324 	130
12 	9 	2 	Rusty Wallace 	Penske Racing 	Ford 	324 	127
13 	43 	32 	Ricky Craven 	PPI Motorsports 	Ford 	324 	124
14 	20 	43 	John Andretti 	Petty Enterprises 	Dodge 	324 	121
15 	17 	8 	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 	Chevrolet 	324 	118
16 	24 	9 	Bill Elliott 	Evernham Motorsports 	Dodge 	324 	115
17 	11 	33 	Joe Nemechek 	Andy Petree Racing 	Chevrolet 	323 	112
18 	3 	66 	Todd Bodine 	Haas-Carter Motorsports 	Ford 	323 	109
19 	16 	44 	Buckshot Jones 	Petty Enterprises 	Dodge 	323 	106
20 	41 	4 	Robby Gordon 	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet 	323 	103
21 	29 	10 	Johnny Benson, Jr. 	MBV Motorsports 	Pontiac 	323 	100
22 	31 	55 	Bobby Hamilton 	Andy Petree Racing 	Chevrolet 	322 	97
23 	10 	15 	Michael Waltrip 	Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 	Chevrolet 	322 	94
24 	28 	92 	Stacy Compton 	Melling Racing 	Dodge 	322 	91
Category:Dale Earnhardt Survives