Hamilton wins the Talladega 500: #55-Bobby Hamilton was able to pass #20-Tony Stewart on the last lap to win the Talladega 500. It was Hamiton’s 4th career Winston Cup win and his fist in just over three years when he last won at Martinsville on April 20, 1998, 101 races ago. The win was the first ever for Andy Petree Racing(APR) and puts Hamilton into the 2001 The Winston and in position for the 2002 Winners Circle Program. It was the first win for car number 55 since Phil Parsons won using it at Talladega on May 1, 1988 and the #55’s 12 overall win in Winston Cup(see my Winners by Car Numbers page) #88-Dale Jarrett holds onto the point lead by 148 points over #24-Jeff Gordon. #97-Kurt Busch got his best career finish with a 3rd, #6-Mark Martin got his first top five of 2001 and #33-Joe Nemechek got his first top 10 of 2001. There were 27 different leaders in the race which Fox reported as the most ever in any Winston Cup race and ever at Talladega (the old record was 26 at Talladega on July 27, 1986). The race was run caution free, the first time since Michigan in June 1999. See Unofficial Results at NASCAR.com along with Unofficial Points Standings and a full story at That’s Racin’: Hamilton wins a caution-free Talladega 500(4-22-2001)
