2001 NAPA Auto Parts 300

2001 NAPA Auto Parts 300

Race details
Race 1 of 33 in the 2001 NASCAR Busch Series season
Date	February 17, 2001 (2001-02-17)
Location	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	2.5 miles (4 km)
Distance	120 laps, 300 mi (480 km)
Scheduled distance	120 laps, 300 mi (480 km)
Average speed	135.152 miles per hour (217.506 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO Motorsports
Time	48.137
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Purvis	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	65
Winner
No. 7	Randy LaJoie	Evans Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	FOX
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds

The 2001 NAPA Auto Parts 300 was the first stock car race of the 2001 NASCAR Busch Series, and the 20th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, February 17, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 120 laps to complete. In an action-packed event, Randy LaJoie, driving for Evans Motorsports, would fend off several hard chargers to earn his fourteenth career NASCAR Busch Series win, and his first of the season.^[1] To fill out the podium, Kevin Harvick, driving for Richard Childress Racing, and Matt Kenseth, driving for Reiser Enterprises, would finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Atlanta Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.^[2] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.^[3] The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.^[3]

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

The first practice session was held on Tuesday, February 13, at 9:20 am EST, and would last for 100 minutes.^[4] Kevin Grubb, driving for Brewco Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 48.944, and a speed of 183.884 mph (295.933 km/h).

The NAPA Auto Parts 300 was carried by FOX in the United States. Mike Joy, former Cup Series champion Darrell Waltrip, and former Daytona 500 winner race crew chief Larry McReynolds called the race from the booth, with Steve Byrnes, Jeanne Zelasko, Dick Berggren and Matt Yocum covering pit road. Chris Myers hosted the show and there was also contributions from Jeff Hammond and Ken Squier. It was the first NASCAR Busch Series race broadcast on FOX as part of the new for 2001 TV contracts.^[6]