2001 UAW-GM Quality 500

The 2001 UAW-GM Quality 500 was the 29th stock car race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 7, 2001, in Concord, North Carolina, at Lowe's Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval. The race took the scheduled 334 laps to complete. At race's end, Sterling Marlin, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, would dominate the late stages of the race to win his eighth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season. To fill out the podium, Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, and Ward Burton, driving for Bill Davis Racing, would finish second and third, respectively. This race marked the official debut of Jimmie Johnson in the Cup Series.

The race was interrupted from its broadcast on NBC due to then-president George W. Bush announcing the United States invasion of Afghanistan, moving the race to TNT.

Background
Lowe's Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI) with Marcus G. Smith (son of Bruton Smith) as track president.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver.

Practice
Originally, three practice sessions were planned to be held, with one on Thursday, October 4, and two on Saturday, October 6. However, due to rain, the AM session on Saturday was cancelled.

First practice
The first practice session was held on Thursday, October 4, at 3:30 PM EST. The session would last for two hours. Ryan Newman, driving for Penske Racing South, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.472 and an average speed of 183.225 mph.

Second and final practice
The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, October 6, at 4:00 PM EST. The session would last for one hour. Ken Schrader, driving for MB2 Motorsports, and Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would both set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 30.368 and an average speed of 177.819 mph.

Qualifying
Qualifying was held on Friday, October 4, at 7:00 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 1-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champ needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.

Jimmy Spencer, driving for Haas-Carter Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 29.166 and an average speed of 185.147 mph.

Six drivers would fail to qualify: Kyle Petty, Derrike Cope, Jeff Green, Robby Gordon, Buckshot Jones, and Frank Kimmel.