July 22, 2001
New Hampshire International Speedway
Loudon, New Hampshire
Race 20 of 37 on Winston Cup circuit
(19th points race)

TV: TNT, 1:30 p.m. EDT

Laps: 300
Track length: 1.058 miles
Race length: 317.4 miles

Qualifying record: Rusty Wallace, 132.089 mph, 2000
Race record: Jeff Burton, 117.134 mph, 1997

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Jeff Burton -- Led the most laps en route to victory in the 1997 Jiffy Lube 300 and again in 1998; recorded his third straight win in this race in July 1999, but did not lead the most laps; also won the Dura-Lube 300 at New Hampshire last year when he led all 300 laps of competition.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- Reached eighth in the Winston Cup points standings, the highest since after the Daytona 500; victory this year was the Pepsi 500 at Daytona where his legendary father was killed in an accident in February; Dale Jr. also has a pole this season, four top-five finishes and seven top-10s.

Jeff Gordon -- A winner of this race in 1995, but performs better at the track in the fall race; won that event twice; finished in the top-five in this race the past two years (fifth in 2000); hit a bit of a skid the last two races, finishing 38th and 17th; tied with Dale Jarrett for first place in the series standings at 2,515 points each; Gordon holds the top slot based on more top five finishes; both are also tied for the Winston Cup lead in wins with three apiece; led 1,276 laps, more than double of the next-closest competitor, Rusty Wallace; also the money leader with more than $4.1 million.

Dale Jarrett -- Caught up with Jeff Gordon in the standings after stalled in second four previous races; was fourth in the inaugural event at Chicagoland last Sunday for his eighth top-five finish this season; is tied with Gordon in points, but officialy second due to fewer top-fives; won three races; finished in the top-10 in seven races at Loudon with fourth as top result twice; placed seventh in this race last year.

Bobby Labonte -- Had his fourth DNF of the season at the Tropicana 400 (39th) when his engine let go just past the halfway mark of the race; reached seventh in the standings, but fell back down to 10th after the disappointing result in Chicago; finished ninth in this event last season and improved to second later in September.

Mark Martin -- Good performances at Loudon but without victory; finished both races held at Loudon in second place in 1998; finished third in the July 2000 race and eighth in the September event; still winless this year, but has three top fives and seven top-10s; is 12th in the standings, 47 points out of top 10.

Sterling Marlin -- A good season to this point which has him in fifth overall in the standings; has five top-five results and 10 top-10s; has finished outside the top-20 at Loudon in both races last year.

Jerry Nadeau -- A native of New England, always enjoys coming to New Hampshire Speedway which has been a good track for him; won three open-wheel races at the track; also had some pretty good runs in NASCAR Winston Cup races by finishing fourth in this event last year.

Ricky Rudd -- Perhaps the most consistent driver in the Winston Cup this season; the 44-year-old ended an 88-race winless streak with a victory at the Pocono 500 on June 17; his 13 top-10 finishes are tops in the series, two more than Robert Yates Racing teammate Jeff Gordon; within striking distance of the top spot, only 18 points behind Gordon and Dale Jarrett in the standings; has finished 14th or better in the last 11 races, a span in which he has earned 1,702 points to Gordon's 1,534 and Jarrett's 1,459; did well at Loudon in 2000 with a 10th in this race and a third in September.

Tony Stewart -- The defending champion of the July race at Loudon when bad weather shortened the race by 27 laps; finished 25th and lower the last two races which pushed him two positions down to sixth place in the points; has two victories and six top-fives this campaign.

Rusty Wallace -- Won the first race at the track in 1993; has raced better the last three races after a string of five disappointing results; improved to fourth in the series standings, but is a distant 189 points behind third place finisher Ricky Rudd; is one of 12 winners this year, recording his 54th career victory at California Speedway on April 29; was in front of the field a series second-best 472 laps.