Aug. 25, 2001
Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tennessee
Race 25 of 37 on Winston Cup circuit
(24th points race)

TV: ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET

Laps: 500
Track length: 0.533 miles
Race length: 266.5 miles
Banking: 36 degrees

Qualifying record: Rusty Wallace, 125.477 mph, 2000
Race record: Charlie Glotzbach, 101.074 mph, 1971

DRIVERS TO WATCH

Johnny Benson -- Is the only driver in the top-10 of the Winston Cup points standings without victory; is still searching for that elusive first career checkered flag in the series; a good season with five top-fives and 10 finishes in the first 10; was 13th in the March race at Bristol; ninth in the standings.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- In the spring at Bristol, he was caught in a multi-car crash and dropped to a season-low 26th in the points standings; since then, the team has been performing well, moving up 20 positions to sixth; finished 17 races in the top-12 since.

Bill Elliott -- A consistent performer in the second part of the season; recorded two top-five finishes and four top-10s in his last six races; finished third in the Pepsi 400 at Michigan Speedway where he led the most laps.

Jeff Gordon -- The Winston Cup leading driver increased his advantage over Ricky Rudd to 298 points after a seventh place finish in the rain-shortened Pepsi 400 last Sunday; captured four consecutive Food City 500s at Bristol but never this event in his career; Gordon leads the series with five wins and six poles, has led 1,566 laps -- more than three times of Steve Park (499); he appears to be on his way to a fourth championship but cannot have any major slips in the last 13 races; has finished first, second or third in 10 of the last 14 races.

Bobby Hamilton -- The Tennessee native heads to Bristol Motor Speedway where he has three top-10 finishes including an eighth in the spring; best career finish in 21 starts at Bristol was fourth in the Food City 500 in 1995; won the Talladega 500 on April 22 and has four other top-10 results.

Dale Jarrett -- Has lost pace with Jeff Gordon after a string of four races with finishes outside the top-10; in fact, three of his last four races were finishes of 31st or lower; is 354 points behind Gordon and 56 behind teammate Ricky Rudd; his four wins are second to Gordon's five as are his three poles to six by Gordon; 44-year-old son of Ned Jarrett.

Bobby Labonte -- One of 14 winners on the Winston Cup circuit this year; his 17th career win was recorded at the Pennsylvania 500 on July 29; with 11 top-10s in 23 points races, he is up to seventh in the standings; was 15th in this race last year, while improving to 13th in the spring race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Sterling Marlin -- It took the 25-year veteran more than five years to get back to victory lane in a Winston Cup race, but this past Sunday he finally did by taking the checkered flag at the rain shortened Pepsi 400 at Michigan Speedway; coincidently, his last win was also named Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway in 1996; it was his seventh career victory and first for Dodge since 1977 when Neil Bonnett won at Ontario Motor Speedway in California; Marlin gave owner Chip Ganassi his second victory of the day, as CART rookie Bruno Junqueira won at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin; Marlin was eighth at Bristol in March and 12th in this race last year; is fourth in the Winston Cup standings.

Mark Martin -- In 29 starts at Bristol, the veteran driver has an impressive 20 top-10 finishes and 15 top-fives, with two victories to his record; won this race in 1998 while last year he was third; in March he won the pole, but got caught in an accident with Roush Racing teammate Jeff Burton and finished 34th; 12th in the Winston Cup standings with 2,687 points; top results of the year were fourth in the Coca-Cola 600 and Talladega 500.

Ricky Rudd -- Lost more ground on points leader Jeff Gordon after his engine blew on lap 120 to a 42nd place finish; is now 298 points behind Gordon with 13 races remaining; finished 10th in his past two starts at Bristol Motor Speedway, in the spring and this race last year; victory at the Pocono 500 on June 17 ended an 88-race winless streak.

Rusty Wallace -- One of the best drivers on short tracks; nine time winner at Bristol Motor Speedway, with three flags in this late summer event; on March 25 in the Food City 500 he finished seventh; that came after winning this race last year from the pole; has 10 top-10s with a victory this year in 24 starts; his 54th career win was recorded at the NAPA Auto Parts 500 in April; third in laps led with 497; eighth in the standings.