The 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup season began on February 11, 2001, at the Daytona International Speedway and ended on November 23, 2001, at the New Hampshire International Speedway. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was crowned series champion for the fourth time in seven years. The season was marked by tragedy with the death of seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt in the season-opening Daytona 500, which would result in safety upgrades being instituted. It also was the first year of a unified television contract that had FOX/FX and NBC Sports/TNT broadcasting the season's races; previous seasons saw each racetrack negotiate their own TV coverage, creating a patchwork of broadcast companies covering races throughout the season. Dodge returned to the sport for the first time since 1985. Chevrolet captured the NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship with 16 wins and 248 points. Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_NASCAR_Winston_Cup_Series.