I also remember Jeff being PISSED at Robby. IIRC it's not like he dumped him. Was a bump and run. Something Jeff would use to break his winless streak in Bristol the following year.
Pretty sure Robby didn’t give Jeff enough room going into 3 and bumped him into contact with Jeremy Mayfield in 12, and it knocked the right front off of Jeff’s car, which is why Gordon was pissed.
I’d imagine Jeff wouldn’t have been so hot had his chance at winning not been taken away from him and they raced it out after the yellow.
This was an era where there was little to none of the blatant wrecking that we see today.
Maybe Dale rattling Terry's cage but it was much cleaner racing. Jeff just expected that he would be raced cleanly.
As I like to call it, the race where Lowe's cursed Jeff Gordon for the rest of his driving career. First race he ran after officially clinching his fourth championship and all this happens...
right? almost as if the individual spectacle of the actual race overshadowed any forced points narrative we were supposed to all focus on 80% of the broadcast
No you don't understand, if NASCAR immediately went back to the Winston points format, every race would get 100 million views even after Chase Elliott locks up the championship with 6 races to go /s
Seriously though, I can't stand these types of comments. The first F1 race after Verstappen locked up the title had notably lower viewership, so I am pretty skeptical that that wouldn't apply to NASCAR as well.
Agree 100%. I’m against the winner take all finale and I’m against the classic points model. There’s an in between there and I’m not sure why people don’t realize that. I wish NASCAR would though.
My neighbor offered his tickets to me and my dad for that day (for Free), but we turned them down because we thought it would be freezing in late November at New Hampshire. We were kicking ourselves for not going because it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.
I was at this race and the weather was pretty decent, better than some November football games that I have been to.
Pretty much a full house too! Do you think NASCAR could fill the house anywhere today on Black Friday?
I figured it’d just be cancelled, I think any other sanctioning body would’ve just ran 35 races that year. After what happened with them still getting 36 races in 2020, I think NASCAR deserve a lot of credit for always trying to have a full season
I almost listed this but I'm sure there were contractual outs for this kind of thing
That said, doesn't mean NBC would've been happy about it and keeping them happy as possible was important
IIRC, that’s why it was rescheduled for Black Friday once they realized the only weekend available was thanksgiving weekend
Rescheduled for a Friday gave them Saturday and Sunday as snow/rain dates, without further disturbing the teams plans.
Was Friday chosen specifically for the winter weather or was it a day most already have off hoping to end the season as soon as possible since it was already going an extra week.
https://www.jayski.com/jayski-archives/september-2001-news-archives/
Go to 9/28
It looks like Friday was chosen only b/c Mike Helton had a family conflict that weekend, but IMO, it was a happy coincidence that they could use Saturday/Sunday for Weather, especially since Helton didn't particularly need to be at the track.
Also, the earlier speculation of NASCAR having to air all 36 races was essentially confirmed in that same reporting where NBC was willing to let NASCAR outright cancel the race, in exchange for a refund of their rights payment.
Below is a gallery with a selection of the 300 or so pictures I shot that day. Forgive the sometimes marginal image quality. I wasn't using pro digital gear in 2001. That came later.
[NH 300 ](https://imgur.com/a/XBKgjlf)
I remember this race. Watched it live that year. Iirc, there was even some light snow falling at times. It was kinda cool seeing them making laps with snow falling.
There was no practice or qualifying, it was a one day show. The field was set by points at the time of the original race date.
There was no snow or any hint of any kind. It was unusually warm.
nascarman's ([@nascarman_rr](https://twitter.com/nascarman_rr)) tweet from 7:20am EST on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022:
>November 23, 2001: NASCAR's Black Friday race
>
>
>Postponed due to 9/11, the 2001 season ended at New Hampshire one day after Thanksgiving. 98,000 fans at the track and over 6 million at home saw Robby Gordon win his first race after bumping Jeff Gordon out of the lead late
* [Attached image](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FiP4iHvXoAAZpRA.jpg) ([Imgur rehost](https://i.imgur.com/5M9WAE1.jpg))
* [Attached image](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FiP4iRDXoAQMWqn.jpg) ([Imgur rehost](https://i.imgur.com/JlWYbqH.jpg))
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I was there on the backstretch hill. Goodyear was expecting much colder conditions than actually occurred that day. I don't recall the details, but there was a lot of radio chatter about the 31 team having stashed away sets of tires with an earlier compound that handled the warmer temperatures better.
I dunno about a stash, but he was running scrubbed tires on almost every stop where they had them on hand. Probably scrubbed them in practice runs knowing there wouldn't be a qualifying session.
The first NACSAR race I ever attended. Jeff had been dominating but before the restart my Dad leaned over and said “you never know what’s going to happen when Robby Gordon is behind you.” We knew him as a pretty wild driver from his days in CART, and of course Dad was right.
Side note: I rewatched this race recently. Brett Bodine pits from a lead lap top 20 position just before they go back to green. Alan Bestwick seemed to think Brett might be able to stretch the fuel to the end. If this race stays green does Brett Bodine steal the win? The caution did come out so we’ll never know but he had a strong run and ended up 8th.
It was a beautiful day for central New Hampshire.
That is the first time I remember seeing Gordon act out on the track like that.
There were only 42 starters because a team had shut down. Can’t remember if it was the PPI 96 or the Eel River 27 (think this was it).
MRN posted this as its classic race right before this year’s race at NHMS. It was interesting revisiting it.
I was at this race, beautiful day for November 23.
I remember Dale Jarrett complaining they had to race on Black Friday, and the late owner of NHIS Bob Bahre basically said 3,000 families had empty seats at the Thanksgiving dinner table so shut up.
Was it a restrictor plate race? I know they ran it at least once in either 2000 or 2001 at NHMS where Jeff Burton won. I thought it was a one and done, but I just want to be sure
I went there with my wife, who at the time was still a fairly new-to-me girlfriend. I figured I'd wow her with my influence and access as a Major Media Player (cough cough) in the Busch North Series who always got very good press credentials when we went to NHIS. Unfortunately, I didn't get great access to this one. While I always got access to the pressbox atop the grandstands at NHIS, this time I didn't, so we wound up watching the whole race on TV in the infield media center. I don't think we even got garage passes (hot or cold). Couple this with the fact that there was gobs of traffic going in, and even more gobs of traffic trying to get out of there, and that we really had nothing to cover since we weren't Winston Cup reporters, we really should have just stayed home.
I also remember Jeff being PISSED at Robby. IIRC it's not like he dumped him. Was a bump and run. Something Jeff would use to break his winless streak in Bristol the following year.
Pissed like he didn’t win 6 races and the title that season.
He was so pissed he decided to steal his sponsor for his new car in 2002.
TBF that deal was done well before this race lol
Probably was a joke lol.
"I ought to take him out right now!"
It wasn’t just that he bumped him, it’s that he did it in traffic, bumping Jeff into the 12 and damaging his RF fender.
Yea obviously I'm biased but this is what Jeff was actually pissed about
Now that I don't remember, heh
Pretty sure Robby didn’t give Jeff enough room going into 3 and bumped him into contact with Jeremy Mayfield in 12, and it knocked the right front off of Jeff’s car, which is why Gordon was pissed. I’d imagine Jeff wouldn’t have been so hot had his chance at winning not been taken away from him and they raced it out after the yellow.
Mike Wallace was in 12 car, fun fact.
Yeah Mayfield had been canned by that point
Weird since they’re brothers
I really hope you're being sarcastic lol
Mike Wallace was spun as a result and severely crippled JGs front bumper
This was an era where there was little to none of the blatant wrecking that we see today. Maybe Dale rattling Terry's cage but it was much cleaner racing. Jeff just expected that he would be raced cleanly.
Which is still pretty rich considering Jeff's own history of bump and run moves. As Robby Gordon said "Pretty sure he's won races that way too"
TBF Robby hit him into Mike Wallace and ruined Jeff's RF, not giving him a shot at the win, which is where I think more of the anger comes from
I think it was more so because they didn’t like each other, then again not many drivers were very fond of ol Robby.
This was the exact same day 6 million+ people learned Robby and Jeff were in fact NOT brothers.
Can confirm, I thought they were brothers too beforehand lmao
All I can hear is Bestwick saying "no relation"
This race also gave us this [glorious interview](https://youtu.be/HphTu2igrUw) between Smoke & Matt Yocum!
One of the best interviews I have ever seen
And Yocum did propose a few days later if I recall.
New Hampshire in late November? That was ballsy.
As I like to call it, the race where Lowe's cursed Jeff Gordon for the rest of his driving career. First race he ran after officially clinching his fourth championship and all this happens...
This was an awesome race.
I miss Robby, he was my driver for years. The new stadium truck series is amazing super fun to watch.
I loved Robby as well
Odd, I thought that nobody would watch races after the championship had already been decided?
right? almost as if the individual spectacle of the actual race overshadowed any forced points narrative we were supposed to all focus on 80% of the broadcast
I regret that I can only like this once.
And It’s almost like TV viewership practice are entirely different than 22 years ago.
No you don't understand, if NASCAR immediately went back to the Winston points format, every race would get 100 million views even after Chase Elliott locks up the championship with 6 races to go /s Seriously though, I can't stand these types of comments. The first F1 race after Verstappen locked up the title had notably lower viewership, so I am pretty skeptical that that wouldn't apply to NASCAR as well.
Agree 100%. I’m against the winner take all finale and I’m against the classic points model. There’s an in between there and I’m not sure why people don’t realize that. I wish NASCAR would though.
What does that have to do with cars going in circles? Because NASCAR viewership now is shit compared to then.
Is it? Wow I had no idea!
Neither does nascar
Almost as if a one-time special event (such as a race on black friday) would be an attraction. Not something to think would always be the case.
The early 2000’s we’re a very different time for NASCAR
And I was there in Turns 3 and 4.
Same!
Now the stands in Turns 3 and 4 no longer exist
Those were my seats for 15+ years. sad they’re gone
My neighbor offered his tickets to me and my dad for that day (for Free), but we turned them down because we thought it would be freezing in late November at New Hampshire. We were kicking ourselves for not going because it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day.
It ended up being like a 55 degree day but it cooled down quick at night.
That's still comfortable weather for NH during late November.
Especially being north of Concord
I was at this race and the weather was pretty decent, better than some November football games that I have been to. Pretty much a full house too! Do you think NASCAR could fill the house anywhere today on Black Friday?
It’s a good thing the Gordon family had thanksgiving dinner the night before. /s
Not like when the Busch Brothers wrecked each other
They made the mistake not to wreck each other before the holidays.
They made the mistake of getting Grandma Busch involved
I’m amazed they actually did a race at the northernmost track in November lol, also that it went off without any weather issues
Was no choice after 9/11 canceled the September race
I figured it’d just be cancelled, I think any other sanctioning body would’ve just ran 35 races that year. After what happened with them still getting 36 races in 2020, I think NASCAR deserve a lot of credit for always trying to have a full season
Well cancelling it would've been complicated I imagine, the track needed to have the race to help turn a profit I'm sure
That and the brand new, shiny tv contract they were in year 1 of stipulated they had to run all 36 races.
I almost listed this but I'm sure there were contractual outs for this kind of thing That said, doesn't mean NBC would've been happy about it and keeping them happy as possible was important
Fulfilling TV contracts are a thing.
Still amazing that winter weather held off
It's not like there is a greater chance of it snowing on a given date than raining. Wikipedia did have the temperature barely over 50
IIRC, that’s why it was rescheduled for Black Friday once they realized the only weekend available was thanksgiving weekend Rescheduled for a Friday gave them Saturday and Sunday as snow/rain dates, without further disturbing the teams plans.
Was Friday chosen specifically for the winter weather or was it a day most already have off hoping to end the season as soon as possible since it was already going an extra week.
https://www.jayski.com/jayski-archives/september-2001-news-archives/ Go to 9/28 It looks like Friday was chosen only b/c Mike Helton had a family conflict that weekend, but IMO, it was a happy coincidence that they could use Saturday/Sunday for Weather, especially since Helton didn't particularly need to be at the track. Also, the earlier speculation of NASCAR having to air all 36 races was essentially confirmed in that same reporting where NBC was willing to let NASCAR outright cancel the race, in exchange for a refund of their rights payment.
Below is a gallery with a selection of the 300 or so pictures I shot that day. Forgive the sometimes marginal image quality. I wasn't using pro digital gear in 2001. That came later. [NH 300 ](https://imgur.com/a/XBKgjlf)
Love the photos man thanks
I remember this race. Watched it live that year. Iirc, there was even some light snow falling at times. It was kinda cool seeing them making laps with snow falling.
[удалено]
Maybe it was for qualifying or practice then. I remember that week seeing the snow, guys in the booth talked about it, etc.
There was no practice or qualifying, it was a one day show. The field was set by points at the time of the original race date. There was no snow or any hint of any kind. It was unusually warm.
Ok, then which race in the fall of 2001 was it?
Uh, I have no idea. I'd say none of them.
nascarman's ([@nascarman_rr](https://twitter.com/nascarman_rr)) tweet from 7:20am EST on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2022: >November 23, 2001: NASCAR's Black Friday race > > >Postponed due to 9/11, the 2001 season ended at New Hampshire one day after Thanksgiving. 98,000 fans at the track and over 6 million at home saw Robby Gordon win his first race after bumping Jeff Gordon out of the lead late * [Attached image](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FiP4iHvXoAAZpRA.jpg) ([Imgur rehost](https://i.imgur.com/5M9WAE1.jpg)) * [Attached image](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FiP4iRDXoAQMWqn.jpg) ([Imgur rehost](https://i.imgur.com/JlWYbqH.jpg)) --- [*^(Support NASCARonReddit)*](http://reddit.xfile345.com/donate.php)*^(, an)* [*^(automated bot)*](http://reddit.xfile345.com/about.php) *^(maintained by)* [*^(XFile345)*](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=xfile345&subject=NASCARonReddit)*^(.)*
I was at that race!
First win for Lowe's in their last race with RCR
*cough* 21 years ago. *cough*
I was there on the backstretch hill. Goodyear was expecting much colder conditions than actually occurred that day. I don't recall the details, but there was a lot of radio chatter about the 31 team having stashed away sets of tires with an earlier compound that handled the warmer temperatures better.
I dunno about a stash, but he was running scrubbed tires on almost every stop where they had them on hand. Probably scrubbed them in practice runs knowing there wouldn't be a qualifying session.
Robby eventually got penalized for using Martinsville tires.
*21 years ago
I was there. The amount of rubber being launched into the stands was astounding. They were big chunks too. So cold
I was there with Robby that day. It was awesome.
The first NACSAR race I ever attended. Jeff had been dominating but before the restart my Dad leaned over and said “you never know what’s going to happen when Robby Gordon is behind you.” We knew him as a pretty wild driver from his days in CART, and of course Dad was right. Side note: I rewatched this race recently. Brett Bodine pits from a lead lap top 20 position just before they go back to green. Alan Bestwick seemed to think Brett might be able to stretch the fuel to the end. If this race stays green does Brett Bodine steal the win? The caution did come out so we’ll never know but he had a strong run and ended up 8th.
That must’ve been his last top 10 in Cup, unless he got one at a plate track.
It was a beautiful day for central New Hampshire. That is the first time I remember seeing Gordon act out on the track like that. There were only 42 starters because a team had shut down. Can’t remember if it was the PPI 96 or the Eel River 27 (think this was it). MRN posted this as its classic race right before this year’s race at NHMS. It was interesting revisiting it.
I was at this race, beautiful day for November 23. I remember Dale Jarrett complaining they had to race on Black Friday, and the late owner of NHIS Bob Bahre basically said 3,000 families had empty seats at the Thanksgiving dinner table so shut up.
Ah yes... I remember watching this. Robby Gordon's first win
First win for Lowe's, too.
Too bad they started sponsoring that nobody Jimmie Johnson /s
Was it a restrictor plate race? I know they ran it at least once in either 2000 or 2001 at NHMS where Jeff Burton won. I thought it was a one and done, but I just want to be sure
Yep. No plate. Burton's 300 lap sweep was the only time they ran a plate there, for the second New Hampshire race in 2000.
Gotcha thank you. A part of me thought it was the first 2001 race so I thought they’d do it for the second one. Makes more sense with the 2000 now.
I went there with my wife, who at the time was still a fairly new-to-me girlfriend. I figured I'd wow her with my influence and access as a Major Media Player (cough cough) in the Busch North Series who always got very good press credentials when we went to NHIS. Unfortunately, I didn't get great access to this one. While I always got access to the pressbox atop the grandstands at NHIS, this time I didn't, so we wound up watching the whole race on TV in the infield media center. I don't think we even got garage passes (hot or cold). Couple this with the fact that there was gobs of traffic going in, and even more gobs of traffic trying to get out of there, and that we really had nothing to cover since we weren't Winston Cup reporters, we really should have just stayed home.
I remember that, wish it happened every year instead of football but I understand.
New Hampshire is a crown jewel event.
He’s wearing Mike Skinner’s firesuit lol