The 2001 EA Sports 500 was a Winston Cup (now Nextel Cup) event held at Talladega Superspeedway on October 21, 2001. Dale Earnhardt, Jr avoided a last-lap melee in route to his third and final victory of the year, holding off Tony Stewart. Points leader Jeff Gordon blew a tire after driving through accident debris, but still managed to finish 7th and expand his lead on Ricky Rudd (26th) to 395 points, virtually clinching Gordon the championship. Stats