NASCAR 2001 is a racing simulator video game developed and published by EA Sports

EA Sports

EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...

. The game was released on September 19, 2000 for the PlayStation, and became the first from EA Sports' NASCAR series

NASCAR series

The EA Sports NASCAR series was a series of NASCAR video games published by EA Sports. The series began with NASCAR 98 and NASCAR 99 in 1997 and 1998. EA Sports released NASCAR Thunder 2002 in 2001, and ever since then, Jeff Gordon , Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ,and Tony Stewart were on the cover...

 to be released for the PlayStation 2

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...

 on November 7, 2000. The game was not released to the Xbox

Xbox

The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...

. NASCAR 2001 was the fourth game in the NASCAR series.

NASCAR 2001 was the final game that featured Dale Earnhardt

Dale Earnhardt

Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was an American race car driver, best known for his involvement in stock car racing for NASCAR...

 as a regular full-time driver, prior to his death in the 2001 Daytona 500

2001 Daytona 500

The 2001 Daytona 500, the 43rd running of the event, was held on February 18, 2001 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida over 200 laps on the 2.5 mile asphalt tri-oval. Bill Elliott won the pole. The race will be forever remembered for the final lap...

 (which would reappear in NASCAR Sim Racing with his 1999 car and in NASCAR 07 as an unlockable Chase Plate and Earnhardt appears in NASCAR Thunder 2003

NASCAR Thunder 2003

NASCAR Thunder 2003 is a racing simulator published by Electronic Arts in September 2002 for PlayStation, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube and Xbox and in October 2002 for PC. It is the fifth game of EA Sports' NASCAR series, and is based on the 2002 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The product features...

 as result of a cheat code). Johnny Benson

Johnny Benson

Jonathan Benson, Jr. is an American NASCAR driver and the son of former Michigan modified driver John Benson, Sr...

 is also absent in this game, while it was the first NASCAR game to include Jimmy Spencer

Jimmy Spencer

Jimmy Spencer is a current television commentator, and a former NASCAR driver. He formerly hosted the NASCAR inspired talk show, “What’s the Deal?”, on SPEED. He is the former co-host, with John Roberts and Kenny Wallace, of the SPEED's pre-race and post-race NASCAR shows NASCAR RaceDay and...

 And Elliott Sadler

Elliott Sadler

Elliott William Barnes Sadler is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #2 OneMain Financial Chevrolet Impala for Kevin Harvick Inc. in the Nationwide Series. He is one of only 23 drivers to have won in each of NASCAR's top three series...

. The drivers Michael Waltrip

Michael Waltrip

Michael Curtis Waltrip is a semi-former professional race car driver, co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, and a published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR champion and racing commentator Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500; having won the race in...

, Kenny Irwin Jr., Richard Petty

Richard Petty

Richard Lee Petty is a former NASCAR driver who raced in the Strictly Stock/Grand National Era and the NASCAR Winston Cup Series...

 and Adam Petty

Adam Petty

Adam Kyler Petty was a professional racing driver. He was the first fourth-generation driver in NASCAR history.-Early life:...

 do not participate in any of the races as a computer opponent, instead the player must be the driver.