The2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 55th season ofprofessionalstock car racing in the United States and the 32nd modern-era Cup Series season. The season began on February 8 at theDaytona International Speedway with theBudweiser Shootout and ended on November 16 atHomestead–Miami Speedway with theFord 400. Despite only winning one race throughout the whole season,Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17Ford forRoush Racing, was strongly consistent following the lone win, and was crowned theWinston Cup champion. His only win came in the third race of the 36 race season.Chevrolet took home theNASCAR Manufacturers' Championship after capturing 19 wins and 264 points over second-place finisherDodge, who had nine wins and 203 points. Ford finished the year third with seven wins and 200 points, andPontiac finished fourth with one win and 125 points.[1]
This was the final year forWinston being the title sponsor of the Cup Series. Winston had been the title sponsor for NASCAR since 1971. After 33 years, Winston decided not to renew its sponsorship. NASCAR went to work to find a sponsor immediately, and on June 19, 2003, NASCAR announced that the telecommunications firmNextel would be the new title sponsor of the Cup Series starting in 2004. This was also the final season forUnocal76 Brand as the official fuel for NASCAR. Unocal had been the official fuel since the sport's inception in 1948.Sunoco would replace Unocal 76 as the official fuel of NASCAR. This was also the last full-time season forPontiac. Pontiac had been with NASCAR on 2 different occasions. The first was from 1949 to 1964, then they returned in 1981 and continued full-time until the end of 2003, though a few teams ran Pontiacs on a limited basis in 2004, and they continued running in the Busch Series through 2005 and ARCA as late as 2007. Pontiac folded entirely in 2009 when parent companyGeneral Motors shuttered it during their chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.
In addition, NASCAR instituted a new points system after this season entitled theChase for the Cup, in which after 26 races, all the points standings in the top ten as well as any position within 400 points of the lead, would be reset, so the drivers in those positions would be eligible for the championship. This was done primarily because of the huge lead Kenseth accumulated during 2003 despite winning one race.
TheBudweiser Shootout was held February 8 atDaytona International Speedway.Geoff Bodine started on the pole, which was decided by a random draw. The race featured drivers who have won apole in theprevious season or have won the event before. 2003 marked changes to the race's format, for the first time the race ran at night. The 70-lap event was now split into two segments. After the first 20-lap segment a 10-minute intermission took place allowing drivers to makepit stops and repair their cars. The second segment featured a 50-lap race to the finish with cars restarting double file on all restarts. Drivers were also required to make at least one pit stop under the green flag.
Michael Waltrip became a two-time winner of the "Great American Race", even though the race was rain-shortened.
Michael Waltrip scored his third of four career wins. His first three career wins, however, were all scored consecutively at Daytona under theNASCAR on FOX team (Feb. 2001, July 2002, and Feb. 2003), which included the support of FOX analyst and older brotherDarrell.
Ryan Newman had a crash in this race, in which his car got clipped byKen Schrader coming off of turn 4 and slid down the front straightaway, flipping violently in the tri-oval and coming to a rest on its roof.
At 109 laps and 272.5 miles (438.5 km), this was the shortest Daytona 500 ever recorded.
After they agreed to be the title sponsor for NASCAR's top series in 1971, this marked the 1,000th race for RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company and Winston.
After finishing 4th, Kenseth took the points lead and never looked back. He led the standings for 33 consecutive weeks en route to his first and only championship. His 33 consecutive week point lead is a NASCAR record.
NASCAR considered postponing the race due to the start of theWar in Iraq. The Government gave all professional sporting associations their consent to continue.
This was NASCAR's 2000th race run in Cup Series history.
Kurt Busch finally won a race in 2003 after finishing second in three of the first five races of the season. This was the sixth race of 2003.
This race was marred by a brutal crash involvingWard Burton andKyle Petty, in which Petty's car hit the wall with a g-force of over 80g, making it the hardest known crash in Cup history until 2010.
This race was the first of several this season to have controversy with racing back to the caution flag. On lap 169,Matt Kenseth was leading when the caution came out. Kenseth slowed to let his teammate,Jeff Burton, have a lap back.Jeff Gordon was in second, and didn't want a bunch of drivers getting laps back, so he maintained his speed and passed Kenseth just before the start finish line, seemingly trappingKurt Busch andRicky Rudd a lap down. NASCAR ruled that as the leader when the caution flew, it was up to Kenseth to decide whether drivers should get laps back or not, and as he had slowed, Gordon should have slowed as well. Kenseth was given the lead back while Busch and Rudd were given their laps back as they had beaten Kenseth back to the line, but not Gordon.
Failed to qualify:Brett Bodine (#11),Larry Foyt (#14),David Green (#60) (Note: Phoenix Racing's Mike Wallace had originally failed to qualify, but Green's car was found too low and his time was disallowed.)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. became the only driver in NASCAR history to win four consecutive races at Talladega, breaking him out of a tie withBuddy Baker. Dale Jr. would also become the second driver in NASCAR history to win four straight superspeedway races at one track, joiningBill Elliott. Elliott won four Michigan races in a row when he pulled off season sweeps in 1985 and 1986.
The "Big One" did not take long and collected 27 cars on lap 4, making this the largest crash in a Cup race in the modern era until the2024 YellaWood 500, which collected 28 cars. The crash barely included Earnhardt Jr., who started in the back of the field and managed to race his way to victory lane anyway.
Earnhardt was involved in a controversial decision at the end of the race where it appeared he went below the yellow line in an attempt to improve position. NASCAR ruled Earnhardt was forced down making it a clean pass.
Championship leaderMatt Kenseth would end up finished in 22nd, his 1st of only 4 finishes outside the top-20 all season. This would be Kenseth's worst finish until Talladega in September.
After this race,Jeff Green was fired for his remarks aboutKevin Harvick and swapped rides withSteve Park in the #1 who was fired a day later than Green was. Steve would drive the #30 for the rest of the year while Green drove the #1 until Bristol.
With Dale Earnhardt Jr. finishing 3rd and collecting 5 bonus points, and Matt Kenseth finishing 7th with no bonus points, Kenseth lost 24 points to Dale Jr. in this race. Kenseth's point margin after Richmond was now only 20 points ahead of Earnhardt. This was the closest point margin all season for Matt Kenseth while he had the point lead.
In addition to finishing 2nd, Kenseth lead the most laps, granting him 10 bonus points, whileDale Earnhardt Jr. finishing 41st with no bonus points, extending Kenseth's points lead to 160 points over Earnhardt. This would make Kenseth's point lead safe and locked up for the rest of the season, as he would continue to have a 160+ point lead for the next 24 weeks, between this race and when he clinched the title at Rockingham in November, which is also a NASCAR record.
This would be the only race of the season that Matt Kenseth would lead the most laps.
This would be Tony Stewart's first win in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
On lap 7Ken Schrader gets loose and hits the wall and flips once before catching fire. He was uninjured.
With 3 laps to go, Jeff Green hits the inside wall on the backstretch and smashes the front of the car. This would lead to Tony Stewart winning the race under caution. Terry Labonte and Greg Biffle were also shown to have damage afterward.
Brett Bodine was involving in a brutal crash in practice that left him severely injured. Brett's brotherGeoff Bodine drove the #11 for this race, in what would be the last Cup start forBrett Bodine Racing.
Three days prior to this race, on Thursday, June 19, NASCAR officially announced that the telecommunications firmNextel would replace RJ Reynolds brand Winston as NASCAR's title sponsor for the Cup Series at the start of the 2004 season, thus ending a 33-year relationship between NASCAR and Winston, which began back on January 10, 1971.
Controversy erupted on lap 71. Kevin Harvick was leading race winner Robby Gordon when a caution came out for a crash at a different part of the track. Gordon kept charging, and passed Harvick in the keyhole turn, taking the lead before they crossed the start/finish line. Harvick called it a "chicken move" and Jeff Gordon said "I could not believe it when I saw it" and called his passing under the yellow "unheard of." The controversial pass, however, was entirely legal under NASCAR rules at the time, and Robby Gordon was assessed no penalty. The so-called "unethical breach of racing ethics" proved to be the winning edge, and Robby Gordon went on to win the race. He was subjected to considerable scrutiny and ridicule after the race. However, others considered the complaints to be hypocrisy or "sour grapes" by the losers.
Boris Said won his first career NASCAR pole as aRoad course ringer, also finishing his career-best Cup finish at the time.
Ron Fellows came very close to winning his first Cup Series victory, leading over 21 laps late in the race after briefly taking the lead from Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick. Fellows lost his chance at the win after a yellow came out with less than 30 laps to go, forcing him to make a pit stop. He dropped from 1st to 31st and recovered to finish 7th.
This marked the first time that Ken Schrader failed to qualify for a race. Until this weekend, he had made 579 consecutive starts.
Brett Bodine failed to qualify for this race by less than a thousandth of a second. This would be Bodine's last Cup Series attempt, as he would shut down his self-owned team afterwards.
An altercation occurred betweenKurt Busch andJimmy Spencer after the race and punches were thrown. A police report was filed and Jimmy Spencer was suspended for the next week's race at Bristol. Kurt would be on probation after this race.
This was the first race to include the "Victory Lap" tribute program to honor all the drivers who won a championship during the Winston Cup era, with several races for the rest of the season selecting a single active driver, and former driver, to perform a ceremonial lap around the track during the pace laps. The "Victory Lap" champions for this race wereAlan Kulwicki (former), andRusty Wallace (active). Kulwicki's car was driven byJimmy Hensley for the lap.
The fans' disagreement over the suspension ofJimmy Spencer and only placing Kurt Busch on probation stemming from the incident the previous week prompted fans to boo Busch as he exited his car in victory lane. Busch's sponsor Sharpie was none too happy with the fans' response to their driver in victory lane, as Sharpie was the sponsor of the race. Soon after, Sharpie began phasing themselves off of the #97 car.[2]
The "Victory Lap" champion for this race wasCale Yarborough.
This was the last Southern 500 to be held on its traditionalLabor Day weekend date until 2015.
This wasTerry Labonte's first win in 157 races, dating back to Texas Motor Speedway in March 1999. This race would also be Labonte's final career Winston Cup win.
As of 2020, Terry Labonte is the only driver in NASCAR history to score his first and last career win in the same race. He is also the only driver in NASCAR history to make his debut (finishing 4th in 1978), score his first career win, and score his last career win, all in the same race.
With 8 laps to go,Kevin Harvick got loose againstRicky Rudd and spun in the wall. After the race, both cars stopped on the pit road and both drivers began a scuffle between both teams. Harvick was fined $35,000, and crew chiefTodd Berrier was fined $10,000 for the incident. In addition, two other pit crew members were fined $2,500 each and both pit crew members were suspended for the next week's race.
This was the final Cup race in which driversraced back to the start-finish line as soon as a caution flag came out.Dale Jarrett's #88 Ford hit the wall exiting turn 4 and stopped in the middle of the track. Many cars entering the front straight swerved wildly trying to avoid Jarrett's car.
This was the first race in which the field was frozen at the start of a caution period.Racing back to the caution was no longer allowed; NASCAR uses video replay and scoring loop data to determine the running order at the moment of caution. In conjunction with the change, NASCAR introduced thefree pass, or Lucky Dog, in which the highest-placed driver who is one or more laps behind the leader gets a lap back when the caution period begins.
After finishing 9th,Matt Kenseth left Dover with a 436-point lead overKevin Harvick, the largest point lead to be recorded for the 2003 season.
This would be Waltrip's last career Cup Series victory, and his only victory outside of Daytona. Waltrip celebrated the win by popping out of his car's newly installed emergency roof hatch after doing donuts on the infield grass.[3]
Dale Earnhardt Jr. would come up one spot short on his quest to win 5 straight Talladega races. He would also fail to break out of a tie withBill Elliott by trying to win 5 straight superspeedway races at one track.
Matt Kenseth experienced his first DNF of the 2003 season when he blew an engine with 30 laps to go. He finished the race in 33rd position. This would be only his 2nd finish outside of the top 20 so far during the season. Before this race, his worst finish of the year was 22nd at Martinsville back in April.
With this DNF, Kenseth's 436 point lead dropped to a 354-point lead.
This wasRyan Newman's eighth and final win of the season. He scored the most wins of 2003.
This was the second consecutive week of problems for Championship leaderMatt Kenseth. After blowing an engine at Talladega and finishing 33rd the previous week, he was involved in a crash on lap 69 withMichael Waltrip. He still managed to finish the race, but finished 47 laps down in 36th.
After his 33rd and 36th-place finishes, Matt Kenseth lost a combined total of 177 points to 2nd place. He went from having a 436-point lead after Dover, to a 259-point lead after this event.
The "Victory Lap" champion for this race wasBill Elliott.
Jeff Gordon would be the only driver of 2003 to win back-to-back races.
The race was suspended after 39 laps due to rain and resumed the following day.
Silly Season 2004 would actually start a little bit prematurely, as many drivers who have signed for new teams starting in 2004, would actually end up in their rides starting with this race.Ward Burton would drive the #0, followed byJoe Nemechek in the #01,John Andretti in the #1,Kevin Lepage in the #4, and finally, 2004 Rookie of the year contendersScott Wimmer in the #22 andBrian Vickers in the #25.
The "Victory Lap" champion for this race wasDale Jarrett.
With Junior's win in this race, Matt Kenseth's points lead was reduced to 228 points between the two drivers. For Kenseth to clinch the Winston Cup championship at Rockingham, he would have to finish 7th or better if Junior wins and leads the most laps, or be over 186 points ahead of whoever will be 2nd in the standings.
Kenseth 4th-place finish gave him a 226-point lead overJimmie Johnson, enough to lock up the championship, as the maximum amount of points earned in a race under the Bob Latford points system was 185.
Kenseth won the title after winning just one race, becoming only the 4th driver in Cup Series history to accomplish this feat. The other 3 wereBill Rexford in 1950,Ned Jarrett in 1961, andBenny Parsons in 1973. Out of these four, Kenseth is the only one to win under the Bob Latford Winston Cup points system.
This was Matt Kenseth's 31st race of 2003 where he finished on the lead lap. 31 lead lap finishes in a season is a NASCAR record.
Matt Kenseth became the 5th different NASCAR Winston Cup Champion in the last 5 years.
2003 marked 5 out of the last 6 seasons that a driver would clinch the NASCAR Winston Cup Championship with one race to go, with the only exception being 2002.
The 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup season would be the final season ever that a NASCAR driver could clinch the Cup Series championship title before the final race of the season.
This was the 21st and final career Cup Series victory for Bobby Labonte. This would also be 2 races in a row where 2 drivers would score their final career Cup wins.
Bill Elliott dominated this race by leading 189 of 267 laps, but while leading on the final lap, Elliott cut a tire between turns 1 and 2, handing the win to Labonte. Labonte only led one lap, which would be the last lap. Elliott would end up with an 8th-place finish.
This would be Bill Elliott final start as a full-time driver.
Matt Kenseth, who had already clinched the Winston Cup Championship at Rockingham one week earlier, suffered a blown engine on lap 29 and would finish last. This would be only his 2nd DNF of 2003, along with Talladega back in September.
Even though Kenseth clinched the title at Rockingham with a 226-point lead over Jimmie Johnson, Johnson finished 3rd and collected 5 bonus points, and Kenseth finished 43rd with no bonus points. This resulted in a 136-point loss for Kenseth, the largest one all season. Kenseth officially won the title over Johnson by just 90 points. The last time Kenseth had his lead under 100 points was back in May after Richmond when he was ahead ofDale Earnhardt Jr. by only 20 points.
Kenseth won $4,250,000 from Winston and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, the most money for a winning champion in Winston's history.
This would be the 2nd straight season that a driver who won the most races would finish outside of the top 5 in points (Matt Kenseth won 5 races in 2002 but finished 8th, and Ryan Newman would win 8 races in 2003, but finished 6th).
This marked the final race for Winston as NASCAR title sponsor for the Cup Series after 33 seasons (1,035 races).
This marked the final race for Unocal 76. It had been the official fuel of NASCAR since the sport's inception in 1948 (all 2,030 races).
This marked the final full-time race for Pontiac. Johnny Benson was the highest finishing Pontiac driver in this race by finishing 4th, giving Pontiac its final top 5 finish ever in the series.
The easy favorite forRookie of the Year heading wasJamie McMurray, who had won the previous year in just his second start, and he did not disappoint, posting thirteen top-tens and a pole position despite not winning again. Runner-upGreg Biffle finished in the top-25 in the first two races, failed to qualify atLas Vegas, then won thePepsi 400, whileTony Raines posted just one top ten finish inBACE Motorsports' only full season inWinston Cup.Casey Mears could not finish higher than 15th in his debut season. FormerCraftsman Truck Series championJack Sprague only lasted eighteen races before being released from his No. 0 ride, whileLarry Foyt's best finish in 20 starts was a sixteenth at the season ending race at Homestead. The only other declared candidate,Hideo Fukuyama, dropped out early due to a lack of funding from hisBelCar Racing team.
