2003 Daytona 500

Last updated
2003 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 1 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
2003 Daytona 500 logo.png
2003 Daytona 500 logo
Date February 16, 2003 (2003-02-16)
Location Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance 109 laps, 272.5 mi (438.546 km)
Scheduled Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures reaching up to 81 °F (27 °C); wind speeds approaching 22.9 miles per hour (36.9 km/h) [1]
Average speed 133.870 miles per hour (215.443 km/h)
Attendance 200,000 [2]
Pole position
Driver Richard Childress Racing
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing
Duel 2 Winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Most laps led
Driver Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Laps 68
Winner
No. 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt Inc.
Television in the United States
Network Fox
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds
Nielsen Ratings 16.8
(9.8/21 million viewers)

The 2003 Daytona 500, the 45th running of the event, was the first race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup season, having been held on February 16 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. 2000 NASCAR Busch Series champion Jeff Green won his second career Winston Cup pole.

Contents

Prior to the race, the drivers paid tribute by having decals on their cars in honor of the astronauts who were killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster two weeks earlier, similar to the 1986 Daytona 500, in which they paid tribute to the fallen crew members of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. In addition, the pledge of allegiance and pre-race opening invocation given by the Reverend Hal Marchman, in his next-to-last running of the event before his retirement and subsequent death, were recited. Grammy Award-winning artist Mariah Carey then performed the national anthem.

The race ended after 109 laps when rain had begun pouring on the track. Michael Waltrip won the race for the second time in three years, giving him his third NASCAR Winston Cup win; all of his wins to that point had been in races held at Daytona. It was the first of Waltrip's two wins in 2003, both coming in restrictor plate races (he later won the EA Sports 500 at Talladega in October for his fourth and last Cup win). For the first time since 1966, the race was stopped due to rain; at 272.5 miles, it had been the shortest Daytona 500 ever.

During lap 58 into the race, Ryan Newman had an accident in the tri-oval, where his No. 12 Dodge tumbled end-over-end onto the track's infield grass, but he was not injured in the crash.

This is the first Daytona 500 event that respected Winston Cup veteran Dave Marcis did not attempt since 1967, a whole season before he had started driving.

Race summary

The green flag came nearly half an hour earlier than planned, due to the impending rain showers which officials feared would lead to the race having to be completed on another day. Jeff Green was out in front at the start of the race, but he was quickly passed by Michael Waltrip who led the first 34 laps. On lap 42, the race's first caution came out after Bobby Labonte spun out entering the backstretch. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Tony Stewart as the field raced back to the caution. The first round of green flag pit stops came on lap 50.

On lap 58 Ryan Newman was running in the Top 15, but defending Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton hit Ken Schrader and both he and Newman hit the wall. The rear tire fixture underneath Newman's car detached from the car as he went sliding into the infield grass, and the No.12 went airborne and when it landed, its right-rear wheel dug into the dirt, causing Newman to flip several times before landing on its roof. Most of the car came apart in the infield, but Newman was uninjured and was able to walk away from the crash. Following Newman's flip, there were six caution laps, during which a light rain began to fall, so the race was red-flagged when the rain became heavier.

Following a rain delay which lasted over an hour, the race restarted with Michael Waltrip back in front. The race remained under the green flag until lap 95, when Jeff Green and Jimmy Spencer collided entering turn 4, bringing out a third caution. Spencer ended up hitting the frontstretch retaining wall and coming to rest just past the start-finish line. Spencer had a very similar crash in the 2000 race. A caution came on lap 103 for debris, and then Ward Burton hit the turn 4 wall on lap 106, bringing out another. There were three yellow flag laps after Burton's crash, and the race was once red-flagged again due to more rain. Although it briefly looked as if the race would get back underway, the race was eventually called off due to the forecast of more rain and Michael Waltrip was declared as the winner. It was his third career Winston Cup win both overall and at Daytona, and his second career Daytona 500 win. Coincidentally, Waltrip's first three wins came in the first three Daytona races broadcast by Fox.

This was the third Daytona 500 to have been shortened by rain, following the races held in 1965 and 1966. At 272.5 miles and 109 lap, this race was also the shortest Daytona 500 ever.

Results

W = Past winner of the Daytona 500; R = Daytona 500/NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie

PosGridCar No.DriverTeamManufacturerLapsLaps LedStatus
1415 Michael Waltrip (W) Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 10968Running
23697 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford 1090Running
31048 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1098Running
43129 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1090Running
5266 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 1090Running
6331 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1090Running
7820 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 1096Running
82019 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge 1090Running
91809 Mike Wallace Phoenix Racing Dodge 1090Running
101188 Dale Jarrett (W) Robert Yates Racing Ford 1090Running
11999 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 1090Running
121324 Jeff Gordon (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1090Running
133045 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 1090Running
14240 Jack Sprague (R) Haas CNC Racing Pontiac 1090Running
15521 Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1090Running
162123 Kenny Wallace Bill Davis Racing Dodge 1090Running
17740 Sterling Marlin (W) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 1090Running
18654 Todd Bodine BelCar Motorsports Ford 1091Running
194010 Johnny Benson MBV Motorsports Pontiac 1090Running
203517 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 1092Running
212716 Greg Biffle (R) Roush Racing Ford 1090Running
221525 Joe Nemechek Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1090Running
231638 Elliott Sadler Robert Yates Racing Ford 1090Running
243977 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford 1090Running
25382 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing Dodge 1090Running
262532 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Pontiac 1091Running
272941 Casey Mears (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 1091Running
284201 Jerry Nadeau MBV Motorsports Pontiac 1090Running
29321 Steve Park Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 1090Running
30415 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1090Running
311942 Jamie McMurray (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 1090Running
32149 Bill Elliott (W) Evernham Motorsports Dodge 1090Running
333374 Tony Raines (R) BACE Motorsports Chevrolet 1090Running
341243 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Dodge 1080Flagged
353433 Christian Fittipaldi (R) Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 1080Flagged
3628 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 10822Flagged
37434 Mike Skinner Morgan-McClure Motorsports Pontiac 1080Flagged
381722 Ward Burton (W) Bill Davis Racing Dodge 1050Accident
39130 Jeff Green Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 940Accident
40237 Jimmy Spencer Ultra Motorsports Dodge 940Accident
412218 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 810Flagged
422849 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge 570Accident
433712 Ryan Newman Penske Racing Dodge 560Accident
Failed to Qualify
14 Larry Foyt (R) A. J. Foyt Racing Dodge
11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford
02 Hermie Sadler (R) SCORE Motorsports Pontiac
60 David Green (R) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
90 Kirk Shelmerdine (R) Donlavey Racing Ford
37 Derrike Cope (W) Qwest Motor Racing Chevrolet
78 Mike Harmon (R) BC Motorsports Chevrolet
Source: [2]

Withdrew: No. 84 – Norm Benning.

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References

  1. "Weather of the 2003 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  2. 1 2 "2003 Daytona 500 - Racing-Reference.info". Archived from the original on 2012-09-09. Retrieved 2013-06-15.
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