The 2003 MBNA America 400 was the 28th stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 35th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, September 21, 2003, before a crowd of 137,000 in Dover, Delaware at Dover International Speedway , a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Ryan Newman of Penske Racing South would come back from two laps down and save fuel at the end to win his eighth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series win and his seventh win of the season.[ 1] To fill out the podium, Jeremy Mayfield of Evernham Motorsports and Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing would finish second and third, respectively.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. would suffer a concussion during the race on lap 363.[ 2]
Background The layout of Dover International Speedway , the venue where the race was held. Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover , Delaware , United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series . The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval , with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports .
The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.
Entry list # Driver Team Make Sponsor 0 Jason Leffler Haas CNC Racing Pontiac NetZero HiSpeed 1 John Andretti Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet Pennzoil 01 Mike Skinner MB2 Motorsports Pontiac U.S. Army 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Dodge Miller Lite 02 Hermie Sadler SCORE Motorsports Pontiac VCU Rams 4 Kevin Lepage Morgan–McClure Motorsports Pontiac Kodak EasyShare 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kellogg's , Got Milk? 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Viagra 7 Jimmy Spencer Ultra Motorsports Dodge Sirius Satellite Radio 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet Budweiser 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dodge Dealers , UAW 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MB2 Motorsports Pontiac Valvoline 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge Sony WEGA 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford Grainger 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford DeWalt 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Interstate Batteries , 3M 19 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dodge Dealers , UAW 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet The Home Depot 21 Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers Racing Ford U.S. Air Force 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge Caterpillar 23 Kenny Wallace Bill Davis Racing Dodge Stacker 2 YJ Stinger 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DuPont 25 Joe Nemechek Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet UAW -Delphi 27 Scott Wimmer Bill Davis Racing Chevrolet Bill Davis Racing 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 30 Steve Park Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet America Online 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Pontiac Tide 37 Derrike Cope Quest Motor Racing Chevrolet Friendly's 38 Elliott Sadler Robert Yates Racing Ford M&M's 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Coors Light 41 Casey Mears Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Target 42 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Texaco , Havoline 43 Jeff Green Petty Enterprises Dodge Cheerios 44 Christian Fittipaldi Petty Enterprises Dodge Bugles 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge Georgia-Pacific Brawny 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's 49 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge BAM Racing 50 Larry Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises Dodge Harrah's "Oh Yeah!" 54 Todd Bodine BelCar Motorsports Ford National Guard 71 Tim Sauter Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet ARAN Trading 74 Tony Raines BACE Motorsports Chevrolet BACE Motorsports 77 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford Jasper Engines & Transmissions 79 Billy Bigley Arnold Motorsports Dodge Arnold Development Companies 79 Rich Bickle * Conely Racing Chevrolet SBC , Molykote 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford UPS 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Ford Racing with Jesus 91 Shane Hmiel * Evernham Motorsports Dodge Evernham Motorsports 97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford Sharpie , Brute 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford Citgo Official entry list
*Withdrew.[ 3]
Practice
First practice The first practice session was held on Saturday, September 20, at 11:15 AM EST , and would last for one hour and 15 minutes.[ 3] Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.472 and an average speed of 153.374 miles per hour (246.832 km/h).[ 4]
Second and final practice The second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, September 20, at approximately 3:00 PM EST , and would last for approximately one hour.[ 3] Dale Earnhardt Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.583 and an average speed of 152.652 miles per hour (245.670 km/h).[ 5]
Qualifying Qualifying was canceled due to the impeding threat of Hurricane Isabel . As a result, the current 2003 owner's standings were used to determine the lineup.[ 3] Matt Kenseth of Roush Racing would win the pole.[ 6]
Race results Fin[ 7] St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings 1 5 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge 400 106 running 180 $160,460 2 25 19 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge 400 0 running 170 $140,635 3 11 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 400 97 running 170 $153,408 4 3 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 400 133 running 170 $119,533 5 6 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 14 running 160 $123,923 6 18 42 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 400 0 running 150 $71,890 7 19 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford 400 0 running 146 $66,440 8 4 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 0 running 142 $79,940 9 1 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 400 1 running 143 $79,840 10 14 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Dodge 400 0 running 134 $98,707 11 23 21 Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 400 0 running 130 $87,155 12 13 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 400 0 running 127 $96,007 13 17 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 400 1 running 129 $102,540 14 15 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 400 0 running 121 $94,673 15 29 7 Jimmy Spencer Ultra Motorsports Dodge 400 0 running 118 $75,890 16 41 43 Jeff Green Petty Enterprises Dodge 400 0 running 115 $99,818 17 33 54 Todd Bodine BelCar Racing Ford 400 0 running 112 $71,740 18 27 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 400 0 running 109 $100,703 19 20 38 Elliott Sadler Robert Yates Racing Ford 400 0 running 106 $92,490 20 9 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 399 0 running 103 $86,346 21 26 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 399 0 running 100 $84,490 22 16 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 398 0 running 97 $91,323 23 12 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 398 0 running 94 $83,327 24 28 77 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford 398 0 running 91 $75,490 25 37 0 Jason Leffler Haas CNC Racing Pontiac 398 0 running 88 $57,215 26 32 30 Steve Park Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 397 0 running 85 $64,165 27 40 4 Kevin Lepage Morgan–McClure Motorsports Pontiac 397 0 running 82 $61,904 28 31 23 Kenny Wallace Bill Davis Racing Dodge 397 0 running 79 $53,340 29 21 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 397 0 running 76 $89,246 30 39 74 Tony Raines BACE Motorsports Chevrolet 395 0 running 73 $53,540 31 8 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 395 0 running 70 $97,948 32 36 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 394 0 running 67 $60,705 33 38 49 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge 393 0 running 64 $53,455 34 30 1 John Andretti Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 393 0 running 61 $77,532 35 42 37 Derrike Cope Quest Motor Racing Chevrolet 393 0 running 58 $52,130 36 35 41 Casey Mears Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 392 0 running 55 $60,000 37 2 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 362 48 crash 57 $97,792 38 7 97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford 347 0 engine 49 $71,750 39 43 02 Hermie Sadler SCORE Motorsports Pontiac 257 0 engine 46 $51,635 40 22 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Pontiac 249 0 engine 43 $59,465 41 34 01 Mike Skinner MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 195 0 engine 40 $51,325 42 10 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 171 0 engine 37 $69,200 43 24 25 Joe Nemechek Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 78 0 crash 34 $51,330 Failed to qualify or withdrew 44 50 Larry Foyt A. J. Foyt Enterprises Dodge 45 27 Scott Wimmer Bill Davis Racing Chevrolet 46 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Ford 47 79 Billy Bigley Arnold Motorsports Dodge 48 44 Christian Fittipaldi Petty Enterprises Dodge 49 71 Tim Sauter Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet WD 79 Rich Bickle Conely Racing Chevrolet WD 91 Shane Hmiel Evernham Motorsports Dodge Official race results
References ^ "Newman scores seventh win of 2003" . www.espn.com . Retrieved February 5, 2022 . ^ "Dale Jr.'s final ride: Dover" . ESPN.com . September 30, 2017. Retrieved February 5, 2022 . ^ a b c d "Jayski's Silly Season Site - 2003 Dover 2 Race Info Page" . Jayski's Silly Season Site . Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2022 . ^ "NASCAR.com - Races - 2003 Dover 2 Practice 1Results" . NASCAR.com . Archived from the original on February 5, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2022 . ^ "NASCAR.com - Races - 2003 Dover 2 Practice 2 Results" . NASCAR.com . Archived from the original on February 5, 2005. Retrieved February 5, 2022 . ^ "Kenseth on pole at Dover" . UPI . Retrieved February 5, 2022 . ^ "2003 MBNA America 400 - The Third Turn" . www.thethirdturn.com . Retrieved February 5, 2022 .
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