Photo – Jayski
Since a Sprint Cup race will be on my birthday this season, I decided to re-visit the last time the Cup Series ran a race on my birthday, which was March 23, 2003.
The tour made its first of two dates at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch, then with Roush Racing headed into the race as the defending winner.
His win in 2002 was no easy task, as he had to muscle his way around Jimmy Spencer. Busch put the bump-and-run on Spencer and pulled away to record his first Cup win of his career. It started a rivalry between the two, which would last until late in the 2003 season.
Ryan Newman won the pole for the 2003 edition of the Food City 500. His lap of 14.928 seconds (128.709 mph) set a new track record and earned him the nickname “The Rocket-Man.”
Jeff Gordon took the lead from Newman on the start and led 174 of the first 201 laps.
A caution on lap 182 saw Jimmy Spencer, now driving for Ultra Motorsports, bring his #7 Dodge down pit road. The pit strategy played perfectly in his favor as leader Gordon and others pitted during the next caution on lap 200, while Spencer stayed out.
He restarted in second and got around Kevin Harvick for the lead on lap 217. Spencer would lead the next 117 circuits.
On lap 227, Busch found himself spinning with Bobby Labonte, but there was no damage to the car.
The race saw an unusual long green-flag run, from lap 263 to 389, resulting in some green-flag pit stops
Matt Kenseth passed Spencer on lap 334 to take over the race lead and looking for his first Cup win at Bristol. Busch, who spun out close to half-way, got around Kenseth for the lead on lap 359.
Other drivers started to reel in Busch, such as Bobby Labonte, who was also involved in the lap 227 wreck. Labonte’s fresher tires prevailed and saw the lead for the first time on the day. Dale Jarrett’s wreck on lap 389 was a big break for Labonte and others.
The caution trapped all the drivers who made a green –flag pit stop a lap down. As cars fought to get laps back, Busch blew by Labonte for the lead and never looked back. He had to fight off a challenge from his teammate Kenseth, but Busch successfully defended his win in the Food City 500.
Busch led 116 of the last 142 laps in the race. The win was in the middle of his Bristol streak, by winning four out of five races, dating from March 2002 to March 2004.
The 2003 Food City 500 featured 17 cautions for 121 laps.
2003 Food City 500 Top Ten