2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 5 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season | |||
The photo finish between Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch
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| Date | March 16, 2003 | ||
| Official name | Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 | ||
| Location |
Darlington Raceway Darlington, South Carolina |
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| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km) |
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| Distance | 293 laps, 400.238 mi (644.014 km) | ||
| Weather | Chilly with temperatures approaching 64.4 °F (18.0 °C); wind speeds up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 126.214 miles per hour (203.122 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 55,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Yates Racing | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Laps | 91 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 32 | Ricky Craven | PPI Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FOX | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds | ||
The 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400, the 47th running of the Rebel 400, was held on March 16, 2003 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina as the 5th race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup season. According to the members of the official NASCAR media website, this race has been declared to be one of the best races of the 2000s decade.
Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.
The race was remembered for the finish as Ricky Craven won the race in a stunning, side panel rubbing battle to the checker flag with Kurt Busch; at the start/finish line, he edged out Busch by 0.002 seconds. This was the most closest finish in all of NASCAR Cup Series history, although that mark his since been tied by Jimmie Johnson's finish over Clint Bowyer in the 2011 Aaron's 499 at Talladega. In general, it is not the closest in history among the three major series because in the 1995 Total Petroleum 200, Butch Miller beat Mike Skinner by 0.001 in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Colorado. Earlier in the race, Busch missed entering pit road while green flag pit stops were taking place. Elliott Sadler won the pole for this race, making it his first for the season. It was also Pontiac's final win for NASCAR, as they left the series at the end of the season. This was Dave Blaney's first Top Five finish with a third-place effort.
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