2003 Daytona 500

2003 Daytona 500

Race details
Race 1 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Daytona International Speedway
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	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)
Pole position
Driver	Jeff Green	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 held on February 16 at Daytona International Speedway. 2000 NASCAR Busch Series champion Jeff Green won his second career Winston Cup pole (his first was at Bristol in 2001). Prior to the race, the drivers paid tribute by having decals in 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.

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 to date, last- Cup win). For the first time since 1966, the race was stopped due to rain; at 272.5 miles, this was the shortest ever Daytona 500 race.

During the race, Ryan Newman had a wild accident in the tri-oval, his #12 Dodge tumbling end over end. Fortunately, he was not injured in the crash. Following the incident, both Penske Racing and new manufacturer Dodge were investigated because of the quality of the car.

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.

The most significant incident of the race came on lap 58: Ryan Newman was running solidly in the Top 15, but defending Daytona 500 champion Ward Burton hit Ken Schrader and both him 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 under his own power. Following Newman's flip, there were 6 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 3rd 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 3 yellow flag laps after Burton's crash, and then 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 3rd career Winston Cup win both overall and at Daytona, and his 2nd career Daytona 500 win. Coincidentally, Waltrip's first three wins came in the first 3 Daytona races broadcast by Fox.

This was the 3rd Daytona 500 to have been shortened by rain, following the races held in 1965 and 1966. This race was also the shortest Daytona 500 ever.

Results

References