The 2003 Subway 500 was the 32nd stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 55th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 19, 2003, before a crowd of 88,000 in Martinsville, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway, a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end, Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would dominate most of the race weekend to win his 63rd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second of the season.[1][2] To fill out the podium, Jimmie Johnson, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, and Tony Stewart, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would finish second and third, respectively.

2003 Subway 500
Race details
Race 32 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 2003 Subway 500 program cover.
The 2003 Subway 500 program cover.
Date October 19, 2003
Official name 55th Annual Subway 500
Location Martinsville, Virginia, Martinsville Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Distance 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Scheduled Distance 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Average speed 67.658 miles per hour (108.885 km/h)
Attendance 88,000
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 20.220
Most laps led
Driver Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 313
Winner
No. 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network NBC
Announcers Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

Background

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The layout of Martinsville Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

Martinsville Speedway is an NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.

Entry list

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
# 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 Chevrolet James Madison University
4 Kevin Lepage Morgan–McClure Motorsports Pontiac Kodak Perfect Touch
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
10 Johnny Benson Jr. MB2 Motorsports Pontiac Valvoline
12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge Alltel
14 Mark Green A. J. Foyt Enterprises Dodge Harrah's "Oh Yeah!"
15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts
16 Greg Biffle (R) Roush Racing Ford Grainger
17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford DeWalt
18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Interstate Batteries
19 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge Dodge
20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet The Home Depot
21 Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers Racing Ford Motorcraft
22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge Caterpillar
23 Kenny Wallace Bill Davis Racing Dodge Stacker 2
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DuPont
25 Joe Nemechek Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet UAW, Delphi
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 Paramount Hospitality Management
38 Elliott Sadler Robert Yates Racing Ford M&M's
40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Coors Light
41 Casey Mears (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Target
42 Jamie McMurray (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge Texaco, Havoline
43 Jeff Green Petty Enterprises Dodge Cheerios
45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge Georgia-Pacific Brawny
48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Lowe's
49 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge SEM Products
54 Todd Bodine BelCar Motorsports Ford Subway, National Guard
74 Tony Raines BACE Motorsports Chevrolet BACE Motorsports
77 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford Jasper Engines & Transmissions
88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford UPS
89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Ford Racing with Jesus
97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford Rubbermaid, Sharpie
99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford Citgo
Official entry list

Practice

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First practice

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The first practice session was held on Friday, October 17, at 11:20 AM EST. The session would last for two hours.[3] Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc., would both set the fastest time in the session, with laps of 20.428 and an average speed of 92.696 miles per hour (149.180 km/h).[4]

In the session, Ultra Motorsports driver Jimmy Spencer would suffer a crash, forcing Spencer to go to a backup car and start at the rear of the field for the race.[3]

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.428 92.696
2 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 20.428 92.696
3 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge 20.434 92.669
Full first practice results

Second practice

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The second practice session was held on Saturday, October 18, at 9:30 AM EST. The session would last for 45 minutes.[3] Kevin Harvick, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 20.440 and an average speed of 92.642 miles per hour (149.093 km/h).[5]

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20.440 92.642
2 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Dodge 20.510 92.326
3 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.525 92.258
Full second practice results

Third and final practice

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The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, October 18, at 9:30 AM EST. The session would last for 45 minutes.[3] Rusty Wallace, driving for Penske Racing South, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 20.513 and an average speed of 92.312 miles per hour (148.562 km/h).[6]

In the session, BelCar Motorsports driver Todd Bodine would wreck in Turn 1, forcing Bodine to go to a backup car and start at the rear of the field for the race.[7]

Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Dodge 20.513 92.312
2 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20.559 92.106
3 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 20.570 92.056
Full Happy Hour practice results

Qualifying

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Qualifying was held on Friday, October 17, at 3:05 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap.[3] Positions 1-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champ needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.[8]

Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 20.220 and an average speed of 93.650 miles per hour (150.715 km/h).[9]

Two drivers would fail to qualify: Mark Green and Morgan Shepherd. In addition, three drivers would fail to make a lap: the Robert Yates Racing cars of Elliott Sadler and Dale Jarrett, and the aforementioned Morgan Shepherd. Dale Jarrett would suffer a crash on his first qualifying lap, and Sadler would suffer left rear camber problems that would prevent him from setting a lap, forcing both to take a provisional.[10] Meanwhile, Shepherd's car was declared too light according to NASCAR, and could not get the car out on time to qualify.[8]

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.220 93.650
2 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 20.322 93.180
3 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 20.358 93.015
4 23 Kenny Wallace Bill Davis Racing Dodge 20.367 92.974
5 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20.394 92.851
6 7 Jimmy Spencer Ultra Motorsports Dodge 20.405 92.801
7 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Dodge 20.406 92.796
8 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge 20.408 92.787
9 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 20.429 92.692
10 43 Jeff Green Petty Enterprises Dodge 20.430 92.687
11 01 Mike Skinner MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 20.458 92.560
12 21 Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 20.459 92.556
13 97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford 20.465 92.529
14 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 20.489 92.420
15 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 20.495 92.393
16 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 20.498 92.380
17 42 Jamie McMurray (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 20.500 92.371
18 49 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge 20.508 92.335
19 16 Greg Biffle (R) Roush Racing Ford 20.514 92.308
20 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 20.515 92.303
21 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 20.518 92.290
22 25 Joe Nemechek Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.519 92.285
23 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 20.533 92.222
24 4 Kevin Lepage Morgan–McClure Motorsports Pontiac 20.535 92.213
25 77 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford 20.543 92.177
26 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.555 92.124
27 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Pontiac 20.558 92.110
28 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 20.560 92.101
29 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MBV Motorsports Pontiac 20.573 92.043
30 19 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge 20.574 92.038
31 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.578 92.021
32 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 20.595 91.945
33 74 Tony Raines BACE Motorsports Chevrolet 20.607 91.891
34 0 Jason Leffler Haas CNC Racing Pontiac 20.619 91.838
35 41 Casey Mears (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 20.635 91.766
36 54 Todd Bodine BelCar Motorsports Ford 20.646 91.717
Provisionals
37 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20.684 91.549
38 38 Elliott Sadler Robert Yates Racing Ford - -
39 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford - -
40 1 John Andretti Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 20.679 91.571
41 30 Steve Park Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20.660 91.655
42 37 Derrike Cope Quest Motor Racing Chevrolet 20.734 91.328
43 02 Hermie Sadler SCORE Motorsports Pontiac 20.702 91.469
Failed to qualify
44 14 Mark Green A. J. Foyt Enterprises Dodge 20.694 91.505
45 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Ford - -
Official qualifying results

Race results

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Fin[11] St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 313 running 185 $183,018
2 26 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 0 running 170 $100,250
3 16 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 500 2 running 170 $129,478
4 3 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 500 61 running 165 $115,937
5 8 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing South Dodge 500 0 running 155 $90,225
6 31 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 500 40 running 155 $85,456
7 5 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 10 running 151 $92,228
8 17 42 Jamie McMurray (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 500 0 running 142 $57,125
9 28 9 Bill Elliott Evernham Motorsports Dodge 500 0 running 138 $89,758
10 21 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 500 0 running 134 $90,142
11 39 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 500 0 running 130 $94,003
12 41 30 Steve Park Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 500 0 running 127 $64,900
13 14 17 Matt Kenseth Roush Racing Ford 500 0 running 124 $68,400
14 23 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 500 0 running 121 $85,008
15 12 21 Ricky Rudd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 500 0 running 118 $76,825
16 4 23 Kenny Wallace Bill Davis Racing Dodge 500 0 running 115 $66,575
17 35 41 Casey Mears (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 500 0 running 112 $71,175
18 2 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Dodge 500 0 running 109 $84,036
19 19 16 Greg Biffle (R) Roush Racing Ford 500 0 running 106 $48,925
20 22 25 Joe Nemechek Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 499 19 running 108 $50,925
21 11 01 Mike Skinner MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 499 0 running 100 $58,825
22 18 49 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge 499 0 running 97 $48,075
23 33 74 Tony Raines BACE Motorsports Chevrolet 499 0 running 94 $48,725
24 10 43 Jeff Green Petty Enterprises Dodge 498 0 running 91 $83,353
25 32 45 Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 498 0 running 88 $55,725
26 15 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 498 0 running 85 $62,175
27 34 0 Jason Leffler Haas CNC Racing Pontiac 498 0 running 82 $47,010
28 38 38 Elliott Sadler Robert Yates Racing Ford 497 0 running 79 $80,610
29 7 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Dodge 497 18 running 81 $78,392
30 43 02 Hermie Sadler SCORE Motorsports Pontiac 495 0 running 73 $44,150
31 40 1 John Andretti Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 495 0 running 70 $68,762
32 27 32 Ricky Craven PPI Motorsports Pontiac 495 0 running 67 $59,889
33 30 19 Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports Dodge 490 0 running 64 $52,270
34 29 10 Johnny Benson Jr. MBV Motorsports Pontiac 488 0 running 61 $70,070
35 24 4 Kevin Lepage Morgan–McClure Motorsports Pontiac 475 0 running 58 $43,275
36 37 31 Robby Gordon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 473 0 running 55 $68,412
37 25 77 Dave Blaney Jasper Motorsports Ford 471 0 running 52 $51,175
38 6 7 Jimmy Spencer Ultra Motorsports Dodge 459 0 running 49 $43,115
39 13 97 Kurt Busch Roush Racing Ford 407 37 engine 51 $63,065
40 36 54 Todd Bodine BelCar Motorsports Ford 407 0 crash 43 $42,990
41 20 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 271 0 engine 40 $88,023
42 42 37 Derrike Cope Quest Motor Racing Chevrolet 260 0 overheating 37 $42,900
43 9 40 Sterling Marlin Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 127 0 engine 34 $86,191
Failed to qualify
44 14 Mark Green A. J. Foyt Enterprises Dodge
45 89 Morgan Shepherd Shepherd Racing Ventures Ford
Official race results

References

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  1. ^ Poole, David (October 19, 2003). "Gordon notches win from polefor '03 sweep at Martinsville". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on April 6, 2004. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  2. ^ "Gordon sweeps Martinsville races". South Idaho Press. Associated Press. October 20, 2003. p. 5. Retrieved August 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Jayski's Silly Season Site - 2003 Martinsville 2 Race Info Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  4. ^ "Gordon, Earnhardt Jr. fastest in Friday's practice". That's Racin'. October 17, 2003. Archived from the original on April 20, 2004. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  5. ^ "Harvick, Wallace, Gordon lead way in Saturday's early Cup practice". That's Racin'. October 18, 2003. Archived from the original on April 22, 2004. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  6. ^ "Wallace, Harvick, W. Burton tops in Saturday's final Cup session". That's Racin'. October 18, 2003. Archived from the original on April 22, 2004. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  7. ^ Smity, MArty (October 18, 2003). "Streak over? R. Wallace paces Happy Hour". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive. Archived from the original on December 4, 2003. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Jayski's Silly Season Site - 2003 Provisional Land Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  9. ^ Poole, David (October 17, 2003). "Jeff Gordon gets good starton repeat with Friday's pole run". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2005. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  10. ^ Smith, Marty (October 18, 2003). "Hard luck continues for Yates teammates". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive. Archived from the original on February 3, 2004. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  11. ^ "2003 UAW-GM Quality 500 - The Third Turn". The Third Turn. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
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