2003 Subway 400

North Carolina Speedway (pictured in 2012), where the race was held

The 2003 Subway 400 was the second of thirty-six scheduled stock car races of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on February 23, in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway.[1] The Winston Cup Series first came to North Carolina Speedway late in the 1965 season and it hosted two events on the series calendar.[5][6] The track at North Carolina Speedway is a 1.017 mi (1.637 km) four-turn D-shaped oval. Its turns are banked between 22 and 25 degrees; both the front stretch and the back stretch are banked at eight degrees.[7][8]

Before the race, Michael Waltrip led the Drivers' Championship with 185 points, with Kurt Busch in second place with 170 points. Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick were third and fourth with 170 and 160 points respectively. Mark Martin in fifth had 155 points. Rounding out the top ten were Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Wallace, and Dale Jarrett.[9] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet led with nine points, three points ahead of Ford in the second position. Third-placed Dodge, with four points, was one point ahead of Pontiac in fourth.[10] Matt Kenseth was the race's defending champion.[11]

The Subway 400 was the first round of the 2003 season to be held without the use of restrictor plates.[12][13] NASCAR retained a regulation it instituted at the season-opening Daytona 500 held one week earlier. A race slowed by a yellow caution flag with five or fewer laps to run would not recommence.[14]

Dave Blaney (pictured in 2007) had the first pole position of his career.

Three practice sessions were scheduled before the Sunday race—one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 120 minutes, and the final two sessions were due to run for 45 and 40 minutes, respectively.[2] Wind, rain and a tornado alert cancelled the Saturday morning practice sessions.[2] In the first practice session, Ryan Newman was the fastest driver with a lap of 23.525 seconds. Ken Schrader, Joe Nemechek, Martin, Busch, Jerry Nadeau, Mike Skinner, Ward Burton, Mayfield and Jamie McMurray were in positions two to ten.[15] A forecast of rain later on Friday caused teams to concentrate on race setup during practice.[16]

43 drivers entered the qualifying session on Friday afternoon.[1][17] Each driver ran two timed laps to determine pole position to 36th.[2] The remainder of the field qualified through the use of provisionals.[18] Rain delayed qualifying for an hour and 15 minutes; because some teams concentrated on car setups, it created a mixed starting order.[19] In his 113th race, Dave Blaney took his first career pole position, with a time of 23.669 seconds,[3] and Jasper Motorsports' first since the 1994 season.[20] He was joined on the grid's front row by Johnny Benson Jr.,[1] who was two-hundredths of a second slower. Martin qualified third, Sterling Marlin fourth, and Bill Elliott fifth. Ricky Craven, McMurray, Wallace, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top ten qualifiers.[3]

During the session, a fuel line detached from Newman's carburetor on his first lap. Nadeau lost control of his car during his second lap. Jeff Burton set no qualifying lap due to a pirouette after he spun his rear tires, and had an accident against a barrier.[21] Once qualifying had concluded, Blaney said, "This was a new type of car and we hadn't done any testing with it. We didn't know what to expect. But it was really good from the start. Winning the pole only made it better."[16]

The 393-lap race commenced at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and was televised live in the United States on Fox.[24] Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny and cold with blustery winds;[25][26] the ambient temperature ranged between 54–55 °F (12–13 °C) and the track temperature at 78 °F (26 °C).[26] Jim Ritter, pastor of the Marston Baptist Church in Marston, North Carolina, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Members of the ECU and the Carolina Marching Band performed the national anthem, and the race's sponsor spokesperson Clay Henry commanded the drivers to start their engines.[26] Jet dryers were deployed to clean the track and remove paper debris.[26] NASCAR announced a competition caution would occur on lap 45 due to the previous day's rainfall, meaning drivers would be required to make mandatory pit stops to evaluate their car's performance.[2]

Rusty Wallace (pictured in 1998) led the most laps of any driver with 182.

Blaney led the opening eight laps before Martin passed him on the ninth lap.[27] Jeff Gordon made contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s car on the 12th lap, pushing a chunk of sheet metal into Earnhardt's front-left tire, and causing it to rub onto it.[28] On lap 17, Craven passed Martin to take the lead.[1][27] McMurray and Nemechek made contact with each other around the 23rd lap, causing the latter's right front fender to detach, possibly from the collision.[2][26] Craven lost the first position to Rusty Wallace on the 27th lap.[1] Six laps later, Tony Raines cut a tire and collided with a wall; series officials did not wave a yellow caution flag.[2] It later came on the 44th lap as Earnhardt's left-rear tire burst.[29] During the caution, Earnhardt made five pit stops since his vehicle had a rubber strip lodged in its front left rotor and possibly the suspension. Additionally, Gordon damaged his car's right-front corner against the pit barrier.[2][27] Rusty Wallace continued to lead the field at the lap 55 restart.[1] Todd Bodine cut his right front tire on lap 88, and collided with a barrier exiting turn two, bringing out the second caution.[2][27]

The caution remained out for five laps. Kyle Petty and Martin led one and three laps, respectively. Rusty Wallace led the field back to racing speeds at the restart on the 93rd lap.[1] On lap 107, Jack Sprague hit the rear of Kenny Wallace's vehicle leaving the second turn. Kenny Wallace spun towards the outside pit road wall, and damaged the right front of his car, prompting the third caution.[2][27] The five-lap caution had Rusty Wallace retain the first position;[1] he continued to pace the field as Earnhardt, on lap 122, hit the left rear of Nadeau's vehicle and caused the latter to spin. Mayfield slowed in response and John Andretti struck his car, triggering the fourth caution. Martin led from the 124th to 126th laps.[1][2] Green flag racing resumed on the 127th lap with Rusty Wallace leading; he maintained it for the next 48 laps.[1] A fifth caution came out when Earnhardt spun on lap 174;[1][27] Stewart hit the rear of Petty's slower car, causing damage to both of Stewart's front fenders.[2]

Dale Jarrett took his 31st career victory and his second at North Carolina Speedway.

Martin took the lead on lap 175 and held it at the resumption of racing on lap 178. Rusty Wallace overtook Martin for first place on lap 179.[1] Busch passed Rusty Wallace for the first position on the 220th lap.[1] During laps 240 and 252, several teams elected to make green-flag pit stops.[2] Busch maintained the first position during this period and at the lap 253 restart.[1] Kenseth took the lead on lap 255. He held it until Marlin took the position and led laps 258 to 260 before Busch returned to first place.[1] On lap 275, the sixth caution came out as Earnhardt spun again. Mayfield was possibly hit by Jeff Burton and stalled after contact with a wall.[2] Kurt Busch maintained the first position at the lap 292 restart and the next seven laps.[1]

On lap 298, Gordon hit the rear of Earnhardt's car, sending him spinning into the frontstretch grass, and causing the final caution.[2][27] The majority of drivers made pit stops during the caution.[27] Labonte moved into the lead on lap 300 and led at the lap 303 restart.[1][30] Jeff Burton passed Labonte to assume the lead on the next lap. Six laps later, Busch got ahead of Jeff Burton to retake the first position.[1] During the last 30 laps, Busch and second-placed Jarrett negotiated slower traffic, as Busch led for much of that period in time and Jarrett was close by him.[31] On lap 383, Jarrett drew alongside Busch and provided him with little space between his car and the backstretch wall. Busch lost control of his car and Jarrett advanced to first place on the 384th lap.[32][33] Jarrett was delayed by Sprague's lapped car on lap 387.[32] Busch then overtook Jarrett to move into first place on the outside two laps later.[25][33]

Jarrett retook the lead on lap 390, making the pass on the approach to turn four.[32] Busch was unable to continue the challenge for the victory because he had worn out his rear tires in the process.[31] Jarrett held the first position through slower traffic during the last four laps to claim his second win at North Carolina Speedway, and the 31st of his career.[1][32][33] This extended Jarrett's run of winning at least one race every year to eleven.[29] Busch finished second, Kenseth third, Craven fourth, and McMurray fifth. Rusty Wallace, Martin, Johnson, Elliott Sadler and Blaney rounded out the top ten finishers.[1] There were a total of seven yellow caution flags, lasting a cumulative total of 46 laps. There were 20 lead changes; 11 drivers lead at least one lap during the race.[33] Rusty Wallace's 182 laps lead was the most of any competitor. Jarrett led twice for a total of nine laps.[1]