2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Despite only winning one race throughout the whole season, Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17 Ford for Roush Racing, was strongly consistent following the lone win, and was crowned the Winston Cup champion.
This was also the final season for Unocal 76 Brand as the official fuel for NASCAR.
Pontiac folded entirely in 2009 when parent company General Motors shuttered it during their chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring.
Also, 2003 marks the first Cup Series season without Bobby Hamilton since 1988 (but would return part-time in 2005).
This was also the last season without Carl Edwards until 2017 and Kasey Kahne until 2019, and also was the last season before Kyle Busch (who was originally to make his Cup debut at Homestead, but withdrew from the that final weekend), Scott Riggs, until 2014, Martin Truex Jr. and J.J. Yeley join as NASCAR drivers, (They ran part time in 2004, before joining full-time in 2005 for Busch and 2006 for Truex and Yeley) In addition, NASCAR instituted a new points system after this season entitled the Chase for the Cup, in which after 26 races, all the points standings in the top ten as well as any position within 400 points of the lead, would be reset, so the drivers in those positions would be eligible for the championship.
After the first 20-lap segment a 10-minute intermission took place allowing drivers to make pit stops and repair their cars.
Failed to qualify: none The UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 was held on March 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
02) The Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 was held on March 9 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
57) The Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 was held on March 16 at Darlington Raceway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: none The Food City 500 was held on March 23 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: Hermie Sadler (No.
Texas native Bobby Labonte was the pole sitter for this race.
60) (Note: Phoenix Racing's Mike Wallace had originally failed to qualify, but Green's car was found too low and his time was disallowed.)
Top ten results Failed to qualify: none The Auto Club 500 was held at California Speedway on April 27, 2003.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: Hermie Sadler (No.
66) Top ten results The Coca-Cola 600 was held at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 25, 2003.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: Hermie Sadler (No.
37) The MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 was held at Dover International Speedway on June 1, 2003.
02) NOTE: This marked the first time that Ken Schrader failed to qualify for a race.
50) The Chevy Rock and Roll 400 was held at Richmond International Raceway on September 6, 2003.
Qualifying was canceled due to Hurricane Isabel; as a result, Matt Kenseth sat on the pole on owner points.
4) The UAW-GM Quality 500 was held at Lowe's Motor Speedway on October 11, 2003.
27) The Checker Auto Parts 500 was held Phoenix International Raceway on November 2, 2003.
02) The Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 was held at North Carolina Speedway on November 9, 2003.
Matt Kenseth would clinch the final NASCAR Winston Cup Championship.
The easy favorite for Rookie of the Year heading was Jamie McMurray, who had won the previous year in just his second start, and he did not disappoint, posting thirteen top-tens and a pole position despite not winning again.
Runner-up Greg Biffle finished in the top-25 in the first two races, failed to qualify at Las Vegas, then won the Pepsi 400, while Tony Raines posted just one top ten finish in BACE Motorsports' only full season in Winston Cup.
Former Craftsman Truck Series champion Jack Sprague only lasted eighteen races before being released from his No.
0 ride, while Larry Foyt's best finish in 20 starts was a sixteenth at the season ending race at Homestead.
The only other declared candidate, Hideo Fukuyama, dropped out early due to a lack of funding from his BelCar Racing team.
