Dave Blaney won the first pole position of his career by posting the fastest lap in qualifying.

The 2003 Subway 400 was the second of thirty-six scheduled stock car races of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Rounding out the top ten were Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Wallace, and Dale Jarrett.

Ken Schrader, Joe Nemechek, Martin, Busch, Jerry Nadeau, Mike Skinner, Ward Burton, Mayfield and Jamie McMurray were in positions two to ten.

[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.

Ricky Craven, McMurray, Wallace, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte rounded out the top ten qualifiers.

Jeff Burton set no qualifying lap due to a pirouette after he spun his rear tires, and had an accident against a barrier.

"[16] The 393-lap race commenced at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and was televised live in the United States on Fox.

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] 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.

[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.

[1] Six laps later, Tony Raines cut a tire and collided with a wall; series officials did not wave a yellow caution flag.

[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.

[1] Todd Bodine cut his right front tire on lap 88, and collided with a barrier exiting turn two, bringing out the second caution.

[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.

[1] On lap 298, Gordon hit the rear of Earnhardt's car, sending him spinning into the frontstretch grass, and causing the final caution.

[31] On lap 383, Jarrett drew alongside Busch and provided him with little space between his car and the backstretch wall.

[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.

Rusty Wallace, Martin, Johnson, Elliott Sadler and Blaney rounded out the top ten finishers.

[29] Jarrett's crew chief Brad Parrott stated the close collaboration between the two would help Robert Yates Racing achieve more success during the year.

[25] Jarrett also dedicated the victory to the "older generation" and said he was confident he could challenge them, "Those [young] guys are really talented and are getting some well-deserved attention.

"[32] Busch commented on his second consecutive second-place finish of 2003:[28] "This one is much more difficult to swallow than the [Daytona] race.

"[34] Rusty Wallace described his car as "a damn bullet" when he was leading and said, "About three-quarters of the way through the race, I could see the track getting real black.

"[28] McMurray said he believed his fifth-place result increased his confidence with his crew chief Donnie Wingo, "I think it makes me feel good.