The 2003 EA Sports 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 28, 2003, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It was the 29th race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

2003 EA Sports 500
Race details[1]
Race 29 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
2003 EA Sports 500 program cover, based on the cover for the NASCAR Thunder 2004 video game
2003 EA Sports 500 program cover, based on the cover for the NASCAR Thunder 2004 video game
Date September 28, 2003 (2003-09-28)
Official name EA Sports 500
Location Talladega, Alabama, U.S.
Course Talladega Superspeedway
2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance 190 laps, 505.4 mi (813.2 km)
Scheduled Distance 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.833 km)
Average speed 156.045 miles per hour (251.130 km/h)
Attendance 170,000
Pole position
Driver Robert Yates Racing
Time 50.415 sec (189.943 mph, 305.684 km/h)
Most laps led
Driver Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 47
Winner
No. 15 Michael Waltrip Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Television in the United States
Network NBC
Announcers Bill Weber, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Jr.

Race report

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For this race only, Jasper Motorsports switched from Ford to Dodge, taking advantage of their engine building partnership with Team Penske (who switched from Ford to Dodge that season). As a result, Ford terminated their factory support agreement with the team following the race.[2]

One of the most notable moments of the race is when on lap 182, Elliott Sadler would come down and hit Kurt Busch's right side of Busch's car. Elliott's car would spin and fly into the air, doing a full flip before landing on its roof. The car would slide down the backstretch grass into Turn 3, then proceeded to flip onto the Turn 3 surface 4 and a half times, before finally landing on the wheels of the car. Sadler was unhurt.

Results

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Source:[3][4]
Fin St # Driver Sponsor Make Laps Led Status Pts
1 18 15 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Chevy 188 16 running 180
2 38 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevy 188 3 running 175
3 11 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Chevy 188 0 running 165
4 12 12 Ryan Newman Alltel Dodge 188 0 running 160
5 5 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevy 188 47 running 165
6 39 97 Kurt Busch Lennox/Irwin Industrial Tools Ford 188 11 running 155
7 30 29 Kevin Harvick GM Goodwrench Chevy 188 4 running 151
8 17 32 Ricky Craven Tide Pontiac 188 0 running 142
9 33 2 Rusty Wallace Miller Lite Dodge 188 11 running 143
10 23 09 Mike Wallace Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts Dodge 188 0 running 134
11 10 18 Bobby Labonte Interstate Batteries Chevy 188 2 running 135
12 34 31 Robby Gordon Cingular Wireless Chevy 188 4 running 132
13 9 9 Bill Elliott Dodge Dealers, UAW Dodge 188 2 running 129
14 20 22 Ward Burton Caterpillar Dodge 188 8 running 126
15 24 90 John Andretti AOL 9.0 Chevy 188 0 running 118
16 2 42 Jamie McMurray Havoline Dodge 188 20 running 120
17 42 77 Dave Blaney Jasper Engines & Transmissions Dodge 188 0 running 112
18 13 43 Jeff Green Cheerios, Yu-Gi-Oh! Dodge 188 0 running 109
19 6 88 Dale Jarrett UPS Ford 188 0 running 106
20 19 23 Kenny Wallace Stacker 2 Dodge 188 0 running 103
21 7 49 Ken Schrader BAM Racing Dodge 188 0 running 100
22 14 5 Terry Labonte Kellogg's/got milk?, Winston Cup Victory Lap Chevy 188 1 running 102
23 15 6 Mark Martin Viagra Ford 188 0 running 94
24 36 16 Greg Biffle Grainger Ford 187 0 running 91
25 27 25 Joe Nemechek UAW-Delphi Chevy 187 0 running 88
26 43 1 Jason Keller Pennzoil Chevy 187 0 running 85
27 28 01 Mike Skinner USG Sheetrock Pontiac 186 0 running 82
28 26 44 Christian Fittipaldi Bugles Dodge 186 0 running 79
29 25 98 Jason Jarrett C.H.I. Overhead Doors Ford 184 0 running 76
30 1 38 Elliott Sadler M&M's Ford 181 23 crash 78
31 29 74 Tony Raines BACE Motorsports Chevy 179 0 crash 70
32 40 99 Jeff Burton Citgo Ford 168 1 engine 72
33 37 17 Matt Kenseth Smirnoff Ice Triple Black Ford 158 1 engine 69
34 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevy 157 15 engine 66
35 21 60 David Green NetZero/Haas Automation Chevy 150 0 crash 58
36 32 21 Ricky Rudd Motorcraft Ford 138 0 engine 55
37 8 41 Casey Mears Target Dodge 113 0 overheating 52
38 22 19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dealers, UAW Dodge 104 0 running 49
39 4 40 Sterling Marlin Coors Light Dodge 103 0 overheating 46
40 16 00 Buckshot Jones Crown Fiber Chevy 88 19 crash 48
41 41 10 Johnny Benson Jr. Valvoline Pontiac 29 0 crash 40
42 31 7 Jimmy Spencer Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge 11 0 crash 37
43 35 14 Larry Foyt Harrah's Dodge 9 0 crash 34
Failed to qualify or withdrew
POS NAME NBR SPONSOR OWNER CAR
44 Kyle Petty 45 Georgia-Pacific Petty Enterprises Dodge
45 Kevin Lepage 4 Kodak Larry McClure Pontiac
46 Jason Leffler 0 NetZero Hi Speed Gene Haas Pontiac
47 Mike Bliss 80 Advair Joe Gibbs Chevrolet
48 Steve Park 30 America Online Richard Childress Chevrolet
49 Todd Bodine 54 National Guard Travis Carter Ford
WD Morgan Shepherd 89 Racing With Jesus / Red Line Oil Morgan Shepherd Ford

References

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  1. ^ "2003 EA Sports 500". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 27, 2020.
  2. ^ "Ford cuts ties with Jasper Motorsports after team uses Dodge". New Haven Register. 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
  3. ^ "2003 EA Sports 500 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-05-14.
  4. ^ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-14.