Question:
Fin St Car Driver Make Sponsor Pts/Bonus Laps Status
1 3 #5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Kellogg's/got milk? 180/5 367 Running
2 18 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service 175/5 367 Running
3 2 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 170/5 367 Running
4 17 #42 Jamie McMurray * Dodge Havoline 165/5 367 Running
5 22 #9 Bill Elliott Dodge Dodge Dealers 155/0 367 Running
6 15 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers 150/0 367 Running
7 5 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 146/0 367 Running
8 8 #32 Ricky Craven Pontiac Give Kids The World/Tide 142/0 367 Running
9 4 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 138/0 367 Running
10 9 #16 Greg Biffle * Ford Grainger 139/5 367 Running
11 28 #99 Jeff Burton Ford CITGO 135/5 367 Running
12 20 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Home Depot 127/0 367 Running
13 31 #97 Kurt Busch Ford Rubbermaid 124/0 367 Running
14 6 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford Smirnoff Ice/DeWalt 126/5 367 Running
15 41 #4 Kevin Lepage Pontiac Kodak 123/5 367 Running
16 30 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft Quality Parts 120/5 367 Running
17 27 #154 Todd Bodine Ford National Guard 112/0 366 Running
18 35 #1 Jeff Green Chevrolet Pennzoil 109/0 365 Running
19 29 #22 Ward Burton Dodge Caterpillar 106/0 364 Running
20 32 #30 Steve Park Chevrolet America Online 103/0 364 Running
21 26 #25 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet UAW/Delphi 100/0 363 Running
22 38 #7 Jimmy Spencer Dodge Sirius Satellite Radio 102/5 361 Running
23 1 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 104/10 359 Running
24 24 #23 Kenny Wallace Dodge Stacker 2 91/0 358 Running
25 12 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 88/0 358 Running
26 36 #0 Jason Leffler Pontiac NetZero HiSpeed 85/0 356 Running
27 40 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia Pacific 87/5 345 Running
28 25 #31 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 79/0 336 Out of Race
29 16 #01 M Skinner Pontiac U.S. Army 76/0 318 Running
30 10 #77 Dave Blaney Ford Jasper Engines & Transmissions 73/0 316 Running
31 13 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 70/0 314 Running
32 14 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 67/0 309 Running
33 7 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 64/0 307 Running
34 19 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 61/0 302 Running
35 21 #41 Casey Mears * Dodge Target 58/0 266 Running
36 34 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 55/0 258 Running
37 37 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 52/0 250 Running
38 39 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge 1-800-CALLATT 49/0 184 Out of Race
39 42 #37 Derrike Cope Chevrolet Friendly's/SP Films 46/0 168 Out of Race
40 11 #10 Johnny Benson Pontiac Valvoline 43/0 165 Out of Race
41 43 #02 Hermie Sadler Pontiac goteamva.com 40/0 61 Out of Race
42 33 #74 Tony Raines * Chevrolet BACE Motorsports 37/0 9 Out of Race
43 23 #43 Christian Fittipaldi Dodge Cheerios Heart Health 34/0 6 Out of Race
The Southern 500 at Darlinton, the final one for Labor Day weekend. Cale Yarlboro said that Labor Day was made a holiday around this race so we can't have Labor Day anymore as it's been moved to November!
Said Jimmy Spencer in a pre-race interveiw, "I am most sorry for the fans who have been subjected to this." "I am sorry I let you all down."
During the driver introductions, Jimmy Spencer received a standing O, while Bush again received a chorus of Boos!
Ok, let's get to racing! Quite frankly, this story is getting old.
Ryan Newman steps right on out and on from the pole. By lap 3, Newman has already lead more laps on this track than the last two races here as he had only led one lap in each of the two previous races.
The first caution comes out on lap 6 when a wild melee breaks out with six cars. Micheal Waltrip, Dale Jarrett, Christian Fittipaldi, Rusty Wallace, Tony Raines and Jason Leffler all involved.
Said Rusty, "I don't know what happened. Everything was fine when I came out of turn three and suddenly three cars spun out in front of me. I had no place to go!" It appears as though Christian Fittapaldi got into the wall and Leffler got into him causing spins and pile ups. Waltrip slammed into the rear of Leffler and spun down the track, right into the path of an oncoming Dale Jarret who preceeds to remove the rest of Waltrip's front end, finishing Waltrip's day early for the second time in as many weeks!
So, we are 8 laps into the race and everyone pits. Terry Labonte restarts in second as he is barely inched out off the pits by Ryan Newman, who continues to lead the race.
The leaders appear to have trouble getting started on lap 14 as traffic bunches up causing Jeff Gordon to hit the car in front and Mark Martin to slam into Gordon's rear causing considerable damage to Martin's hood and front end. Sterling Martin hit someone and break his radiator as well as causing front end damage. He heads for the gararge.
Lap 24 has Dale Jr taking third from Jimmy Johnson.
We now have eight cars either off the track or out of the race.
Dale Jr takes second on lap 35.
Kenseth passes Labonte for third on lap 40.
Matt Kenseth passes Jr for second on lap 54. Kenseth's teammate, Jeff Burton is in fourth. "Just chillin here guy's. Just saving my stuff!" Says Jr when his crew chief asks him whats going on.
Many drivers are now praying for a caution as reports come filtering in about some debris on the track. NASCAR spotters say the debris is under the line and there will be no caution.
We do get a caution on lap 73 for debris as something comes off someone's car in turn one. This turns out to be a huge break for Dale Jr as he was just complaining about a flat tire.
kenseth beats Burton out of the pits by a car length with Ryan Newman right behind.
The restart on lap 78 has the lap car of Jeff Green driving up the track, pushing Burton into the wall. This gives kenseth a break as he vapor locked in turn one and almost stalled. Due to the backup behind him, he quickly has about a 1 1/2 second lead.
Jeff Burton has built up a 3.5 second lead on Newman by lap 121. Three laps later the lead is over four seconds as Kevin Harvick passes Dale Jr for fourth and sets his siights on Kenseth. Harvick takes third on lap 127 while Jeff Gordon, who has not been very happy with his car all day drops back to 16th. On lap 134, Harvick takes second from Newman, but Burton has built up a seven and a half second lead, and within four more laps, the lead is over 8 seconds!
Bad news for Burton, but good news for everyone else as a caution comes out on lap 149 for debris. Burton's lead was around 10 seconds while Dale Jr had fallen back to 10th and Jeff ordon back to 20th. Newman and kenseth had just been hanging on.
The restart is waved off when Jr stops on the track. He lost all power to the drive, something to do with an axle.
Restart on lap 154. Harvick leads with Jimmie Johnson second. Burton had a problem with a lug nut and goes back to fifth. He takes fourth a lap later from Greg Biffle.
Jimmy Johson takes the lead on lap 159, putting Harvick back to second.
Caution on lap 167 and another pile up involving Jeff Gordon, Dave Blaney, Casey Mears, Johnny Benson, Ken Schrader, Micheal Waltrip and Jimmy Johnson.
It appears as Casey Mears hit Jeff Gordon causing Godon to slide out, then backwards up the track and into Mears as Benson slams into both of them with Schrader slamming into Benson. Blaney got caught up in the middle somehow. As Micheal Waltrip slowed to avoid the wreck, ohnson got into him, but no real damage resulted.
Said Gordon while getting his car worked on in the gararge, "Casey Mears is a good friend of mine, but he needs to get a spotter!"
Jimmy Johson beats Ryan Newman out of the pits with Jeff Burton in third and Harvick in fourth.
Lap 100 brings us another caution when M Skinner gets hard into the wall.
Jeff Burton beats Kenseth out of the pits this round.
Burton barely leads a lap before Kenseth regains the lead. However, this is short lived when on lap 108, Kenseth hits the wall but is able to continue with no apparant problems, except that Burton passes him for the lead followed by Newman.
On the rstart, Kurt Bush drives around Johnson to get a lap back followed by Ryan Newman to take the lead.
Lap 191 has Jimmy Johnson backing up as he fights a very loose race car. Jamie McMurray takes third while Bill Elliot takes fourth from Johnson. Kevin Harvick is occupying the second spot. as Newman extends his lead.
Greg Biffle appears to have his car dialed in, so by lap 212, he takes second but is still four seconds behind Newman.
Caution on lap 228 when Joe Nemechek gets loose and is bumped by Jimmy Spencer. Nemechek goes for a spin to the bottom of the track.
Ryan Newman cannot get his car started in the pits! They think the car has vapor locked and they push him back and fourth trying in vain to start the car as he goes a lap down. Time and again they try to push start the car and he goes down another lap.
The race restarts with Biffle in the lead with Harvick second and McMurray in third.
Newman now rejoins the race, 8 laps down! Seems the engineer/driver had accidently bumped the kill switch to cause all the problems! (I know, it can and does happen. I was just making light of the fact that they push the issue of Newman being an engineer and he does something he will not live down easily!)
lap 235. Kenny Schrader has another problem when his hood suddenly flies up and he slams into the wall.
Harvick is first out of the pits followed by McMurray, Biffle and Elliot. However, because he stayed out instead of pitting, Kevin Lepage leads the race.
Lap 249. Biffle passes McMurray for third as Harvick passes Lepage for the lead. Biffle now passes Lepage and tries to pass Harvick at the same time but gets loose and backs out as McMurray gets around Lepage. Biffle tries again and takes the lead while Bill Elliot takes fourth.
Lap 275 brings us another caution when Kenny Wallace bounces off the wall and drops debris on the track.
Harvick is once again out of the pits first.
Lap 279 and Dale Jr goes around Harvick to get a lap back followed by Biffle for the lead.
Kyle Petty is reporting problems on lap 295. Looks like he has lost a cylinder and is now the last car on the lead lap in 18th.
57 to go on lap 310 and we get a caution for debris. (Funny how there are always so many complaints on this track about debris, especially around the time many are complaining about tires!) Back on lap 307, Biffle complained he was having a problem, possibly with the engine as a puff of smoke is seen coming from under the car. He now says he has no clutch as he heads for the pits along with everyone else.
Jamie McMurray leads aftyer the pits followed by Harvick and Terry Labonte.
Restart on lap 316. Biffle immediatly takes fifth from Jeff Burton.
41 to go. Biffle makes a move on Elliot fourth but the car jumps out of gear and he drops to seventh.
Robbie Gordon has a flat and slams into the wall. He complains about there being no caution as he tries to get to the bottom of the track. It is complicated as he reports that he has no steering. They finally throw the yellow with 33 to go, but Gordon has a rough time trying to get into the pits, even spinning out at the entrance.
Terry Labonte's boys get him out first followed by Harvick. These are the first time Labonte has led at this track since 1984! McMurray is back to fourth. Only 16 cars left on the lead lap.
28 to go. Newman and Harvick bounce off each other as Harvick tries to pass. Newman makes a great save as he goes sideways and manages to continue on.
19 to go. Mayfield passes Elliot for fifth.
15 to go. Marlin cuts a tire and hits the wall, but manages to get off the track and no cautioon is called.
4 to go. Elliot takes fifth back from Mayfeild.
1 to go and Terry Labonte sees the white flag with a 2.5 second lead!
For the first time in 157 races, since 1999, Terry Labonte takes the checkered flag! Quite literally as a matter of fact as he asks for and receives the checkered flag and flies it out the window as he takes a victory lap!
«"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."»

Answer:

Who says us old guys can't drive?!
I've always been crazy, but it's kept me from going insane.
Waylon Jennings

Answer:

Who says us old guys can't drive?!
I hear ya!
Someone came up with a statistic during the race today that said less than 2% of the winners in NASCAR have been over 45, or something like that anyway!
BTW, early on in my recap I said that Micheal Watrips day was over early for the second time in as many weeks. A few laps after the wreck he was listed as out of the race, so I assumed he was done.
Later on, over a hundred laps later, he reappeared on the track with no front hood, bumper or fenders, as well as no rear panel.
I figured someone might question why I had written what I did the way I did. I keep running notes during the race and failed to go back and correct this before posting.
«"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."»
Last edited by Ramman on Sun Aug 31, 2003 8:05 pm; edited 1 time in total