Year in Review Archive

Team: Roush Racing

Drivers: Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin, Greg Biffle

Points Finish: 1st (Kenseth), 11th (Busch), 12th (Burton), 17th (Martin), 20th (Biffle).

Overview: When you talk about Roush Racing in 2003, you really have to talk about two different Roush Racings. There's the Matt Kenseth Roush Racing, the one that won the Winston Cup championship with a stellar season.

Then there's the non-Matt Kenseth Roush Racing, the one that won a few races but had its ups and downs. While Kenseth stayed atop the standings for 33 consecutive weeks, none of Roush's other four drivers finished in the top 10.

That's a little unfair, sure, as Kurt Busch was 11th and Jeff Burton was 12th, but facts are facts.

Roush Racing did, however, put all five of its drivers in the top 20 in points, which is a solid accomplishment.

Team: Hendrick Motorsports

Drivers: Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Terry Labonte, Brian Vickers

Points Finish: 2nd (Johnson), 4th (Gordon), 10th (Labonte), 49th (Vickers).

Overview: Hendrick Motorsports didn't win the Winston Cup title, but the team had a banner year, as all four teams won at least one race.

Jimmie Johnson led the way for the team -- he won three times and nearly rallied to win the Winston Cup title, finishing just 90 points behind Matt Kenseth. Johnson was the hottest driver in the last two months of the year, as he finished the year with six straight top-three finishes.

Gordon would have contended for the title, but a miserable stretch of four races in midseason sunk his chances. Gordon had only one win heading into October, but he won at Martinsville and Atlanta in successive weeks.

Terry Labonte was one of the year's best comeback stories. He won the Southern 500 for his first win since 1999, and he finished 10th in the standings in large part because he failed to finish just one race all year.

Joe Nemechek started the year well. He won from the pole at Richmond in May, but by the fall, his standing with the team had become uncertain for 2004. He eventually signed with MB2, and Brian Vickers was moved from the Busch Series to fill his ride for 2004.

Team: Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Drivers: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Michael Waltrip, John Andretti

Points Finish: 3rd (Earnhardt Jr.), 15th (Waltrip), 38th (Andretti).

Overview: DEI enjoyed a stellar year in 2003. They took three of the four restrictor plate events, and Earnhardt Jr.'s win at Phoenix in the fall was DEI's first on a downforce track in two years.

Earnhardt Jr. was in the top five for virtually the entire year, and he completed 98.4 percent of his laps. In addition to his two wins, he also had three runner-up finishes. The team is poised to make a title run in 2004.

Waltrip led the standings early in the year, but his win at Talladega was the only highlight of his second half, as he posted six DNFs. Still, Waltrip finished with eight top-five finishes.

Steve Park was replaced at DEI in May, but Jeff Green didn't do much better as his replacement. The team finished the year with John Andretti. The team's highlight probably came Infineon, where road racer Ron Fellows threatened to win.

Team: Richard Childress Racing

Drivers: Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Steve Park

Points Finish: 5th (Harvick), 16th (Gordon), 32nd (Park)

Overview: Without a doubt, RCR was the Comeback Team of the Year.

Harvick, after a sophomore slump, had an exceptional second half, with a win at The Brickyard and five second-place finishes. He finished fifth in the standings, a career high. Harvick completed 99.5 percent of his laps.

Robby Gordon also had a career year, although he tailed off considerably in the second half. A strong first half briefly got him into the top 10 in the standings, and he won both road course events.

The No. 30 car was driven by Jeff Green and Steve Park. Green started the year by winning the Bud Pole for the Daytona 500, but he was out of a job in May. Replaced by Park, the team finished with just three top-10s in 34 events.

Team: Penske Racing

Drivers: Ryan Newman, Rusty Wallace

Points Finish: 6th (Newman), 14th (Wallace).

Overview: Ryan Newman scored more wins than any other team combined in 2003, except for Hendrick Motorsports, which matched his incredible eight wins. Newman's title run was plagued by major accidents at Daytona and Talladega in the spring.

Newman also won 11 Bud Poles, including three in the final six races.

Wallace didn't win a race or a Bud Pole. Wallace was in the top 10 in the standings throughout June, but a series of lackluster August runs quickly sent him to the bottom of the top 20.

Wallace rallied with a solid September and October – at one point, he scored five straight top-10 finishes.

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing

Drivers: Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart

Points Finish: 7th (Stewart), 8th (Labonte)

Overview: Tony Stewart won twice, scored 12 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes and failed to finish five races en route to a seventh-place ranking in the final 2003 point standings.

Bobby Labonte also had a pair of victories, 12 top-fives, 17 top-10s and five DNFs in finishing eighth overall in the standings.

Despite JGR's on-track success, the most important news out of the Gibbs camp this year may be the new contracts signed by Labonte and Stewart. Stewart's new deal, one of the biggest stories of the season, secures his position with JGR through 2009. Labonte, meanwhile, signed a contract to drive the No. 18 Chevy through 2008.

Team: Evernham Motorsports

Drivers: Bill Elliott, Jeremy Mayfield

Points Finish: 9th (Elliott), 19th (Mayfield)

Overview: With a late-season run that matched any team in the sport, Evernham's two teams were consistently out front.

Bill Elliott won at Rockingham and finished in ninth in the Winston Cup points standings. Jeremy Mayfield didn't win in 2003, but he notched two second-place and two third-place finishes in the final 11 races. Mayfield ended up 19th in the points, but from where he came, that's acceptable.

The crowning moment for Evernham's teams came in the season's penultimate weekend at Rockingham, where Elliott dominated the race, and Mayfield finished third. Elliott's team also won the pit crew championship, and Mayfield chipped in with a fourth-place finish in an Evernham Busch Series car.

Team: Chip Ganassi Racing

Drivers: Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears

Points Finish: 13th (McMurray), 18th (Marlin), 35th (Mears).

Overview: McMurray, in his first full season, led the team in most catagories, including top-five finishes (five) and top-10 finishes (13). McMurray started the season off slowly, but a strong second half allowed him to capture Rookie of the Year honors. McMurray nearly won at Indy -- he finished third -- and he closed the year with a Bud Pole at Homestead.

Marlin didn't score a top-five finish, but he did score four sixth-place finishes. Marlin was caught up in a series of accidents that kept his points position down, and he completed only 90 percent of the laps. He suffered three engine failures, including one on the second lap at Watkins Glen.

Mears failed to record a top-10 finish all season. Mears qualified well -- he made every race, and only used three provisionals -- but he failed to finish 10 races. Mears had far more success in lower series -- he won two ARCA races and also ran well in limited Busch action.

Team: Bill Davis Racing

Drivers: Ward Burton, Kenny Wallace

Points Finish: 21st (Burton), 30th (Wallace).

Overview: For the first time since 1999, BDR failed to win a single race. Midway through the season, Dodge surprised everyone by removing support for the team, leaving it without significant manufacturer backing. The team continued to run Dodges.

Burton was a major part of the Silly Season. With four races to go, he announced that he was joining Haas CNC Racing. The move came immediately, and BDR promoted Scott Wimmer to finish the year. Wimmer will also drive the car in 2004.

Burton, in his first full season with crew chief Ferank Stoddard, failed to get a top-five finish.

Wallace, who will drive for BDR in the Busch Series in 2004, struggled in the No. 23 Dodge, recording just one top-10 finish.

Team: Robert Yates Racing

Drivers: Dale Jarrett, Elliott Sadler

Points Finish: 22nd (Sadler), 26th (Jarrett)

Overview: The season started well for both of RYR's drivers, but the bottom soon fell out of the operation. Jarrett won at Rockingham, but that was his only top-five finish of the year. Sadler got as high as 10th in the points, but a series of accidents cost him position in the second half.

Each team went through major changes atop the pit box. Jarrett went through three crew chiefs -- he started the year with Brad Parrott, who was replaced by Garth Finley. Finley was later replaced by Shawn Parker.

Sadler started the year with longtime RYR employee Raymond Fox III, but Todd Parrott replaced him at midseason.

Jarrett finished 26th in the points, easily his worst with RYR. Sadler had a career-high nine top-10 finishes, most of which came in the first half. Sadler also captured two Bud Poles.

Team: MBV/MB2 Motorsports

Drivers: Johnny Benson, Jerry Nadeau, Joe Nemechek

Points Finish: 24th (Benson), 45th (Nadeau).

Overview: Benson only scored two top-five finishes, and he was notified in October that he wouldn't return in 2004. Scott Riggs was named as his replacement. Nadeau was injured in a practice crash at Richmond in May, and the team used five different drivers to finish the season.

Joe Nemechek, who finished out the season, will drive the No. 01 in 2004. The team will use Chevrolets after Pontiac announced its decision to stop supporting the Grand Prix.

The team's highlight was its two Bud Poles, both scored by the No. 01 team. Boris Said won the Bud Pole for the Sonoma event, and Mike Skinner won the Bud Pole for the fall race at Richmond.

Team: PPI Motorsports

Driver: Ricky Craven

Points Finish: 27th

Overview: The team won its second race in three seasons with a thrilling win at Darlington, but Craven's second-half slide was shocking. Craven failed to finish five of the final nine races.

The team, which switched to Pontiac for the 2003 season, will have to switch makes again for 2004. In November, the team announced sweeping changes, including the hiring of Dave Charpentier as the new crew chief and Mike Beam to head the team's competition department.