Ryan Newman left a lot of folks fired up after his win at Kansas in 2003. Credit: Autostock

Enduring Performance: 2003 Banquet 400

A victory in the 2003 Banquet 400 might have been a gas to Ryan Newman and his crew, but it left the competition fuming.

Not only did Newman go 79 laps on his final load of fuel, but he turned some of his fastest laps of the race in an attempt to hold off hard-charging Bill Elliott after a final restart with 14 laps to go. He even had enough gas left in the tank to do a celebratory burnout.

	Credit: Autostock
	Results 2003 Banquet 400 Pos. Driver Make 1. R. Newman Dodge 2. B. Elliott Dodge 3. J. Mayfield Dodge 4. T. Stewart Chevrolet 5. J. Gordon Chevrolet 6. K. Harvick Chevrolet 7. J. Johnson Chevrolet 8. J. McMurray Dodge 9. R. Wallace Dodge 10. R. Rudd Ford • Complete results, click here

"I'm not an engineer," said Jeremy Mayfield, who also stretched his fuel mileage at the end, earning a third-place effort. "But I know that if you've got 22 gallons of fuel in your car, and everybody's got the same length fuel line and everybody's got so much horsepower, it takes so much fuel to make that."

However, Newman is an engineer, with a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, and he refuted Mayfield's accusations.

"We're not cheating. We don't cheat," Newman said. "That's basically it. They can think what they want. They can say what they want."

And there was a lot of talking after Newman's eighth victory of the season, especially when it came to the tradeoff between fuel mileage and engine performance.

"You can opt for fuel mileage or you can opt for power," said Elliott's crew chief, Mike Ford. "It's very difficult to get both."

Jeff Gordon, who wound up fifth, was thinking along the same lines.

"The thing that definitely raises an eyebrow to me is that the No. 12 car is one of the best engines out there and yet has one of the best fuel mileages out there, too," he said. "Obviously, if it's a concern to us then certainly NASCAR has an eye on it also."

Kevin Harvick wasn't happy that Newman's gas-mileage gamble paid off.

"I'm just [angry] that the 15th-place car wins the race and can go 15 laps farther on fuel than the rest of us," Harvick said. "If he can do that with his foot, then he's a magician."

The magic disappeared for Elliott at the worst possible time.

Elliott had led 115 laps, but came out of the pits in 15th place after most of the leaders stopped with 65 laps remaining. He drove back up to third for the final restart, but was held up by a lapped car and never regained his momentum.

"I think it's pretty obvious who had the best car out there today," Mayfield said, and not referring to the race winner.

Elliott was able to pass Mayfield in the closing laps wasn't quick enough to run down Newman for victory No. 44. He left the track without speaking to reporters but issued a statement: "We had a good car, but it was just one of them days."

Six cars stayed out and all made it to the finish line, but Newman's was the one everyone was talking about at the end of the day.

"It's easier to criticize a winner than a loser," he said.

Eventual 2003 champion Matt Kenseth had a rotten weekend, crashing twice and finishing 36th. Still, his lead over Harvick was 259 points with six races remaining, thanks in part to a huge cushion of more than 400 points Kenseth built up in the middle portion of the schedule.