BUSCH WINS BRISTOL BASH!
Bristol, TN: The 2000th NASCAR race was a bang up affair with Kurt Busch landing in the winner's circle of the Food City 500, the same race he had won a year ago.
Ryan Newman, who had won the Bud Pole in the #12 Alltel Dodge with a new track record of 14.9 seconds, could not lead a lap as the race began with Jeff Gordon jumping into the front. However, it didn't take long for the first caution as Kyle Petty in the #45 Georgia Pacific Dodge and Robby Gordon in the #31 Cingular Chevrolet tried to get into the same spot at the bottom of the race track. Out came the yellow flag on lap #3.
It seemed as though the race would never get into a flow as one caution led to another, then another. Through the melee, Ricky Rudd made several withdrawals from D.W.'s "Luck Bank". The #21 Motorcraft Ford narrowly missed one incident after the other. Even as he moved up the track and hitched a ride on the side of the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet of Tony Stewart, he was able to maintain his position on the lead lap. Ricky finished the race in 4th.
Although Bobby Labonte had also been tangled up in a couple of bashes, he was able to move to the front, lead for a short time, and challenge Kurt Busch for the win near the end of the race. Bobby finished 3rd in the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet that carried a special purple paint scheme for Advair, his primary sponsor for this race.
Terry Labonte in the #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet looked to be having his best race in a long time. Pit strategy had put him in 2nd place until lap 256 when he was tagged by the lapped car of Brett Bodine. The ensuing pile up claimed 6 vehicles and Terry was heavily damaged.
Jeff Gordon appeared to have the strongest car as he kept the #24 DuPont Chevrolet way out in front. But, Jimmy Spencer had a fast car as well and he was able to take the lead away from Jeff. The #7 Sirius Dodge seemed to have things well in hand. Then, the dreaded green flag pit stops began. Many of the leaders made their stop with the hope that the entire sequence would cycle through without a caution, but it was not to be. When the yellow flag came out, it left only 6 cars on the lead lap. Both Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Spencer were caught and went 2 laps down.
From that point, Kurt Busch had very little trouble getting the #97 Sharpie Ford out front and
staying there. No last minute surges came from behind to snatch this one away.
Article by S. Kipple
3/23/03
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