KURT BUSCH WINS
AUTO CLUB 500
Fontana, CA: He came in 2nd here a year ago, but today Kurt Busch felt he had the car that could go all the way and indeed he did as he brought the #97 Rubbermaid Ford to Victory Lane at California Speedway.
The race began precariously when on lap 1, pole sitter Steve Park moved up the race track forcing Ryan Newman in the #12 Alltel Dodge into the wall. The #1 Pennzoil Chevrolet snapped around and slid down the track. Fortunately, the rest of the field was able to miss both wrecked cars. Ryan was essentially knocked out of the race and was seen taking out his frustration by helping to repair his own racecar, pounding out the damaged fender. Both cars later returned to the race to run a few laps.
Bill Elliott led the first lap in the #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. But, Tony Stewart's #20 Home Depot Chevrolet was fast and he took the lead on lap 30. Tony appeared to have the car that would bring him his first win of 2003. Then, on lap 128, as Jamie McMurray slid past, smoke poured out of the #20 and "Smoke" drove into the garage with a broken rod. Tony was done for the day and had accrued his 4th DNF. The 2002 Winston Cup Champion also dropped out of the top 10 in points.
After the caution for Tony's engine failure, Jamie McMurray assumed the lead in the #42 Havoline Dodge. However, it wasn't long before he was battling a very strong Bobby Labonte in the #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet. Bobby drove in the low groove and Jamie took the high groove. Neither car got far ahead of the remaining field that was moving up quickly.
Debris on the track brought out the caution flag on lap 156. Rusty Wallace elected to take just 2 tires to improve his position. The #2 Miller Lite Ford came out of the pits first. Rusty had not won a race since 2001 at this same track. It seemed that his determination might pay off. Unfortunately, a battle with Dale Earnhardt Jr, who was on the tail end of the lead lap, caused Rusty to slide back with just 35 laps remaining and Bobby Labonte took the lead once again.
Bobby traded the lead with Jamie McMurray once again. Another caution came out when Dale Jarrett spun the #88 UPS Ford and struck the wall hard. Jeremy Mayfield, in the #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, was unable to avoid striking DJ and his car caught fire. Luckily, DJ was able to get out of the car quickly to avoid any injury. The melee scooped up 10 cars in all.
The drama began on the restart as Jamie McMurray slipped back allowing Bobby to assume the lead. But Kurt Busch was charging ahead and quickly put Bobby, Jamie and Rusty behind him. The final 13 laps kept us on the edge of our seats as Rusty made a valiant attempt to get past Bobby and try to take the lead from Kurt. While behind these 3 combatants a battle for 4th position saw Jimmie Johnson once again spinning the #48 Lowes Chevrolet, this time collecting Mark Martin in the #6 Viagra Ford.
The top 10 finishers included some amazing come from behind drivers. Dale Earnhardt Jr (6th) in
the #8 Budweiser Chevrolet and Sterling Marlin (10th) in the #40 Coors Light Dodge had taken their
vehicles to the back of the field to start the race. Bill Elliott had dropped back as far as 28th.
He made some huge adjustments throughout the day and fought his way back to finish 4th.. Michael
Waltrip made his way from 27th starting position to finish 7th in the #15 Napa Chevrolet. Points
leader Matt Kenseth battled the field from 38th in the #17 DeWalt Ford to finish 9th, staying ahead
of Jr by only 44 points in the championship standings. John Andretti stayed out of trouble the
entire day finishing 8th in the #43 Cheerios Dodge. This was his first top 10 finish since Sonoma
in June of last year.
Article by S. Kipple
4/27/03
Links
Website designed and maintained
by CSP
Media
original content (c)2002-2003 Dawn Church
Visit http://www.Virtual411.com
"Your Place" in cyberspace
Statements within are the opinions of their authors and do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of CSP Media and their affiliates.