RYAN MANAGES
MONSTER MILE
Dover, DE: On a cold, damp, windy day that felt more like March than June, the monster made its' presence known early as it reached out and grabbed eight cars on lap 1.
Ryan Newman once again started on the pole with his team mate Rusty Wallace on the outside. At the start, it was Rusty in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge who took the initial lead. Ryan did not gain the lead until lap 45 when he was the first one off of pit road. But, he could not retain that position as he was soon overtaken by Tony Stewart who had an extremely strong car. Ryan did not lead again until lap 143.
Ryan lead for another 66 laps, then lost the lead when Jimmy Johnson in the #48 Lowes Chevrolet beat him off pit road. With nearly half the race remaining, the #12 Alltel Dodge developed a problem. Smoke was visibly coming from the rear of the vehicle. Ryan soon realized he had lost his power steering. Undaunted by the difficulty, Ryan worked hard to stay in striking distance.
With 73 laps remaining, Ryan took the lead for good as he muscled his way past current leader Jeff Gordon in the #24 DuPont Chevrolet. However, he was never able to relax. Tony Stewart, in hot pursuit, had worked his way back to 3rd. Uncertain as to whether or not Tony could catch him, Ryan faced traffic ahead. While some drivers fought to remain on the lead lap, Jeff Gordon in 2nd and Tony Stewart in 3rd, closed the gap on Ryan.
Then, a caution that could have been his undoing, gave Ryan the break he needed to capture the win. The restart came with 6 laps to go. As Jeff and Tony pressed for the advantage, Jeff made a slip causing Tony to check up. Ryan surged ahead, Jeff stayed 2nd. Bobby Labonte slid past Tony for 3rd and Tony finished 4th. It was Ryan's 3rd win of the season. It was also the first win for Dodge at the Spring race in Dover.
As it sometimes happens, the best car is not always the one that makes it to Victory Lane. The #20 Home Depot Chevrolet was an orange streak that flashed past most of the cars throughout the race. Tony's pit error on lap 139 probably cost him the win. When he pulled into his pit, his right front tire was sitting outside the pit box. He was held a lap for the infraction.
The question remains as to what may have been the outcome had Ryan allowed Tony back onto the lead lap when the caution came out on lap 208. Tony was clearly upset, however the strength of the #20 was much too big a threat for Ryan to ignore.
With encouragement from his team and Tony's determination, he once again began to pick off slower
cars. After getting back onto the lead lap with 118 laps remaining, Tony advanced positions as quickly
as laps went by. Unfortunately, time ran out and although Tony was in good shape to make a charge on
the leader, he failed to get past Jeff Gordon. Then, the final restart incident caused him to lose
another position. He ended the hard fought race in 4th.
Article by S. Kipple
6/01/03
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