NEWMAN NABS
8TH AT KANSAS
Kansas City, KS: By using pit strategy once again, Ryan Newman wins his 8th race of the season. Crew chief, Matt Borland worked his magic as he pulled Ryan into the pits for a final fuel top off on lap 189. Then, all Ryan had to do was hope for the right cautions to get him to the front while everyone else had to make their final pit stops. As luck would have it, Ryan did get the cautions he needed. Once he was able to power his way past Jeremy Mayfield, he only had to stay in front of a hard charging Bill Elliott to take the Banquet 400 victory.
Bill Elliott had by far the best car all day. He was terribly disappointed when he was unable to get the #9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge past Ryan Newman. Bill had led the most laps and required no adjustments on any of his stops. Still, after his final pit stop, he had to maneuver his way back to the front and ran out of the laps that he needed to overtake Ryan. Bill finished 2nd.
Jeremy Mayfield had also used pit strategy to make his way to the front of the field. He took the lead on lap 206 and was able to stay there until lap 241 when Ryan Newman muscled his way past the #19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge. Jeremy came in 3rd. Both Ray Evernham Dodges sported special Lion King paint schemes for this race.
Tony Stewart was unable to lead a lap today, but after a rocky start that saw him slide from 14th to 19th on the first lap, he handled the #20 Home Depot Chevrolet and pulled in for a 4th place finish.
Jeff Gordon had high hopes for winning this 3rd race at Kansas Speedway. He had won the first 2 races at this track. Hard has he tried, he could not get the #24 DuPont Chevrolet to the front. He finished 5th.
Rusty Wallace was very excited about starting the Banquet 400. The #2 Miller Lite Dodge had been running well in practice. Things were looking great when he took the lead on lap 5. He traded places with Dale Earnhardt Jr a couple of times before he finally lost the lead for good to Bill Elliott. The car that had started out too loose for him at the beginning of the race became too tight. Rusty had another top 10, finishing in 9th.
Although several “Lucky Dog” passes were given during the race, the biggest benefactor was Jimmy Johnson. The #48 Lowes Chevrolet had won the pole, but due to a crash during practice, had to start at the rear of the field. It wasn't’t long before he was lapped by the very fast car of Bill Elliott. Jimmy’s crew made the needed adjustments and he had a much better car. Fortunately, he received the free pass back onto the lead lap. Then, before we knew it, Jimmy had made his way to the front, taking the lead. Even though he was unable to maintain that position, he did finish the race 7th.
There were fewer cautions today than during the previous 2 races here. However, there were 2 fiery crashes. The first occurred when Elliott Sadler had a tire go down that forced him into the outside wall. The #38 M&M’s Ford erupted into flames. Elliott was able to get out of the vehicle unharmed. The second incident involved the #97 Rubbermaid Ford of Kurt Busch. He had been having a problem with oil leaking inside the vehicle. The engine finally blew on lap 183. As Kurt moved down onto the service road, fire burst out in the cockpit. Kurt made a rapid exit and was not injured.
Other wrecks included Championship Points leader Matt Kenseth. When he tried to avoid a crash with Michael Waltrip, his #17 DeWalt Ford slid across the grass and smashed into the inside wall. Matt’s crew was phenomenal making enough repairs to get him back onto the track to avoid another DNF.
Michael Waltrip wrecked the #15 NAPA Chevrolet twice! First on lap 70 when he got too high, spun
out and struck the outside wall. Second on lap 202 when his left front tire went down. The second
wreck kept him from returning to the race.
Dave Blaney in the #77 Jasper Engines Ford, Jeff Green in the #43 Cheerios Dodge, Joe Nemechek in the
#25 UAW/Delphi Chevrolet and Johnny Benson in the #10 Valvoline Pontiac also wrecked. Fortunately,
there were no driver injuries.
Article by S. Kipple
10/05/03
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