2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

The 2003 Winston Cup Series began with the DAYTONA 500 and will end at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Ford 400.

Winston Cup Series seasons

## Schedule

The traditional 36-race season will be featured. The June race at Michigan has been replaced by a return to the Nashville Fairgrounds. The August date at Pocono has been replaced by Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec. The circuit hosts Formula One racing and will be the first national race north of the border. The September race in New Hampshire has been replaced by the infield road course at the Daytona International Speedway, the same used for the 24-hour endurance sports car race in January. The September Richmond race has also been replaced with the inaugural Winston Cup visit to Nazareth Speedway.

## Teams and drivers

### Limited Schedule

#### Mid-Season Changes

* Elliott Sadler was injured in a crash on lap 12 of the third race of the year at Las Vegas. His right shoulder was fractured after flipping four times down the Nellis Straight and nearly slid down the entire straightaway on his side or roof. Busch Grand National driver for Ford, Kasey Kahne, filled in for Sadler during his recovery time at Robert Yates Racing. Kahne drove in eight races before Sadler returned to action at Martinsville.
* Jack Sprague was also injured that crash at Las Vegas, ramming into the rear of Sadler which triggered his tumble. The impact sent the Haas CNC Racing Pontiac to perform a wheelie. The forces strained Sprague's neck muscles and broke a bone in his right arm. Haas tapped their Busch Grand National driver, Jason Leffler, to replace Sprague during his recovery. Leffler had previously run a full Cup Series season with Chip Ganassi in 2001. Sprague returned to the seat at Talladega.
* Brett Bodine skidded on the side of his car during the crash but was uninjured. Unfortunately for him, the crash forced him to scale back his operations as an owner. Hooter's would remain a sponsor for the team but he wouldn't return to action until Texas.
* With Brett Bodine Racing ditching their full-season efforts, James Finch began entering his No. 09 Dodge the following race at Atlanta. With Mike Wallace in the car, the Phoenix Racing team would contest a partial season.
* A crash the following week at Atlanta injured Ken Schrader. Schrader violently flipped multiple times into the third turn and landed on top of Kyle Petty's car. The spectacular crash broke Schrader's right arm. With no replacement driver and a lack of funding, BAM Racing was forced to shutter their operations imminently following this race. Schrader would be cleared to return by the race at California, but didn't return to the seat until Pocono with Bill Davis Racing.
* Kyle Petty, who also began barrel rolling when making hard contact with Schrader's flying car, broke his right arm as well. He also suffered a mild concussion. Petty Enterprises added their road course ace Christian Fittipaldi to the seat during Petty's recovery time. Petty returned to the seat at the Coca-Cola 600.
* BelCar Motorsports began entering races at Darlington with the closure of BAM Racing. Todd Bodine joined the team for a limited season.
* Richard Childress Racing opened a fourth part-time car for their Busch Grand National drivers, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Johnny Sauter. Hornaday would compete in three races (Bristol, California, Richmond), while Sauter would debut at Charlotte.
	+ With a win at Richmond, Hornaday's slate of races in RCR's fourth car expanded to include Greenville-Pickens, Montreal, the fall Bristol race and Nazareth. Additionally, he raced at Martinsville in October.
* Kerry Earnhardt returned to Winston Cup action with FitzBradshaw Racing, who made their debut with Earnhardt at Texas. The team would contest at California and Daytona in July with Earnhardt driving.
* NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Bobby Hamilton returned to Cup Series action at Talladega, driving for A.J. Foyt Racing in a one-race deal.
	+ A good enough result at Talladega extended their deal to include trips to the Coca-Cola 600 and the July Daytona race.
	+ They also returned with Hamilton at Talladega in September and Atlanta in October.
* Hermie Sadler's SCORE Motorsports debuted at the pair of Virginia races early in the season.
* With rookie Boris Said running last in the full-time driver standings after the ninth race of the season, Jasper Motorsports shuttered their full-season efforts the driver. However, he would return for limited races including road courses and super speedways.
* Kenny Wallace, who was last out of full-time drivers in standings, was alerted by his Bill Davis Racing team following Charlotte that he was on the hot seat to lose his ride if he didn't pick up a position in the standings. With that, BDR's Busch Grand National driver Scott Wimmer made his Winston Cup debut the following the week in a third entry for the team at Dover.
	+ Wallace was unable to accomplish this and was released from the team prior the race at Pocono. Ken Schrader and Wimmer were announced as interim replacements before the team found a full-time driver to replace Wallace.
	+ In his debut, Wimmer (39th) beat Wallace (41st) and was rewarded by earning another shot in the seat at Greensville-Pickens Speedway.
* After his strong outings subbing for Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises entered Christian Fittipaldi in a third car at Dover. He more than excelled, finishing a career-best third, and also accomplishing the team's best result of the season. He remained in the seat at Pocono and Greenville-Pickens.
* Evernham Motorsports released Casey Atwood following the Pocono race after nearly two and a half seasons. With Atwood's departure, the No. 91 team shut down effective immedinetly with no plans for the remainder of the season.
* Geoff Bodine returned to action, driving his brother's No. 11 Ford in the first Winston Cup race at Greenville-Pickens in over 30 years.
* Accomplished short track driver Dave Mader III made his Winston Cup return at Greenville-Pickens driving for Quest Motor Racing. It was also announced his entry in the Talladega race later that season with the team. It was Mader's first Winston Cup race in 11 years.
* With Jerry Nadeau last in points out of full-time drivers, MB2 Motorsports removed him his seat in the No. 01 Pontiac following the weekend at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. Kenny Wallace, who lost his ride just two weeks prior, joined the team for the remaining 21 races.
* Steve Park, who sat 30th in standings after Greenville-Pickens, was excused from his position at DEI after nearly six seasons. Despite gaining a position in standings following the race, DEI chose to replace him in favor of rookie phenom Christian Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi, who came from IndyCar racing, would make his debut in the No. 1 at DEI at Sonoma. Fittipaldi was groomed by Petty Enterprises during the opening weeks of the season, and the team had expected to fill him in Kyle Petty's No. 45 Dodge at Sonoma before jumping ship in favor of the seat at DEI.
* The following day, Bill Davis Racing hired Park to fill in the No. 23 Dodge for the remainder of the season. Park would replace Kenny Wallace in the car who was fired two weeks prior. Ken Scharder and BDR's Busch Grand National driver Scott Wimmer each ran a race in the car before the signing of Park, leaving Schrader without a ride yet again during the season.
* Jerry Nadeau was announced to join Quest Motor Racing's operation for a limited basis throughout the remainder of the season. His first race would be at Sonoma.
* After breaking both of his legs in a crash in the Pepsi 400, Jimmie Johnson was sidelined for several weeks. His legs were able to be healed within the time table Hendrick Motorsports laid out and was able to return by Nazareth in September. Randy LaJoie returned to Hendrick to drive the car at Chicagoland while Hendrick's test driver, David Green, filled out the remaining races beginning at New Hampshire.
	+ Johnson returned to the car at Nazareth.
* Mark Martin suffered concussion-like symptoms following his impact in the same crash as Johnson. Owner Jack Roush removed Martin in the car for the Chicagoland week for him to recover ahead of the final leg of the season. Roush Racing's Craftsman Truck driver, Jon Wood, made his Winston Cup debut driving the team's No. 6 in place of Martin at Chicago. He scored his first Craftsman Truck Series victory the day following Martin's crash at Kansas Speedway.
* Haas CNC Racing's Busch Grand National driver Jason Leffler returned to the seat of a Winston Cup car at Chicagoland: he was entered in a second car for the team, with a pit crew provided by Hendrick Motorsports, to continue evaluating the program and rookie Jack Sprague in the team's primary car.
	+ Sprague was removed from the team following the weekend at Chicagoland. The team stated they would rotate through several replacement drivers while Leffler would be the primary driver.
* The New England 301 saw five families compete against each other. The Wallace, Green and Bodine families all had three brothers each while the Burtons and Sadlers had two. To accomplish this, several drivers moved around.
	+ Mike Wallace moved from the Phoenix Racing No. 09 to the Haas CNC Racing No. 0. The one-race deal was to secure him a position in the race to join his brothers in the race. He replaced Jack Sprague in the car who was removed from the team ahead of that week.
	+ Kyle Petty stepped out of his No. 45 Dodge at Petty Enterprises so Geoff Bodine could compete against his two brothers.
	+ Mark Green raced with A.J. Foyt Racing in their No. 14 Dodge to race against his two brothers. It marked the first entry for the team outside of Daytona, Charlotte and Talladega this season and first without Bobby Hamilton driving.
* Hideo Fukuyama returned to Winston Cup action at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, driving the No. 54 for BelCar Motorsports. He would also race the remaining road course races that season, being Watkins Glen and the Daytona Road Course.
* 1995 IndyCar Champion, 1995 Indianapolis 500 Champion and the 1997 Formula One World Champion Jacques Villeneuve made his Winston Cup debut at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the circuit named after his father. He was the only Canadian-born driver in the race.
	+ Villeneuve returned to the team the following two weeks for the Brickyard 400 and Watkins Glen race. He also returned for the inaugural Daytona Road Course trip.
* Larry Foyt made his first start of the 2003 season at the Brickyard 400 driving for his father's team, A.J. Foyt Racing.
* Derrike Cope returned to the driver seat of his own operations, Quest Motor Racing, in the No. 37 at the Brickyard 400.
* Ron Fellows and Papyrus Racing announced their declaration to compete in both road races remaining on the Winston Cup season. With partnership with DEI and Chevrolet, Fellows would drive the team's No. 86 Chevy at both Watkins Glen and Daytona Road Course. He went on to win the team's debut.
* Scott Pruett returned to Winston Cup action at Watkins Glen, driving a fourth Dodge for Chip Ganassi -- his car owner in the Rolex Sports Car Championship. He would also compete on the Daytona Road Course.
* Haas CNC Racing finally announced their long-run game after three straight races with Jacques Villeneuve. Jason Leffler would return to the seat of their No. 0 Pontiac part-time, while the team brought in former Busch Series Champion Randy LaJoie to drive in the remaining races. Leffler's return would be the following race at Michigan while LaJoie's debut in the Pontiac would be at Talladega in September.
* Scott Wimmer was announced as Bill Davis Racing's full-time driver of their No. 23 Dodge for the 2004 season, replacing Kenny Wallace and Steve Park in the seat. Wimmer, who drove the No. 23 once in 2003 as a substitute, would run five additional races at the end of the 2003 season in the team's third entry to prepare him for his rookie season. His five-race calendar began at Michigan followed by the Southern 500, Nazareth, Lowe's and Homestead-Miami.
* A crash in practice at Michigan left Brett Bodine unconscious. His brother, Geoff, replaced him for the race. Brett shut down Brett Bodine Racing following this crash and his mild injuries. He was left with a broken collarbone and broken teeth. He retired shortly after.
* Michael Waltrip Racing made its debut in Winston Cup Series action at Bristol in August. Buckshot Jones was picked as the driver for the MWR No. 00 Chevy. The team ran additional races at Dover, Kansas, Phoenix, Rockingham and Homestead all with Jones driving.
* With Johnny Sauter getting the call up by Richard Childress Racing to replace Jeff Green in the No. 30 full-time in 2004, RCR expanded his schedule in the team's fourth entry. He competed in six additional races beginning at the Southern 500 in preparation for his rookie campaign. He also competed at Kansas, Charlotte, Atlanta, Rockingham and Homestead.
* Jerry Nadeau was injured in a practice crash during the ITT Industries 400 at Nazareth Speedway. After crashing into the third turn with a driver's side impact, Nadeau was unresponsive to the rescue crew and was unconscious. He was airlifted to the Lehigh Valley Medical Center and given a 6% chance of living. The left side of his body suffered complete immobility, a skull fracture, a concussion, a collapsed lung and broken ribs. Derrike Cope replaced him in the Quest Motor Racing No. 37 for the race at Nazareth. Nadeau never returned to Winston Cup action following his crash.
* Team Rensi Motorsports made their Winston Cup debut at Nazareth with Bobby Hamilton Jr. driving.
* Hendrick Motorsports announced following the Daytona Road Course that Joe Nemechek would be excused from his duties driving their No. 25 Chevrolet following the race. He had sat 30th out of the 31 drivers who competed full-time, and placed 32nd in the standings. David Green replaced Nemechek in the seat at Dover, Talladega, Kansas and Lowe's. Brian Vickers was set to take over the ride beginning at Martinsville and keep the seat through the 2004 season.
	+ With Vickers needing more seat time before jumping into Hendrick's No. 25, Hendrick entered him in a fifth car for a pair of races. He made his Winston Cup debut in the team's No. 60 at Dover. He also raced the car at Lowe's Motor Speedway a week before his first start in the No. 25.
* With Nemechek out of the No. 25 seat at Hendrick, he joined Petty Enterprises. He replaced Kyle Petty in the No. 45 Dodge for the remaining eight races of the season beginning at Talladega. Petty returned for a single one-off in the team's No. 44 at Rockingham in November.
* After his win at Charlotte, Hendrick Motorsports entered Jeff Green in their No. 60 in the following race at Martinsville Speedway. Brian Vickers took over the No. 25 at Hendrick at Martinsville for the rest of the 2003 season and signed with the team for the entirety of 2004.
* Rich Bickle signed with Quest Motor Racing to compete in the fall Martinsville race, driving the No. 37 Chevrolet. It was his first start since that same race in 2001.