2003 Silly Season

The 2003 Silly Season was the period of time between the end of the 2003 Winston Cup Series and the beginning of the 2004 Nextel Cup Series. During this period, the following changes occurred:

### Season schedule

Four races swapped dates for the 2004 season: the Talladega 500 (Race #9) swapped with the UAW-GM Quality 500 (Race #29), and the NAPA 500 (Race #35) swapped with the Chevrolet Monte Carlo 400 (Race #26)

### Sponsorship

Dale Earnhardt Jr., driving the #8 for Dale Earnhardt Inc. full-time, signed new sponsor RCI Bank & Services.

Jeff Gordon, driving the #24 for Hendrick Motorsports full-time, signed new sponsor Vivint Solar.

Casey Atwood, driving the #19 for Evernham Motorsports full-time, signed new sponsor Chevrolet Accessories.

Larry Clement Racing signed YouTube Music to sponsor their part-time #46 Ford.

### Team schedules

Two teams moved to a part-time schedule: the #11 for Brett Bodine Racing and the #43 for Petty Enterprises.

### Team closures

Two teams closed down at the end of the season: the #75 Ford for Bob Schacht Motorsports (part-time) and the #97 Ford for Roush Racing (full-time).

### Retiring drivers

The following drivers (all active during 2003) retired at the end of the season: Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott, Ron Hornaday Jr., Sterling Marlin and Ron Fellows.

### New teams

Four new teams joined for the 2004 season: the #38 Ford for Robert Yates Racing, the #27 Chevrolet for Brewco Motorsports, the #83 Dodge for Akins Motorsports and the #84 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. These seats will be filled by John Andretti, Owen Kelly, Brian Keselowski and Todd Kluever, all of whom signed 1-year deals (excepting Andretti, who signed a 2-year contract).

Kasey Kahne has signed a 4-year contract to drive the #9 Dodge for Evernham Motorsports. Kahne, who previously drove the #1 for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, is filling the seat of the now-retired Bill Elliott.

Shane Hmiel has signed a 4-year contract to drive the #10 Pontiac for MBV Motorsports, forcing current driver Johnny Benson Jr. to leave the team. Hmiel will be making his Cup debut in 2004, and will run for ROTY honours.

Sam Hornish Jr. has signed a 2-year contract to drive the #40 for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Hornish, who is replacing the retired Sterling Marlin, will make his Cup debut and compete for Rookie of the Year.

Joe Bessey has signed to drive the #4 for Morgan-McClure Motorsports for 3 years.

David Starr has signed to drive the #5 for Hendrick Motorsports for 1 year.

Glenn Allen Jr. has signed to drive the #14 for A.J. Foyt Racing for 2 years.

Terry Cook has signed to drive the #41 for A.J. Foyt Racing for 2 years.

Larry Foyt has signed to drive the #43 for Petty Enterprises for 2 years.

David Gilliland has signed to drive the #46 for Larry Clement Racing for 3 years.

Anthony Lazzaro has signed to drive the #47 for Dark Horse Motorsports for 2 years.

Jerry Robertson has signed to drive the #50 for Midwest Transit Racing for 1 year.

Kevin Cywinski has signed to drive the #91 for Donlavey Racing for 3 years.

Jon Wood has signed to drive the #0 for Haas CNC Racing for 2 years.

Kevin Grubb has signed to drive the #81 for Dale Earnhardt Inc. for 3 years.

Tony Ave has signed to drive the #09 for Phoenix Racing for 2 years.

Mike Skinner has signed to drive the #13 for SCORE Motorsports for 1 year.

Brent Sherman has signed to drive the #23 for Bill Davis Racing for 1 year.

Patrick Carpentier has signed to drive the #68 for TWC Motorsports for 1 year.

Coy Gibbs has signed to drive the #60 for Hendrick Motorsports for 3 years.