The 2003 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 was the 26th stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 46th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, September 6, 2003, before a crowd of 105,000 in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Penske Racing South driver Ryan Newman would hold off the field on a late restart with four to go to win his seventh career NASCAR Winston Cup Series win and his sixth win of the season. To fill out the podium, Jeremy Mayfield of Evernham Motorsports and Ricky Rudd of Wood Brothers Racing would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list #DriverTeamMake0Jason LefflerHaas CNC RacingPontiac1John AndrettiDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet01Mike SkinnerMB2 MotorsportsPontiac2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthDodge02Hermie SadlerSCORE MotorsportsPontiac4Johnny SauterMorgan–McClure MotorsportsPontiac5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Jimmy SpencerUltra MotorsportsDodge8Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet9Bill ElliottEvernham MotorsportsDodge09Mike WallacePhoenix RacingDodge10Johnny Benson Jr.MB2 MotorsportsPontiac11Brett Bodine*Brett Bodine RacingFord12Ryan NewmanPenske Racing SouthDodge15Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet16Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord17Matt KensethRoush RacingFord18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet19Jeremy MayfieldEvernham MotorsportsDodge20Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet21Ricky RuddWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingDodge23Kenny WallaceBill Davis RacingDodge24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Joe NemechekHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30Steve ParkRichard Childress RacingChevrolet31Robby GordonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet32Ricky CravenPPI MotorsportsPontiac37Derrike Cope*Quest Motor RacingChevrolet38Elliott SadlerRobert Yates RacingFord40Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi RacingDodge41Casey MearsChip Ganassi RacingDodge42Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingDodge43Christian FittipaldiPetty EnterprisesDodge45Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodge48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet49Ken SchraderBAM RacingDodge50Larry FoytA. J. Foyt EnterprisesDodge54Todd BodineBelCar MotorsportsFord74Tony RainesBACE MotorsportsChevrolet77Dave BlaneyJasper MotorsportsFord79Billy BigleyArnold MotorsportsDodge88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord97Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFordOfficial entry list
Practice
First practice The first practice session was held on Friday, September 5, at 11:20 AM EST, and would last for two hours. Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 21.398 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed120Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet21.398126.180201Mike SkinnerMB2 MotorsportsPontiac21.449125.88032Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthDodge21.450125.874Full first practice results
Second practice The second practice session was held on Friday, September 5, at 4:45 PM EST, and would last for 45 minutes. Todd Bodine of BelCar Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 21.670 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed154Todd BodineBelCar RacingFord21.670124.596201Mike SkinnerMB2 MotorsportsPontiac21.716124.33237Jimmy SpencerUltra MotorsportsDodge21.720124.309Full second practice results
Third and final practice The third and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, September 5, at 6:10 PM EST, and would last for 45 minutes. Jeff Burton of Roush Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 21.599 and an average speed of . Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed199Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord21.599125.006224Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet21.705124.395348Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet21.775123.995Full Happy Hour practice results
Qualifying Qualifying was held on Friday, September 5, at 3:05 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 1-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champ needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.
Mike Skinner of MB2 Motorsports would win the pole, setting a time of 21.464 and an average speed of .
Larry Foyt and Billy Bigley would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed101Mike SkinnerMB2 MotorsportsPontiac21.464125.792216Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord21.489125.64636Mark MartinRoush RacingFord21.499125.587412Ryan NewmanPenske Racing SouthDodge21.536125.371524Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet21.594125.035640Sterling MarlinChip Ganassi RacingDodge21.610124.942799Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord21.611124.936822Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingDodge21.624124.861910Johnny Benson Jr.MB2 MotorsportsPontiac21.643124.7521045Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesDodge21.643124.7521125Joe NemechekHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet21.671124.5901254Todd BodineBelCar RacingFord21.674124.573138Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet21.704124.4011420Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet21.709124.372159Bill ElliottEvernham MotorsportsDodge21.731124.2461618Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet21.733124.235172Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthDodge21.734124.2291817Matt KensethRoush RacingFord21.745124.1661921Ricky RuddWood Brothers RacingFord21.753124.1212074Tony RainesBACE MotorsportsChevrolet21.757124.0982131Robby GordonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet21.781123.961227Jimmy SpencerUltra MotorsportsDodge21.794123.8872319Jeremy MayfieldEvernham MotorsportsDodge21.795123.882241John AndrettiDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet21.803123.8362597Kurt BuschRoush RacingFord21.830123.6832648Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet21.838123.6382749Ken SchraderBAM RacingDodge21.838123.6382829Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet21.845123.5982942Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingDodge21.849123.5753038Elliott SadlerRobert Yates RacingFord21.871123.4513141Casey MearsChip Ganassi RacingDodge21.874123.434325Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet21.896123.3103315Michael WaltripDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet21.922123.1643423Kenny WallaceBill Davis RacingDodge21.938123.0743532Ricky CravenPPI MotorsportsPontiac21.939123.068364Johnny SauterMorgan–McClure MotorsportsPontiac21.949123.012Provisionals3788Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord22.014122.6493877Dave BlaneyJasper MotorsportsFord21.953122.9903930Steve ParkRichard Childress RacingChevrolet22.005122.699400Jason LefflerHaas CNC RacingPontiac22.165121.8144143Christian FittipaldiPetty EnterprisesDodge22.396120.5574209Mike WallacePhoenix RacingDodge22.142121.9404302Hermie SadlerSCORE MotorsportsChevrolet21.985122.811Failed to qualify or withdrew4450Larry FoytA. J. Foyt EnterprisesDodge22.172121.7754579Billy BigleyArnold MotorsportsDodge22.269121.245WD11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord——WD37Derrike CopeQuest Motor RacingChevrolet——Official qualifying results
Post-race conflict This race was notable for the post-race conflict between veteran Ricky Rudd and 3rd year Winston Cup driver Kevin Harvick. With 8 laps to go with Harvick running 2nd and Rudd running 3rd, Rudd got into the back of Harvick heading into turn 1. Harvick's car got sideways for a bit and eventually snapped around on him and crashed into the outside wall in turn 1 bringing out the 14th and final caution of the race. Once the race concluded, Rudd had finished 3rd which meant Rudd went over to pit road while the others who did not finish in the top 5 went to their haulers behind pit road. Harvick, who finished 16th, knew that Rudd had finished in the top 5 and went to pit road and pulled up alongside his car. Both crews of Harvick and Rudd came running out to their drivers. Rudd came halfway out of his car while Harvick got out of his car with the help of his crew and the two began to yell back and forth at each other with NASCAR officials yelling at Harvick to get off of the top of his car. Harvick went down from Rudd's car with one of his crew members holding him back while another of Havick's crew members behind him jumped up in the air and landed on Rudd's hood damaging his car. Harvick got separated from Rudd and began to walk away. As he was walking away, Harvick took his HANS device and threw it at Rudd's direction landing on top of Rudd's roof. Rudd took the device and threw it back at Harvick. Harvick said in his interview that "Ricky Rudd took a goddamn cheap shot at us. And if he's gonna take a cheap shot, he's going to get one back I promise you that." Rudd said that Harvick braked a little harder than he thought he would and said that the damage to his car from Harvick's crew was unnecessary. He finished his interview by saying "I couldn’t hear him. He’s got that little yap-yap mouth. I couldn’t tell what he was saying."
Race results