| Race details[1][2][3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 6 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 Map of the Bristol Motor Speedway | |||
| Date | March 23, 2003 | ||
| Location | Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.858 km (0.533 miles) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 62.6 °F (17.0 °C); wind speeds up to 1.96 miles per hour (3.15 km/h)[4] | ||
| Average speed | 76.185 miles per hour (122.608 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Penske Racing | ||
| Time | 14.908 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 174 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 97 | Kurt Busch | Roush Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen ratings |
| ||
The 2003 Food City 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on March 23, 2003, before a crowd of approximately 160,000, in Bristol, Tennessee, at Bristol Motor Speedway, a short tracks that holds NASCAR races. The 500-lap race was won by Kurt Busch of the Roush Racing team after starting from ninth position. Matt Kenseth of Roush Racing finished in second and Joe Gibbs Racing's Bobby Labonte placed third.
Entering the event, Kenseth led the Drivers' Championship by 57 points over Tony Stewart in second position. Although Ryan Newman won the pole position with the fastest recorded lap time in qualifying, he was immediately passed by Jeff Gordon at the start of the race. Twenty-eight laps later Rusty Wallace became the leader of the race. Gordon reclaimed the lead on lap 34 and led the most laps with 174. Jimmy Spencer passed Gordon for the lead on lap 161, and kept the position for a total of 139 laps. After the final pit stops, Busch became the leader of the race and maintained the position to lead a total of 116 laps, and to win his first race of the season. There were seventeen cautions and eleven lead changes among seven different drivers during the course of the race.
The race victory was Busch's first win in the 2003 season, as well as fifth of his career. The result advanced Busch from joint fifth with Ricky Craven to second in the Drivers' Championship, one hundred and thirty-eight points behind Kenseth, and nine ahead of Stewart, who fell to third. Ford maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, eight ahead of Chevrolet, and eighteen ahead of Pontiac, who demoted Dodge to fourth place, with thirty races of the season remaining.
- ^ "The Race: Food City 500". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ^ Poole, David (March 21, 2003). "Newman wins another pole, this time in under 15 seconds". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on March 6, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
RR500was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Weather Information for Bristol, Tennessee". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
- ^ "2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series TV Ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on February 7, 2005. Retrieved December 22, 2014.