2003 GFS Marketplace 400

The 2003 GFS Marketplace 400 was the 23rd stock car race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on August 17, 2003 at Michigan International Speedway near Brooklyn, Michigan before a crowd of 150,000. The 200-lap race was won by Ryan Newman of the Penske Racing South team after he started from second position. Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing finished second and Joe Gibbs Racing's Tony Stewart came in third.

2003 GFS Marketplace 400

Race details[1][2]
Race 23 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
2003 GFS Marketplace 400 program cover
Date	August 17, 2003 (2003-08-17)
Location	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.0 mi (3.2 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Weather	Temperatures up to 88 °F (31 °C); wind speeds up to 13.81 miles per hour (22.23 km/h)[3]
Average speed	127.31 mph (204.89 km/h)
Attendance	150,000
Pole position
Driver	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	37.847
Most laps led
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	50
Winner
No. 12	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing South
Television in the United States
Network	TNT
Announcers	Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Nielsen Ratings	4.9 (Final) (6.23 million)[4]

Report

Background

Michigan International Speedway, where the race was held.

The 2003 GFS Marketplace 400 was the 23rd of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. It was held on August 17, 2003, in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway,^[2] one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.^[5] The standard track at Michigan International Speedway is a 2 mi (3.2 km) four-turn superspeedway.^[6] The track's turns are banked at eighteen degrees, while the front stretch (the location of the finish line) is banked at twelve degrees. The back stretch, has a five degree banking.^[6]

Before the race Matt Kenseth led the Drivers' Championship with 3,294 points, ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in second and Jeff Gordon in third. Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick was fourth and fifth, and Michael Waltrip, Bobby Labonte, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon rounded out the top ten.^[7] Chevrolet led the Manufacturers' Championship with 158 points, 21 ahead of their rival Ford in second. Dodge was third on 110 and Pontiac was fourth with 79.^[8] Dale Jarrett was the race's defending champion.^[9]

Practice and qualifying

Bobby Labonte (pictured in 2006) had the twenty-fifth pole of his career.

Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race; one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first practice session lasted 60 minutes, the second and final sessions lasted 45 minutes.^[1] Newman was fastest in the first practice session with a time of 38.221 seconds; Elliott Sadler was second and Harvick third. Bobby Labonte was fourth with a lap of 38.438 seconds, and Earnhardt placed fifth. Busch, Dale Jarrett, Johnson, Tony Stewart, Terry Labonte rounded out the session's top-ten drivers.^[10]

Although 44 drivers were entered in the qualifier; according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure only 43 could race. Each driver was limited to two timed laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times.^[1] The qualifier was delayed for two hours because of rain which increased the track grip available to the drivers.^[11] Bobby Labonte clinched his second consecutive pole position at Michigan International Speedway, his fourth of the season and the 25th of his career with a time of 37.847 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Newman. Robby Gordon qualified third, Kevin Lepage fourth, and Terry Labonte started fifth. Jason Leffler, Christian Fittipaldi, Jeff Burton, Dave Blaney and Jimmy Spencer rounded out the top ten qualifiers.^[11] Brett Bodine, Carl Long, Rich Bickle and Morgan Shepherd withdrew from the event prior to qualifying.^[2] The driver that failed to qualify was Stacy Compton.^[12] After the qualifier, Bobby Labonte said: "I just like coming here. It just falls into the category of a good track. The cars can race here from the white line (at the bottom of the banking) to the white wall, which is about 100 yards. That's a lot of fun."^[11]

On Saturday afternoon Johnson was fastest in the second practice session with a lap of 39.166 seconds, ahead of Bobby Labonte and Rusty Wallace. Harvick with a time of 39.224 was fourth-fastest; Sterling Marlin was fifth and Newman sixth. Greg Biffle, Terry Labonte, Johnny Benson Jr. and Stewart followed in the top ten.^[13] Later that day, Wallace paced the final practice session with a time of 39.816 seconds; Earnhardt was second and Busch. Jeff Green was fourth-fastest, ahead of Bobby Labonte and Newman. Waltrip was seventh-fastest, Stewart eighth, Jamie McMurray ninth and Biffle tenth.^[14] Jeremy Mayfield's tire blew, damaging his rear fender, and switched to a back-up car. Marlin's engine failed during the session, and Marlin changed engines.^[1]

Results

POS[15]	ST	#	DRIVER	SPONSOR / OWNER	CAR	LAPS	MONEY	STATUS	LED	PTS
1	2	12	Ryan Newman	Alltel   (Roger Penske)	Dodge	200	155505	running	32	180
2	11	29	Kevin Harvick	GM Goodwrench   (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	200	147758	running	46	175
3	23	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot   (Joe Gibbs)	Chevrolet	200	140063	running	0	165
4	12	16	Greg Biffle	Grainger   (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	85670	running	19	165
5	18	30	Steve Park	America Online   (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	200	76980	running	0	155
6	3	31	Robby Gordon	Cingular Wireless   (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	200	89402	running	0	150
7	13	15	Michael Waltrip	NAPA   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	200	77915	running	0	146
8	30	49	Ken Schrader	SEM Products / Color Horizons   (Beth Ann Morgenthau)	Dodge	200	79790	running	0	142
9	33	17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt Power Tools   (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	76540	running	0	138
10	35	10	Johnny Benson Jr.	Valvoline   (James Rocco)	Pontiac	200	94690	running	0	134
11	8	99	Jeff Burton	Citgo   (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	92422	running	0	130
12	17	38	Elliott Sadler	M&M's   (Yates Racing)	Ford	200	92515	running	0	127
13	5	5	Terry Labonte	Kellogg's / got milk?   (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	200	84421	running	0	124
14	22	22	Ward Burton	Caterpillar   (Bill Davis)	Dodge	200	90521	running	0	121
15	32	9	Bill Elliott	Dodge Dealers / UAW   (Ray Evernham)	Dodge	200	92598	running	0	118
16	36	45	Kyle Petty	Georgia-Pacific   (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	200	64540	running	0	115
17	37	6	Mark Martin	Viagra   (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	89323	running	0	112
18	20	97	Kurt Busch	Rubbermaid   (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	96690	running	43	114
19	38	40	Sterling Marlin	Coors Light   (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	200	95390	running	0	106
20	25	25	Joe Nemechek	UAW-Delphi   (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	200	56750	running	0	103
21	34	1	Jeff Green	Pennzoil   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	200	76027	running	0	100
22	42	01	Mike Skinner	U.S. Army   (Nelson Bowers)	Pontiac	200	66940	running	0	97
23	29	88	Dale Jarrett	UPS   (Yates Racing)	Ford	200	97093	running	5	99
24	24	74	Tony Raines	GFS Marketplace   (Bill Baumgardner)	Chevrolet	200	50215	running	0	91
25	9	77	Dave Blaney	Jasper Engines & Transmissions   (Doug Bawel)	Ford	200	72065	running	0	88
26	10	7	Jimmy Spencer	Sirius Satellite Radio   (Jim Smith)	Dodge	200	61154	running	2	90
27	15	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's   (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	199	73875	running	50	92
28	40	19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge Dealers / UAW   (Ray Evernham)	Dodge	199	60325	running	0	79
29	27	21	Ricky Rudd	Motorcraft   (Wood Brothers)	Ford	199	60140	running	0	76
30	21	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont   (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	198	96943	running	0	73
31	4	57	Kevin Lepage	CLR   (Ted Campbell)	Ford	197	49065	running	0	70
32	19	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Budweiser   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	192	89782	crash	0	67
33	7	43	Christian Fittipaldi	Cheerios   (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	176	87068	engine	0	64
34	43	37	Derrike Cope	Friendly's Ice Cream   (Derrike Cope)	Chevrolet	173	49585	running	0	61
35	6	0	Jason Leffler	NetZero Hi Speed   (Gene Haas)	Pontiac	166	48540	running	0	58
36	26	42	Jamie McMurray	Havoline   (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	141	48490	crash	0	55
37	1	18	Bobby Labonte	Interstate Batteries   (Joe Gibbs)	Chevrolet	140	99023	engine	3	57
38	31	2	Rusty Wallace	Miller Lite   (Roger Penske)	Dodge	105	82997	engine	0	49
39	14	50	Larry Foyt	Harrah's   (A.J. Foyt)	Dodge	81	48295	transmission	0	46
40	39	32	Ricky Craven	Tide   (Cal Wells)	Pontiac	76	56235	crash	0	43
41	16	41	Casey Mears	Target   (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	76	56200	crash	0	40
42	28	23	Kenny Wallace	Stacker 2   (Bill Davis)	Dodge	62	48160	crash	0	37
43	41	54	Todd Bodine	National Guard   (Travis Carter)	Ford	62	47484	crash	0	34
Failed to qualify or withdrew
POS	NAME	NBR	SPONSOR	OWNER	CAR
44	Stacy Compton	4	Kodak Perfect Touch	Larry McClure	Pontiac
WD	Brett Bodine	11	Brett Bodine Racing	Brett Bodine	Ford
WD	Carl Long	66	Travis Carter Racing	Travis Carter	Ford
WD	Rich Bickle	79	SBC / Molykote	John Conely	Chevrolet
WD	Morgan Shepherd	89	Racing For Jesus / Red Line Oil	Morgan Shepherd	Ford

References

1. "The Race: GFS Marketplace 400". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
2. "2003 GFS Marketplace 400". Racing-Reference. USA Today Media Sports Group. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
3. "Weather Information for Brooklyn, Michigan". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
4. "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.
5. "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on 12 September 2010. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
6. "Michigan International Speedway". ESPN. ESPN Internet Archive. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
7. "GM Racing NASCAR Bullet Points – Michigan International Speedway". The Auto Channel. August 17, 2003. Archived from the original on 2016-03-09. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
8. "Manufacturers' Championship Classification". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
9. "2002 Pepsi 400 Presented by Farmer Jack". Racing-Reference. USA Today Media Sports Group. Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
10. "Practice 1 Speeds". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
11. "Bobby Labonte sweeps Michigan poles". The Augusta Chronicle. Associated Press. August 16, 2003. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
12. "Race Lineup". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on August 29, 2004. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
13. "Michigan II practice two times". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network, LLC. August 16, 2003. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
14. "Practice 3 Speeds". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
15. "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-28.

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