<DJC> 2003 Race Report

Race Information
Event: Pontiac Excitement 400
Date: May 3, 2003	Track: Richmond Int'l Raceway
Qualified: 3rd	Finished: 3rd
Status: Running	Laps Completed: 392 of 392 (rain shorted from 400 to 392 laps by rain)
Points Pos. Before/After Race: 2nd/2nd	Points Earned: 170 (w/ 5 bonus)
Money Earned: $121,867
Summary and Related News
Nemechek wins rainy Richmond race, Dale Jr. third_5/3/03 No. 8 Budweiser Team Gets Sixth Top-Three Finish of 2003 Joe Nemechek won Saturday night’s rain-shortened Richmond 400, grabbing his first victory of the year. Bobby Labonte was second, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team in third. The race ended after a rain delay on lap 393 of a scheduled 400 laps. The Budweiser team has finished in the top-three in four out of the last five races, and six of this season’s 11 races. Dale Jr. has now clawed to within 20 points of the NASCAR Winston Cup points lead, trailing only Matt Kenseth. The Key Moments: Starting third, Dale Jr. ran easily in second or third position until taking the lead on lap 140. The race was slowed by rain at that point, and each of the teams along pit lane began trying to out-guess Mother Nature, some gambling that the race would end soon after the halfway point. When rain showers slowed the field again on lap 210, the Bud team opted not to make a pit stop, but when another yellow flag fell on lap 225, they made a stop for fuel and tires, dropping them out of the top-three for the first time, falling to 15th position. The final 150 laps were marked by a seemingly endless series of yellow flags, as Dale Jr. improved his position gradually until getting to second place on lap 363. With a car that was best on longer runs, Dale Jr. was unable to hold off Labonte in the battle for second place. Over the course of a 36-race season, small moments can turn out to be fairly significant in the race for the championship. Tonight’s moment came on lap 299, when the car of Jack Sprague spun out, then, after coming to a stop, very nearly t-boned the Budweiser car as Sprague swung wildly back onto the track. Somehow, Dale Jr. managed to avoid contact, and was able to continue to a third-place tally. Dale Jr’s Quotes: “Wait! (to his team, who were trying to push the No. 8 car back to the garage) I want to look this thing over… (laughing) I wanna see all the tire marks and damage on this thing! That was some wild racing out there.” “It’s another great race for the team. They give me a fast car every week and I just need to keep it up near the front. The car wasn’t perfect, but we were really strong on long green-flag runs. With fifty (laps) to go, I really thought I had something for the 25 car (Nemechek), but all of the yellow flags hurt us. Our car seemed like it would do something different on every restart in the last 100 laps. One time it would be loose, then it would be tight. We just needed a long run there at the end…” “I really had fun racing with Bobby (Labonte). He’s a gentleman and we have a lotta fun racing each other because we respect each other and race hard, but clean. I really didn’t run very hard early on because I knew we had a good car, but I was concerned about getting the lead to get the five bonus points. I tried to save the car, and we just kind of rode in second and third-place for much of the night. When it came down to the end, we didn’t have enough for the 25 car on all of those short little runs of three laps or six laps or however long between each caution. Best Radio Conversations Jerry Nadeau suffered serious injuries in a crash during a Friday afternoon practice session. Concern for Nadeau created a more subdued, somber tone for the Budweiser team’s radio chatter during the race. When rain slowed the race near the mid-point, Dale Jr. became concerned when NASCAR prepared to restart the race on lap 157. Dale Jr: “As far as this drizzle goes, they (NASCAR) need to look at it really close with the sealer on this track. The moisture kind of beads-up on that sealer surface, and I don’t think I want to try to run hard up out of the groove into or off of the corner.” A consistent mist continued to fall until it was raining strong enough to throw a yellow flag on lap 210. With the race beyond the halfway point, it could be called official if the rain stopped the race for a significant time. Fearful of giving up third position by pitting, the team scanned a series of radar images on the internet via a wireless connection in their pit area. Tony Eury Jr. (car chief): “I think we need to think about taking four (tires) here and plan as if we’re going to run all night (the full distance).” Dale Jr.: “Huh?! No! I’m staying out. The car’s good, but what’s the weather going to do?” Tony Jr: “I have been looking at the radar on every computer in this pit area. I can’t get one that’s fast enough or accurate enough to tell. I can’t get a reading close enough to tell you what’s going to happen. The radar looks like it should be raining now, and then raining big time in 50-60 laps. But it also looks like it’s kind of circling around Richmond.” Dale Jr: “What about the radar in the big red (NASCAR) truck? If we could get somebody that could look at that stuff and know what’s happening, I’d trust you guys more on that stuff… It’s raining pretty hard here on the back stretch.” Tony Jr: “Alright, we’re staying out. We’ve got sixty laps of fuel left, so we’re going for it.” Stats and Arguably Meaningful Minutiae Started: 3rd (Third consecutive top-10 qualifying effort) Finished: 3rd (Fifth consecutive top-10 finish for team) Points Position: 2nd (Twenty points behind leader) Money Won: $121, 867 Best Pit Stop: Lap 45 / Stop #1 of 4 / Fuel, four tires / 13.85 seconds Here are the Numbers, All of the Numbers (Well, most of ‘em anyway…) --- Dale Jr. has finished in the top-three in four out of the last five races. --- Dale Jr. has six top-three finishes in 11 races so far in 2003. --- The finish tonight ties a team record of five consecutive top-10 finishes. --- The No. 8 team has finished in sixth-place or better in eight of the last nine races. --- In the last 11 Winston Cup races on short tracks (one-mile or less), Dale Jr. has eight top-five finishes, more than any other driver. --- In eight career Winston Cup starts at Richmond, Dale Jr. has six top-10 finishes. --- The Bud team has led eight of the 11 races so far, leading the most laps in three races, and scoring more bonus points (55) than any other team. There’s only one thing cooler than Dale Jr., and that’s being the Designated Driver. -Budweiser Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Richmond Preview_4/28/03 Dale Jr. Quotes for Richmond "I love going to Richmond- it’s a track where you can run side-by-side and really race hard. Whatever they did last year with the sealer (on the surface of the track that allowed only one racing groove), it’s better this year. We’ve been consistent at short-tracks in the last couple of years, and it seems like a lot of people are just now figuring that out (see stats below). "I have always liked Richmond, but I guess you can say I’m excited about going to the track every week now. In the last couple of years, we’d be good at a race or two back-to-back, but it was like we would burn out or just not pace ourselves. We’ve been really focused and I have had great race cars to drive every week. That means I can’t wait to get to the track each week. Even the races where we didn’t have a good finish, like Daytona or Bristol, we’ve run at the front until we’ve had some sort of problem. We can't keep beating ourselves, and when stop doing that, we'll be the team everyone will be trying to catch." Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Richmond Previous Winston Cup Starts: 7 Best Start: 2nd (May, 2002) Best Finish: 1st (May, 2000) This Race, Last Year: ST: 2nd / FIN: 36th Cool and Arguably Meaningful Minutiae Dale Jr. has seven top-five finishes in the last 10 Winston Cup short track races (tracks of less-than one-mile in length), the best record of any driver. In those 10 races, the next best mark is Bobby Labonte with five top-five tallies, while Matt Kenseth and Ricky Rudd have four each. At this event in 2000, Dale Jr. drove to his second Winston Cup victory in only his 16th career start. He shares the record with Davey Allison and Jimmie Johnson for ‘quickest multiple victories’ in Winston Cup history. Dale Jr. and the Budweiser team have five top-10 finishes in seven career starts at Richmond. In those same seven races, only Tony Stewart has more top-10 finishes (six). In his fourth career start, Dale Jr. scored his first career Winston Cup top-10 finish at Richmond in 1999 (10th place). In the NASCAR Busch Series, Dale Jr. recorded Richmond victories in 1998, 1999 and 2001. The 2001 victory was his first as a Busch Series team owner in the inaugural start for Chance2 Motorsports (then known under the ‘JR Motorsports’ moniker). The nighttime is the right time for Dale Jr. and the Budweiser team. Their Winston Cup victories under the lights are: Richmond (May 2000), The Winston all-star race at Charlotte (May 2000), the Pepsi 400 at Daytona (July 2001) and the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (February 2003). The NASCAR Winston Cup schedule now heads toward three consecutive stops where Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team have won races: Richmond (May 2000), Charlotte (The Winston, May 2000) and Dover (Sept. 2001). Since leaving Rockingham in 38th place in Winston Cup points, the Budweiser team has finished sixth or better in seven of eight races. They will be trying to match their team record of five consecutive top-10 finishes this weekend at Richmond. What: Richmond 400 400 laps / 300 miles / Race #11 of 36 in the Winston Cup Series Where: Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Va. .75-mile oval When: Saturday, May 3, 7:30 p.m. Watch: FX Network (pre-race: 7:00 pm) Bud Pole Qualifying: Bud Pole qualifying can be seen live Friday at 3:00 p.m. on Speed Channel. You can also hear qualifying and race action on the Motor Racing Network (MRN) on a radio station or computer near you. The radio programming is also heard on the 24-hour NASCAR channel on XM Radio. (All Times Eastern) -Budweiser