As the Winston Cup Series headed to the mountains of Pennsylvania, the Busch Series made their second stop of the season in the Music City for the Trace Adkins Chrome 300 at Nashville Superspeedway. It was another rain soaked weekend, but as the 225-lap race got set to begin it was under partly clear skies and a setting sun.
Qualifying was cancelled due to heavy rain, and the starting lineup was determined by owner points. Johnny Sauter started on the pole, with point leader Todd Bodine joining him on the front row. The final practice session was also rained out, prompting NASCAR to announce a mandatory caution at lap 40 to check tire wear.
The race had just gotten underway when the first caution flew, on lap 3, when Ron Young spun alone up the track. On the restart, Johnny Sauter began to open up a lead over the rest of the field, only to lose that lead to another caution flag on lap 10 when Brian Vickers and Ron Hornaday made contact on the straightaway, sending Hornaday into the outside wall and Vickers spinning down across the track. When the green flag waved again, Sauter was unable to pull away again, and Scott Riggs stayed on his bumper until taking the lead on lap 21.
Another yellow flag flew on lap 34, when Brad Teague and Joe Buford crashed at the back of the field, just in front of the leaders. Everyone makes it through the smoke without further incident, and the leaders head for pit road. Riggs holds the lead through the pits and jumps out to a strong lead on the restart. The fourth caution of the day brought the field back together again on lap 43, when Stanton Barrett spun while racing for position, collecting Mike Wallace and Joey Clanton in the aftermath before skidding across the wet infield grass.
Over the longest green flag run of the day, David Green caught Riggs and passed him for the lead on lap 71. Before he could open up much of a lead, the yellow flag flew again after Kerry Earnhardt spun hard into the wall after a bump from Todd Bodine. As the leaders headed down pit road, NASCAR radioed to Bodine to come to the NASCAR trailer after the race in response to speculation that the bump was in retaliation for Earnhardt's earlier bump pass. Scott Riggs won the race off pit road by mere inches to reclaim the lead.
Another caution, this time for debris on the track, slowed the race again on lap 87. On the restart, Bobby Hamilton Jr. went around Riggs for the lead and drove off from the field. The 7th caution of the evening came on lap 133, when several pieces flew off of Kasey Kahne's car and scattered across the racing surface. The leaders headed down pit road again, and again Riggs' crew helped him to retake the lead in the pits. Hamilton had an unusually slow stop, leaving the pits in the 5th position.
On lap 148, Lance Norick slid into the outside wall, bringing out another yellow flag. The caution came just in time for pole sitter Johnny Sauter, who was having engine problems and needed to come into the pits for repairs. The leaders came in for what could be the last round of pit stops if the race stayed green, and Scott Riggs held onto his lead through his stop. The race didn't stay green for long, though. Then yellow flag waved when Coy Gibbs backed hard into the outside wall after a bump from Kerry Earnhardt on lap 153, then again on lap 192 when point leader Todd Bodine slowed dramatically, his car smoking as he came around the track to get to pit road.
The green flag waved again with 30 laps remaining with Scott Riggs leading, followed by rookie David Stremme. Only ten cars remained on the led lap, with 16 out of the race. Riggs opened up a comfortable lead over Stremme and the rest of the field. The record tying 11th caution flag waved with 8 laps to go, when Johnny Sauter, racing for the second spot, spun down into the infield after a bump from Stremme. In accordance with NASCAR's 2003 policies intended to create more green flag finishes, the field was stopped under the red flag for the cleanup. The race restarted with 4 laps to go, and Scott Riggs got a good jump on the restart to hold off David Green to win his second race of the 2003 season and take the lead in the point standings.
Unofficial Results
- Scott Riggs
- David Green
- David Stremme
- Randy LaJoie
- Bobby Hamilton Jr.
- Ashton Lewis
- Stanton Barrett
- Scott Wimmer
- Jay Sauter
- Brian Vickers
Unofficial Standings
- Scott Riggs
- David Green -18
- Todd Bodine -24
- Ron Hornaday -144
- Brian Vickers -175
- Jason Keller -176
- Mike Bliss -188
- Bobby Hamilton Jr. -223
- Johnny Sauter -227
- Shane Hmiel -280
