The second yellow of the day came out on lap 32, when Bobby Hamilton Jr. and Joe Aramendia made contact, sending Hamilton careening into the outside wall. Aramendia spun, but recovered, and made his way into the pits with little damage. The race leaders took advantage of the caution to make their first stops of the day, and as the pace car pulled off the track, Matt Kenseth led the field. Just a few laps later, Larry Gunselman spun into the outside wall. No other cars were involved as the field zipped by under the yellow flag. Just a few laps into the restart, Vickers flew past Kenseth to retake the lead and pull away from the pack once again.
After 25 trouble free laps, the leaders were closing quickly on the cars at the end of the lead lap. A caution for debris on the front stretch saved the #2 of Ron Hornaday and the troubled #23 of Scott Wimmer from losing a lap. The leaders come to the pits once again, and this time Todd Bodine wins the race off of pit road, thanks to a great effort by his crew. Kenseth, who restarted right behind him, had a much better car, however, and passed him for the lead in less than a lap. Only a couple laps later, Lance Norick spun across the track and into the wall, ending his day and bringing out another caution.
As the race passed the halfway point, Matt Kenseth was leading, an eager Vickers running a close second, trying to reclaim the top spot. Eventually, Vickers got around Kenseth for the lead after a short caution for the smoking car of Randy LaJoie. LaJoie pitted and came back out onto the track, only to leave the race 30 laps later with engine problems. The first and only green flag pit cycle of the afternoon began on lap 150, when both Kenseth and Keller coast into the pits, out of gas. All of the leaders come in, leaving David Reutimann in the top spot. Another caution on lap 172 caught the leaders at the tail end of the lead lap after Bruce Bechtel scraped the outside wall and veered down to collide with the inside barrier. Reutimann makes a quick gas and go stop and rejoins the field, still in the lead.
NASCAR stopped the field with a red flag for a short time, in order to replace a damaged section of the inside wall. As they started rolling once again, NASCAR officials black-flagged Brian Vickers for an improper pass, though it appeared Vickers was only trying to avoid hitting the car in front of him, who failed to get up to speed on the restart. The stop and go penalty effectively ended Vickers' hopes of becoming the second youngest Busch Series winner. Another quick caution looked as though it could be his saving grace, but on the restart, Mike Bliss got sideways and caused a chain reaction that damaged 14 other cars behind him, including the #5 of Vickers. Vickers headed into the garage and did not return, finishing 25th after leading the most laps of any driver.
Again the field stopped under the red flag, in accordance with NASCAR's 10-lap rule, while wreckers and crews cleaned up the aftermath of the pileup. The 5 lap green flag shootout to the finish was uneventful as Joe Nemechek, having worked quietly though the field from starting 43rd, took the checkered flag, becoming the first repeat winner of 2003 and continuing the string of wins by Winston Cup Series regulars.
Unofficial Results
- Joe Nemechek
- Scott Riggs
- Shane Hmiel
- Todd Bodine
- Chad Blount
- Jimmy Spencer
- Matt Kenseth
- Scott Wimmer
- Kasey Kahne
- Coy Gibbs
Unofficial Standings
- Todd Bodine
- Jason Keller -104
- Jamie McMurray -107
- Ron Hornaday -152
- Kasey Kahne -153
- David Green -174
- Shane Hmiel -182
- Scott Riggs -190
- Scott Wimmer -199
- Mike Bliss -216
