Richmond International Raceway Results
Race Results 1. (25) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 185 - 10 bonus points 2. (18) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 175 - 5 bonus points 3. (8) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 170 - 5 bonus points 4. (31) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 165 - 5 bonus points 5. (6) Mark Martin, Ford, 160 - 5 bonus points 6. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 155 - 5 bonus points 7. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 146 8. (97) Kurt Busch, Ford, 147 - 5 bonus points 9. (99) Jeff Burton, Ford, 138 10. (2) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 134 11. (22) Ward Burton, Dodge, 130 12. (15) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 127 13. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 124 14. (10) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 121 15. (74) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 118 16. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 115 17. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 117 - 5 bonus points 18. (77) Dave Blaney, Ford, 109 19. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 106 20. (9) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 108 - 5 bonus points 21. (5) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 105 - 5 bonus points 22. (54) Todd Bodine, Ford, 97 23. (42) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 94 24. (49) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 91 25. (19) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 88 26. (0) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 85 27. (23) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 82 28. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 79 29. (41) Casey Mears, Dodge, 76 30. (43) John Andretti, Dodge, 73 31. (11) Brett Bodine, Ford, 70 32. (01) Jason Keller, Pontiac, 67 33. (14) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 64 34. (21) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 61 35. (4) Mike Skinner, Pontiac, 58 36. (88) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 55 37. (38) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 52 38. (32) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 49 39. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 51 - 5 bonus points 40. (30) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 43 41. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 40 42. (7) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 37 43. (1) Steve Park, Chevrolet, 34 2003 Points 1. Matt Kenseth, 1619 2. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 1599 3. Kurt Busch, 1452 4. Jeff Gordon, 1438 5. Bobby Labonte, 1376 6. Jimmie Johnson, 1372 7. Michael Waltrip, 1361 8. Kevin Harvick, 1328 9. Rusty Wallace, 1274 10. Sterling Marlin, 1259 11. Ricky Craven, 1254 12. Mark Martin, 1242 13. Robby Gordon, 1218 14. Joe Nemechek, 1211 15. Jeff Burton, 1202 16. Elliott Sadler, 1201 17. Tony Stewart, 1182 18. Terry Labonte, 1143 19. Bill Elliott, 1113 20. Greg Biffle, 1112 21. Dave Blaney, 1109 22. Ricky Rudd, 1099 23. Dale Jarrett, 1094 24. Ward Burton, 1091 25. Jamie McMurray, 1090 26. Kenny Wallace, 1062 27. Ryan Newman, 1031 28. Johnny Benson, 1031 29. Jimmy Spencer, 947 30. Jeremy Mayfield, 937 31. John Andretti, 936 32. Jeff Green, 935 33. Steve Park, 928 34. Ken Schrader, 873 35. Todd Bodine, 856 36. Jerry Nadeau, 844 37. Casey Mears, 817 38. Kyle Petty, 813 39. Mike Skinner, 785 40. Jack Sprague, 785 41. Tony Raines, 779 42. Larry Foyt, 400 43. Brett Bodine, 271 44. Derrike Cope, 215 45. Mike Wallace, 211 46. Christian Fittipaldi, 107 47. Hermie Sadler, 68 48. Jason Keller, 67 49. Hideo Fukuyama, 64 Benson Ends Long Richmond Weekend In 14th Place Considering everything that happen this weekend at Richmond International Raceway, Johnny Benson and his teammates were pleased with their 14th-place finish on a rainy Saturday night in Virginia in front of 100,000 fans. Benson’s success came mainly from perseverance while dodging raindrops and wrecks in a race that saw track record-setting 15 cautions for 91 laps including one that ended the race six laps before the scheduled finish. But racing wasn’t what mattered this weekend. Before the green flag dropped and immediately after the checkered flag fell the team’s thoughts remained squarely on teammate Jerry Nadeau who is in critical condition in a Richmond hospital after he crashed in practice Friday afternoon. Benson spoke for the team. “Sure it’s difficult to race on a night like this, but that is our job. It’s what we do in life. When I’m not in the car or when the guys aren’t doing their jobs we are thinking about Jerry and (wife) Jada. Their our teammates, but more importantly they are a friends and people we care about.” Benson said everyone worked hard to make the weekend bearable. “You know our guys kept their heads, did their jobs and we leave here with a decent finish. We know we can run better and will run better. But I think you saw the character of this team this weekend. James used some good pit strategy and we can go to Charlotte feeling pretty good about ourselves.” Benson began the race in 13th place with his Eagle One paint scheme and seemed like a yo-yo going up and down the scoring pylon. Half the field was using one pit strop strategy while the other half used another. Benson was down as far as 26th and climbed as high at 7th at one point late in the race. Near the end Benson appeared destined for about a 20th place finish but over the final laps Benson passed a few cars and a series of cautions took out several of the cars in front of him. “It was pretty wild out there at the end,” Benson said. “We were trying to pass everyone we saw but the main thing was to avoid getting wrecked.” Benson moved to 14th when the final caution fell with just six laps to go. Nascar hoped to restart the race but as the rain increased that appeared impossible and called an early end to the night. “If we had gone green that would have been a wild finish. But we probably would have sat forever waiting on the rain to pass. Nascar made the right call.” Joe Nemechek appeared to have the fastest car of the evening and benefited from the early caution to earn his first victory of the season. Jason Keller substituted for Nadeau and finished 32nd. Benson and his teammates will return to action in two weeks in the Winston Open in Charlotte.