NASCAR Winston Cup Banquet Notes
Written by John Davison · December 6, 2003
Besides the dominance of the No. 17 car in the point chase this year, 17 stood out for several other reasons: There were 17 different winners in the 2003 season. The average race had 17 lead changes, 2003 was the 17th time Terry Labonte has finished in the top ten in points, there were several more links to the magical number 17 this year, but the most important one is that the driver of the No. 17 DEWALT Ford won the Winston Cup championship for 2003.
Of course, this was the last-ever NASCAR Winston Cup championship trophy to be awarded. Beginning with the 2004 season, the series’ title sponsor becomes Nextel, providers of those ubiquitous beeping walkie-talkie cell phones.
This season saw RJR forced to pull out of its long-time sponsorship of NASCAR stock car racing. Also leaving NASCAR, as the first major corporate sponsor of the sport, is 76 gasoline. First the Pure Oil brand, then Union, then Unocal, now part of the Conoco/Phillips family, 76 is leaving, to be replaced by Sunoco.
Nobody can tell how many gallons of red and white paint Winston gave to tracks, how many media centers got built, concession stands and rest room facilities improved, track garages built with the direct and indirect assistance from Winston.
The year-end point fund from Winston in their first year was a total of $100,000. Richard Petty won $40,000 in that first Winston Cup year. Matt Kenseth will take a check for $5,138,640 to the bank Monday, almost 130 times Petty’s first championship check. The total point fund in the final year of the championship was nearly $16,000,000. That’s a growth of 160 times the first year’s payout.
Bill France Jr. presented Andy Schindler, chairman of RJR, an engraved crystal trophy in official recognition of the company’s contributions to the sport.
“It’s been a great ride and we’re going to miss you a lot,” said Schindler in accepting the award from France.
And, after 33 years of Winston backing, the ride is over and it’s time to change buses.
10: Terry Labonte, No. 5 Kellogg’s/got milk? Chevrolet: 4,162 points: $638,930. This is the fourth decade in which Labonte has finished in the top ten.
9: Bill Elliott, No. 9 Dodge Dealers Dodge: 4,303 points: $686,245. Elliott’s 14th appearance on the stage with a top ten finish in points. He will run a limited schedule in 2004 before retiring as a driver. Elliott joked about the first thing on his Christmas list being a can of “Fix-A-Flat” then told Bobby Labonte that he wanted a picture of the trophy from Homestead.
8. Bobby Labonte, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet: 4,377 points: $758,560. The 2000 champion promised to send Bill Elliott the picture of the Homestead trophy. This is the tenth time that brothers have finished in the top ten, the fourth time Bobby and Terry have been together on stage. The Flock
7. Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet: 4,549 points: $902,830. Stewart has finished in the top ten in each of his five seasons of Winston Cup racing. Seventh is Stewart’s worst-ever finish in points. “Kyle and Patti, how can you not love them and love that family?” Stewart commented about his commitment to raise $1million for the Victory Junction Gang Camp founded in honor of Adam Petty.
6. Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge: 4,711 points: $1,052,100. Newman had eight wins, 11 poles and 17 top five finishes.
5. Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet: 4,770 points: $1,241,370. Harvick made jokes of his encounter with Ricky Rudd at Richmond early in the season.
4. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet: 4,785 points: $1,435,640. Tenth consecutive top-ten finish for Gordon and four of these as champion. His winnings for the point fund were nearly as much as he made as champion his first year.
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr, No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 4,815 points: $1,679,910. Voted “Most Popular Driver” for 2003 in his highest-finishing season yet.
2. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet: 4,932 points: $2,149,180. Second season with a top-ten finish, Johnson swept May at Charlotte and everything at New Hampshire in 2003.
1. Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DEWALT Ford: 5,022 points: $5,138,640 (total for the season: Nearly 9.25 million dollars.) Kenseth thanked his father for “investing the retirement money” in racing.
Kenseth’s crew chief, Robbie Reiser, was presented his rewards by John Darby, NASCAR’s competition director. Reiser and Kenseth raced against each other in their early days of racing. Reiser has led Kenseth to the 2000 Rookie of the Year crown and his crew to the Pit Crew Championship in both 2001 and 2002. Several of the DEWALT crew have followed Reiser all the way to Concord from Wisconsin.
Team owner Jack Roush thanked just about everyone in the sport, but especially he thanked Larry Rice, the retired U.S. Marine who saved Jack’s life when an ultralight airplane Roush was flying clipped a wire and fell into a lake. Rice had his wife call the rescue squad and dived into the lake, located the craft, released Roush from his harness and saved the team owner’s life.
The total of the checks announced was $15,683,405 if we recorded the numbers correctly.
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