Blows my mind out of all the top 10 in points in 2003. Only 4 drivers are left driving. (Harvick, Newman, Kenseth and Busch) every other has retired. The amount of talent back then was insane.
There will never be another Awesome Bill. I still miss watching all the good ole boys I grew up with trade paint and battle door to door on Sundays. First North Wilkesboro, then North Carolina (Rockingham), and they nearly got Darlington. RIP to the true NASCAR, the WINSTON Cup Series. Eff Sprint and Eff the Chase. GFYS France!
I was too young to appreciate how good he was (of course he was amazing in his prime). Looking at back at some of these races later in his career, it’s impressive how he could still race with the young and best of them. He was an absolute legend. So far, Chase has done a great job of keeping the legacy going. Hopefully he can take it to newer heights.
An interesting note. Bill Elliott became the second driver in the latter part of the 2003 NASCAR season to score his final victory on the same track on which he made his very first Cup Series start. Elliott's first Cup start came at Rockingham in 1976. (He started 34th and finished 33rd in the 1976 Carolina 500, completing only 32 laps before engine problems forced him from the race.) The other driver who scored his final win at the site of his first start was Terry Labonte, who had won the Southern 500 a couple of months earlier on the same track (and in the same race, for that matter) where he made his Cup debut in 1978 and finished fourth.
Matt Kenseth let me tell you some thing about him. He is a great storyteller. He can always get you invested into a story which is awesome. You can’t call Matt a robot because the man has emotion and he has the ability to tell a story. What a Legend Matt Kenseth is. Matt Kenseth has great humor
I didn't have cable when this race happened I was so angry I missed it but that's the beauty of RUclips you can go back and capture something that you missed😁
Thank you so much for posting this. I had a friend record this race when it first aired (I did not have cable television at the time) and he only got the first part of the race. I have been trying to find this ever since. I miss this era of NASCAR so much.
1:47:52 Cue The Duck! & 1:27:27 Now another NASCAR Winston Cup Memory. Miss when they did that and miss the good ole days... but a lot of interesting stuff in this race. When it comes to auto racing and how to determine a champion, points and consistency should matter most. Wins should not matter at all. Also this was, and still should be, based on total points for every race of the year, and not having to reset the points. Having to reset the points after the 26th race of the year so that 16 drivers ONLY have a shot with 10 races to go to win a title is really unfair. Also, win and youre automatically in? That takes the consistency and points away from the drivers who have no wins and actually work hard. Ever since 2004, this whole "resetting the points" & "playoff format" is uncalled for. Even if a driver fails to finish like 7 times within the first 26 races, they can still compete for a title because you already won just 1 race within the first 26 races and you have a automatic shot to compete for a title... also in the "playoff format", win and you automatically advance to the next round so you can be one step closer to a title, eliminating 4 drivers after 3 sets of races and 3 rounds? Not right. Finally, it comes down to the final 4 drivers in the last race of the year and whoever is the HIGHEST FINISHER of those 4 is the champion? What a joke. What if the highest finisher of the final 4 finishes 32nd? And he still wins the title? Seriously NASCAR? Where is the consistency to follow? Thats right. There is none. All because of "win and youre in". Winning races does not define you a champion. Points and consistency do. Plain & Simple. Listen from 2:53:25-2:54:21 I will always, ALWAYS agree with Rusty Wallace. NEVER judge a champion by the number of wins that he has. Its always about consistency and thats something I will always respect from him. Yes it was pretty much a diss to his own teammate Ryan Newman because Newman won 8 races in 2003, the most that season, but Newman lacked consistency, failing to finish 7 races. There is a good reason why Rusty said that because he pretty much dissed himself so to speak. 1988 (6 wins), 1993 (10 wins), and 1994 (8 wins). Those 3 seasons Rusty won the most races, but in all 3 of those seasons, he never won any of those titles. Even though he had the all of those wins, he never had the consistency to show for it. He even said he was in the lead at the right time and those wins just magically happened. He even said there were times where he didnt even deserve those wins, but it happened. Even though Matt Kenseth had just one win, listen to those finishes from 2:54:21-2:54:55 He started off by finishing 20th in the Daytona 500, then in the next 13 races, he had finishes of 3rd 1st 4th 8th 2nd 6th 9th 9th 7th 2nd 7th 3rd 4th. Now take the points of those finishing positions and add the 5 bonus points for leading a lap and 10 bonus points for leading the most laps. Now that is consistency. Finally, listen to Allen Bestwick in that 35 second time frame at 2:54:41 In 2002, Matt Kenseth won the most races. He won 5 races, but didnt win the title, because even though he had the most wins, he was not consistently up front as they were in 2003. So there you have it. In the Winston Cup Era, or the Golden Era in NASCAR, Wins dont matter. Points and Consistency should matter. 2:58:44-2:59:42. Matt Kenseth? Last True Champion. Enough said. End Of An Era. RIP NASCAR (1948-2003)
At least as co-owner of the #17, Mark Martin at least contributed to Jack Roush helping one of his driver clinch a championship. If he couldn't win a title himself, then this was the next best thing
Hey King, Just wanted to thank you for the Nascar vids! I'm making a playlist of every season I can.. 2003 only missing two points races by my count on youtube.
3:09:30 Johnson is fucking cool, this exact moment made me a Jimmie fan. Jimmie was the first guy to congratulate him who wasn’t a teammate. Humility, even before his greatness.
Matt Kenseth literally did the same thing to Jimmie when Jimmie won the title. And you wanna know something else. The 2003 champion was the one who called Jimmie the Indianapolis Colts of NASCAR at the time. What Matt Kenseth meant was that it’s the team that you expect to win every year. And you wanna know something else, when Kenseth won the title, Jimmie was the runner-up in 2003. And when Jimmie won the title in 2006, it was the reciprocal of that where Matt Kenseth got 2nd in the points. Jimmie Johnson has very strong respect to Matt Kenseth and so does the reciprocal
1:00 - Stipulations for championship 2:53:25 - Matt Kenseth has been consistent all year. Ryan Newman had the most wins this season but he was extremely inconsistent compared to Matt Kenseth which is why Matt is in position to win the title instead of Ryan. Oddly enough, in 2002 Matt Kenseth was the winningest driver, but he was inconsistent, which is why Tony Stewart was the champion the year prior because he was more consistent than Matt Kenseth in 2002. 2:59:33 - Matt Kenseth comes to the line and finishes 4th and MATT KENSETH IS THE 2003 WINSTON CUP CHAMPION
2003 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400 Location: Rockingham, North Carolina Track: North Carolina Speedway Type of race track: Speedway Starting cars: 43 Finishing cars: 35 Laps: 393 Cautions: 10 Pole Winner: Ryan Newman (12) Most laps led: Bill Elliott (9) (140 laps led) Race Winner: Bill Elliott (9)
Yeah, but Mark was the mentor to the guy that would give Roush his first Cup championship in Matt Kenseth. If it wasn't for Martin, who knows if Kenseth would've become a champion
Who misses this name the Winston Cup Series.
I kinda like the nascar cup series name better lol
The name AND the format
I still call it Winston Cup, its the name that I grew up with. It was called so many things since then, but it will always be Winston Cup to me.
Blows my mind out of all the top 10 in points in 2003. Only 4 drivers are left driving. (Harvick, Newman, Kenseth and Busch) every other has retired. The amount of talent back then was insane.
Kenseth retired in 2020 so it’s just Busch , Harvick and Newman that are still driving from this race.
Blows your mind? Dude it’s been 17 years since this race happen🤣🤣
And now they have all retired from full time racing
There will never be another Awesome Bill. I still miss watching all the good ole boys I grew up with trade paint and battle door to door on Sundays. First North Wilkesboro, then North Carolina (Rockingham), and they nearly got Darlington. RIP to the true NASCAR, the WINSTON Cup Series. Eff Sprint and Eff the Chase. GFYS France!
I was too young to appreciate how good he was (of course he was amazing in his prime). Looking at back at some of these races later in his career, it’s impressive how he could still race with the young and best of them. He was an absolute legend. So far, Chase has done a great job of keeping the legacy going. Hopefully he can take it to newer heights.
Wilkesboro is back
Man these were the good days of racing. Miss that damn track man. They need to bring it back.
Kind of fitting that Bill Elliott won the last fall race here.
An interesting note. Bill Elliott became the second driver in the latter part of the 2003 NASCAR season to score his final victory on the same track on which he made his very first Cup Series start. Elliott's first Cup start came at Rockingham in 1976. (He started 34th and finished 33rd in the 1976 Carolina 500, completing only 32 laps before engine problems forced him from the race.) The other driver who scored his final win at the site of his first start was Terry Labonte, who had won the Southern 500 a couple of months earlier on the same track (and in the same race, for that matter) where he made his Cup debut in 1978 and finished fourth.
No mention of Tony Raines finishing 6th? Seriously, BACE Motorsports could have been a nice little team.
3:11:18
Matt Kenseth let me tell you some thing about him. He is a great storyteller. He can always get you invested into a story which is awesome. You can’t call Matt a robot because the man has emotion and he has the ability to tell a story. What a Legend Matt Kenseth is. Matt Kenseth has great humor
Once he's comfortable with someone, he opens up more easily. Hes an introvert.
@@Jesus_Hippie he usually wants to have fun with things
I didn't have cable when this race happened I was so angry I missed it but that's the beauty of RUclips you can go back and capture something that you missed😁
Same
Thank you so much for posting this. I had a friend record this race when it first aired (I did not have cable television at the time) and he only got the first part of the race. I have been trying to find this ever since. I miss this era of NASCAR so much.
1:47:52 Cue The Duck! & 1:27:27 Now another NASCAR Winston Cup Memory. Miss when they did that and miss the good ole days... but a lot of interesting stuff in this race. When it comes to auto racing and how to determine a champion, points and consistency should matter most. Wins should not matter at all. Also this was, and still should be, based on total points for every race of the year, and not having to reset the points. Having to reset the points after the 26th race of the year so that 16 drivers ONLY have a shot with 10 races to go to win a title is really unfair. Also, win and youre automatically in? That takes the consistency and points away from the drivers who have no wins and actually work hard. Ever since 2004, this whole "resetting the points" & "playoff format" is uncalled for. Even if a driver fails to finish like 7 times within the first 26 races, they can still compete for a title because you already won just 1 race within the first 26 races and you have a automatic shot to compete for a title... also in the "playoff format", win and you automatically advance to the next round so you can be one step closer to a title, eliminating 4 drivers after 3 sets of races and 3 rounds? Not right. Finally, it comes down to the final 4 drivers in the last race of the year and whoever is the HIGHEST FINISHER of those 4 is the champion? What a joke. What if the highest finisher of the final 4 finishes 32nd? And he still wins the title? Seriously NASCAR? Where is the consistency to follow? Thats right. There is none. All because of "win and youre in". Winning races does not define you a champion. Points and consistency do. Plain & Simple. Listen from 2:53:25-2:54:21 I will always, ALWAYS agree with Rusty Wallace. NEVER judge a champion by the number of wins that he has. Its always about consistency and thats something I will always respect from him. Yes it was pretty much a diss to his own teammate Ryan Newman because Newman won 8 races in 2003, the most that season, but Newman lacked consistency, failing to finish 7 races. There is a good reason why Rusty said that because he pretty much dissed himself so to speak. 1988 (6 wins), 1993 (10 wins), and 1994 (8 wins). Those 3 seasons Rusty won the most races, but in all 3 of those seasons, he never won any of those titles. Even though he had the all of those wins, he never had the consistency to show for it. He even said he was in the lead at the right time and those wins just magically happened. He even said there were times where he didnt even deserve those wins, but it happened. Even though Matt Kenseth had just one win, listen to those finishes from 2:54:21-2:54:55 He started off by finishing 20th in the Daytona 500, then in the next 13 races, he had finishes of 3rd 1st 4th 8th 2nd 6th 9th 9th 7th 2nd 7th 3rd 4th. Now take the points of those finishing positions and add the 5 bonus points for leading a lap and 10 bonus points for leading the most laps. Now that is consistency. Finally, listen to Allen Bestwick in that 35 second time frame at 2:54:41 In 2002, Matt Kenseth won the most races. He won 5 races, but didnt win the title, because even though he had the most wins, he was not consistently up front as they were in 2003. So there you have it. In the Winston Cup Era, or the Golden Era in NASCAR, Wins dont matter. Points and Consistency should matter. 2:58:44-2:59:42. Matt Kenseth? Last True Champion. Enough said. End Of An Era. RIP NASCAR (1948-2003)
Alexander Pifari TL;DR
I miss watching bill race, it’s pretty awesome watching chase though
they called the 2003 winston cup series the victory lap tour
Who came here from Chases interview after his championship
Yup
At least as co-owner of the #17, Mark Martin at least contributed to Jack Roush helping one of his driver clinch a championship. If he couldn't win a title himself, then this was the next best thing
Hey King, Just wanted to thank you for the Nascar vids! I'm making a playlist of every season I can.. 2003 only missing two points races by my count on youtube.
Last fall Rockingham race.
2:59:33 best words in this video
3:09:30 Johnson is fucking cool, this exact moment made me a Jimmie fan. Jimmie was the first guy to congratulate him who wasn’t a teammate. Humility, even before his greatness.
Matt Kenseth literally did the same thing to Jimmie when Jimmie won the title. And you wanna know something else. The 2003 champion was the one who called Jimmie the Indianapolis Colts of NASCAR at the time. What Matt Kenseth meant was that it’s the team that you expect to win every year. And you wanna know something else, when Kenseth won the title, Jimmie was the runner-up in 2003. And when Jimmie won the title in 2006, it was the reciprocal of that where Matt Kenseth got 2nd in the points. Jimmie Johnson has very strong respect to Matt Kenseth and so does the reciprocal
1:00 - Stipulations for championship
2:53:25 - Matt Kenseth has been consistent all year. Ryan Newman had the most wins this season but he was extremely inconsistent compared to Matt Kenseth which is why Matt is in position to win the title instead of Ryan. Oddly enough, in 2002 Matt Kenseth was the winningest driver, but he was inconsistent, which is why Tony Stewart was the champion the year prior because he was more consistent than Matt Kenseth in 2002.
2:59:33 - Matt Kenseth comes to the line and finishes 4th and MATT KENSETH IS THE 2003 WINSTON CUP CHAMPION
*SPOILER*
Man, what a rough deal for Ken Schrader. I forgot how good a run he had going in the closing stages.
The last time a Pontiac was a pace car.
The last year of the Pontiac you mean.
2003 Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400
Location: Rockingham, North Carolina
Track: North Carolina Speedway
Type of race track: Speedway
Starting cars: 43
Finishing cars: 35
Laps: 393
Cautions: 10
Pole Winner: Ryan Newman (12)
Most laps led: Bill Elliott (9) (140 laps led)
Race Winner: Bill Elliott (9)
28:23 start
2:59:09 final lap/celebration
Cool seeing bp in that car
I was at this race last fall cup race
56:23 The Art of Revenge
It’s because of this the chase was born
Final race attempt for Marcis Auto Racing, failing to qualify with Tim Sauter at the wheel.
Do you have the 2006 Ford 400?
3:01:45 Yes, happy, but also very upset that Mark Martin never won Roush a title on his own.
Yeah, but Mark was the mentor to the guy that would give Roush his first Cup championship in Matt Kenseth. If it wasn't for Martin, who knows if Kenseth would've become a champion
Bill Elliott wins his last race, and all they talk about is Matt Kenseth.... kinda disrespectful
50:26 I am voting Bill Elliott
1:23:03 The days where teams were allowed to bargain and buy a set of tires.
Gordon getting a black flag is ridiculous. Newman clearly bumped the wall twice and ran into Gordon.