Championship battle

The race had six drivers contend for the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship with those six being Ron Hornaday Jr., Brian Vickers, Scott Riggs, Bobby Hamilton Jr., David Green, and Jason Keller. All were looking for their first Busch Series title except for Green who was the 1994 Busch Series champion. The points lead had also changed a total of 17 times over the 33 races including the points lead changing 7 times over the last 8 races.

Brian Vickers was the points leader coming into the race looking to become the youngest Busch Series champion in its history at 20 years old. David Green was 22 points behind in 2nd and was looking to become the 6th driver in Busch Series history to win multiple championships alongside drivers Jack Ingram, Sam Ard, Larry Pearson, Randy LaJoie, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ron Hornaday was 39 points back in 3rd and was looking for his first Busch Series title after he had won two Craftsman Truck Series titles in 1996 and 1998. Jason Keller was 70 points back in 4th and was looking for his first Busch Series title after he finished in the top 5 in points over the last 5 seasons with points finishes of 2nd in 2000, 3rd in 2001, and 2nd in 2002. Scott Riggs was 85 points back in 5th and coming into the last race at Rockingham, he was the points leader. But Riggs hit the wall during the race and ended up not finishing the race which took him from first all the way back to 5th in the standings. During the season, the championship battle looked like it was gonna have 5 drivers contend until Bobby Hamilton Jr. came in, who was 369 points out of the lead after the 24th race at Bristol, had built up enough consistency including two wins in the final 10 races at Memphis and Phoenix to be able to contend for the championship. Hamilton Jr. was 89 points back in 6th and was looking to shock everyone and win the championship.

Championship standings entering the race

1. Brian Vickers, 4507 points
2. David Green, –22
3. Ron Hornaday Jr., –39
4. Jason Keller, –70
5. Scott Riggs, –85
6. Bobby Hamilton Jr., –89
7. Scott Wimmer, –494
8. Johnny Sauter, –536
9. Kasey Kahne, –583
10. Stacy Compton, –714

Bold indicates drivers mathematically eligible for the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series championship

Entry List

• (R) denotes rookie driver
• (CC#) denotes championship contender and where they rank in the standings

Starting Grid

* - Ron Hornaday and Martin Truex Jr. both had to start at the rear of the field with Hornaday having a backup car and Truex having an engine change.

Final laps

On lap 124, Kasey Kahne challenged Jamie McMurray for the lead. But Kahne could not pass McMurray for the lead. On lap 141, Greg Biffle's right front tire exploded which put debris on the track bringing out the 4th caution of the race. Vickers was the first car one lap down at the time which meant he got his lap back. Vickers would eventually get the left front taped up under the caution. The race restarted on lap 148 with Matt Kenseth as the new leader. David Green was in 22nd place the second car one lap down and on the restart, Green got past Dave Blaney who was in front of him and he then passed the next lapped car that started in front of Green and Blaney in David's brother Jeff Green and wanted to stay in front of them to get the free pass if a caution came out. Lucky for Green, as soon as he passed those cars to be the first car one lap down, the 5th caution came out when rookie David Stremme lost control of his car in turn 1 and spun which meant Green got his lap back. The race restarted with 47 laps to go. With 44 to go, Jamie McMurray took the lead from Kenseth. With 35 laps to go, Jamie McMurray's chances of winning vanished when a tire went flat on his car and had to pit giving the lead back to Kenseth. Kenseth already had his mirror full with Kasey Kahne all over his rear bumper. With 31 to go, David Green had moved up to 2nd in the standings over Hornaday and was only 13 behind Brian Vickers. Unfortunetly for Kenseth, his chances of winning also vanished with 28 laps to go when his car all of a sudden lost power handing the lead to Kasey Kahne, who was looking for his first ever win in NASCAR. On the next lap, the 6th and final caution flew when Scott Wimmer's engine blew. The race restarted with 21 laps to go with Kasey Kahne as the leader. Behind Kahne was another young driver in Martin Truex Jr. who was also looking for his first win in NASCAR making his 15th Busch Series start and his 6th start for his owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. But Truex could not catch Kahne for the lead. Meanwhile, the points battle began to get tight in the closing laps of the race. It eventually was going to come down to between Brian Vickers and David Green. Green had cut the points margin to 14 with around 15 to go. Kasey Kahne stayed out in front and Kahne would win the race scoring his first ever NASCAR win in his 54th Busch Series start. Martin Truex Jr., Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Leffler, and Ashton Lewis rounded out the top 5 while Kevin Harvick, Mike Bliss, Casey Mears, David Green, and Michael Waltrip rounded out the top 10. David Green finished 9th but it was unfortunately not enough as Brian Vickers would win the NASCAR Busch Series Championship. Vickers beat Green by 14 points, Ron Hornaday by 46 points, Bobby Hamilton Jr. by 49 points, Jason Keller by 109, and Scott Riggs by 175. Vickers was the youngest Busch Series champion at 20 years old until an 18 year old Chase Elliott broke that record in 2014. Vickers was able to get his chance with Hendrick Motorsports after just 25 starts in the Busch Series from 2001 to 2002 driving for his father Clyde Vickers thanks to the owner of the No.5 car in Ricky Hendrick^[4]

Aftermath

After this season, many drivers haven't come close the level they had in 2003. Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, and Scott Riggs all moved up to the Cup Series in 2004 with Kahne driving for Evernham Motorsports, Vickers moving up with Hendrick, and Riggs driving for MBV Motorsports. Kahne had a solid career in the Cup Series driving for five different owners Ray Evernham, Richard Petty, Red Bull, Rick Hendrick, and Bob Leavine scoring 18 career Cup wins with Evernham, Petty, Red Bull, and Hendrick before retiring in 2018. Vickers became a journey man driver in the Cup Series after spending just three seasons at Hendrick Motorsports while also dealing with the tragic loss of Ricky in the 2004 Hendrick Motorsports aircraft crash. Vickers scored that first win for Hendrick in his 107th start at Talladega in the Fall of 2006 in very controversial fashion after he took out both his teammate Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the final lap. Vickers dedicated the win to Ricky. Vickers would score 3 wins in the Cup Series for three different owners in Hendrick, Red Bull, and Michael Waltrip before retiring in 2016. Scott Riggs never scored a win in the Cup Series as he drove for MBV and Ray Evernham from 2004 to 2007 before becoming a journey man driver and retiring in 2013. Bobby Hamilton Jr. drove in the first 23 races of the 2004 Busch Series season before going up to the Cup Series driving for PPI Motorsports from 2004 to 2005 not scoring a single top 10. Jason Keller and David Green stayed in the Busch Series with Keller retiring in 2010 and Green retiring in 2013. The Busch Series never saw a championship battle this close until 2013, then named the Nationwide Series, in a tense championship battle between Austin Dillon and Sam Hornish Jr. with Dillon beating Hornish by 3 points.