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*** NASCAR Darlington 400 on FoX - Sunday 3/16 - 930 PT / 1230 ET ***
NASCAR.com ^ | 3/16/03

Posted on 03/16/2003 8:17:24 AM PST by NormsRevenge

Darlington Raceway

Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 - TODAY!

Every driver who has strapped on a helmet and climbed behind the steering wheel has wanted to win at Darlington because the toughest is most desirable. For those few select drivers who have won races at the granddaddy of superspeedways, there is a priceless satisfaction in knowing they've conquered the unique egg-shaped oval nicknamed ...

"Too Tough To Tame."



TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; US: South Carolina; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: 400; changethechannel; darlington; naptime; nascar; notbreakingnews; prayforrain; putthisinsports; tootoughtotame; zzzzzzzzzzzz
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To: NormsRevenge
Thanks Norm. Another great NASCAR race that will standout in our memeories forever.
361 posted on 03/16/2003 1:43:15 PM PST by B4Ranch (Keep America safe! Thank the troops for our freedom.)
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To: Pete-R-Bilt
Per Rush, I'm doing this with one hand tied behind my back to make it fair...lol
362 posted on 03/16/2003 1:44:08 PM PST by Admin Moderator
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Fin St Car Driver Make Sponsor Pts/Bonus Laps Status
1 31 #32 Ricky Craven Pontiac Tide 180/5 293 Running
2 6 #97 Kurt Busch Ford Rubbermaid 175/5 293 Running
3 18 #77 Dave Blaney Ford Jasper Engines & Transmissions 165/0 293 Running
4 27 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 165/5 293 Running
5 9 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 155/0 293 Running
6 16 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 160/10 293 Running
7 1 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 151/5 293 Running
8 12 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DeWalt Power Tools 142/0 293 Running
9 25 #9 Bill Elliott Dodge Dodge Dealers 138/0 293 Running
10 28 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Home Depot 134/0 293 Running
11 23 #4 Mike Skinner Pontiac Kodak 130/0 292 Running
12 17 #16 Greg Biffle * Ford Grainger 127/0 292 Running
13 38 #25 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet UAW/Delphi 129/5 292 Running
14 2 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 126/5 291 Running
15 39 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft Quality Parts 118/0 291 Running
16 13 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 115/0 291 Running
17 15 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge 1-800-CALLATT 112/0 291 Running
18 36 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 114/5 291 Running
19 32 #30 Jeff Green Chevrolet America Online 106/0 291 Running
20 4 #7 Jimmy Spencer Dodge Sirius Satellite Radio 108/5 290 Running
21 35 #1 Steve Park Chevrolet Pennzoil 100/0 290 Running
22 19 #42 Jamie McMurray * Dodge Havoline 97/0 290 Running
23 21 #23 Kenny Wallace Dodge Stacker 2 94/0 290 Running
24 29 #5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Kellogg's/got milk? 91/0 290 Running
25 22 #10 Johnny Benson Pontiac Valvoline 88/0 290 Running
26 14 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 85/0 290 Running
27 40 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia Pacific 82/0 290 Running
28 30 #31 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 84/5 290 Running
29 7 #22 Ward Burton Dodge Caterpillar 76/0 289 Running
30 11 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers 73/0 288 Running
31 43 #57 Brett Bodine Ford CLR 70/0 288 Running
32 42 #14 Larry Foyt * Dodge Harrah's 67/0 288 Running
33 5 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 69/5 286 Running
34 24 #41 Casey Mears * Dodge Target 61/0 286 Running
35 3 #01 Jerry Nadeau Pontiac U.S. Army 58/0 285 Running
36 33 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service 55/0 283 Running
37 20 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 52/0 239 Running
38 26 #43 John Andretti Dodge Cheerios 49/0 187 Out of Race
39 8 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 46/0 145 Out of Race
40 34 #0 Jack Sprague * Pontiac NetZero 43/0 142 Running
41 41 #74 Tony Raines * Chevrolet Staff America 40/0 60 Out of Race
42 37 #99 Jeff Burton Ford CITGO 37/0 33 Out of Race
43 10 #154 Todd Bodine Ford National Guard 34/0 22 Out of Race
* Denotes Rookie

363 posted on 03/16/2003 1:44:23 PM PST by WSGilcrest (R)
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To: WSGilcrest
I had better stay out of the car for about an hour.

I wish I had that luxury; got to go freep Wisconsin's junior Senator, Russ (Slimeroad) Feingold.

364 posted on 03/16/2003 1:44:37 PM PST by steveegg (Clinton and Blair didn't get UN authorization to launch Operation Desert (Kill Impeachment) Fox)
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To: NormsRevenge; steveegg
always fun cu next week!
365 posted on 03/16/2003 1:44:45 PM PST by Pete-R-Bilt (go Jr.!!!!)
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To: WSGilcrest
Take it easy on the road..

We're off to see a movie.. "The Hunted".

366 posted on 03/16/2003 1:45:02 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... God Bless Our Troops and their families)
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Comment #367 Removed by Moderator

To: Admin Moderator
exelent


368 posted on 03/16/2003 1:49:21 PM PST by Pete-R-Bilt (go Jr.!!!!)
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To: ganeshpuri89
It was a doozie, alrighty!!! Hats off to the fans in the stand and the folks on rooftops.
369 posted on 03/16/2003 1:49:43 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... God Bless Our Troops and their families)
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To: NormsRevenge
We're off to see a movie.. "The Hunted".

The wife wants to take our 14 year old grandson to see it...Let me know what you think about that when you get back.

See everyone next week.

370 posted on 03/16/2003 1:53:52 PM PST by tubebender
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To: ganeshpuri89
Give us the crowds reaction to that finish, if you will.
371 posted on 03/16/2003 1:54:28 PM PST by B4Ranch (Keep America safe! Thank the troops for our freedom.)
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To: NormsRevenge
Thanks, Norm!

We had company all afternoon, and I caught glimpses of the race.

But I saw the finish! WOW!!!

372 posted on 03/16/2003 3:20:01 PM PST by Pete'sWife (Dirt is for racing... asphalt is for getting there.)
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To: countrydummy
I couldn't freep during the race today because I was putting the finshing touches on the house to put it up for sale durning the race. I did see one of the best finishes since Dale Earnhardt beat out Bobby Labonte at Atlanta in 2000. Hope everyone enjoyed the race as much as I did.
373 posted on 03/16/2003 4:18:25 PM PST by CougarGA7 (Let's Roll!)
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To: CougarGA7
Great race and finish...tested out my new surround sound system with this one. Awesome on all counts.
374 posted on 03/16/2003 4:50:32 PM PST by xp38
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To: Petronski
"Picture in picture make that problem go away :-)
Aristocrat! "

Standard features on todays TVs :-)

375 posted on 03/16/2003 5:58:37 PM PST by blastdad51
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Craven beats Busch in dramatic finish
By MIKE HARRIS, AP Motorsports Writer

March 16, 2003

DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) -- Ricky Craven thought one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history was absolutely ``perfect.''

Craven won the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 by inches Sunday in a spectacular banging, grinding side-by-side finish with Kurt Busch at Darlington Raceway.

``This is exactly what you dream of,'' Craven said. ``It will probably never happen again. This was the perfect finish at the perfect track.''

The unofficial margin of victory was two-thousandths of a second -- the smallest since NASCAR introduced electronic timing in 1993.

Busch seemed just as thrilled as Craven by the dramatic finish.

``It was awesome. That's what it's all about -- racing as hard as you can,'' said Busch, who also lost a close battle with Dale Jarrett last month in Rockingham. ``I drove the Ford the best I could and came up a bit shy, I guess.''

Craven earned the second win of his career by charging from fourth with 23 laps to go. He got to second place on lap 271 of the 293-lap event when pole-sitter Elliott Sadler bounced off the wall and lost ground.

Busch had taken the lead the previous lap after Jeff Gordon banged off the wall while trying to fend off Busch.

Busch appeared to have the race won at that point, but a power steering problem that got progressively worse as the race neared its end gave Craven his chance.

Craven's No. 32 Pontiac inched closer on every lap, and he finally pulled alongside Busch's No. 97 Ford twice on lap 291. As they drove into the first turn on the next lap, Craven bumped Busch and nearly sent him into the wall as he took the lead.

Busch gathered in his sliding car and bumped past Craven in the second turn, nearly putting Craven in the wall.

``When we got together in turn one, I don't know how he saved it,'' Craven said. ``Then, I don't know how I saved it. That was wild.''

Busch retained the lead until the final turn of the race when Craven moved to the inside of Busch's car and the two started bouncing off each other and grinding toward the finish. Craven was in front at the end, though. His other victory came at Martinsville in October 2001.

``I didn't realize there was only a couple of laps left, but I knew I had to get by him,'' Craven said. ``If we had lost that race, it would have been devastating.''

Busch said without the power steering problem it would have been no contest.

``It began cutting out on me with 50 (laps) to go and was completely gone in the last 10 laps,'' said Busch, who now has three runner-up finishes in five races this season. ``There's no way he would have caught me, but that car felt like it weighed 10,000 pounds at the end. Without power steering, I couldn't feel the car.''

Still, the 24-year-old Busch gave it everything he had and nearly pulled it off.

``Coming to the line I had my foot on the floor as hard as I could and I tried to hold the wheel as straight as I could,'' Busch said. ``He was running out of racetrack. I mean, the excitement level within the car -- you have to block it out and you have to focus on what you have to do.

``There was so much going on. My arms were numb, my brain was numb.''

Craven's race average was 126.214 mph, slowed by seven cautions for 34 laps.

Dave Blaney was third, the best finish of his career. He was followed by Mark Martin, Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Sadler and series points leader Matt Kenseth.

Defending Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart was 10th and fell from 49 to 57 points behind Kenseth in the standings, with Waltrip another five points back.

Craven was criticized by some for returning to racing after missing 12 races in 1998 following a series of concussions. Both of his victories have come since he returned, both while driving for Cal Wells' PPI Motorsports.

``I know you've got to legitimize (the first win), back it up,'' Craven said. ``And you know there's no tougher place than Darlington, S.C. It's honestly the one place where I've always wanted to win. Cal will tell you that, and my wife will tell you that.''

Darlington's 1.366-mile, egg-shaped oval, the first superspeedway in NASCAR, is considered one of the most treacherous in the sport and is known as the ``Track Too Tough to Tame.'' Sunday was the 100th Winston Cup race here.

There was only one serious wreck in the race, with seven cars hitting the wall or each other on lap 23. It took defending race winner Sterling Marlin out of contention and did considerable damage to the cars driven by Kevin Harvick, Todd Bodine, Bobby Labonte, Jimmie Johnson and rookies Tony Raines and Jack Sprague.

Updated at Sun, Mar 16 2003, 6:38pm ET

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376 posted on 03/16/2003 6:40:40 PM PST by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi ... God Bless Our Troops and their families)
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To: CougarGA7
It was a fantastic race, hate Bobby got caught up in the wreck so soon! A crying shame I tell ya! hahaha
377 posted on 03/16/2003 6:47:34 PM PST by countrydummy
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To: countrydummy
My son is a big Bobby Labonte fan. He wasn't very happy. Dale Jr's 6th place finish puts him 4th in the points standings.
378 posted on 03/17/2003 7:12:41 AM PST by CougarGA7 (Let's Roll!)
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To: xp38
I bet that made "Crank it UP" unreal. I need surround sound.....and a 65" Sony HDTV.
379 posted on 03/17/2003 7:14:22 AM PST by CougarGA7 (Let's Roll!)
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To: MotleyGirl70
Ping
380 posted on 03/17/2003 7:17:49 AM PST by socal_parrot (Jean Valjean, the only decent Frenchman...)
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