2003 Aaron's 499

May 2026 February 2025 CUST Race 8 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season Aaron's 499 Weather report for the 2003 Aaron's 499 at The Old Farmers' Almanac 2003 04 6 2003 8 36 Talladega Superspeedway.png Layout of Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama 2.66 4.28 188 500.08 804.8 Mild with temperatures approaching 78.1 F C; wind speeds reaching up to 12 mph km/h 144.625 mi/h Jeremy Mayfield Evernham Motorsports 51.349 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 65 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Fox Broadcasting Company Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds The 2003 Aaron's 499 was held on April 6, 2003, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It was the eighth race of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeremy Mayfield was the polesitter. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race, his first win of the season and fourth consecutive at Talladega, becoming the 8th different winner in the first 8 races, while Kevin Harvick finished second and Elliott Sadler finished third. This was also the fifth consecutive restrictor plate race win for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. stretching back to the previous year's spring Talladega race. There were six cautions, 16 different leaders, and 43 lead changes. The Big One did not take long, collecting 27 cars on the fourth lap — the second largest crash in a Cup race in the modern era, behind the 2024 YellaWood 500. Race Summary The "Big One" On lap 4, as the field entered turn 1, Ryan Newman (who already had a violent blowover at the rain shortened Daytona 500 in February) blew a tire and smashed hard into the turn 1 wall, almost turning over on his side and spinning across the middle of the track, collecting an additional 26 cars. Mayhem ensued as cars behind him checked up trying to avoid Newman, whose car suddenly burst into flames. One of Newman's tires came off and got struck by Ricky Rudd's hood, causing it to bounce right over the catch fence and land in a restricted access area. A total of 27 cars were involved, making it the largest recorded crash in the history of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series until the 2024 YellaWood 500 at the same track that took out 28 cars. It was also the third largest-crash overall in modern NASCAR, behind a 30 car crash on the back straightaway in Talladega's Busch race the year before. Damage to the cars involved ranged from no damage to severe damage; Hermie Sadler, Casey Mears, Johnny Benson Jr., and some others were out immediately. Rusty Wallace and Jerry Nadeau returned but retired after making a limited number of laps following repairs. Matt Kenseth and race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. also had minor damage. Kenseth finished inside the Top 10 on the lead lap. After the wreck, there were only 16 cars that did not have damage. Coincidentally, during the Busch race the day prior, the "Big One" occurred in turn 4 on lap 10 when Johnny Sauter blew a tire in the middle of the pack, collecting 22 cars. Cars involved in the crash 0- Jack Sprague 01- Jerry Nadeau 02- Hermie Sadler 09- Mike Wallace 1- Steve Park 2- Rusty Wallace 4- Mike Skinner 6- Mark Martin 7- Jimmy Spencer 8- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (eventual winner) 10- Johnny Benson Jr. 12- Ryan Newman 16- Greg Biffle 17- Matt Kenseth (championship points leader) 18- Bobby Labonte 20- Tony Stewart 21- Ricky Rudd 25- Joe Nemechek 30- Jeff Green 41- Casey Mears 42- Jamie McMurray 43- John Andretti 45- Kyle Petty 49- Ken Schrader 54- Todd Bodine 77- Dave Blaney 99- Jeff Burton Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s comeback Perhaps the most well noted one involved in the Big One was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who started in 43rd place because of an engine change after qualifying. In the crash, Earnhardt Jr. went off the banking and down into the grass, making contact with Jeff Green's car that damaged his fender. He struggled for most of the race, at times going close to a half-lap down, until late in the race when he took the lead away from Matt Kenseth, who was also involved earlier, and won his fourth straight race at Talladega. Earnhardt Jr. swept the weekend, having won the Busch Series race the previous day. Jimmie Johnson led the most laps of the race, but had a 15th-place finish when he spun out right before the white flag. By coincidence, the Big Ones that unfolded in both the weekend's Cup and Busch races at Talladega were the result of a car blowing a tire in the middle of the track (Ryan Newman in turn 1 in the Cup race, and Johnny Sauter in turn 4 in the Busch race the day prior). Double yellow line controversy Earnhardt Jr. was involved in a controversial decision at the end of the race where it appeared he went below the yellow line in an attempt to improve position. As the cars were racing down the back straightaway, leader Matt Kenseth made a lane change, going to the outside to block Jimmie Johnson. Earnhardt Jr. was on the inside and was drafting with Elliott Sadler when Kenseth started moving low in an attempt to block Earnhardt; Earnhardt stormed well below the line entering the turn three apron as he passed Kenseth. NASCAR ruled that Earnhardt was forced below the line as his car's nose had already passed Kenseth's nose by the time Kenseth made the block, making it a clean pass in their opinion, this even though Earnhardt was nowhere close to clearing Kenseth when he hit the apron — what the rule was ostensibly intended to prevent. Some sanctioning bodies, such as the Indy Racing League, would have called Kenseth for violating the blocking rule — a driver is not allowed to make two lane changes on a straightaway, which is a penalty; the ethic against blocking, however, holds no weight in NASCAR given the fendered nature of the cars. The yellow line rule's absurdity belatedly led to discussion in the sanctioning body in January 2010 to possibly rescind it, though it was decided to maintain the rule "for the time being," according to NASCAR official Robin Pemberton. In the years to come, the yellow lines would provide several controversial moments, such as Regan Smith being penalized by passing Tony Stewart below the yellow line in the fall race in 2008, as well as a confusing finish in 2020. NASCAR decided to put another yellow line for the next year, in both Daytona and Talladega. Race results Pos. Car # Driver Make Team 1 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt Inc. 2 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 3 38 Elliott Sadler Ford Robert Yates Racing 4 32 Ricky Craven Pontiac PPI Motorsports 5 5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 6 40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates 7 22 Ward Burton Dodge Bill Davis Racing 8 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 9 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Roush Racing 10 31 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 11 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Petty Enterprises 12 88 Dale Jarrett Ford Robert Yates Racing 13 9 Bill Elliott Dodge Evernham Motorsports 14 43 John Andretti Dodge Petty Enterprises 15 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 16 74 Tony Raines Chevrolet BACE Motorsports 17 23 Kenny Wallace Dodge Bill Davis Racing 18 19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Evernham Motorsports 19 97 Kurt Busch Ford Roush Fenway 20 1 Steve Park Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 21 25 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 22 16 Greg Biffle Ford Roush Fenway 23 77 Dave Blaney Ford Jasper Motorsports 24 15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc. 25 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing 26 6 Mark Martin Ford Roush Racing 27 42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates 28 54 Todd Bodine Ford BelCar Racing 29 30 Jeff Green Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 30 09 Mike Wallace Dodge Phoenix Racing 31 4 Mike Skinner Pontiac Morgan–McClure Motorsports 32 18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing 33 49 Ken Schrader Dodge BAM Racing 34 0 Jack Sprague Pontiac Haas CNC Racing 35 99 Jeff Burton Ford Roush Racing 36 01 Jerry Nadeau Pontiac MB2 Motorsports 37 2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Penske Racing 38 7 Jimmy Spencer Dodge Ultra Motorsports 39 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Penske Racing 40 41 Casey Mears Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates 41 10 Johnny Benson Jr. Pontiac MB2 Motorsports 42 21 Ricky Rudd Ford Wood Brothers Racing 43 02 Hermie Sadler Chevrolet SCORE Motorsports Source: Failed to qualify Brett Bodine (#11) Larry Foyt (#14) David Green (#60), time disallowed Race facts Average speed: 144.625 mph Margin of victory: .125 seconds Time of race: 03:27:28 Lead changes: 43 among 16 different drivers Cautions: 6 for 32 laps2003 Aaron's 499 Laps 5-13: The "Big One" in turn 2 Laps 37-40: Debris Laps 64-67: Debris Laps 84-89: Michael Waltrip, Elliott Sadler, and Jeremy Mayfield crash in turn 3 Laps 91-94: Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, and Tony Stewart crash in turn 4 Laps 133-137: Debris Percent of race run under caution: 17.0% Average green flag run: 22.3 laps Points standings after race Matt Kenseth 1233 (Leader) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1104 (-129) Kurt Busch 1046 (-187) Jimmie Johnson 1013 (-220) Jeff Gordon 1011 (-222) Ricky Craven 1000 (-223) Michael Waltrip 994 (-239) Kevin Harvick 977 (-256) Tony Stewart 937 (-296) Elliott Sadler 895 (-338) See also The Big One (motorsport) References Winston Cup Series 2003 2003 Samsung/Radio Shack 500 2003 Virginia 500 Aaron's 499 Aaron's 499 Category:NASCAR races at Talladega Superspeedway Category:April 2003 sports events in the United States Category:NASCAR controversies