2003 EA Sports 500

Race details[1]
Race 29 of 36 in the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
2003 EA Sports 500 program cover, based on the cover for the NASCAR Thunder 2004 video game
Date	September 28, 2003 (2003-09-28)
Official name	EA Sports 500
Location	Talladega, Alabama, U.S.
Course	Talladega Superspeedway 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	190 laps, 505.4 mi (813.2 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.833 km)
Average speed	156.045 miles per hour (251.130 km/h)
Attendance	170,000
Pole position
Driver	Elliott Sadler	Robert Yates Racing
Time	50.415 sec (189.943 mph, 305.684 km/h)
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	47
Winner
No. 15	Michael Waltrip	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Bill Weber, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Jr.

The 2003 EA Sports 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race that took place on September 28, 2003, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It was the 29th race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series.

Race report

For this race only, Jasper Motorsports switched from Ford to Dodge, taking advantage of their engine building partnership with Team Penske (who switched from Ford to Dodge that season). As a result, Ford terminated their factory support agreement with the team following the race.^[2]

One of the most notable moments of the race is when on lap 182, Elliott Sadler would come down and hit Kurt Busch's right side of Busch's car. Elliott's car would spin and fly into the air, doing a full flip before landing on its roof. The car would slide down the backstretch grass into Turn 3, then proceeded to flip onto the Turn 3 surface 4 and a half times, before finally landing on the wheels of the car. Sadler was unhurt.

Results