|| *Comments on the 2003 MBNA Armed Forces Family 400:* View the most recent comment <#32> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Darrell posted: 10.04.2005 - 12:00 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Brett Bodine's last race. :( 2. biffle16 posted: 02.20.2007 - 1:57 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Indeed. It is quite a shame, Darrell. :( 3. Jocke Persson posted: 09.30.2007 - 2:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) What is, biffle16? thanks 4. NazRacePhan posted: 03.27.2008 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What a damp, misty dreary day! I remember the only reason theyu kept racing was Mike Joy's "vortex theory" 5. Mr. Big posted: 05.18.2008 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) Anyone have a video of the 7 car crash on Lap 212? That was the one Bodine was in, I don't remember it but someone told me that was why he retired. For the third time in as many years, Jeff Gordon punts Sterling Marlin into a wall of some form. **** you, Jeff. 6. Steve posted: 11.27.2008 - 1:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Two things about that Lap 212 crash. One, that's the wreck after which Kyle Petty went to the crew of (I think) Todd Bodine and held up his glasses (implying their driver should wear some), and two, Jack Sprague's result does not tell the tale of his race. He took a provisional, but was running 10th in the Haas CNC car before he got loose on Turn 4. Matt Kenseth got loose or something and Sprague said it surprised him and he lost control and slammed the wall, ending a potential Top 10 finish. 7. RaceFanX posted: 10.24.2009 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brett Bodine walked away from competition due to being unable to find a sponsor after Hooters left. It had very little if anything to do with injuries. He was hurt in a practice wreck at MIS and missed what would have been his last start because of it but he healed up and attempted two more races (Pocono with Morgan-McClure and Indy in his #11 with fans' help) before being forced to call it quits. 8. Rob819 posted: 01.26.2010 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) my first nascar race that i went to 9. Cooper posted: 05.16.2010 - 8:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Jeff Gordon intentionally wrecked Sterling. Sterling and him were fighting for 3rd position, and Sterling wasn't letting up. Jeff couldn't get by him so he dumped him. Sterling could have won this race and changed his season. 10. Chris posted: 07.05.2010 - 5:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jack Sprague stated in his interview something along the lines of "Kenseth started wiggling and I got scared and wrecked." I remember him saying he got scared, lol. Two big crashes in this race. First time a Dodge went to victory lane at Dover since the late 70's. 11. Chris posted: 07.05.2010 - 5:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh and just to add, Newman won this race without power steering. NASCAR almost black flagged him because he was trailing a bit of smoke when the power steering first went. 12. BON GORDON posted: 04.25.2011 - 9:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) I believe Gordon referenced Richmond in 2001 as a reason why he didnt race Marlin "cleaner." Im not a Sterling Marlin fan so it dont bother me. Never was but Gordon shouldve backed off and tried harder to pass him cleaner. Oh well it was 8 years ago.... 13. RaceFanX posted: 07.23.2011 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #5 Terry Labonte- Kellogg's / got milk? / Finding Nemo Texas Terry had a watery blue-and-black paint job for this race to promote the theatrical release of the Pixar animated film "Finding Nemo." Interestingly rather than paint the car blue they decaled it with a pattern designed to look like water. The film would turn out to be a major box office success while Terry scored a top-10. 14. RaceFanX posted: 04.17.2012 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #99 Jeff Burton- Citgo Peel Out, Reel In and Win (also run in the Coke 600 the race before) #77 Dave Blaney- Jasper Engines / The Fast and The Furious Labonte wasn't the only driver running a movie paint job as Dave Blaney's #77 got a ricer makeover to promote the Fast and Furious film franchise, its first sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious came out around this time. Oddly though Blaney's car was decaled to promote the title of the first film from 2001, which granted was being re-released on DVD, and painted somewhat like the orange Toyota Supra Paul Walker's character used in the second half of that movie as opposed to any of the sequel's cars. 15. joey2448 posted: 05.29.2012 - 10:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Video of the lap 212 crash... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cbI4pih-TE&feature=relmfu 16. CBASS posted: 01.14.2013 - 5:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates #74 America's Second Harvest/ 9 Million #11 Hooters Restaurants #7 Sirius #21 Motorcraft Quality Parts #97 Rubbermaid/ Sharpie #43 Cheerios/ Betty Crocker #18 MBNA/ Interstate Batteries #30 AOL #15 NAPA Auto Parts #5 Finding Nemo/ Kellogg's #4 Kodak PerfectTouch Professional http://archives.ciastockphoto.com/cgi/images.php?group=w0314 17. kidracer posted: 06.16.2013 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) A Jimmie Johnson crash at Dover? Thats rare. 18. Schroeder51 posted: 01.16.2014 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elliott Sadler actually completed 331 laps, not 361. 19. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 08.02.2014 - 11:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update #02 SCORE Motorsports 20. Quasar posted: 08.20.2015 - 7:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You gotta give 'n take in this league and he (Jeff Gordon)'s done a whole lotta takin'." 21. NASCARLover22 posted: 09.06.2015 - 7:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew #27 Scott Wimmer Sponsor: Bill Davis Racing Owner: Bill Davis Manufacturer: Chevrolet http://www.jayski.com/next/2003/2003dover1.htm 22. Nu3clear Wa4le posted: 10.22.2015 - 12:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor correction #77 - Jasper Engines / 2 Fast 2 Furious (The Fast and The Furious came out in 2001) 23. RaceFanX posted: 10.22.2015 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) But Blaney's car wasn't promoting 2 Fast 2 Furious, as noted earlier the car was, admittedly weirdly, painted to promote the original "The Fast and the Furious" film (I assume for its DVD re-release timed with the sequel). The had a bright orange with green paint scheme to loosely replicate the Toyota Supra Paul Walker's character drove in the first movie and was labeled with the name of the original film. Here's a picture and modelers' decal set... http://www.ebay.com/itm/77-Dave-Blaney-Jasper-Engines-Nascar-1-32nd-Waterslide-Decals-Slot-Car-/220895225595 24. Windows Millennium Edition posted: 03.30.2016 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: WD|Scott Wimmer|27|Bill Davis Racing|Bill Davis|Chevrolet 25. M posted: 06.27.2018 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sterling Marlin must have forgotten when he showed no give and take by crashing Jeff Gordon at Richmond in 2001. He also certainly showed no give and take in 1994 at Martinsville, when after he spun out in turn 4 he pulled directly into oncoming traffic and crashed into Jeff Gordon, ruining his race and causing him to finish 33rd. I don't have a problem with Sterling Marlin, but he really can't complain. 26. RaceFanX posted: 10.07.2018 - 3:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan Newman's win here was the first at Dover for a Dodge since Richard Petty won here in September 1975. 27. Onion posted: 10.19.2019 - 9:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the last time and the only one in 2003 that two Pontiacs finished in the top 10. 28. Land0nFand0n posted: 06.07.2020 - 12:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hermie Sadler should be listed as WD, broadcast of qualifying for this race said multiple times that he had withdrew prior to qualifying. 29. Mile501 posted: 09.29.2020 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @17 - Jimmie Johnson felt like he just got loose and lost it, but there also may have been some oil on the track from Ward Burton's car. Other notes from this race: After running in the top 10 through the first half of the previous race at Charlotte, rookie Jack Sprague again looked strong with the new #0 Haas-CNC team. He was running 7th when he got loose and hit the wall right after a restart. Despite the steady improvement he had shown, Jack Sprague would be released by the team later that summer and would never score a top 10 finish in Cup. Sprague's Cup career was very similar to fellow truck rival Ron Hornaday, who also had a short-lived Cup career (with just 1 top 10 finish in 2001) even though he was also showing improvement, with a couple of strong runs in the fall of 2001 that ended in crashes. At least both drivers would ultimately return to trucks where they would continue to battle for wins and championships for several more years. When Brett Bodine was interviewed after being caught up in Sprague's crash, he gave a lot of praise to his team and felt like they were making progress. He was running on the lead lap around 20th at the time and was hopeful that the team's steady improvement would continue. Sadly, he had no idea that he would never run a NASCAR race again. 30. Mile501 posted: 11.02.2020 - 12:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) After leading 67 laps early on, Tony Stewart was penalized a lap for pitting outside the box. During a later caution, Ryan Newman raced Stewart hard back to the line to keep Stewart a lap down--something Stewart was not happy about, but Newman certainly wasn't obligated to just give him a lap back. Stewart would get his lap back later and finish 4th. The fall Dover race later in the same year was the first race where NASCAR stopped drivers from racing back to the caution and gave the free pass to the first driver 1 lap down. Ryan Newman, who had led the fall race early but had to make an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat tire, certainly benefited from this new rule when he was given his lap back under a caution when Tony Stewart was leading. Surely, Stewart would not have given Newman his lap back if they were still racing back to the line. 31. possum posted: 11.02.2020 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @30 - it should be noted that for all of NASCAR's history until the rise of the multi-car teams in the 90's, it was considered normal for a leader to race lappers back to the line and keep them a lap down. It was only after Hendrick and Roush entered 4+ cars that it became common for the leader to slow down and allow his lapped teammates, and any other driver who was in front of them, to get their laps back. Jeff Gordon characterized this as a "gentlemans agreement", but the racing was much better before the drivers decided to play at being gentlemen. 32. Mile501 posted: 11.02.2020 - 6:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @31 - Very true, and thank you for adding that context. In watching races during this time period, I have heard Darrell Waltrip and Larry Mac (and I think even Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach) say on numerous occasions that giving laps back was never a common thing when he was racing and that they didn't understand why the leader would work hard to put drivers a lap down only to give the lap right back to them! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: