|| *Comments on the 2003 New England 300:* View the most recent comment <#15> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Joe posted: 07.21.2004 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The best race ever at Loudon; great job Bahre family 2. DaleJrfan14 posted: 06.01.2006 - 8:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sheppy makes the field....woohoo? 3. SK posted: 12.21.2008 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For the first time in their 20-year history, Morgan-McClure Motorsports brought two cars to a Cup race, as a veteran All Pro driver named David Reutimann made his first ever attempt to qualify for a Winston Cup event in car #04. MMM hoped to run this second car full-time for the rest of 2003, but it would ultimately appear in just one event thereafter, when Johnny Miller used his road racing prowess to put it in the field at Watkins Glen. Reuti made one more qualifying attempt at Indy, then left the team to refocus his efforts toward the Craftsman Truck Series. Five years later, it appears the seasoning is paying off. 4. ams391221 posted: 01.23.2010 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Jeff Gordon's decision to pit under the caution ended up costing him the win after he had dominated much of the race. 5. 1995z71 posted: 05.27.2012 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "For the first time in their 20-year history, Morgan-McClure Motorsports brought two cars to a Cup race, as a veteran All Pro driver named David Reutimann made his first ever attempt to qualify for a Winston Cup event in car #04." DEAD WRONG: They ran 2 cars in the 1987 Daytona 500 (#4 Rick Wilson & #14 AJ Foyt) 6. CBASS posted: 01.17.2013 - 7:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates #9/19 Dodge Summer Sales Drive #7 Sirius #43 Cheerios/ Betty Crocker #15 NAPA Auto Parts #23 Stacker 2 #97 Rubbermaid/ Sharpie #89 Racing With Jesus #30 AOL #99 CITGO Bassmaster Classic #49 BAM Racing/ AT&T #21 Motorcraft Quality Parts http://archives.ciastockphoto.com/cgi/images.php?group=w0320 http://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/photos/main-gallery/?y=2003&s=5&dl=a&r=1039 7. Goernie28 posted: 11.10.2016 - 9:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Concerning the 1987 Daytona 500, Foyt ran Morgan-McClure's backup car in the race with his crew, rather than it being a true two-car effort. Foyt crashed in his 125-mile qualifying race. I remember AJ dropped out of the 500 early. When interviewed by CBS, he said, "Well, we were picking our nose." 8. AD posted: 02.08.2017 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JJ career win #5. 1st win at Loudon. 9. Kellen posted: 09.09.2018 - 7:57 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Until the 2018 Brickyard 400, this was the last race in which Qualifying and both Practices where cancelled due to rain. Only time cars where on track was for the race its self. 10. Matt posted: 02.24.2019 - 10:38 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) One of NASCAR on NBC's ways of communicating with the fans in 2003 was the "Cingular Wireless Poll", where you texted the answer to their poll question. Interestingly, only fans with Cingular Wireless cell phones could participate. This race's poll question was "Should NASCAR make the "gentleman's agreement" (today's Field Is Frozen rule) a rule?" A-- Make It A Rule (25%) B-- Let Them Race (75%) 11. rm posted: 03.30.2020 - 6:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A rare fuel-mileage race in 2003 that Ryan Newman didn't win, and one that he arguably lost. Newman said after the race that the team wound up being too conservative in trying to save fuel, having enough left in the tank to complete the cooldown lap and drive all the way back to the garage. Direct quote from Wally Dallenbach on the broadcast regarding the gentleman's agreement ordeal: "You don't get a free pass when the yellow comes out to get your lap back!" Well, Wally was right. For about 2 more months. Then that's exactly what would happen. The point of controversy with that rule for this race involved Greg Biffle and Jeff Green not getting laps back from then-leader Jeff Gordon. Biffle gave Gordon a very slight nudge under the ensuing yellow while Green drove up alongside Gordon for the length of the backstretch. On the restart, Biffle got a strong jump from the inside line and ran Gordon high in turn 1, briefly making up his lap before getting passed back a couple laps later. The incident earned Biffle & his #16 team a visit to the NASCAR hauler after the race. Biffle finished 10th while Gordon was 24th, so all's well that ends well for Biffle, I guess? Anyway, that just one of the hot-button issues of the day that came up during this race, it seemed to hit them all. Jamie McMurray's hard crash brought up three of them alone: the lack of SAFER barriers, a large piece of sheetmetal flying into the grandstands, and McMurray not being able to initially exit his car as there was no roof hatch. A decision to not throw a caution with 57 laps to go when Jimmy Spencer went for a 360-spin in turn 2 and kept going also received criticism. Michael Waltrip was black-flagged for having metal dragging from his car with just five laps to go while running in the top 15. In short: everyone was mad at everybody else and at NASCAR by the time this one was done. Who ever said Loudon wasn't a short track? 12. Mile501 posted: 10.12.2020 - 3:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To clarify comment #4, Jeff Gordon had to pit when he did. The problem was that he didn't pit under the previous caution because they were getting poor fuel mileage and couldn't have made it to the end. The way the race played out, I don't think there is a way Gordon could have done any better. It was just so hard to pass during this race, even with new tires (though that's not particularly unusual for this track). 13. Altracing posted: 11.16.2020 - 11:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) After getting hit by Jimmy Spencer early in the race and crashing John Andretti's team left some of the parts of the car that the crew took off to repair Andretti's car and left them at Spencer's hauler. 14. Rich posted: 11.16.2020 - 3:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach. The pit road reporters were Bill Weber, Matt Yocum, Marty Snider and Dave Burns. 15. NascarLeadLapPoints posted: 11.29.2020 - 12:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Shepherd Scuffing Tires for other teams: The NASCAR control tower called one of its pit road inspectors early in the New England 300 to inquire why #89-Morgan Shepherd, who was in his first start of the season, was making repeated pit stops [as noted in my race breakdown from what was reported on MRN Radio during the race]. The call back on the radio revealed that Shepherd, who has raced this season in Winston Cup, Busch and the Craftsman Truck Series, was scuffing tires for another team [doesn't say which one]. Shepherd ended up 43rd due to a brake problem that sent him to the garage after the 43rd lap.(NASCAR.com) AND Can you drive in a Winston Cup race and run a business at the same time? Morgan Shepherd can. Shepherd, who finished dead last in Sunday's race but still collected $48,500 for showing up, seemed to be making a little extra on the side. The veteran driver pitted every two or three laps and replaced all four tires each time. He must have made four or five pit stops because NASCAR officials got wise to his business venture. Shepherd was reportedly scuffing tires and selling them to other drivers. He didn't set any pit stop records, either. One pit stop was clocked at 55 seconds.(Nashua Telegraph)(7-21-2003) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: