2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
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Champions \| Seasons

Travis Kvapil, shown here in 2009, the 2003 Craftsman Truck Series champion.

The 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season was the ninth season of the third highest stock car racing in the United States. The season included twenty-five races, beginning with the Florida Dodge Dealers 250 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Steve Coulter won the Owners' Championship, while Travis Kvapil won the Drivers' Championship during the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Dodge won the Manufacturers' Championship with 179 points.

2003 teams and drivers[]

Full-time teams[]

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Driver(s)	Crew chief
Chevrolet	Morgan-Dollar Motorsports	46	Dennis Setzer	Danny Gill
	SealMaster Racing	88	Matt Crafton 24	Jerry Cook
	SealMaster Racing	88	Buddy Rice 1	Jerry Cook
	Spears Motorsports	75	David Starr 21	Dave McCarty
	Spears Motorsports	75	Hank Parker Jr. 4	Dave McCarty
	Team Racing	23	Phil Bonifield 14	Tom Mazzuchi
			5
			Jamie Aube 5
			Alex Mueller 1
	Troxell-MacDonald Racing	72	Randy MacDonald	Cliff Button
		93	Michael Dokken 4	Lonnie Troxell
			Teri MacDonald 1 (R)
			Trevor Boys 1
			1
			Roland Isaacs 9 (R)
			Jason White 1
			3
			1
			1
			1
			1
			Derrike Cope 1
	Xpress Motorsports	16	Travis Kvapil	Chris Showalter
	Green Light Racing	08	Bobby Dotter 2	Tommy Morgan
			Jody Lavender (R) 21
			Shane Sieg 2
		07	Rich Bickle 1	Doug Howe
			Bobby Dotter 8
			Stan Boyd 2
			1
			Johnny Chapman 6
			1
			Mark McFarland 1
			Shane Sieg 2
			Alex Mueller 1
Dodge			Jeremy Mayfield 1
	Bobby Hamilton Racing	4	Bobby Hamilton	Newt Moore
		8	Bill Lester	Danny Rollins
		18	Chad Chaffin	Randy Seals
	HT Motorsports	59	Robert Pressley	Greg Conner
	Orleans Racing	62	Brendan Gaughan	Shane Wilson
	Ultra Motorsports	1	Ted Musgrave	Gene Nead
		2	Jason Leffler 16	Tim Kohuth
			Jimmy Spencer 3
			Andy Houston 6
	Ware Racing Enterprises	5	Jerry Hill 22
			Brian Sockwell 1
			Stan Boyd 1
			Carl Long 1
Ford	Circle Bar Racing	14	Rick Crawford	Ray Stonkus
	K Automotive Racing	29	Terry Cook	Rick Ren
	Roush Racing	50	Jon Wood	John Monsam
	Roush Racing	99	Carl Edwards (R)	Doug Richert
Chevrolet Ford	Team Racing	86	Lance Hooper 1	Ethan Davis
			Phil Bonifield 8
			T. J. Bell (R) 9
			Jamie Aube 4
			Brad Teague 1
			1
Ford Dodge	Fasscore Motorsports	15	Andy Houston 4	Gary Showalter
			Rich Bickle 10
			Mike Skinner 4
			Ryan Hemphill 3
			Robby Benton 3
			1

Part-time teams[]

Note: If under "team", the owner's name is listed and in italics, that means the name of the race team that fielded the truck is unknown.

Manufacturer	Team	No.	Driver(s)	Crew chief	Rounds
Chevrolet	2nd Chance Motorsports	79		???	1
	Andy Petree Racing	33	Andy Petree	???	4
			Paul Menard		5
			Tony Stewart		1
		78	Charlie Bradberry	Ted Kennedy	5
	Bradford Miller	68	Brandon Miller	???	3
	Bryan Reffner	80	Bryan Reffner	Walter Giles	2
	Clean Line Motorsports	38	Brandon Whitt	Jerry Pitts	7
		7		John Conely	2
	Danny McCall	56	Matt McCall	???	1
	Dennis Sockwell	54	Brian Sockwell	Todd Hall	3
	Donald Thompson	92		???	2
		89	Stan Boyd	Ed Huckabee	6
		94		???	2
		58		???	8
	Jody McCormick	77		Jeremy McCormick	2
	JRS Motorsports	39	Jason Small	???	4
		77	(R)	???	1
		27	(R)	David Bridgeman	8
		27		David Bridgeman	1
	Ken Hunt	97		???	3
	Ken Schrader Racing	52	Mike Wallace	Donnie Richeson	2
	Ken Schrader Racing	52	Ken Schrader	Donnie Richeson	11
	James Burr	87	Conrad Burr	Dan Glauz	8
	Kevin Harvick, Inc.	6	Ed Berrier	Wally Rogers	1
			Kevin Harvick		6
			Brandon Miller		1
			Randy LaJoie		1
	KW Racing	20	Ken Weaver	Raymond Newman	5
	LeRoy's Boys Racing	17	Darrell Waltrip	Bobby Kennedy Buddy Barnes	3
		09		???	2
	McGlynn Racing	00	Ryan McGlynn	Allen Crestinger	5
		09	David Gilliland	Dick Midgley	1
	Morgan-Dollar Motorsports	47	Joe Varde	???	1
	MRD Motorsports	68		???	2
		82		Dan Glauz	1
		82	A. J. Fike	Dan Glauz	1
	Richardson Motorsports	0		Larry Richardson	1
	Richardson Motorsports	0	Loni Richardson	Larry Richardson	5
	Ronald Jones	34	Eric Jones	Eddie Pearson	1
		13		???	4
	SealMaster Racing	98	Cory Kruseman	???	1
	SealMaster Racing	98	Matt Crafton	???	1
	Stellar Quest Racing	91	J. C. Stout	Steve Mollnow	4
	Sutton Motorsports	02	Kelly Sutton	Richard Broome	5
		03	Eric Jones	Tom Pearl	10
	Team Racing	25	Jamie Aube	William Kehrer	3
			Wayne Edwards		2
			Michael Dokken		1
					1
		49	Shawna Robinson	Mike Starr	3
	Troxell-MacDonald Racing	7	Stuart Kirby	???	1
	Xpress Motorsports	11	Jack Sprague	???	2
	Xpress Motorsports	11		???	1
	Rick Ware Racing	51	Chase Montgomery ^{[N 1]}	Ken Glen	1
Dodge					2
					1
			Stan Boyd		5
			Brian Sockwell		1
			Carl Long		1
			Randy Briggs (R)		2
					1
			Jerry Hill		1
			Jason Hedlesky		1
			(R)		1
		81	(R)	???	1
		57	Brian Rose	Patrick Wall	3
		55	Mark McFarland	???	2
	Gerald Miller	32		Mike Seibert	1
		36	Michael Dokken	???	1
		66	Michael Dokken	???	1
			Randy Renfrow		3
			Stephen Rhodes		2
			Donnie Neuenberger		2
			Trevor Boys		3
					2
			Rick Ware		1
			Casey Kingsland		1
	Orleans Racing	61		???	2
	Rick Bogart	70		???	3
		36	Trevor Boys	???	3
					1
					1
	Ultra Motorsports	7	Tyler Walker	Matt Puccia	3
			Stuart Kirby		1
			Tracy Hines		3
		27	Tracy Hines	???	1
		27	P. J. Jones	???	1
Ford	Alvin Thompson	36	Geoff Bodine	Walter Giles	2
	Alvin Thompson	36		Walter Giles	1
	Borneman Motorsports	81	Johnny Borneman III	Kevin Cram	1
		83		???	1
	Craig Wood	11 73		???	4
	Dan Higgs	67		???	1
	Fans Motorsports	01	Lance Hooper	Dan Kolanda	16
	Fasscore Motorsports	9	Rich Bickle	???	1
			Andy Houston		1
			Lance Hooper		1
			Kenny Hendrick (R)		13
			Steadman Marlin		1
			Johnny Sauter		3
		81		???	1
		70	Andy Ponstein	???	2
	Ken Davis	65		???	4
	Long Brothers Racing	84	Nick Woodward	Charlie Long	1
	Long Brothers Racing	84	Elliott Sadler	Charlie Long	1
	MB Motorsports	63	Ronnie Hornaday	Mike Mittler	2
	MB Motorsports	63	David Stover	Mike Mittler	8
	Ricky Sanders Racing	19	Ricky Sanders	???	9
	Spraker Racing Enterprises	69	Frank Kimmel	???	1
		11		Bud Haefele Steve Chick Jr.	5
	Tim Woods III	54		???	4
		94	Conrad Burr	???	1
		95	Wayne Edwards	Earl Ramey	8
	Victory in Jesus Racing	21	Morgan Shepherd	Carl Saylor	16
		04		Darren Shaw	7
Chevrolet Dodge Ford	Brevak Racing	31	Tina Gordon (R)	Todd Myers Kevin Cram	13
					1
			Wayne Edwards		1
			Mike Wallace		2
	^{[N 2]}	35	Jason White	???	1
			L. W. Miller		1
			Tim Sauter		2
			Randy Briggs (R)		1
		53	Randy Briggs (R)	Calvin Humphries	16
			Tim Sauter		1
			T. J. Bell (R)		3
Chevrolet Ford	FDNY Racing	28	L. W. Miller	Bob Rahilly	5
Chevrolet Ford	FDNY Racing	28		Tom Pistone	1
Dodge Ford		47		???	2
	Fast Track Racing ^{[N 3]}	10	Andy Hillenburg	???	2
	Fast Track Racing ^{[N 3]}	10	Marty Houston	???	1

Notes[]

^ Entry was fielded in a collaboration with .
^ All of Tim Sauter's races with the team were fielded in a collaboration with .
^ Entry was fielded in a collaboration with at Kentucky and with Ultra Motorsports at Homestead.

Races[]

Florida Dodge Dealers 250[]

The Florida Dodge Dealers 250 was held February 14 at Daytona International Speedway. Jason Leffler won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: Eric Jones (#34), Geoff Bodine (#36), Brian Rose (#57), Ricky Sanders (#19)

Craftsman 200[]

The Craftsman 200 was held March 14 at Darlington Raceway. Travis Kvapil won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

Lucas Oil 250 presented by Glidden[]

The Lucas Oil 250 presented by Glidden was held March 23 at Mesa Marin Raceway. Ted Musgrave won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

Advance Auto Parts 250[]

The Advance Auto Parts 250 was held April 12 at Martinsville Speedway. Ted Musgrave won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: Conrad Burr (#87), Tina Gordon (#31), (#23), James Stephenson (#36), Randy Briggs (#53), (#27), (13), (#13), (#77)

Hardee's 200[]

The Hardee's 200 was held May 16 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Bill Lester won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: Michael Dokken (#93), Phil Bonifield (#23)

MBNA Armed Forces Family 200[]

The MBNA Armed Forces Family 200 was held May 30 at Dover International Speedway. Bobby Hamilton won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

This was Jason Leffler's only Truck series victory.

O'Reilly 400K[]

The O'Reilly 400K was held June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. Bobby Hamilton won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

O'Reilly 200[]

The O'Reilly 200, the 200th race run in the truck series was held June 21 at Memphis Motorsports Park. Jon Wood won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

GNC 200[]

The GNC 200 was held June 28 at The Milwaukee Mile. Terry Cook won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: Trevor Boys (#36), (#65), Conrad Burr (#87)

O'Reilly Auto Parts 250[]

The O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 was held July 5 at Kansas Speedway. Chad Chaffin won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: (#27), (#11), Wayne Edwards (#25), Bobby Dotter (#07)

Built Ford Tough 225[]

The Built Ford Tough 225 was held July 12 at Kentucky Speedway. Jon Wood won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

This was Carl Edwards' first Truck Series victory, but he suffered a 100-point penalty after the race due to cylinder head infractions.

Missouri-Illinois Dealers Ram Tough 200[]

The Missouri-Illinois Dealers Ram Tough 200 was held July 19 at Gateway International Raceway. Travis Kvapil won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

Sears 200[]

The Sears 200 was held July 26 at Michigan International Speedway. Jason Leffler won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

Power Stroke Diesel 200[]

The Power Stroke Diesel 200 was held August 1 at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Terry Cook won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

Federated Auto Parts 200[]

The Federated Auto Parts 200 was held August 8 at Nashville Superspeedway. Chad Chaffin won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

O'Reilly 200 presented by Valvoline Maxlife[]

The O'Reilly 200 presented by Valvoline Maxlife was held August 20 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ted Musgrave won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

Virginia Is For Lovers 200[]

The Virginia Is For Lovers 200 was held September 4 at Richmond International Raceway. Travis Kvapil won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: Brian Sockwell (#51)

New Hampshire 200[]

The New Hampshire 200 was held September 13 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Jimmy Spencer won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

This was Jimmy Spencer's only Truck Series victory.

American Racing Wheels 200[]

The American Racing Wheels 200 was held September 20 at California Speedway. Brendan Gaughan won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: (#77), (#27), Ricky Sanders (#19), (#93)

Las Vegas 350[]

The Las Vegas 350 was held September 27 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Brendan Gaughan won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: J. C. Stout (#91), Jason Small (#39), Trevor Boys (#36), (#58), Kelly Sutton (#02), Conrad Burr (#94), David Gilliland (#09), Rick Bogart (#70), Loni Richardson (#0), Tina Gordon (#31), (#97), David Stover (#63), Ricky Sanders (#19), Kenny Hendrick (#9), (#54)

John Boy & Billy 250[]

The John Boy & Billy 250 was held October 4 at South Boston Speedway. Brendan Gaughan won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: none

Silverado 350[]

The Silverado 350 was held October 11 at Texas Motor Speedway. Andy Houston won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: (#04), Loni Richardson (#0)

Advance Auto Parts 200[]

The Advance Auto Parts 200 was held October 18 at Martinsville Speedway. Carl Edwards won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: Jerry Hill (#51), (#13), Wayne Edwards (#95), (#92), (#13), (#47)

Chevy Silverado 150[]

The Chevy Silverado 150 was held October 31 at Phoenix International Raceway. Ted Musgrave won the pole.

Top ten results

Failed to qualify: (#65), (#54), (#36), (#28), Stan Boyd (#5), Cory Kruseman (#98)

Ford 200[]

The Ford 200 was held November 14 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Bobby Hamilton won the pole.

This race saw the possibility of any one of the series' four top drivers in the points standings coming away with the championship. Going into the race Brendan Gaughan, driving the #62 Dodge Ram for Orleans Racing, was leading the standings. Ted Musgrave, driving the #1 Dodge Ram for Ultra Motorsports, was sitting second. Third place was Dennis Setzer, in the #46 Chevrolet Silverado for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports, and fourth was held by Travis Kvapil, driving the #16 Chevrolet Silverado that Mike Bliss had won the series championship driving one year earlier for Xpress Motorsports.

Controversy was caused, however, by potential roadblocks caused by drivers' teammates. Setzer's team did not enter a second truck in the race. Kvapil's team was fielding the #11 truck for Jack Sprague, who had joined the team after being fired by Haas CNC Racing in the Winston Cup Series. Gaughan's team was fielding the #61. truck driven by Scott Lynch, the team's developmental driver.

Ultra, meanwhile, entered five trucks in the event including Musgrave's #1. The first two trucks were the #2 truck, Ultra's other full-time truck piloted by Andy Houston, and the #7 Dodge Motorsports truck, their part-time truck driven by developmental driver Tyler Walker. In a move that was seen as setting up roadblocks for Musgrave, Ultra prepared two additional Dodge Rams numbered 10 and 27. The #10 truck was driven by Andy Houston's brother Marty, a member of Musgrave's pit crew who had not raced in two years. The #27 was driven by P. J. Jones, who had not run a Truck Series event in eight years and was largely employed as a road course ringer. The extra entries earned a huge amount of criticism from points leader Gaughan as well as fans and other drivers.

As the race went on, Gaughan's complaints proved to be valid. With thirty-four laps to go in the race Gaughan and Marty Houston got into an accident with the #80 of Bryan Reffner. None of the three trucks were able to continue and the accident cost an angry Gaughan, who railed against Ultra's tactics after the accident, the points lead. He went on to finish in twenty-ninth place, ahead of both Houston and Reffner who finished in the next two positions.

The next contender to run into trouble was Musgrave. With two laps to go in the race, the race restarted and Musgrave attempted to make a pass on Kvapil's inside before the cars reached the start/finish line. Musgrave completed the pass and then passed Setzer, but NASCAR threw the black flag as Musgrave was judged to have been in violation of race rules. Musgrave never answered the black flag, and when the checkered flag fell on the next lap he crossed it in sixth place behind Sprague and in front of Kvapil, who passed Setzer for seventh. With the penalty, however, Musgrave was listed as the last car on the lead lap in thirteenth place.

For several minutes, NASCAR held off on making the results official as they reviewed Musgrave's penalty. After a 23-minute delay, the black flag was upheld, and Kvapil was declared the series champion. The final margin was nine points, while Musgrave finished eighteen points behind and Gaughan forty (without the black flag, Musgrave would have been the champion over Kvapil by 12 points, with Setzer 21 behind, and Gaughan 52 back).

In a post-race interview, an obviously angry Musgrave, while acknowledging his infraction, blamed it on Kvapil stabbing the brakes on him and responded with, "That figures. Screw them. All I can say is that next year you're going to see a whole new Ted Musgrave. He's going to be the dirtiest son of a gun going out there on the racetrack and you might as well throw that rulebook away. I ain't going by it no more."

Xpress Motorsports won its second consecutive Truck Series Championship as a team, as Mike Bliss had won the 2002 series championship driving the same truck Kvapil took to the championship.

Polesitter Bobby Hamilton won the race. Of the additional drivers that the Xpress, Ultra, and Orleans teams entered, Jack Sprague and P. J. Jones finished in the top ten, with Sprague fifth and Jones ninth. Scott Lynch finished twelfth, Tyler Walker twenty-third, and Marty Houston thirtieth.

IndyCar Series driver and future Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice made his NASCAR debut in this race driving SealMaster Racing's #88 Chevrolet Silverado normally driven by Matt Crafton. Crafton drove the team's #98 entry for this race. Rice would finish 20th.

Top ten results (on the track)

Top ten results (official result)

Failed to qualify: Derrike Cope (#93), Jason Hedlesky (#51), Wayne Edwards (#95), Lance Hooper (#01), (#25), Jamie Aube (#23), (#81), Carl Long (#5)

Final points standings[]

Travis Kvapil – 3837
Dennis Setzer – 3828
Ted Musgrave – 3819
Brendan Gaughan – 3797
Jon Wood – 3659
Bobby Hamilton – 3627
Rick Crawford – 3578
Carl Edwards – 3416
Terry Cook – 3212
Chad Chaffin – 3143
Matt Crafton – 3074
Robert Pressley – 2773
David Starr – 2768
Bill Lester – 2712
Randy MacDonald – 2458
Jason Leffler – 2209
Jody Lavender – 2168
Jerry Hill – 1882
Randy Briggs – 1618
Phil Bonifield – 1524
Andy Houston – 1487
Rich Bickle – 1288
Ken Schrader – 1286
Lance Hooper – 1191
Tina Gordon – 1112
T. J. Bell – 1059
Eric Jones – 1058
Morgan Shepherd – 991
Bobby Dotter – 939
Kevin Harvick – 807
Jamie Aube – 800
Stan Boyd – 799
– 685
– 674
Kenny Hendrick – 656
– 625
David Stover – 607
Roland Isaacs – 600
Wayne Edwards – 595
Brandon Whitt – 592
Ricky Sanders – 573
Paul Menard – 572
L. W. Miller – 558
Hank Parker Jr. – 524
Johnny Chapman – 513
Mike Wallace – 500
Ken Weaver – 482
Mike Skinner – 471
Trevor Boys – 471
Andy Petree – 467

Rookie of the Year[]

Gong Show winner Carl Edwards was named Rookie of the Year, winning three races and finishing eighth in points for Roush Racing. The first runner-up was Jody Lavender, who competed in 21 of 25 races for Green Light Racing. Tina Gordon, T. J. Bell and made limited attempts at the award, while Teri MacDonald drove part-time for her brother Randy MacDonald in the Truck Series.

External links[]

Craftsman Truck Series Standings and Statistics for 2003

[1] Entry was fielded in a collaboration with .

[2] All of Tim Sauter's races with the team were fielded in a collaboration with .

[3] Entry was fielded in a collaboration with at Kentucky and with Ultra Motorsports at Homestead.

[N 1]

[N 2]

[N 3]

2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Contents

2003 teams and drivers[]

Full-time teams[]

Part-time teams[]

Notes[]

Races[]

Florida Dodge Dealers 250[]

Craftsman 200[]

Lucas Oil 250 presented by Glidden[]

Advance Auto Parts 250[]

Hardee's 200[]

MBNA Armed Forces Family 200[]

O'Reilly 400K[]

O'Reilly 200[]

GNC 200[]

O'Reilly Auto Parts 250[]

Built Ford Tough 225[]

Missouri-Illinois Dealers Ram Tough 200[]

Sears 200[]

Power Stroke Diesel 200[]

Federated Auto Parts 200[]

O'Reilly 200 presented by Valvoline Maxlife[]

Virginia Is For Lovers 200[]

New Hampshire 200[]

American Racing Wheels 200[]

Las Vegas 350[]

John Boy & Billy 250[]

Silverado 350[]

Advance Auto Parts 200[]

Chevy Silverado 150[]

Ford 200[]

Final points standings[]

Rookie of the Year[]

See also[]

External links[]