2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 [24/25] (Finish--Victory Lane)

March 16th, 2003
Darlington Raceway
Credit to FOX.

[@strayster2]

Even knowing the outcome, watching this never gets less exciting.

[@1234Peacekeeper]

You ain't lying

[@AlonsoRules]

still true

[@dishrod3516]

I’ve never seen this before but I could get into races like this! Looks like Craven had 10 MPH on Bush exiting turn 4! Wow!!

[@sub4ra]

I've seen it a thousand times and the feeling never changes!

[@thetaker252]

Indeed! I'll watch it a million times and it is just as exciting as when I originally saw it live!

[@nascarfanatic2425]

There's a reason why this race holds up as my favorite finish of all time. That was just good, hard, passionate racing. No championship on the line, no BS drama getting shoehorned in, no premeditating of the finish, just a good hard race for the win. You would've thought they were trying to win the Daytona 500 as hard as they were racing each other! And it was all about the win!

[@AlonsoRules]

now they would try and get a GWC or some other bullshit

[@nascarfanatic2425]

+Anthony Kernich Don't even get me started. I still say that the 2016 Homestead race outcome was a premeditated result. Was it planned prior to the race? Maybe, maybe not; but Brian France's NASCAR will take advantage of an opportunity to throw a caution, and work hard to try to make a race end the way they want it to. IDK if you believe that the 2016 Ford Ecoboost 400 was a premeditated finish or not, but whether you do or you don't, there's plenty of other evidence that supports that Brian France's NASCAR is incapable of being an actual sport when it counts.

[@AlonsoRules]

I've been watching 1997 - so little rubbish. A 300 lap run at Dover to end the race, 380 to start one at Richmond! No GWC, No Chase, single file restarts etc. etc.

[@nascarfanatic2425]

Nowadays, they'll only allow for a green flag run that long if one of their favs are leading.

[@brianstringfellow8241]

jut an awesome finish

[@tambakoverlanders]

Last win for Pontiac.... Sad that GM killed it

[@nascarfanatic2425]

I know. They only had so many options, though. GM got hit hard going into the latter parts of the 2000s decade, and they had to drop some manufactures since they just weren't cutting it. Hummer was the biggest mistake GM made. Saturn wasn't necessarily all that great, either. They also had Oldsmobile, but IDK when GM dropped them. Out of all the manufactures they dropped, though, Pontiac was probably the hardest to take. And how Buick stayed in while Pontiac got dropped, IDK. Don't get me wrong; I love Buicks, but I'd much rather have a Pontiac than a Buick, in all honesty. (I currently drive a G6.)

[@comebackkid1216]

+nascarfanatic2425 Pontiac went bankrupt in 2009

[@DerrickRG]

@@comebackkid1216 WRONG.

[@LandonMac32]

Well, At least it went out with style

[@existinginaspace8347]

@@nascarfanatic2425 Olds finally closed the factory in... I think 2004 or 5.

[@kcenneckennek]

There’s something magical about this finish. The calls from Darrell and Larry, the way the cars bounced on the bumps and caromed off each other, hell Craven scrubbed the wall coming out of two a couple times and he still gained speed on Kurt. I know most everyone rags on stage racing and the direction Nascar is going etc etc, but this moment defines Nascar in the early 2000s. 43 of the best of the best climbing into cars that required the best of the best to take them to their full potential, going the distance, saving just enough fuel, tires, and equipment to be *just* slightly better than the other guy, to *just* slightly cross the finish line faster. Ricky Craven didn’t win because he had a better pitstop at the end of Stage 2, he won because he hung in, was smart, and worked all day to get into a position to make a move.

[@zottffss]

This was where "Have you ever? NO I'VE NEVER!" meme was born.

[@theoriginalrabbithole]

"Have you ever ?" "No, I've never !" lmao

[@simracr94]

@ 2:38 Mike Joy's "WOW!" never gets old!

[@reshiram202]

this was probably the most excited mike joy has ever gotten on a broadcast

[@adriandiaz5868]

Y

[@adriandiaz5868]

Y como

[@adriandiaz5868]

77

[@adriandiaz5868]

0

[@joshuapboston1999]

Best. Darlington. Finish. Ever!

[@brewcityboatclub8299]

Kurt is such an amazing gentleman after this race. They keep the fight on the track, and he shows respect to the other team when the race is over. Lots of drivers would go try to fight eachother after that sideswipe at the end, but he shows the true spirit of Nascar

[@michaelscott1862]

Steve Byrnes made me laugh so hard when talking to Kurt Busch. "That was a HELLUVA race!" This is what NASCAR needs to look at and see how the innocence of the sport is GONE. THIS video still gets my goosebumps throbbing....holy crap I remember this day like it was yesterday. My Pops and I were jumping up and down pulling for Craven to win it. Excellent Day!

[@DeathknightDragon]

One of the, if not the best, finishes in the post Dale Earnhardt era

[@adriananderson76]

In 2023, it would be a 20th Anniversary of the finish of Darlington.

[@bighand1530]

21 years later, it was even closer with Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher.

[@fatriani]

"Days of Thunder" isnt very realistic, but this shit was straight out of that movie

[@JR-jk5wz]

Greatest race I’ve ever seen! I really miss Pontiac in NASCAR. Hasn’t been the same since they pulled out! 😠

[@DumpedClutch]

One of NASCAR’s most important races

[@nascarfanatic2425]

IMO Ricky Craven's one of NASCAR's most underrated drivers. THIS was his most famous race, though.

[@packisbetter90]

As a Kurt Busch fan I was not even that upset he lost. Still probably my favorite finish since I began watching nascar from the mid to late 90s. Miss this type of racing from this era when Nascar was at its peak around 99 to 2005. Kurt's pretty much one of the few left from it besides Harvick, Johnson, and Newman.

[@JJA1987]

Considering this was during the time when Kurt was quite immature and not the mature vet he is now

[@BradyEikleberry]

My favorite nascar photo finish

[@williamgrantham4481]

I Remember This "Photo Finish Darlington"

[@matthewhoward5514]

The old Tide Ride.

[@caleb505]

I loved that Tide car. That thing looked sweet.

[@michaelbradshaw7490]

Larry Mac: And both these cars are driving terrible right now. D.W.: nah Nah they’re driving good.

[@KellieLeigh48]

Goated

[@brandonmcfarland5200]

This Happens When I Was 9 Years Old In The 4th Grade When This End Game Became Important.That Was Live On WFXB 43(FOX-TV).

[@williamgrantham4481]

I Was 6 Years Old 2003 Young William

[@NASCARFAN93100]

Fast Forward 21 Years and The Record gets broken at Kansas at the hands of Kyle Larson & Chris Buescher

[@zanemarte9877]

2:52 Have you ever...? No I've Never.

[@ehlu15]

Miss Winston... damnnnnnnnn

[@anthonydeloreto3881]

What you believe that 10 years later on the exact date March 16th in the nationwide series race at Bristol it was the Kyle and Kyle Show & who won it? Kyle Busch defeated the young gun & 10 years ago the old man beat the ole' young gun Kurt Busch.

[@thelegokorean]

you got that right!!!!

[@EstudiantesDeMéridaYesPeppaNo]

Que final este Busch and Craven

[@williamgrantham4481]

1:23 No 1 Moment

[@AndyMarquisLIVE]

Last win for Pontiac.

[@Justinmcbridenut]

Speedy Ricky Craven and the tide Pontiac boys won the race

[@nascargo19thesecond]

The only time Ricky Craven has not bored the hell out of me.

[@johnrohlfs835]

Pakistan ,now Israel ,oh and American,Irish women Stock car drivers Yesssss

[@BRN14fan]

a powerade bottle in gatorade victory lane LOL

[@BRN14fan]

I don't think anybody was unhappy to see Craven win..... except crybaby Kurt Busch

[@D_T_S_V]

Ace Moneymaker the term crybaby should go to the other Busch now.

[@chrisuncleahmad]

Craven earned the hell out of his 2 wins- Martinsville against Dale Jarrett when he was still an elite driver and here against NASCAR's rising young star Kurt Busch. 2 epic wins on 2 tricky tracks against 2 quality drivers.

[@WVUer21]

I remember watching both, and happy as hell for a guy like Craven. The poor guy was snake-bit almost his entire career, and to finally see him win (both times) was just great.

[@brunofroener2892]

Guarda v Buenos c

[@benmay1932]

I'm amazed that Kurt Busch held off Craven for that long with no power steering. Also, I love to see a post race interview like that - Kurt doesn't get angry, or even seem very upset that he didn't win; he's just happy to see some hard racing.

[@packisbetter90]

This was back in his days when he was crazy and was often a hot head even bigger that Kyle is. He never really got too angry for losing it was often with media, crew, crew chiefs, and even the team owner. Amazed how much different he is now

[@luisy.gonzalez6469]

@@packisbetter90 I agree. Kurt is much calmer now, but he still has his radio sweethearts every once in a while.

[@speedy_j9368]

Well, if they wanted to talk about racing things in his Darlington interview, they could talk about racing things.

[@b4il3ytrpt]

I called my dad who was playing golf. "YOU JUST MISSED THE GREATEST FINISH EVER!!!" dad - "Man I just tripled hole 3" me - "I DONT CARE YOU JUST MISSED IT!!!".

[@GoHerd2001]

Kurt Busch did this without power steering. What a race!

[@JJA1987]

The Intimidator did at Bristol back in the 80's for like 400 laps I believe

[@taurus6392]

@@JJA1987 damn

[@jessiehenry5405]

​@@JJA1987The Spring Race Of 1985

[@mikeyoungblood1642]

And he finished 2nd even though a lesser driver would have spun with 2 to go when he got squeezed into to wall

[@bighand1530]

Kurt Busch is underrated.

[@sportsterbrian1]

Darrell's call that day was awesome, knew exactly what was going to happen

[@supertommy1000ify]

"Both these cars are driving terrible out there!" "Nah, They're driving good"

[@gregd806]

Haven’t seen Kurt Busch That happy after a race finishing second.. Must have been amazingly tough, without power steering, but it must have been a hell of an adrenaline rush.

[@wimpman94]

If your only going to have 2 career NASCAR Cup wins why not make them exciting??

[@USAF-mt1tu]

2 more wins then Danica Patrick

[@bighand1530]

@@USAF-mt1tu Wow

[@JJA1987]

Ricky deserves a ton of respect for winning at two of the toughest tracks in NASCAR and Kurt does too for driving that damn thing with no power steering and being classy about it afterwards cause this was during the time were Kurt was a prick unlike now where he's grown up into a Veteran

[@1996Prefrontalcortex]

My dad STILL talks about this! I remember running into the room when i was six and thinking: THIS IS THE GREATEST THING EVER!!!!

[@mustang6172]

Best thing about this finish: it's that close AFTER a 52-lap green flag run. Not some green-white-checker BS.

[@D_T_S_V]

If I’m commissioner, I will bring back this kind of racing.

[@RichieWilliams97]

What gets lost in this battle is how much of a wheelman Kurt is for almost winning at Darlington with no power steering the last 20 laps.

[@aj_theshark]

That's how post-race interviews should be. They didn't say anything about their sponsors! They just talked about the race! That's how interviews should be.

[@phxn8tive]

Yes he did. "...really thankful to have the opportunity driving the Tide Pontiac..."

[@aj_theshark]

Levon Austin That's fine. I'm referring to drivers spending about a minute just listing sponsors. You can go ahead say what car you drive, there's nothing wrong with that.

[@brunofroener2892]

Gator Jeaux hnllkhnct

[@williamgrantham4481]

2:40 They Touch! They Touch! Craven Got Him! - NASCAR On Fox 2003

[@redsoxrok34]

Back when NASCAR was worth watching. These days everything's so rigidly controlled there's no racing left.

[@roggie2499]

+redsoxrok34 Not if they keep using the low downforce package. Those 2 races this year have been amazing.

[@PeaceLoveandMolotovs]

+redsoxrok34 shut up

[@AlonsoRules]

+redsoxrok34 now they have a caution clock in the trucks

[@Chenglor91]

ShotgunFelatio, Chill out. You are just being sarcastic.

[@The1994Gforce]

That there is old-school racin'!

[@day500champ15]

Ricky Craven may only have 2 career cup victories, but he made them both count. First edging out Dale Jarrett at Martinsville in '01, then out beating Kurt Busch here.

[@CeramicDalmatian]

Best race finish in NASCAR history.

[@DavidStewart-np3cj]

1:41 Craven puts Busch in the wall and Busch jackes him up, to take the spot back. Man I miss that kind of hard racing back then. Nascar cars today the bumpers line up perfectly, and all the tracks seem to have more grip. It's just not the same.

[@hurontoikiy7036]

um new Nascar fun but an old F1 funs that are a real men,i mean like the heroes all those drivers not like to day,with a woman driver or tomorrow with a gay driver

[@briancummings527]

yeah, then why were all the fans whining when the race Chicagoland had the same type of finish? Oh yeah, cause KYLE won. My bad.

[@joekaput747]

@@briancummings527 and Kyle turned Larson, which, last I checked, was a little more than moving him

[@NascarFan-vk1cr]

When i saw this on the bonus features of the cars dvd i thought it was a eegular random finish they got but no it is actually a pretty iconic and exciting race that they are even making a throwback car i wish matt kenseth in his tide pods car eaced like that against kurt busch throwback car and ended in a similar way dont you

[@Fosh51]

2:20 Larry McReynolds: And both of these cars are driving TERRIBLE right now!!! Darrell Waltrip: Nah!! Nah they're driving good!!

[@lockednloaded1000]

nah there driving good

[@DiegoOspina86]

10 years of the most greatest finish of all times!!!!!

[@dhariomartinez5206]

Now that's too tough to tame! A kickass finish!

[@toddmanger7194]

Almost 20 years later and this finish is as beautiful as ever. I admire Ricky so much and hearing him on Dale Jr’s podcast was very emotional. Ricky Craven is a legend in my book.

[@alanwatts8239]

Have you ever?

[@adriananderson76]

No I've never!!

[@AlanFernandoGamino]

& Tonight: It stands alone.....In NASCAR Cup Series [Closest-Photo Finish] History with 0.001 Seconds belongs to Kyle Larson in Kansas Speedway (2023).

[@bgbdcam]

Remember watching this Live. Awesome finish. and props to Kurt for being real and admitting it was a helluva race and not blaming his loss on Craven Side note - Anybody notice at 7:45 the giant Powerade sponser in Gatorade Victory Lane? lmao

[@ErnieStautner_70]

Who’s here after tonight’s finish at Kansas?

[@bighand1530]

Me

[@bighand1530]

Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher’s finish brought me back here

[@dhariomartinez5206]

It should be reenacted by Dale Earnhardt with Richard Petty or Sonic the Hedgehog with Rainbow Dash (Name first in the entries will always win, Blue and Black go well together!)

[@sillygoose2508]

gives me goosebumps even to the day best Finnish ever

[@chrismooney5737]

I’ll never get tired of seeing this that’s good hard racing

[@elkinsinboxinc]

"CRAVEN EVEN GOT HIM!"

[@skeleguns10oooooo10]

It’s going to be a Drag race- WOW! THEY TOUCH THEY TOUCH! CRAVEN GOT HIM!

[@anthonydeloreto3881]

THE best finish in Winston Cup History!

[@Billybob-ez6cx]

NASCAR at its finest

[@AlonsoRules]

I love that short pause between "they touch, they touch" and "CRAVEN GOT HIM"

[@arad_austin]

Anthony Kernich Darrell: "Craven" "Craven..." "Craven..." 😂😂😂😂

[@AlonsoRules]

CRAVEN

[@trackmaniaracing8163]

This was my first NASCAR race. Needless to say this finish got me hooked.

[@kjprodouctions9050]

My first Nascar race was the Daytona 500 in 2010, which was won by Jamie McMurray.

[@camschuster5947]

Watched it live. Made me a racing fan for life.

[@bighand1530]

👍

[@adriananderson76]

.002 of a sec. But however it looks like 0.0021 of a sec.

[@ultimategmoneyremaber1821]

They touch they touch its craven

[@darrinh.2322]

wow kurt was actually nice back then !!

[@JJA1987]

Rarely seen back then compared to now

[@Probowler37]

Craven was such a class act, great person and truly deserved to win a lot more races

[@dinocosallminefan8307]

over 0.0001 of a second inches

[@bighand1530]

I take it you have seen or least heard of the finish with Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher.

[@dnasty312]

NOBODY!

[@mackiemendoza1927]

2:42-2:43

[@williamgrantham4481]

Mackie Mendoza Whoo!

[@beavismcquevis5]

that would be a complete tie if Craven didn't have the Pontiac nose piece that stretched out a bit more

[@pattreu834]

Best race ever, they touch, they touch, craven got em'

[@CocaColaDude]

The most memorable win for Pontiac.

[@stephenholloway6893]

Plus their last Cup Series win.

[@thomaspayton436]

greatest enending in all of racing & that includes insy f1 etc plus the reasson i bought nr2003

[@UTATW]

He won the next week at Bristol so it worked out haha

[@ohiopower]

Kurt took one hell of a shot into the wall there. This was the greatest finish next to the 89 and 92 Indy 500 I have ever seen.

[@BRN14fan]

lol

[@5am892]

Greatest. Finish. Ever.

[@rockypc24]

1:41 you can hear kurt hit the wall

[@DogmeatFilms]

7:45 anyone else notice that it's "Gatorade victory lane" - with a giant poweraid bottle sitting on top of the car? lol

[@CJODell12]

Literally about FOUR INCHES.

[@TravisMSimpson]

Listen to the engines surge right at the line. You can tell they were driving the hell out of them.

[@burntheobedient4473]

Back when racing was a dirty, loud, unapologetic event that had real drivers, real cars, and real talent. Now all we have is a bunch of rich kids driving cars they dont deserve to be in. Its sad. Good bye nascar.

[@tamtam21801]

The Greatest Finish in Nascar History

[@StayingBack71]

Best Finish Ever