They billed this The Winston as the “Survival of the Fastest”….well, a whole bunch of the fastest didn’t survive. When the final 20 lap shootout was in the books, if was Jimmie Johnson who got to do the donuts and spray the champagne in Victory Lane. It’s always hard to tell who has the strongest car in these “invert” events (we’ve been known to find a little sand coming out the tailpipes in these races), but we do know who’s gonna get to cash that check. And for Johnson, the payoff was a smooth $1,017,604. This was the 5th “The Winston” win for Hendrick Motorsports. Jeff Gordon has three of ’em and Terry Labonte won one as well. Johnson was clearly the best in the final segment, holding off Kurt Busch (who was strong as well) and Bobby Labonte. We were supposed to have 14 cars in the final, but a sizeable wreck at the end of the 30-lapper middle segment reduced the field to only 12. We had the usual temper displays associated with this event. Ryan Newman was mad at Tony Stewart, Ward Burton was mad at Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte was mad at the red-flag….just good ole boys having fun on a Saturday Night. Jeff Burton won the Open and advanced to The Winston….he managed to stick around and finish 9th for his efforts. Tony Stewart won the $50K that went with Segment #1 (40 laps). Kurt Busch won the $50K that went with Segment #2 (30 laps). Jimmie Johnson won the final 20 lapper for a cool $1M.( Stockcarfans.com )(5-19-2003)
