Score one for the Old Guys!!! Sure, we were wondering if Terry was gonna win another one before he got his AARP card, but after today he’s just another young gun. Texas Terry led the final 33 laps at Darlington Raceway to capture his second Mountain Dew Southern 500 (he won here way back in 1980) and 22nd career victory. He’s now in sole possession of 25th place on the all-time win list (breaking a tie with Benny Parsons, btw) and snaps a 156 race losing streak. Terry’s last win was at Texas Motor Speedway in March of 1999! This was win #114 for Hendrick Motorsports, and marks the 16th different winner this season. Kevin Harvick was the bridesmaid again….thats three in a row and four out of the last seven races he’s claimed that spot. Jeremy Mayfield (6th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Richmond in May of 2002! Bobby Labonte (7th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Daytona in July. Elliott Sadler (9th) had his best finish since he was 9th at Chicagoland in July. Kevin Lepage (15th) had his best finish since he was 10th at Talladega in October of 2001! (only 12 races) Jeff Green (18th….and unemployed) had his best finish since he was 16th at Chicagoland in July. STREAKIN….Kevin Harvick has 5 Top-5’s in a row. The Rookie Report: Jamie McMurray (4th) captures this honor for the 11th time this season (he’s the leader of the pack). He was followed by Greg Biffle (10th), Casey Mears (35th), and Tony Raines (42nd). Larry Foyt was a DNQ this week. For a long time there today it looked like we could have another rookie winner….both McMurray and Biffle had strong cars this afternoon. This Week’s Elevator…UP: The Operator of the Week is a lonely Kevin Lepage (+26). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Johnny Benson (-29), followed by Mark Martin (-26), Ryan Newman (-22), Dave Blaney (-20), and Christian Fittipaldi (-20). Certainly was a down day in the “shaft”. Kevin Lepage led today for the first time since he led once for 3 laps at Atlanta in November of 2001! He’s the 43rd different driver to lead a lap this season….last year’s number was 46. Matt Kenseth’s still got it on cruise control. He tacked another 38 points onto his lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr….it’s now 389. His “Magic Number” grew as well…it’s at 6 vs Little E as well as Kevin Harvick. Bill Elliott gained 3 spots (17th to 14th) while Ward Burton lost 4 spots (18th to 22nd) as they were the big movers in the points today.( StockCarFans.Com Wcup Newsletter)(8-31-2003)
