Following a restart with three of 250 laps remaining in Friday night’s Funai 250 at Richmond International Raceway, #17-Matt Kenseth passed #43-Johnny Sauter for the lead in Turn 2. Sauter stayed close and on the final turn of the final lap, Sauter nudged Kenseth out of the way to claim his first victory of the season and first for Curb-Agajanian Motorsports. The last-lap dramatics followed an eventful race that saw Sauter start 30th, drive to the lead, then fall back to 16th on a bad pit stop. He eventually made his way back to the front, but got a shove from behind from Kenseth during the final caution. “We were not even supposed to be here. At the beginning of the year I wasn’t even going to run the full schedule,” said Sauter, who splits time in Curb’s #43 and Richard Childress Racing’s #21. “Hat’s off to Kevin Harvick for letting me get by there and getting a good run at Matt. I know don’t what the hell Matt’s problem is, but if he wants to race that way, we can race that way.” #21-Harvick finished second, 0.198 seconds behind Sauter. #25-Bobby Hamilton Jr. was third, #5-Brian Vickers fourth and #37-David Green fifth. Kenseth ended up sixth. Green took over the series lead and holds a 48-point advantage over Vickers. #10-Scott Riggs finished 29th and dropped from first to third. While Kenseth was upset after the race with Sauter’s last-lap bump-and-run, Harvick and Sauter criticized Kenseth for his run-in with Sauter under the final caution. Harvick and Kenseth engaged in an animated discussion on pit road after the race ended. “I just didn’t want my teammate (Sauter) to get picked on. Damn, Matt just ran into the back of him under yellow,” Harvick said. “I’m so damn proud of Johnny, I can’t hardly stand it.” The race was slowed seven times by caution for 32 laps. There were 10 lead changes among five drivers.(ThatsRacin.com)
Penalties Likely: Members of four Busch Series teams could face NASCAR penalties after several altercations broke out on pit road and in the garage following Friday night’s Funai 250 at Richmond International Raceway. The teams involved were those of drivers #10-Scott Riggs, #57-Jason Keller, #48-Shane Hmiel and #2-Ron Hornaday. Hmiel was involved in a late-race wreck with Keller, which brought out the final caution of the race. Riggs and Hornaday also made contact during the race. After the race, Riggs criticized Hornaday in an interview with a pit reporter that aired on TNT.(ThatsRacin.com)
For results see ThatsRacin.com, BGNRacing.com, Motorsports One or NASCAR.com.(9-5-2003)
