Auto racing: Packed house may force speedway to re-examine capacity

The $10 million spent to add the 20-degree high banks and enhance the competition on the track did not come with an increase in seating. Gray originally said he didn't think more grandstands were needed or were even in the immediate future.

But Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 was deemed a sellout -- even though the 2003 Winston Cup title already had been wrapped up by Matt Kenseth a week earlier in Rockingham, N.C.

Track officials also said record crowds attended Friday's Craftsman Truck Series Ford 200 and Saturday's Busch Series finale, the Ford 300.

The seating capacity at the 1.5-mile oval is listed at 71,763.

Super anyway

The early crash that heavily damaged Ryan Newman's car robbed Newman of another superspeedway victory. Yet in 2003, he dominated the big tracks with seven checkered flags and had eight wins in all. He was the only driver to score 14 top-5 finishes in the 28 superspeedway races in 2003.

Back in the seat

Richard Petty, the winner of the first Winston Cup in 1971, was back in the driver's uniform on Sunday. But it was only for a victory-lap tribute to the end of the R.J. Reynolds/Winston sponsorship.

What a racket

As the Winston Cup cars roared to the starting line for the Ford 400, tennis star Serena Williams was up on the flag stand waving the green as the honorary starter.

"I went to the Daytona 500 (this year). That's the first time I've ever been to a race. It was really, really exciting. I couldn't believe how thrilling it was (watching) the cars go around the track. I'm definitely excited to be here."

Time out

With NASCAR's Ford Championship Weekend completed, the next racing at the track will be the weekend of Feb. 27-29. That's when the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series Toyota Indy 300 highlights a schedule that also includes the Infiniti Pro Series and the Grand American Road Racing Association cars.

The NASCAR Ford Championship Weekend for 2004 is scheduled for Nov. 18-21.

See ya

R.J. Reynolds wasn't the only corporation to step away from NASCAR Winston Cup racing on Sunday.

Pure Oil, the maker of Union 76 gasoline, bowed out as the official provider of the 107-octane racing fuel. The company had provided racing fuel for the teams for 53 years.

Pontiac also ran its last race.

The best finish in the race for a Pontiac was Johnny Benson in fourth, his best of the season. For the year, the best Pontiac also was the one driven by Benson, who finished 24th in the points.

The long haul

The final Winston Cup season covered 36 races at 23 tracks in 19 states. The total laps run totaled 10,668 and in all, the distance raced was 13,932.532 miles.