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.)
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.
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.
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.
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
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!!!".
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!
+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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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
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!
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.
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
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.
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
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
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.
& Tonight: It stands alone.....In NASCAR Cup Series [Closest-Photo Finish] History with 0.001 Seconds belongs to Kyle Larson in Kansas Speedway (2023).
Wow! Kurt Busch before he was an a-hole. Seriously though, that remains the greatest race I have ever seen. Watkins Glen 2012 with Ambrose vs Keselowski was close, but this will always be the greatest race ever. I've been watching those last 3 laps for 10 years, and I never get tired of it.
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!)
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.
![2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 [24/25] (Finish--Victory Lane)](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
