Hello folks, I'm back with another project I have been hammering away on, which is to make a complete set of 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup primary schemes. The end goal is to have one for every team who attempted a race in 2003, plus a few bonus cars that I feel fit the bill. Not sure if this will be something I release, as I'd have to go back and remember all of the credits needed, but it is a project I am excited to work on.
Now for this project I set some parameters for me to work within, the first being to try and make these paint schemes "evergreen." This means keeping race specific details like tape and grills to a minimum. Also means I will not be adding rookie stripes to the rear, as I will likely roll this project into a much larger project encompassing multiple years. Also 100% accuracy is not a given, this project goes by the rule of close enough good enough.
Now with that out of the way, lets get on with the show!
#02 Hermie Sadler Go Team VA.com Chevrolet
Starting off with a bunch of small teams, this car heavily used the Splash & Go Graphics version as a reference. Originally I made it as a Pontiac ala NASCAR Thunder 2004, but I ended up switching it to Chevy for the time being.. Hermie Sadler attempted 18 races, but only made 10, plus 2 withdrawals at the first Dover race and Phoenix
#71 Tim Sauter Aran Trading Chevrolet
Another car heavily using reference from S&G's version, plus 2003 Brickyard 400 qualifying, Dave Marcis's team attempted 4 races, and DNQ'd them all, 3 of which with Tim Sauter and one of which with Jim Sauter.
#75 David Starr Unsponsored Chevrolet
This is based off of Starr's lone attempt in 2003 at Texas, in a car owned by his father that was bought off Richard Childress. This is missing several logos that were on the real car, but I couldn't find them and I also couldn't be bothered to recreate such small logos for a car that was a one off DNQ. Again, strict acccuracy is not a given.
#78 Mike Harmon Carb-R-All Chevrolet
Basically everything but the contigs and the template itself was scratch made for this car, and again, the logos are not the best (especially the deck lid logo, which uses the wrong font) but it is a car rarely seen, with a version of it existing for the OG Cup mod already, but missing the hood logo. This entry was fielded by Brian Conz's team, who fielded Harmon due to Brian not having sufficient experience on big tracks.
#79 Billy Bigley Jr. Arnold Development Dodge
Another car again using the S&G car as reference material (because if I have such a good quality reference source, why waste it?), Billy Bigley Jr, a regular driver in the southwest tour and Pro Cup series, attempted 5 races with Don Arnold's then new team, failing to make a single one. Derrike Cope also attempted to qualify the car at Homestead to no avail.
#84 Norm Benning Unsponsored Chevrolet
This can be considered one of the "bonus" cars, as there are no photos of this car. But the team did show up to speedweeks, but never turned a lap either in practice or qualifying, and as such was unable to start in the duels and was forced to withdraw. According to the "bubble" graphics on the qualifying broadcast after all cars had made their run, Norm Benning's car was red with yellow numbers, so that is what I went with, though I also made the roof yellow to make it more interesting.
#90 Jason Hedlesky Superior Logistics Services - AccuTurn Ford
Now this car is based on the one that came with NR2003 from default, rather than the car as actually ran in 2003, as represented in the S&G 2003 carset. Donlavey's team only ran 2 races, Daytona with Kirk Shelmerdine, which they DNQ'd and the All Star Open with Hedlesky, which they finished last car running one lap down. Now the interesting part about this car is how Papyrus got both driver and sponsor right for a car that only ran one non-points race in May, when the game came out before the season had even begun. Did they have an insider at Donlavey's shop that confirmed Hedlesky would run an Accu-Turn car sometime in the season?
#74 Tony Raines Staff America Chevrolet
Now for the first full time car in this showcase, Tony Raines went through most of the season without solid funding, running this blank white car. He started 35 of 36 races, only DNQ-ing the second Daytona race, and getting a best finish of 6th late in the year, when the team started leasing Hendrick engines.
#7 Jimmy Spencer Sirius Satellite Radio Dodge
2003 was a pretty average season for Jimmy Spencer, with some good results, some less than stellar ones, and most notably, his feud with Kurt Busch continued on from 2002, a grudge Spencer would seemingly hold into his broadcast career, because as we all know "Jimmy Spencer never forgets."
#07 Ted Musgrave Sirius Satellite Radio - HHGregg Dodge
Another car based off of the S&G version due to a lack of decent references, the second Ultra Motorsports car only attempted Indianapolis, of which it DNQ'd. Musgrave would run Bristol for Jimmy Spencer due to the latter's one race "timeout."
#55 Jeff Fultz Jasper Engines - C&C Boiler Ford
Jeff Fultz, who worked for Jasper Motorsports as an employee while racing on the side, got a chance to run the fall Charlotte race, in which he would fail to make the show. This car is the pinnacle of accuracy not a given, as this car only shares the colors, sponsors, and numbers with the actual paint scheme, but there was no way I could do the intricate panther hood, so this was the next best option.
#67 Boris Said Jasper Engines Ford
Another bonus car, this car actually is a 2002 paint scheme that was included in NR2003 to fill out the field. Boris said IRL ran for MB2 Motorsports in place of Jerry Nadeau, earning the pole at Sonoma in the process.
#77 Dave Blaney Jasper Engines Ford
Dave Blaney's 2003 season was a sharp drop from his strong 2002, which saw the team end up 19th in points. At the end of the season the team would be bought into by Penske Racing, from whom they acquired engines from over the last 2 seasons.
#4 Mike Skinner Kodak Perfect Touch Pontiac
Mike Skinner returned to Morgan-McClure Motorsports off a season with one lone top 10. 2003 would be even worse, with a DNQ at Michigan leading to Skinners release, replaced with a carousel of drivers to finish out the year, after which Kodak would cut back their sponsorship to a small associate decal, and move to the #77.
#04 David Reutimann Kodak Perfect Touch Pontiac
David Reutimann attempted both New Hampshire and Indianapolis in a second Morgan-McClure car DNQ-ing for both races. The Perfect Touch car done here is an interpretation of his New Hampshire car. The number on this is inaccurate to the number used during the season, and is one inaccuracy I may change at a later date.
#0 Jack Sprague NetZero Pontiac
One of the ROTY contenders for 2003, long time Truck Series veteran Jack Sprague moved up to cup with the new Haas-CNC Racing team, bringing his sponsor NetZero along. Despite making all of the races in the early part of the season, Sprague would be let go after Chicagoland, with the team going through several drivers to end out the year.
#01 Jerry Nadeau U.S. ARMY Pontiac
Jerry Nadeau was brought in to drive the renumbered #01 car, and started the season off fairly strong until his season, and career came to a halt after a scary crash at Richmond, after which the team cycled through various drivers to fill the balance of the schedule.
#10 Johnny Benson Valvoline Pontiac
Johnny Benson returned to MB2 Motorsports for the 2003 season coming off of his first career victory. Unfortunately Benson couldn't exactly carry the momentum into 2003, and would be off to join the Truck series at seasons end.
#32 Ricky Craven Tide Pontiac
2003 was a year of highs and lows for Cal Wells and Ricky Craven, with them bringing home Pontiac's final victory in a barnburner finish at Darlington, but a rash of crashes and engine failures DNF's would put a dent on their season end points standings, despite several strong runs throughout the year.
