Iconic Manufacturers to Tenured Sponsors – 21 Years Ago NASCAR Left Behind Its Long

Every sport has a massive turning point in its history. For NASCAR, there have been many such points, but the impact of the 2003 season is still causing ripples today. The 2024 Cup Series champion, Joey Logano, had entered the postseason only 15th in points and then finished in 11th. He also scripted history as the champion with the fewest top-ten finishes or 13, and also the lowest average finish – 17.1. This would not be remotely possible in the past.

These statistics would likely be a nightmare for the people watching NASCAR back in 2003. However, it was not just a full-point season that changed back then. Ranging from iconic manufacturer Pontiac to the Winston brand retiring from the sport, there was a big upheaval.

A range of legacies ended for NASCAR Stock car racing has changed by leaps and bounds since its first inception in the early 20th century. The same goes for NASCAR – but if one thing has always defined the sport, it is nostalgia. And the 2003 season lost a few important assets that still bring a lump in the throats of nostalgic fans. For one thing, the full-points season was scrapped. Matt Kenseth won only one race that year and accumulated enough points that he declared himself the champion long before the season ended. Kenseth "just rode around" during the season finale at Homestead Speedway and finished last.

So in 2004, NASCAR's CEO Brian France Jr introduced 'The Chase' format to keep the excitement brimming till the season finale. But that was not the only change. Winston and RJ Reynolds ended their 33-year sponsorship of the Cup Series. RJR's departure majorly affected how teams qualified for the Cup championship. A new company took over as NASCAR's primary entitlement sponsor – Nextel. Besides, 16-time Most Popular Driver Bill Elliott left his fans scarred as he wound up his last race as a full-time driver. The 44-time Cup race-winner and the 1988 series champion still races on dirt tracks.

Then a legendary car manufacturer also wrapped up its role on NASCAR racetracks. Pontiac won in the series 154 times from 1957-2003, with its history dotted with several memorable finishes. This nameplate produced cars of wonder – the GTO, Firebird, Grand Prix, and the G8. Legends like Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Junior Johnson, Rusty Wallace , Tony Stewart, and Richard Petty powered these cars to victories during their racing primes. In 1990, Wallace clashed with Dale Earnhardt Sr. in a black Grand Prix. "That black Grand Prix was a bad fast hot rod," Wallace recalled in 2009. "It had that sloped nose with that black and gold paint scheme. It looked fast just sitting there."

The Pontiac's most memorable run was probably in 2003, the year which still makes NASCAR fans emotional.

Definition of raw speed Yes, that is what the Pontiac car represented in NASCAR circles. During the 1960 Daytona 500, Junior Johnson could match his rivals' pace in a Chevrolet but with little effort of his own. "Those damn Pontiacs were so fast it was hardly worth trying to run against them," Junior Johnson recalled in 2009. With 10 laps to go, however, Bobby Johns's Pontiac wrecked out due to a blown windshield, and Johnson won the race. Then during the 1984 Firecracker 400 in Daytona, Richard Petty clinched his 200th Cup win in his No. 43 Pontiac in front of the President. The car's raw speed did not dim one bit during its last season.

In the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington Raceway, Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch entertained fans to the core. Busch's Ford was beating and banging with the bright orange Tide-sponsored Pontiac of Ricky Craven. The latter was recovering from a series of concussions. Despite his ailing health and the raw fender-banging, the nose of Craven's car crossed the finish line .002 seconds ahead of Busch's Ford. "It is hard to think that our win that day will be the last ever for Pontiac," Craven said in 2009. "There are brand names in America that you just assume will always be around. I hoped one day it would make it back to the racetrack. Shouldn't we be making a bigger deal out of this?"

Accordingly, fans and drivers are making a big deal about another thing that changed in 2003. They want the old points format back – although NASCAR has shown no hope in that regard, a few tweaks may be along the way.