“I’ll Never Forget That Finish” – Ahead of the Darlington Race, NASCAR Fanatics Get Nostalgic Seeing One of the Closest Finishes Resurface

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series has made landfall at the Darlington Raceway. The venue is a truly iconic one as it has witnessed a number of great races in the past. This ranges between the NASCAR Cup Series, the Truck Series, and the Xfinity Series. However, there is one particular race in the Cup Series that will be remembered for a long time.

It is all thanks to a certain 2004 Cup Series champion, Kurt Busch.

NASCAR fans could not help but reminisce about the insane race finish

As it turns out, during the 2003 season, he was involved in an incredible finish at Darlington. In the dying stages of the race, he was battling with Ricky Craven for the race lead. To say that there was some bumping and barging would be a massive understatement.

Busch was leading for a while, with Craven hunting him down when the latter attempted a move. Both drivers were side-by-side and rubbing fenders all the way. In the end, Craven just about inched ahead to snatch the win from under Busch’s nose.

Needless to say, many fans were quickly sent back to nostalgic times. They all yearned for a time when things were simpler, and the racing was extremely exciting.

As per one fan, “Ahh back when racing was racing. No stages, no playoffs, no gimmick cautions, cars were awesome. High horsepower. Hard as hell to drive. Let’s go back to this NASCAR”.

“I remember this race. Some really good racing that day.”

Another fan confessed, “I’ll never forget that finish. Being a good New England girl, I was really pushing for Craven. I had just changed my baby daughter’s diaper & was holding her watching it. I was jumping while holding her. She’s 20 now & jokes that she always feels shaken when watching this.”

“A finish that practically saved a historic track”

Well, here is the race everyone is talking about.

Others also felt that this race was significant because it showed that even the driver in 2nd place was just as important. Some felt that this was a pure era, with no stage racing or artificial gimmicks to spice up the racing. This race and the last couple of laps were just about two drivers and their cars slugging it out.

READ MORE: THROWBACK: Ricky Craven Wins the Closest Ever NASCAR Race in History at the Darlington Raceway

What did the future have in store for Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven after that race

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Since that 2003 Cup Series race, Busch went on to clinch four Cup Series wins in that season for Roush Racing’s #97 car. A year later, Busch snagged the Cup Series title with three wins under his belt. Beyond that, he has bagged a grand total of 34 wins in his Cup Series career. Fast forward to last year, Kurt Busch announced that he is officially retiring from the NASCAR Cup Series.

As for Ricky Craven, the Darlington win was his second career win. Incidentally, it would also be his final win in his NASCAR Cup Series career. Craven’s first win came in 2001 at Martinsville and had not come close to a win since then until Darlington 2003. His final NASCAR Cup race came in 2004 at the Talladega Superspeedway, and he retired from the sport.

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