The 2003 Daytona 500 was a Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup) event held at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2003. It was the season opener. Michael Waltrip dominated the event, leading 69 of the 108 laps before rain quickly shortened the Great American Race. Waltrip held the lead coming to the caution over Kurt Busch and that's the way it would be when the race was called. Stats