2003 Mountain Dew Southern 500

The 2003 Mountain Dew Southern 500 was the 25th race of the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Burton won the race for Roush Racing, capturing his second victory in three races. Ryan Newman captured his second pole award of the season with a 28.802-second lap in the race.

The race was drastically different compared to the 400-mile Winston Cup race at the South Carolina speedway earlier in the season. With a new tire compound, the tire wear greatly changed the outcome of the Southern 500. Tires wore out drastically throughout a fuel window and every incident was caused by drivers on fresher tires making contact with the much slower cars left out on old rubber.

Dale Jarrett dominated the race thanks to an alternate tire strategy that saw him unlap himself and take the lead from Sterling Marlin in the same pit cycle. Unfortunately for him, he was caught by Jeff Burton in the final ten laps and was unable to secure his first victory of the season.

The race ended under caution, being the third race of the season to do so. Burton beat Jarrett back to the caution as they hit three laps remaining.