In just the third race with the new car, the 3G team beat 17 other 1600s to finish FIRST in the MORE KARTEK 300 on May 31, 2003. Coming off another disapointing DNF at Buffalo Bills in April, the team battled through some testing misfortunes before this race that found them rebuilding the motor just 2 weeks prior to the race. Thankfully, all the problems were had before the race.

TJ and Kip started the race, 10th of 18 cars in class and almost immediately started picking up positions. By the first pit, they had picked up two spots and were 8th on the road. Mid-way through their stint, TJ and Kip had worked their way up to 2nd in class trailing 1644 by nearly 6 minutes. Near the end of lap 5, the duo reported the first problem of the day. With the thermometer reading over 100 in the shade, Kip reported that the oil temp was high, pushing 275 degrees at times. It was decided that they would push through and try to make it to the driver change, rather than making an extra pit stop to diagnose the temperature problems. Little did the team know at the time how rewarding this gamble would prove to be.

At the end of 150 miles, TJ and Kip were replaced by Tim and Kris. The car was fueled, and a quart of oil added in hopes that would solve the oil temp issues. During the 2 minute service the team dropped to third place. Tim was quickly on the road and kept the car in third for the next three laps as he battled slower lapped traffic. With the added oil, the temp dropped to a more acceptable 240 degrees. The team caught its first couple of breaks on lap 9. 1608, the second place car, dropped out with a broken axle and 1644, the car running first all day, had his slowest lap of the day as he had to replace a fan belt. Things were about to get really interesting.

Going out on lap 10, 1644 had just over 2 minutes physical lead on the 3G machine. On corrected time though 1644's - who started 5th in class - lead was less than 60 seconds. Through the last 30 mile loop, Tim stayed right around 2 minutes behind (physical) 1644. Coming into Pit C, 1644 had a flat rear tire. A slow tire change by his team at Pit C allowed Tim and Kris to close to within 12 seconds (physical), with a little under 7 miles to the finish.

Disaster nearly struck again for the often unlucky 3G team. About 3 miles from the finish, Tim got a front flat tire which slow his pursuit and allowed 1644 to pull away. Tim pushed as hard as he could with the tire and tube dragging along. Needing to finish with 1 minute 15 seconds of 1644 to get the win, Tim and Kris pulled in 54 seconds behind 1644 to win the 1600 class by a mere 21 seconds!!!