| 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season | |
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The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup season began on Saturday, February 7 and ended on Sunday, November 21. Kurt Busch with Roush Racing driving a Ford was the Nextel Cup champion.
This was the first season that NASCAR utilized the Chase for the Nextel Cup format that began with the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 19. Under the format rules, the top 10 drivers (and any additional drivers within 400 points of the leader) by the end of the 26th race would be eligible to compete in a final 10-race playoff to determine the NASCAR Nextel Cup champion. Following the 26th race, the eligible drivers would have their points reset to bring the drivers closer together in the standings, with only five points separating each driver. The season would then continue as normal, with the driver with the most points at the end of the season becoming the champion.
The NASCAR Manufacturers' Championship was won by Chevrolet when they captured 26 wins and 266 points. Ford finished in second place with 10 wins, and 224 points, while Dodge followed in third with 4 wins and 194 points.[1]
This was the first year for the new series sponsorship. Mobile phone provider Nextel assumed sponsorship of the NASCAR championship series from cigarette brand Winston.
The season was also marked by tragedy. On October 24, a charter airplane owned by Hendrick Motorsports crashed at Bull Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, near Martinsville Speedway. Ten people aboard the plane died, including four relatives of team owner Rick Hendrick, as well as Randy Dorton, Hendrick's chief engine builder. Jimmie Johnson, a Hendrick driver, had won the race, but the post-race victory ceremony was cancelled as word spread of the incident.
List of full-time teams for the year 2004.
The exhibition Budweiser Shootout was held on February 7 at Daytona International Speedway.
Top Ten Results
The Gatorade 125s qualifying for the Daytona 500 were held on February 12 at Daytona International Speedway.
Race One: Top Ten Results
Race Two: Top Ten Results
The Subway 400 was held on February 22 at North Carolina Speedway. This was the final NASCAR race held at Rockingham, which was dropped from the 2005 NASCAR schedule. Ryan Newman won the pole. During the race Carl Long went for a wild tumble down the back straight and Robby Gordon was turned into the wall and got on his side. The finish saw Kasey Kahne, in only his second NASCAR Nextel Cup start, finish second to Matt Kenseth by a mere .01 of a second. The race also became the beginning of the focus of the season-long field-filler controversy. A number of drivers were well off the pace and Joe Ruttman arrived at the track without a pit crew for a start and park. NASCAR added a mandate of a full pit crew in an attempt to stop the start and park.
NASCAR also announced, in light of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, at the drivers' meeting that a points penalty would also be assessed to anyone involved on a race team who uses inappropriate language. Previously, a fine had been assessed.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: none
The UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 was held on March 7 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kasey Kahne won the pole. The finish saw Matt Kenseth score his second win in a row, as Kasey Kahne once again finished second.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Larry Gunselman (#98)
The Golden Corral 500 was held on March 14 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ryan Newman won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Morgan Shepherd (#89)
The Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 was held on March 21 at Darlington Raceway. Kasey Kahne won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Stanton Barrett (#94)
The Food City 500 was held on March 28 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ryan Newman won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Morgan Shepherd (#89)
The Samsung/Radio Shack 500 was held on April 4 at Texas Motor Speedway. Bobby Labonte won the pole. Elliott Sadler edged out Kasey Kahne by a .028 of a second.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kyle Busch (#84), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Andy Hillenburg (#80), Andy Belmont (#02)
The Advance Auto Parts 500 was held on April 18 at Martinsville Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the pole. It was the final win for 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup champion Rusty Wallace.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kirk Shelmerdine (#72)
The Aaron's 499 was held on April 25 at Talladega Superspeedway. Ricky Rudd won the pole.
The race ended under controversy when Brian Vickers crashed with four laps to go. At the same time, Jeff Gordon was about to be passed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. As Gordon's car was still ahead of Earnhardt's, he kept the lead for the following caution. However, the race never was restarted, and Gordon won the race under the caution, prompting angered fans to throw beverage cups at his car while he celebrated his victory by doing doughnuts on the track.
The issue was very similar to the 2002 Indianapolis 500 controversial finish when Hélio Castroneves and Paul Tracy raced when the caution signal was given during Tracy's attempted pass of Castroneves.
This led to the implementation of the green-white-checker finish rule in order to avoid such situations in the future.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Larry Foyt (#14), Todd Bodine (#98), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72)
The Auto Club 500 was held on May 2 at California Speedway. Kasey Kahne won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: none
The Chevy American Revolution 400 was held on May 15 at Richmond International Raceway. Brian Vickers won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Stanton Barrett (#94), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72)
The Coca-Cola 600 was held on May 30 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Steve Park (#7), Todd Bodine (#37), Carl Long (#46), Stanton Barrett (#94), Geoffrey Bodine (#98), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Jeff Fultz (#78), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72), Andy Hillenburg (#80)
The MBNA America 400 "A Salute to Heroes" was held on June 6 at Dover International Speedway. Jeremy Mayfield won the pole. The race was decimated by a 20-car crash on lap 347 on a restart; one of the largest crashes ever outside of Daytona and Talladega. It started when Dave Blaney was hit by Michael Waltrip.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Hermie Sadler (#02), Todd Bodine (#37), Larry Gunselman (#98)
The Pocono 500 was held on June 13 at Pocono Raceway. Kasey Kahne won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Stanton Barrett (#94), Andy Hillenburg (#80)
The DHL 400 was held on June 20 at Michigan International Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the pole. Kasey Kahne got his fourth second place finish of the season.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kerry Earnhardt (#33), Carl Long (#00)
The Dodge/Save Mart 350 was held on June 27 at Infineon Raceway. Jeff Gordon won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Morgan Shepherd (#89)
The Pepsi 400 was held on July 3 at Daytona International Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the pole. 8 cars sported Coca-Cola C2 liveries, which were driven by John Andretti, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Ricky Rudd, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Bill Elliott and Jeff Burton, even though the race was sponsored by Pepsi.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Chad Blount (#37), Tony Raines (#23), Derrike Cope (#94), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72), Eric McClure (#04), Kenny Wallace (#00)
The Tropicana 400 was held on July 11 at Chicagoland Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the pole. This race is known for a pit road fight that occurred between crew members of Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart after Stewart got into the back of Kahne, causing his car to spin.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Todd Bodine (#98), Greg Sacks (#13), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72)
The Siemens 300 was held on July 25 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Ryan Newman won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kevin Lepage (#51), Kyle Busch (#84), Ryan McGlynn (#00)
The Pennsylvania 500 was held on August 1 at Pocono Raceway. Casey Mears won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kevin Lepage (#51), Andy Hillenburg (#37), A.J. Henriksen (#90)
The Brickyard 400 was held on August 8 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Casey Mears won the pole. This race marked the first time that the green-white-checker finish rule came in to play. The race was extended after Brian Vickers crashed on lap 158. However, when Ricky Rudd crashed on lap 160, the race still ended under caution. Bill Elliott got his last top ten with Evernham Motorsports, drivng the #91 Visteon car.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kevin Lepage (#51), Hermie Sadler (#02), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Greg Sacks (#13), Andy Hillenburg (#37), Geoffrey Bodine (#34), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72)
The Sirius at The Glen was held on August 15 at Watkins Glen International. Jimmie Johnson won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Scott Pruett (#39), Boris Said (#36), Klaus Graf (#59), Stanton Barrett (#52)
The GFS Marketplace 400 was held on August 22 at Michigan International Speedway. Jimmie Johnson won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kevin Lepage (#51), Kerry Earnhardt (#33), Kyle Busch (#84), Kenny Wallace (#00), J. J. Yeley (#11), Mike Wallace (#35), Stan Boyd (#79), Stanton Barrett (#37)
The Sharpie 500 was held on August 28 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Hermie Sadler (#02), Stanton Barrett (#52), Brad Teague (#72), Tony Ave (#80), Ryan McGlynn (#00)
The Pop Secret 500 was held on September 5 at California Speedway. Brian Vickers won the pole. Portions of this race were filmed for the movie Herbie Fully Loaded. Kasey Kahne got his fifth second-place finish of the season.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Morgan Shepherd (#89), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72), Hermie Sadler (#02), Kevin Lepage (#37), Mike Wallace (#35)
The Chevy Rock and Roll 400 was held on September 11 at Richmond International Raceway. Ryan Newman won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Johnny Sauter (#33), Tony Raines (#51), Kevin Lepage (#37), Greg Sacks (#13), Hermie Sadler (#02), Brad Teague (#92), Ryan McGlynn (#00), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Carl Long (#80)
The Sylvania 300 was held on September 19 at New Hampshire International Speedway. Despite the rain washes out the Qualfying, the starting lineup is set by owner's points and Jeff Gordon will start in the front row. This was the first race of the new 10 race playoff format.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kevin Lepage (#37), Martin Truex, Jr. (#1), Johnny Sauter (#33), Greg Sacks (#13), Ryan McGlynn (#00), Carl Long (#46), Tony Raines (#92), Stan Boyd (#79)
The MBNA America 400 was held on September 26 at Dover International Speedway. Jeremy Mayfield won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Hermie Sadler (#02), Derrike Cope (#80), Greg Sacks (#13), Carl Long (#00), Kenny Hendrick (#35), Stanton Barrett (#92), Mike Garvey (#75)
The EA Sports 500 was held on October 3 at Talladega Superspeedway. Joe Nemechek won the pole. At the finish line, on the last lap Elliott Sadler flipped over just as he had done in the same race in 2003. He was uninjured, though.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kevin Lepage (#37), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72), Carl Long (#80)
The Banquet 400 Presented by ConAgra Foods was held on October 10 at Kansas Speedway. Joe Nemechek won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Mike Garvey (#75), Mike Wallace (#35), Carl Long (#00), Morgan Shepherd (#89)
The UAW-GM Quality 500 was held on October 16 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Ryan Newman won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kenny Wallace (#00), Derrike Cope (#94), Mike Wallace (#35), Carl Long (#00), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72), Larry Foyt (#59), Hermie Sadler (#02), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Geoffrey Bodine (#98)
The Subway 500 was held on October 24 at Martinsville Speedway. Ryan Newman won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Carl Long (#46), Brad Teague (#94), Greg Sacks (#13), Ryan McGlynn (#00), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Mike Garvey (#75), Klaus Graf (#59)
The Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500 was held on October 31 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ryan Newman won the pole.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Scott Riggs (#10), Scott Wimmer (#22), Kerry Earnhardt (#33), Johnny Sauter (#09), Hermie Sadler (#02), Mike Wallace (#4), Derrike Cope (#94), Randy LaJoie (#98), Greg Sacks (#13), Larry Foyt (#59), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Andy Belmont (#80), Larry Hollenbeck (#62), Kenny Wallace (#00)
The Checker Auto Parts 500 was held on November 7 at Phoenix International Raceway. Ryan Newman won the pole. Race extended to 315 laps / 315 miles due to green-white-checker finish. The race at Phoenix was very cloudy and a short chance of rain in a cold weather.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Mike Garvey (#75), Tony Raines (#51), Stanton Barrett (#94), Mario Gosselin (#80), Ryan McGlynn (#00), Geoffrey Bodine (#93), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72)
The Mountain Dew Southern 500 was held on November 14 at Darlington Raceway. Qualifying was cancelled due to rain and the starting lineup was set by owner's points. Kurt Busch was the points leader and sat on the front row. Jimmie Johnson completes a sweep at Darlington while Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman was eliminated in the contention by greater than 156 points.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kevin Lepage (#37), John Andretti (#14), Derrike Cope (#94), Carl Long (#00), Travis Kvapil (#06)
The Ford 400 was held on November 21 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kurt Busch won the pole. This race was known as the deciding race of the 2004 Nextel Cup champion, in which five driver are still mathematically alive for the championship including the points leader, Kurt Busch with 18 points margin ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who earned the most wins in 2004, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and veteran Mark Martin. Those five chasers are 82 points margin for the final race. At the start of the lap 1, Hermie Sadler got turned sideways while Mike Bliss gets spun around but Johnson survived the wreck in the following caution. On Lap 93, championship leader Kurt Busch lost a tire when he enters the pit road, he lost the championship lead to Jeff Gordon and Busch took back the points leader. With 3 laps to go, race leader Ryan Newman makes some contact and lost the right side of the tire, the caution is out and set a Green-white-checker finish at Homestead. It was the 2nd most caution in any NASCAR races (The 2005 Coca-Cola 600 had 22 cautions, which set the most cautions). At the restart, Greg Biffle holds off Tony Stewart for the race leader and took the checkered flag to win the Ford 400, while Johnson and Gordon finished 2nd and 3rd. Kurt Busch wins the 2004 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Championship with 8 points ahead of Johnson, the closest margin in the NASCAR history until the end of the 2010 season.
Top Ten Results
Failed to qualify: Kyle Petty (#45), Johnny Sauter (#09), Mike Garvey (#75), Tony Raines (#51), Kevin Lepage (#37), Todd Bodine (#50), Larry Foyt (#70), J. J. Yeley (#11), Randy LaJoie (#98), Morgan Shepherd (#89), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72), Carl Long (#80), Geoffrey Bodine (#93)
The Rookie of the year battle in 2004 marked the first time since 1998 that a rookie driver did not visit victory lane. The winner of the battle was dark horse candidate Kasey Kahne, who went from a 41st place finish at the season opening Daytona 500, to being narrowly defeated by Matt Kenseth the next week at Rockingham, and he never looked back, grabbing fourteen top ten finishes and thirteen top-five finishes, as well as a couple of pole positions. Pre-season favorites Scott Wimmer and Brian Vickers struggled, although Wimmer placed third in the Daytona 500, but neither made competitive strides during the season. Brendan Gaughan was a pleasant surprise, posting four top tens and finishing runner-up to Kahne for the award, while Scott Riggs only had two-top ten finishes. The only other rookie, Johnny Sauter, was released from his ride mid-season and never made a challenge for the top honor.
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