The 2004 Sharpie 500 was the 24th stock car race of the

2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series file:KaseyKahneBristolAugust2007 (cropped).jpg, Kasey Kahne, the 2004 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. file:Nascarphx09.jpg, Chevrolet won the Manufacturer's championship with 22 wins. The 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 56th season of Sprint ...

season and the 44th iteration of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

. The race was held on Saturday, August 28, 2004, before a crowd of 160,000 in

Bristol, Tennessee Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 27,147 at the 2020 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundary be ...

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end,

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...

of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. would pull away in the late stages of the race to win his 13th career

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

win and his fourth win of the season. To fill out the podium, Ryan Newman of

Penske-Jasper Racing Jasper Motorsports was a NASCAR Nextel Cup team. It was owned by a variety of owners including D.K. Ulrich and Doug Bawel. 1970s–1980s The car started in 1971 Maryville 200, 1971 at what turned out to be the only Winston Cup race at Smoky Mo ...

and

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has won seven Cup ch ...

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...

would finish second and third, respectively. Earnhardt Jr. would coin a slogan during a post-race interview used to advertise the

: "It's Bristol, baby!"

Background

The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

short track venue located in

. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.

Entry list

*Teague would take over Shelmerdine's seat. As a result, the #92 team withdrew.

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held on Friday, August 27, at 11:20 AM EST, and would last for 2 hours.

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...

would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 14.939 and an average speed of .

Second practice

The second practice session was held on Friday, August 27, at 4:50 PM EST, and would last for 45 minutes. Jeff Green of

Petty Enterprises Petty Enterprises (formerly Lee Petty Engineering) was a NASCAR racing team based in Level Cross, Randolph County, North Carolina, Level Cross, North Carolina, United States, USA. It was founded by Lee Petty with his two sons Richard Petty and Ma ...

would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 15.485 and an average speed of .

Third and final practice

The third and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, August 27, at 6:10 PM EST, and would last for 45 minutes. Jeff Green of

would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 15.613 and an average speed of .

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, August 27, at 3:10 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. Positions 1-38 would be decided on time, while positions 39-43 would be based on provisionals. Four spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The fifth is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champ needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.

would win the pole, setting a time of 14.930 and an average speed of . Numerous crashes would occur in the session. First,

Tony Ave Tony Ave (born 10 November 1968) is an American race car driver born in Hurley, Wisconsin, USA. He competed in the Grand-Am Series from 2000 until 2002, in Formula Atlantic from 1996 until 2001, and in the Trans-Am Series since 2009. He also made ...

would spin on his second lap, and while he had made a lap, the lap was not good enough to get Ave into the race. Then,

Brendan Gaughan William Brendan Gaughan (born July 10, 1975) is an American former professional racing driver who has competed in off-road racing, off-road and stock car racing, stock cars. He is the grandson of Las Vegas Valley, Vegas gaming pioneer Jackie Gaug ...

would collide with the wall on his second lap. Finally,

Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASC ...

would spin on his second lap and collide with the turn 1 wall while finishing his lap. While the aforementioned two had crashed, they would both have laps good enough to make it into the race, although with the caveat that they would have to start at the rear for the race. Five drivers would fail to qualify:

Hermie Sadler Herman Marion Sadler III (born April 24, 1969) is an American professional stock car racing driver and broadcaster, businessman and politician. He competed in NASCAR as a driver from 1992 to 2019. In the late 2000s and the 2010s, he scaled back ...

Stanton Barrett Stanton Thomas Barrett (born December 1, 1972) is an American professional stock car racing driver and Cinema of the United States, Hollywood stunt double, stuntman who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Mike Harmon Racing, WRL ...

Brad Teague Brad Teague (born December 9, 1947) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is a veteran of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series. Personal life Teague was born in Buladean, North Caroli ...

, and Ryan McGlynn.

Full qualifying results

Race results

References

{{2004 Nextel Cup 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway August 2004 sports events in the United States 2004 in sports in Tennessee