| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 8 of 36 in the2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series | |||
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| Date | April 18, 2004 (2004-04-18) | ||
| Location | Martinsville Speedway,Martinsville, Virginia | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.526 miles (0.847 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km) | ||
| Average speed | 68.169 mph (109.707 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 91,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 20.252 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 180 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske-Jasper Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip,Larry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen ratings |
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The2004 Advance Auto Parts 500 was the eighthstock car race of the2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. It was held on April 18, 2004, atMartinsville Speedway inMartinsville, Virginia before a crowd of 91,000. The 500-lap race was won byRusty Wallace ofPenske-Jasper Racing after starting 17th; it was Wallace's 55th and final career victory.Bobby Labonte finished 2nd andDale Earnhardt Jr. came in 3rd.[2]
Martinsville Speedway is one of fiveshort tracks to holdNASCAR races; the others areRichmond International Raceway,Dover International Speedway,Bristol Motor Speedway, andPhoenix International Raceway.[4] The standard track at Martinsville Speedway is a four-turn, 0.526-mile (0.847 km)oval. Its turns arebanked at elevendegrees, and neither the front stretch (the location of the finish line) nor the backstretch is banked.[5]
Before the raceKurt Busch led theDrivers' Championship with 1,032 points, nineteen ahead ofMatt Kenseth in second, and a further sixteen in front ofDale Earnhardt Jr. in third.Tony Stewart was fourth on 946 points, andElliott Sadler was a further four points behind in fifth.[6]Ford was leading theManufacturers' Championship with 48 points;Chevrolet was second with 43 points, andDodge was a close third on 42.[7]Jeff Gordon was the race's defending champion.[8]
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race: one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, and the second and final sessions lasted 45 minutes.[1] Jeff Gordon was fastest in the first practice session with a lap of 20.325 seconds;Ryan Newman was second andJimmie Johnson third.Kasey Kahne took the fourth position with a time of 20.371, and Busch placed fifth.Robby Gordon, Earnhardt,Jamie McMurray,Ricky Rudd, and Sadler rounded out the session's top-ten drivers.[9]
Although forty-four drivers were entered in the qualifier; according to NASCAR'squalifying procedure, only forty-three could race.[1] Jeff Gordon clinched his third consecutivepole position at Martinsville Speedway with a time of 20.252 seconds. He was joined on the front row of thegrid by McMurray. Newman qualified third, Earnhardt fourth, andKevin Harvick fifth.Ward Burton, Busch, Johnson. Sadler andJeremy Mayfield rounded out the top ten qualifiers. The driver that failed to qualify wasTodd Bodine. After the qualifier, Gordon said, "We came with the basic setup that we sat on the pole here the last time with and we had to make some adjustments. We tweaked it and at the end of practice, I felt like we hit on some things. I took off and the car did everything I really wanted it to do. I couldn't ask for much more than I got out of the car."[10]
On Saturday morning,Mark Martin set the fastest time in the second practice session with a lap of 20.561 seconds, ahead of Harvick andTerry Labonte.Ricky Craven (with a time of 20.599) was fourth-fastest; Mayfield was fifth and McMurray sixth. Jeff Gordon,Scott Riggs, Johnson, and Robby Gordon followed in the top ten.[11] Later that day, Earnhardt paced the final practice session with a time of 20.580; Johnson was second and Busch third. Jeff Gordon was fourth-fastest, ahead of Newman and Harvick. Terry Labonte was seventh-fastest, Robby Gordon eighth,Jeff Green ninth, and Craven tenth.[12]Jeff Burton was afflicted with a problem with his brakes in the closing stages of the session; he spun back into the wall and heavily damaged his car's left side. Burton switched to a back-up car.[1]
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| Previous race: 2004 Samsung/Radio Shack 500 | Nextel Cup Series 2004 season | Next race: 2004 Aaron's 499 |
