2004 EA Sports 500

The 2004 EA Sports 500 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race that took place on October 3, 2004, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. It was the 29th race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the third in the ten-race, season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup.

2004 EA Sports 500

Race details
Race 29 of 36 in the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
2004 EA Sports 500 program cover, based on the cover for the NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup video game
Date	October 3, 2004 (2004-10-03)
Official name	EA Sports 500
Location	Talladega, Alabama, U.S.
Course	Talladega Superspeedway 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	190 laps, 505.4 mi (813.2 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.833 km)
Average speed	156.929 miles per hour (252.553 km/h)
Attendance	150,000
Pole position
Driver	Joe Nemechek	MB2 Motorsports
Time	50.202 sec (190.749 mph, 306.981 km/h)
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Laps	78
Winner
No. 8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Bill Weber, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Jr.

Results

Source:
Fin	St	#	Driver	Sponsor	Make	Laps	Led	Status	Pts
1	10	8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Budweiser	Chevy	188	78	running	165
2	15	29	Kevin Harvick	GM Goodwrench	Chevy	188	3	running	175
3	3	88	Dale Jarrett	UPS	Ford	188	0	running	165
4	26	77	Brendan Gaughan	Kodak, Jasper Engines & Transmissions	Dodge	188	7	running	165
5	8	97	Kurt Busch	Sharpie, Irwin Industrial Tools	Ford	188	4	running	160
6	30	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot	Chevy	188	4	running	155
7	1	01	Joe Nemechek	U.S. Army	Chevy	188	1	running	151
8	34	41	Casey Mears	Target	Dodge	188	5	running	147
9	36	31	Robby Gordon	Cingular Wireless	Chevy	188	0	running	138
10	28	0	Ward Burton	NetZero Hi Speed, Shark Tale	Chevy	188	1	running	139
11	4	10	Scott Riggs	Zerex, Valvoline	Chevy	188	1	running	135
12	2	21	Ricky Rudd	Motorcraft, Rent-A-Center	Ford	188	0	running	127
13	13	30	Jeff Burton	America Online	Chevy	188	6	running	129
14	7	17	Matt Kenseth	Smirnoff Ice, DeWalt	Ford	188	0	running	121
15	17	6	Mark Martin	Viagra	Ford	188	0	running	118
16	19	12	Ryan Newman	Alltel	Dodge	188	1	running	120
17	24	42	Jamie McMurray	Texaco, Havoline	Dodge	188	0	running	112
18	41	09	Mike Wallace	Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts	Dodge	188	4	running	114
19	5	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont	Chevy	188	12	running	111
20	37	49	Ken Schrader	Schwan's Home Service	Dodge	188	1	running	108
21	38	5	Terry Labonte	Kellogg's, Delphi	Chevy	188	0	running	100
22	6	38	Elliott Sadler	M&M's	Ford	188	1	running	102
23	11	02	Hermie Sadler	East Tennessee Trailers	Ford	188	1	running	99
24	22	33	Kerry Earnhardt	Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats	Chevy	188	0	running	91
25	14	15	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts	Chevy	188	7	running	93
26	33	2	Rusty Wallace	Miller Lite	Dodge	188	15	running	90
27	23	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge Dealers, UAW	Dodge	187	0	running	57
28	12	16	Greg Biffle	National Guard, Subway	Ford	187	0	running	54
29	35	45	Kyle Petty	Georgia-Pacific, Brawny	Dodge	187	0	running	76
30	20	11	Ricky Craven	Old Spice	Chevy	187	0	running	73
31	29	22	Scott Wimmer	Caterpillar	Dodge	187	0	running	70
32	43	1	Kenny Wallace	Aaron's	Chevy	185	0	running	67
33	42	98	Larry Gunselman	Mach One Inc.	Ford	183	0	running	64
34	32	40	Sterling Marlin	Coors Light, Rascal Flatts	Dodge	178	0	crash	61
35	27	18	Bobby Labonte	Interstate Batteries	Chevy	178	0	crash	58
36	21	25	Brian Vickers	GMAC Financial Services	Chevy	164	0	overheating	55
37	16	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's	Chevy	157	35	engine	57
38	9	19	Jeremy Mayfield	Dodge Dealers, UAW	Dodge	147	0	crash	49
39	18	43	Jeff Green	Cheerios, Betty Crocker	Dodge	142	0	crash	46
40	40	4	Jimmy Spencer	Lucas Oil	Chevy	142	1	crash	48
41	31	06	Chad Blount	Mobil 1	Dodge	131	0	engine	40
42	25	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Racing	Ford	122	0	engine	37
43	39	32	Bobby Hamilton Jr.	Tide	Chevy	120	0	crash	34
Failed or qualify or driver change
POS	NAME	NBR	SPONSOR	OWNER	CAR
44	Kevin Lepage	37	Carter's Royal Dispos-all	John Carter	Dodge
45	Kirk Shelmerdine	72	Vote for Bush	Kirk Shelmerdine	Ford
46	Carl Long	80	Commercial Truck & Trailer	Stan Hover	Ford
DC	Dave Blaney	99	Roush Racing	Jack Roush	Ford

Profanity controversy

Following the race, Earnhardt Jr. was asked about the importance of his then-fifth win at Talladega, to which he replied, "It don't mean shit right now. Daddy's won here 10 times." He was fined $10,000 and docked 25 driver points for the violation; without the penalty, he would have still finished fifth in that year's championship, finishing only six points behind Mark Martin for fourth.

Earlier in the year, NASCAR president Mike Helton warned drivers to not use profanity during radio and television interviews (in light of the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy). A similar penalty was delivered to Johnny Sauter after he swore during a radio interview that occurred after a Busch Series race at Las Vegas in March, as well as Ron Hornaday Jr. for comments following a Busch race at Dover in June.