The 2004 Chevy American Revolution 400 was the 11th stock car race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the 50th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, May 15, 2004, before a crowd of 115,000 in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. would cruise on the final restart to win his 12th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win and his third win of the season.[1] To fill out the podium, Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports and Bobby Labonte of Joe Gibbs Racing would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 36 in the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series | |||
 The 2004 Chevy American Revolution 400 program cover. | |||
| Date | May 15, 2004 | ||
| Official name | 50th Annual Chevy American Revolution 400 | ||
| Location | Richmond, Virginia, Richmond International Raceway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.75 mi (1.21 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Average speed | 98.253 miles per hour (158.123 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 115,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 20.772 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Laps | 115 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | FX | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds, Darrell Waltrip | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
edit
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted an IndyCar Series race and two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list
editPractice
editFirst practice
editThe first practice session was held on Friday, May 14, at 11:20 AM EST, and would last for two hours.[2] Ryan Newman of Penske-Jasper Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 20.367 and an average speed of 132.567 miles per hour (213.346 km/h).[3]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Penske-Jasper Racing | Dodge | 20.367 | 132.567 |
| 2 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Evernham Motorsports | Dodge | 20.492 | 131.759 |
| 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 20.542 | 131.438 |
| Full first practice results | ||||||
Second and final practice
editThe second and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, May 14, at 6:00 PM EST, and would last for one hour and 15 minutes.[2] Ryan Newman of Penske-Jasper Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 20.989 and an average speed of 128.639 miles per hour (207.024 km/h).[4]
| Pos. | # | Driver | Team | Make | Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Penske-Jasper Racing | Dodge | 20.989 | 128.639 |
| 2 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Evernham Motorsports | Dodge | 21.003 | 128.553 |
| 3 | 97 | Kurt Busch | Roush Racing | Ford | 21.141 | 127.714 |
| Full second practice results | ||||||
Qualifying
editQualifying was held on Friday, May 14, 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.[2] 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.[5]
Brian Vickers of Hendrick Motorsports would win the pole, setting a time of 20.772 and an average speed of 129.983 miles per hour (209.187 km/h). At the time, Vickers was the youngest ever pole-sitter.[6]
Two drivers would crash during qualifying. First, Ricky Craven would slam the wall on his second lap, damaging the rear end of his car. Then, Kasey Kahne would crash on his first lap. While both had qualified, they would be forced to start at the rear for the race for switching to a backup car. In addition, the #9 team was forced to use a provisional.[7]
Two drivers would fail to qualify: Stanton Barrett and Kirk Shelmerdine.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
editReferences
edit- ^ "Earnhardt makes all the right calls in win". www.spokesman.com. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ a b c "Jayski's Silly Season Site - 2004 Richmond 1 Race Info / Rundown Page". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on 2005-02-04. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ "NASCAR.com - Races - 2004 Richmond 1 Practice 1 Results". NASCAR.com. Archived from the original on 2005-03-07. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ "NASCAR.com - Races - 2004 Richmond 1 Practice 2 Results". NASCAR.com. Archived from the original on 2005-03-07. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ "Jayski's Silly Season Site - Provisional Land Page". 2005-02-05. Archived from the original on 5 February 2005. Retrieved 2021-12-03.
- ^ "Vickers wins first NASCAR pole at Chevy American Revolution 400". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
- ^ "2004 Chevy American Revolution 400 Qualifying - Kasey Kahne and Ricky Craven Crash". YouTube. 2011-06-28. Archived from the original on 2022-01-06. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "2004 Chevy American Revolution 400 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2022-01-06.