2004 Mountain Dew Southern 500

Race details[1]
Race 35 of 36 in the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
2004 Southern 500 program cover
Date	November 14, 2004 (2004-November-14)
Official name	Mountain Dew Southern 500
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington County, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.800 km)
Weather	Temperatures hovering around 44.8 °F (7.1 °C); wind speeds up to 13.8 miles per hour (22.2 km/h)[2]
Average speed	125.044 miles per hour (201.239 km/h)
Attendance	70,000
Pole position
Driver	Kurt Busch	Roush Racing
Time	no time trials
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	155
Winner
No. 48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons and Wally Dallenbach Jr.

The 2004 Mountain Dew Southern 500, the 55th running of the event was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on November 14, 2004, at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested at 367 laps on the 1.366 miles (2.198 km) speedway, it was the thirty-fifth race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.

For the 2004 season, a shuffling of the NASCAR schedule saw the race move to November. Track management believed the November date would allow for cooler, more comfortable weather for fans, who had increasingly voiced concerns about the hot, humid, weather. In addition, it meant the race would be part of the new Chase for the Nextel Cup playoff date. Rockingham lost its fall date to Fontana, and the Pop Secret 500 was moved to the prestigious Labor Day weekend date. The track also installed lights.

Qualifying was canceled 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 of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.

Background

Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

The track, Darlington Raceway, is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval.^[3] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.^[3] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees.^[3] Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.^[3]

Top 10 results

Race statistics

• Time of race: 4:00:33
• Average Speed: 125.044 miles per hour (201.239 km/h)
• Pole Speed: no time trials
• Cautions: 8 for 47 laps
• Margin of Victory: 0.959
• Lead changes: 27
• Percent of race run under caution: 12.8%
• Average green flag run: 35.6 laps