2004 MBNA America 400

2004 MBNA America 400

Race details
Race 28 of 36 in the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2004 MBNA America 400 program cover.
Date	September 26, 2004
Official name	36th Annual MBNA America 400
Location	Dover, Delaware, Dover International Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1 mi (1.6 km)
Distance	400 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Scheduled Distance	400 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Average speed	119.067 miles per hour (191.620 km/h)
Attendance	140,000
Pole position
Driver	Jeremy Mayfield	Evernham Motorsports
Time	22.584
Most laps led
Driver	Ryan Newman	Penske-Jasper Racing
Laps	325
Winner
No. 12	Ryan Newman	Penske-Jasper Racing
Television in the United States
Network	TNT
Announcers	Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 2004 MBNA America 400 was the 28th stock car race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, the second race of the 2004 Chase for the Nextel Cup, and the 36th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 26, 2004, before a crowd of 140,000 in Dover, Delaware at Dover International Speedway, a 1 mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Ryan Newman of Penske-Jasper Racing would dominate to win his 11th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win and his second and final win of the season.^[1] To fill out the podium, Mark Martin of Roush Racing and Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1 mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.

The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.

Entry list

Practice

First practice

The first practice session would occur on Friday, September 24, at 11:05 AM EST and would last for one hour and 55 minutes.^[2] Rusty Wallace of Penske-Jasper Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 22.536 and an average speed of 159.744 miles per hour (257.083 km/h).^[3]

Second practice

The second practice session would occur on Saturday, September 25, at 9:30 AM EST and would last for 45 minutes.^[2] Matt Kenseth of Roush Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.213 and an average speed of 155.085 miles per hour (249.585 km/h).^[4]

Third and final practice

The third and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, would occur on Saturday, September 25, at 11:10 AM EST and would last for 45 minutes.^[2] Ward Burton of Haas CNC Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.213 and an average speed of 155.085 miles per hour (249.585 km/h).^[5]

Qualifying

Qualifying would occur on Friday, September 24, at 2:40 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.^[6]

Jeremy Mayfield of Evernham Motorsports would win the pole, setting a time of 28.776 and an average speed of 132.360 miles per hour (213.013 km/h).^[7]

Terry Labonte would crash on his second lap, losing the backend of his car in Turn 1. However, he had made a lap that was able to get him in on time, and would still be able to qualify without a provisional.^[8]

Seven drivers would fail to qualify: Hermie Sadler, Carl Long, Stanton Barrett, Greg Sacks, Kenny Hendrick, Derrike Cope, and Mike Garvey.

Full qualifying results

Race results

References