2004 Ford 400

Race details
Race 36 of 36 in the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
2004 Ford 400 program cover
Date	November 21, 2004 (2004-11-21)
Location	Homestead Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.5 miles (2.414 km)
Distance	271 laps, 406.5 mi (654.198 km)
Scheduled distance	267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km)
Weather	Temperatures averaging about 73.3 °F (22.9 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 10.2 miles per hour (16.4 km/h)[1]
Average speed	105.623 miles per hour (169.984 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kurt Busch	Roush Racing
Time	30.114
Most laps led
Driver	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing
Laps	117
Winner
No. 16	Greg Biffle	Roush Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NBC
Announcers	Allen Bestwick, Benny Parsons, & Wally Dallenbach Jr.

The 2004 Ford 400 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on November 21, 2004 at Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. Contested over 271 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) speedway, it was the 36th and final race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. Greg Biffle won the race and Kurt Busch won the championship, both driving for Roush Racing. This was the last race without Kyle Busch until the 2011 AAA Texas 500.

Background

Homestead–Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, including NASCAR, the IndyCar Series, the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the Championship Cup Series.

From 2002 to 2019, Homestead–Miami Speedway hosted the final race of the season in all three of NASCAR's series: the Sprint Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Ford Motor Company sponsors all three of the season-ending races; the races have the names Ford 400, Ford 300 and Ford 200, respectively, and the weekend is marketed as Ford Championship Weekend.

Entry list

Qualifying

Qualifying took place on November 19, 2004. During Casey Mears' warmup lap, Mears would lose the back end of his car in the middle of Turns 3 and 4, slamming the back end into the wall and destroying the car. Mears would not be able to complete a lap in qualifying, so the No. 41 team took a provisional because the team was in the Top 35 in owner's points. However, they would have to start in the back because they had to bring in a backup car.^[3] The No. 93 of Geoff Bodine would also not run qualifying laps, this time due to unspecified reasons and would withdraw from the event.

Race recap

This race was known as the deciding race of the 2004 Nextel Cup championship and the inaugural Chase for the Nextel Cup, in which five drivers were still mathematically alive for the championship. Points leader Kurt Busch came into the event with an 18-point margin ahead of Jimmie Johnson, who earned the most wins in 2004, while Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and veteran Mark Martin were also in contention, with 82 points covering the quintet. At the start of lap 1, Hermie Sadler got turned sideways while Mike Bliss was spun around but Johnson survived the wreck in the following caution. On lap 93, Busch told his crew on the radio that he had a flat right front tire. As Busch came out of the access road off of turn 4 leading to the pits, he lost the right front wheel. As the wheel came off, he almost hit the yellow barrels on the entrance of pit road; the caution came out as the wheel rolled down the front stretch. With 3 laps to go, race leader Ryan Newman made some contact and lost the right side of his tire, causing a caution and subsequent green–white–checkered finish. At the restart, Greg Biffle held off the hard charging Hendrick teams of Johnson and Gordon for the race lead and took the checkered flag to win the race. Having finished in fifth place, Busch won the championship by just eight points over Johnson – the closest championship-winning margin at the time.^[d]

Race results

Race statistics

• Time of race: 3:50:55
• Average speed: 105.623 miles per hour (169.984 km/h)
• Pole speed: 179.319 miles per hour (288.586 km/h)
• Cautions: 14 for 79 laps
• Margin of victory: 0.342 seconds
• Lead changes: 14
• Percent of race run under caution: 29.2%
• Average green flag run: 12.8 laps

Notes

References