<DJC> 2004 Race Report

Race Information
Event: Auto Club 500
Date: May 2, 2004	Track: California Speedway
Started: 10th	Finished: 19th
Status: Running	Laps Completed: 249 of 250
Points Pos. Before/After Race: 1st/1st	Points Earned: 106 (w/ 0 bonus)
Money Earned: $119,203
Summary and Related News
Jeff Gordon wins at California, Budweiser team 19th_5/2/04 Dale Jr. Struggles to a Top-20 Finish Jeff Gordon won for the second consecutive week, taking the checkered flag at the end of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. Jimmie Johnson finished second with Ryan Newman third. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team made their eighth top-10 start in the first 10 races of the season, but struggled with the race car once the green flag fell on a sweltering afternoon in the California desert. Despite the 19th place finish (only the second finish worse than 11th place this season), Dale Jr. maintained his position at the top of the NEXTEL Cup point standings, leading Johnson and Gordon. This is the fifth week Dale Jr. has led the point standings this year. Key Moments: Starting tenth, the No. 8 car dropped to 14th place by the second lap, and it was an all-day struggle from that moment on. Dale Jr. thrashed for the first 25 laps with a car that refused to turn through the middle of a corner, then suffered with the opposite handling characteristics after the pit crew made major changes during early pit stops. The car suffered damage to the left-front corner when Kurt Busch and Rusty Wallace crashed in front of Dale Jr. A fender brace from one of the crashed cars pierced the nose of the No. 8 car like an arrow, but did only minor damage that was repaired during a subsequent pit stop. Dale Jr. Quotes: (Exhausted): “I feel like I’ve been in a fight today. I fought the car every lap, and with the heat, it wore me out. It was like it was never the same from one corner to the next. It wasn’t until the last 50 laps that we had a car that could pass anybody. It was like we were never able to get the handling right and the car was skating across the top of the track, in a four-wheel slide the whole time.” Best Radio Conversations: As the field began to pull away from pit lane to start the pace laps (and while optimism still reigned.) Dale Jr.: “Ohhh… it’s nice and warm in here… I'm all warm… about ready to take a nap in here.” Lap 22, during the first caution, after falling from 10th to 25th in the opening green-flag run: Dale Jr.: “I’m real tight in the middle, and the tires are chattering all through the center … I think a lot of these guys got a lot more (suspension in the) right rear than we got. That’s what we need. It plows all the way through the center and all the way off. As soon as they get up on my left rear quarter-panel, I gotta lift or else I’ll end up in the fence.” Feeling the effects of a 98-degree day on lap 140: Dale Jr.: “You got something to cool me down… bags of ice or anything?” Tony Jr.: “Yeah, we’ll get something in there. (To a crew member) Grab a cold water or something.” Dale Jr.: “I don’t want any water. It gets in the bottom of the car and starts to boil. Just get me some rags so I can wipe my face. My face is burning up. Get me two wet towels. Something simple is all I need.” During two- and three-wide racing on lap 175: Dale Jr. (to spotter Stevie Reeves): “Hey, if I’m clear, don’t say anything. Talk when you need to talk … don’t talk to when you don’t need to talk… (silence) Copy? It just scares me, ya know… makes me think someone’s coming on my outside.” Stevie Reeves: “I was letting you know someone was way up in the high groove in your blind spot.” Dale Jr: “Well, I aint got time to worry about it if they’re behind me. I’m not even looking for ‘em.” --------- Yes, Dear / Yes, Dale: Dale Jr, will be featured in Monday night’s episode of “Yes, Dear” on CBS-TV at 8:00 pm ET/PT. This is Dale Jr’s first appearance on a prime-time network sitcom. -------------- Today’s Stats Started: 10th (8th Top-10 start in 10 races) Finished: 19th Points: 1st place (+25 ahead of Jimmie Johnson) Best Pit Stop: Stop 6 of 8 / lap 142 / four tires & fuel / 14.13 seconds -Budweiser Budweiser Race Preview: California_4/26/04 Dale Earnhardt Jr. – driver, No. 8 Budweiser team: “It feels good to get another top-five under our belt. We’re looking at the big picture here. It would’ve been nice to go to California with our third win, but it seems pretty ridiculous to be upset about a second-place finish, especially when you’ve just increased your points lead (from five to 94 points) and had as much fun as we did on Sunday. I’m proud of the guys, especially after Sunday’s race (at Talladega). I felt like we handled ourselves well, we accepted what was given to us, and we moved on. “Last year we had a pretty good race at California. We had to start in the back of the field (because of changing engines before the race), but we still finished sixth. We went a lap down, got back on the lead lap, had to race like hell at the end just to get into the top 10… it was crazy! We’ve been caught in some crashes here in the past, but that red car has always been really fast there.” Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at California Previous Nextel Cup Starts: 4 Best Start: 8th (April 27, 2003) Best Finish: 3rd (April 29, 2001) This Race, Last Year: ST: 8th / FIN: 6th / LED: 0 laps -- Dale Jr. has competed in four races at California Speedway, scoring two top-10 finishes. His best California finish, third, came in 2001. Dale Jr. finished sixth in this race one year ago. -- Dale Jr. now holds the biggest points-lead of his career with a 94-point margin between himself and second-place Jimmie Johnson. He has been the points leader after four of nine races this year … Driver No. 8 has posted a series-leading six top-five finishes, and his seven top-10s are equaled only by Jeff Gordon (Dale Jr. also holds a series-best seven top-10 starts) … He is currently riding a string of three straight top-five finishes, which ties a career-best streak. -- Dale Jr. is the only driver to lead seven of the nine NEXTEL Cup events, and has led 439 laps, more than any other driver. One-Fourth of a Dollar: Dale Jr. got 11 of 19 first-place votes in the first-quarter balloting for the 2004 Driver of the Year award, which is presented by Speed Channel. Dale Jr. received 135 points in the balloting by a panel of media covering motorsports and an online fan vote. Sprint car driver Steve Kinser was second with four first-place votes and 97 points. Healthy Dose of Junior: The driver of the Budweiser Chevrolet is featured in the May 2004 issue of Men’s Health Magazine, on newsstands now. Says Driver No. 8, “I used to not even pay attention to my health. I’d eat what I wanted to eat, I went wherever I wanted to go, raised hell, didn’t sleep. But it takes away from how quick-witted you are and how sharp you are in the race car. And I quit smoking over New Year’s. I was real proud of that.” Race Details: Auto Club 500 / Race No. 10 of 36 in the Nextel Cup Series California Speedway / Fontana, Calif. 2-mile tri-oval, 250 laps, 500 miles Sunday, May 2, 2004 TV: Fox-TV, 3 p.m. ET (pre-race) / 3:30 p.m. ET race start. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN), XM Radio. Bud Pole Qualifying: Speed Channel / Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET. -Budweiser