<DJC> 2004 Race Report

Race Information
Event: Pop Secret 500
Date: September 5, 2004	Track: California Speedway
Started: 12th	Finished: 34th
Status: Accident	Laps Completed: 231 of 250
Points Pos. Before/After Race: 3rd/3rd	Points Earned: 61 (w/ 0 bonus)
Money Earned: $125,103
Summary and Related News
Sadler wins under the lights at California, Bud team 34th_9/5/04 Late wrecks hand Dale Jr. second DNF of season Elliott Sadler took the lead with 24 laps to go and survived a late restart to win Sunday’s Pop Secret 500 at the illuminated California Speedway. Kasey Kahne finished second and Mark Martin third. Sadler became the sixth driver to clinch a spot in the Chase for the Championship, leaving four spots up for grabs in next week's "regular season" finale at Richmond. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team entered the day already locked in the Chase, and thankfully so. Signs of a good finish derailed in the late stages when a series of wrecks crippled the No. 8 Chevy and put it out for good on lap 220 with a 34th-place finish. It is only the second race this season the Bud team has not completed (the first was Las Vegas on March 7). Dale Jr. still remains third in the NASCAR Nextel Cup championship standings, now 116 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. Key Moments: Sporting a special Dave Matthew's Band paint scheme, the Budweiser Chevrolet fought a poor handle from the start and fell from 12th to 32nd in only 38 laps. Major adjustments and quick pit stops brought the car back to life, as Dale Jr. clawed into the top 10 by lap 162. But from there, the night unraveled. The car became severely loose and hard to drive. A blown left-front tire resulted in a crash on lap 219. The ensuing pit stop became a disaster when – aside from being penalized for pitting too soon – Dale Jr. collided with teammate Michael Waltrip on exit. The capper came on lap 233 when Ken Schrader’s blown engine and subsequent spin collected the Bud car. Dale Jr. slammed into Schrader’s car, breaking the radiator and ending the race early for the Bud team. Dale Jr. Quotes: "I was real happy there for awhile, because we had a better car than we started with. As it got darker I thought we were going to get better, but it just got looser. So it was kind of frustrating because the track changed so much. We'll know better next time. It was just a real frustrating night. The crew was working on the car, and it got faster. I was pretty happy and we were driving up through there. But the left front tire went flat and I spun out on it. I got held in the pits a lap. I got back there behind Kenny (Schrader) when he blew up and got in some oil and tore the car up. It's not a real good finish for us, but I was really kind of pleased with the way the guys were working and how the car was getting better all night … I'm glad we're clinched (in the Chase) because this was a nightmare. Hopefully Richmond will be better.” Best Radio Chatter: Greg Biffle’s spin and crash brought out the fourth caution with the Bud team in 20th position. Dale Jr.: “What happened there. Anybody else involved?” Stevie Reeves (spotter): “Not sure. I was looking at you through binoculars through turns 1 and 2, so I couldn’t see.” Dale Jr. (after several seconds of dead air): “Uhhh, would anybody else like to say what happened?” Tony Eury Jr. (car chief): “Not sure, just saw smoke.” Dale Jr.: “How’d I get so far up in the field?” Tony Jr.: “You were passing cars.” Dale Jr.: “No way, we sucked.” Tony Jr.: “We sucked at the beginning, but you were passing cars there.” Dale Jr. made an impressive entry into the pit stall on lap 106 under the fifth caution, and the Bud team peeled off a 13.81-second pit stop. Dale Jr.: “Man, I knew I slid her in there a long ways, but I can’t believe I slid that far!” Tony Jr.: “You had those brakes locked up two pit stalls away! That was pretty cool.” During the same caution, track officials tried furiously to clean up the hot-dog wrappers and debris blown all over the track, but to no avail. Dale Jr.: “Where is all that trash coming from, the grandstands?” Tony Jr.: “Yeah, looks like they’ve sold the hell out of some hot dogs today.” Today's Stats Started: 12th Finished: 34th (second DNF of the season) Points: 3rd (-116 to the leader with one race to go before Chase for Championship begins) Best Pit Stop: Pit stop number 7 of 9 / four tires and fuel / 12.01 seconds -Budweiser Budweiser Race Preview: Fontana_8/30/04 Dale Earnhardt Jr. – driver, No. 8 Budweiser team: “I don’t run good at California, so I’m not too pumped up about going there. During the week I’ll psyche myself up and think positive thoughts, so by Friday I’ll have myself talked into thinking I might be able to get the pole. That’s kind of how it works when you don’t run good somewhere. For a while it seemed like we were really making good strides at California. We’d been in some crashes in the past, but the car always seemed to be fast. We’ve had a brutal time trying to figure out this new tire this year, and it seems the mile-and-a-half, two-mile tracks are the ones that are really giving us the most trouble. We haven’t had one good race on a two-miler this year. I’m looking forward to seeing how much grip the track has at night. It seemed to me we were flying around on ice when we were there last time.” Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Fontana: Previous Nextel Cup Starts: 5 Best Start: 8th (April 27, 2003) Best Finish: 3rd (April 29, 2001) Last Time at Fontana: ST: 10th / FIN: 19th (May 2, 2004) Despite Dale Jr’s claims to the contrary, the No. 8 Budweiser team has finished 19th or better in four of its five races at California Speedway, with a pair of top-10s. Dale Jr. scored his career-best finish at Fontana in 2001, when he started 38th and overcame a lap-down deficit to finish third. Dale Jr. is one of only three drivers to post top-10 starts in the last three races at California Speedway (Ryan Newman and Rusty Wallace are the others). Dale Jr. became the third driver to clinch a spot in the “Chase for the Championship” Saturday with a 190-point effort at Bristol. He currently sits third in the Nextel Cup standings, 75 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. On the season, Dale Jr. has four wins, 11 top-fives, and 14 top-10s. His earnings total $5,264,970 through 24 races, making him the first driver to surpass the $5 million mark this year. NIGHT OWLS: The Bud team has finished in the top-10 in 12 of the last 15 night races. Overall, Dale Jr. has competed in 20 career night events, with four wins, nine top-fives and 14 top-10s. He has also started in the top-10 in nine of his last 11 races under the lights. SEPTEMBER CHARGE: Traditionally, the month of September has been one of the better months for the Bud team with an average finish of 14.28, bested only by October (14.25) and April (11.89). VARIETY SHOW: Dale Jr.’s four wins in 2004 have been anything but similar: Daytona (2.5-mile restrictor-plate track), Atlanta (1.5-mile high-banked tri-oval), Richmond (three-quarter mile flat track), and Bristol (half-mile, steeply banked, concrete oval). Additionally, two of the wins (Richmond and Bristol) have come under the lights, and two took place on Sundays (Daytona and Atlanta). Dale Jr. now has 13 career victories, with seven of them coming on non-restrictor plate courses. The 13th win ties him with the late Tim Richmond for 24th in all-time Cup race victories. Race Details: Pop Secret 500 California Speedway, Fontana, Calif. 2-mile oval / 250 laps / 500 miles Sun., Sept. 5, 2004 TV: NBC, 7 p.m. ET Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN), XM Radio. Bud Pole Qualifying: Friday, 3 p.m. ET (televised live on TNT) -Budweiser