<DJC> 2004 Race Report

Race Information
Event: Banquet 400 presented by ConAgra Foods
Date: October 10, 2004	Track: Kansas Speedway
Started: 8th	Finished: 9th
Status: Running	Laps Completed: 267 of 267
Points Pos. Before/After Race: 2nd/2nd	Points Earned: 130 (w/ 10 bonus)
Money Earned: $88,500
Summary and Related News
Budweiser team ninth at Kansas, Nemechek wins_10/10/04 Dale Jr. Celebrates 30th Birthday with Fifth Consecutive Top-10 Joe Nemechek won Sunday's Banquet Foods 400 at Kansas Speedway, his first victory this year in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, but his second win in two days after taking the victory in the Busch Series race here Saturday afternoon. Ricky Rudd was second, followed by Greg Biffle in third. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 8 Budweiser team matched a career-best streak of consecutive top-10 finishes with a ninth place in today's race. Dale Jr. and the team have now recorded five-straight top-10s in each of the last three seasons. Dale Jr. remains second in Nextel Cup points with six races remaining in the Chase for the Championship. Dale Jr. trails Kurt Busch by 29 points, and leads third-place Jeff Gordon by 50 points. Busch and Junior are the only drivers with top-10 finishes in each of the first four races in the Chase for the Championship. Key Moments: Starting in the 8th position, the No. 8 team ran among the top-15 spots for the first segment of the race, However, the team lost more than 10 positions on lap 77 when the car of Ward Burton spun in front of Dale Jr. on pit lane. NASCAR rules do not allow passing on pit lane, so Junior pushed the Burton car down the pit lane before making a stop. The team regained a few spots from there, and then took advantage of the “lucky dog” rule to regain a position on the lead lap. He fought back into the top-10 by lap 190, and seemed to be in contention for the victory after making a fuel-only stop on lap 210 while many of the other leaders stayed on the track. The fuel advantage went away when several additional yellow flags flew in the final 50 laps. The last pit stop on lap 242 was pivotal, as the team mounted two fresh right-side tires on the car, which allowed Dale Jr. to climb from 12th to ninth at the finish. Dale Jr. Quotes: "We got closer and closer to the front, but just never could get all the way there. It was real fun racing (Dale) Jarrett at end. He's a good friend, real good competitor. We gained on it. We tested real hard here (at Kansas) hoping it would pay off, and it paid off. A top-10 finish, we'll take it. It means a lot. It means we can concentrate on Homestead now. I think the championship will be decided there. We're gonna work hard to get there." Why so happy about a top-10?: “Because we were 18th here last year. That's bad, alright?! We tested here for two days and we had a good car all day, but we never could establish track position with the leaders. We had a big setback when the “0” car (Ward Burton) spun out on pit lane right in front of me. It was weird, but NASCAR says you can't pass on pit lane, and I thought he was out of gas, so I pushed him down the pit lane. They told me he had lost his brakes, so I apologized, but I think his team was OK with the push. But, it really slowed us down and we lost a lot of spots that we never seemed to be able to regain.” About finishing behind point leader Busch: “It doesn't matter. I'm not going to judge my day by where he finished. My team has worked hard and we've been in the top-10 every week in the Chase, and we're going to try to do that every week. That's what it will take to win the championship. If we finish in the top-10 every race, no matter where we end up in points, I'll be proud of my team.” Best Radio Chatter: After a relatively quiet afternoon on the radio, the amount and pace of chatter picked up considerably as the race neared an end. Dale Jr: (under caution with less than 20 laps to go) “It's rainin' out here.” Tony Eury Jr. (car chief): “Yeah, 10-4. You're doing really good. You're doing what you need to do.” Dale Jr: “Are you gonna tell me where we're at (on pit strategy) or are ya gonna keep it a secret?” Tony Jr: “We're staying out.” Dale Jr: “What if somebody comes in and takes two tires like we did (before)?” Tony Jr: “There's not enough time for them to come back.” Dale Jr: “How many laps are left?” Tony Jr: “16 laps…” Dale Jr: (mock complaining) “Awwwww man, that's a LONG time!... tell me the five cars behind me.” Tony Jr: “the 19… the 24.. the 77… the 88...” Dale Jr: “OK, the 19 (Jeremy Mayfield) is pretty quick. That's about all the car will gimme. I think you've seen the last of “Greatness” (an occasionally boastful nickname when Junior is driving well) here today.” Tony Jr: “Yeah, we saw some earlier.” Dale Jr: “What about taking two left-side tires?” Tony Jr: (teasing) “They're all gone. Goodyear says they're outta tires… but all of the cars in front of you don't have fresh tires like you.” Dale Jr: ”Well, I wore the fresh right outta my tires. I used those two up…” Tony Jr: “Naw - you were just scuffin' 'em for a qualifying run…. OK, belts tight and elbows up…” After the checkered flag: Tony Jr.: “Good job Junebug. Ninth place. We appreciate your hard work out there today.” Dale Jr: “Yeah! EVERYDAY baybeeee… Good job on the test session here. Let's go get us another good test at Homestead. Everybody get concentrated…” Today's Stats Started: 8th Finished: 9th Led: -- Points: 2nd (29 points behind leader) Best Pit Stop: Stop #5 of 8 / Lap 153 / four tires and fuel / 12.15 seconds Curse words while on television: 0 -Budweiser Budweiser Race Preview: Kansas_10/4/04 Dale Earnhardt Jr. - driver, No. 8 Budweiser team: “We've been really testing hard at some places that have given us some trouble, and Kansas is one of them. We tested there last week and it went really well, and I was happy with the car. Matt (Kenseth) was there and a bunch of other guys. Nobody said their car was really handling great. We were all kind of struggling with the same things. The cars didn't seem to want to turn, or they were too loose. But we were happy at the end of two days. We ran really good there the first race and ended up blowing a right-front tire. I guess there's a real fine line in having everything just right. We might not be out in the front, but at least we'll be closer.” On being the point-leader after three races in the Chase for the Nextel Cup: “I'm real excited about the points lead. There's a lot of racing left. We've put some distance between us and the fifth-place guy, so we keep on narrowing it down a little bit. It's still anybody's race, I think, but we've started with three top-10 finishes and I don't see a reason we can't keep that pace for the rest of the season. That's what it's going to take to win it.” Dale Jr. and the No. 8 Bud Team at Kansas Previous Nextel Cup Starts: 3 Best Start: 1st (Sept. 2002) Best Finish: 6th (Sept. 2002) This Race, Last Year: ST: 3rd / FIN: 18th / LED: 9 laps Race #4 of the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship takes the No. 8 Budweiser team to Kansas Speedway, where Dale Jr. has one top-10 in three starts. Despite being a track pinpointed as a potential problem track for Dale Jr., he is the only driver that has led in all three races at Kansas. Dale Jr. enters the Kansas race weekend on the wave of four consecutive top-10 finishes, including a win Sunday at Talladega. Dale Jr.'s Talladega victory was the 14th of his career and fifth this season (tying him with Jeff Gordon for the series lead.) With seven races to go in the Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, Dale Jr. holds a 13-point edge over Kurt Busch in the standings and 61-point advantage on Jeff Gordon. Dale Jr. and Busch are the only drivers to record three top-10 finishes in the first three “Chase” races. With his five wins, Dale Jr. also has 14 top-5s and 18 top-10s this season. Race Details: Banquet 400 / Race No. 30 of 36 in the Nextel Cup Series Kansas Speedway / Kansas City, Kan. 1.5-mile tri-oval, 267 laps, 400 miles Sunday, Oct. 10, 2004 TV: NBC, 2 p.m. ET start Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN), XM Satellite Radio. Bud Pole Qualifying: TNT / Friday, 3 p.m. ET. -Budweiser