2004 Subway 400 (Dale Earnhardt Survives)

The 2004 Subway 400 was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race held on February 22, 2004, at North Carolina Speedway in Richmond County, North Carolina. The race was the second of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.
Ryan Newman of Penske Racing won the pole position, while Dale Earnhardt of Richard Childress Racing won the race. The race was meant to be the final Cup race at the track due to poor attendance, as the race date was almost given to Phoenix International Raceway. The other Cup race at the track, the Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400, had been replaced by California Speedway after 2003. But for this race almost 60,000 were in attendance at the 60,113 facility. 
Veteran driver Dale Earnhardt was livid. "NASCAR better not do this, they would be sellin' the fans out for the money on the dang mile and a half track". So Nascar kept Rockingham's one date on schedule. Along with all this, Sterling Marlin had withdrew from the event before qualifying out of protest and didn't have time to re-enter when he found out NASCAR changed their decision. Things came full circle as the track's stay on the Cup schedule would be cemented when Earnhardt dominated the race all day and surpassed Harry Gant as the oldest driver to win a NASCAR race when he won this race at the age of 52 years, 10 months, and 13 days. This was his only win of 2004.
POS 	ST 	# 	DRIVER 	SPONSOR / OWNER 	CAR 	LAPS 	MONEY 	STATUS 	LED 	PTS
1 	23 	3 	  Dale Earnhardt 	GM Goodwrench Plus   (Richard Childress Racing) 	Chevrolet 	393 	222303 	running 	259 	190
2 	3 	9 	  Kasey Kahne 	Dodge Dealers / UAW   (Ray Evernham) 	Dodge 	393 	130125 	running 	0 	170
3 	2 	42 	  Jamie McMurray 	Texaco / Havoline   (Chip Ganassi) 	Dodge 	393 	96425 	running 	76 	170
4 	13 	7 	  Matt Kenseth 	Dewalt   (Roush Racing) 	Ford 	393 	114900 	running 	0 	160
5 	7 	8 	  Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 	Budweiser   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) 	Chevrolet 	393 	118303 	running 	0 	155
6 	1 	12 	  Ryan Newman 	Alltel   (Roger Penske) 	Dodge 	393 	116152 	running 	12 	155
7 	4 	2 	  Rusty Wallace 	Miller Lite   (Roger Penske) 	Dodge 	393 	100643 	running 	0 	146
8 	27 	97 	  Kurt Busch 	Irwin Tools / Sharpie   (Jack Roush) 	Ford 	393 	83785 	running 	0 	142
9 	16 	0 	  Ward Burton 	NetZero Hi Speed   (Gene Haas) 	Chevrolet 	393 	66035 	running 	0 	138
10 	5 	24 	  Jeff Gordon 	DuPont   (Rick Hendrick) 	Chevrolet 	391 	111363 	running 	39 	139
11 	6 	19 	  Jeremy Mayfield 	Dodge Dealers / UAW   (Ray Evernham) 	Dodge 	391 	90210 	running 	0 	130
12 	21 	6 	  Mark Martin 	Pfizer / Viagra   (Jack Roush) 	Ford 	391 	72960 	running 	0 	127
13 	32 	29 	  Kevin Harvick 	Reese's   (Richard Childress) 	Chevrolet 	391 	100763 	running 	2 	129
14 	36 	30 	  Johnny Sauter 	America Online   (Richard Childress) 	Chevrolet 	391 	63560 	running 	0 	121
15 	31 	22 	  Scott Wimmer 	Caterpillar   (Bill Davis) 	Dodge 	391 	87560 	running 	0 	118
16 	20 	25 	  Brian Vickers 	GMAC Financial Services   (Rick Hendrick) 	Chevrolet 	391 	70760 	running 	0 	115
17 	35 	5 	  Terry Labonte 	Got Milk? / Kellogg's   (Rick Hendrick) 	Chevrolet 	391 	89110 	running 	0 	112
18 	25 	38 	  Elliott Sadler 	M&M's Black & White   (Yates Racing) 	Ford 	391 	90793 	running 	0 	109
19 	22 	21 	  Ricky Rudd 	Motorcraft   (Wood Brothers) 	Ford 	391 	87566 	running 	0 	106
20 	15 	77 	  Brendan Gaughan 	Kodak Easy Share   (Doug Bawel) 	Dodge 	391 	70110 	running 	0 	103
21 	14 	41 	  Casey Mears 	Target   (Chip Ganassi) 	Dodge 	390 	74810 	running 	0 	100
22 	26 	4 	  Kevin Lepage 	YokeTV.com   (Larry McClure) 	Chevrolet 	390 	71010 	running 	0 	97
23 	10 	16 	  Greg Biffle 	Subway / National Guard   (Jack Roush) 	Ford 	390 	69185 	running 	0 	94
24 	12 	01 	  Joe Nemechek 	U.S. Army   (Nelson Bowers) 	Chevrolet 	390 	75949 	running 	0 	91
25 	11 	18 	  Bobby Labonte 	Interstate Batteries   (Joe Gibbs) 	Chevrolet 	389 	102318 	running 	0 	88
26 	24 	20 	  Tony Stewart 	Home Depot   (Joe Gibbs) 	Chevrolet 	389 	103403 	running 	0 	85
27 	18 	49 	  Ken Schrader 	Schwan's Home Service   (Beth Ann Morgenthau) 	Dodge 	389 	56410 	running 	0 	82
28 	8 	43 	  Jeff Green 	STP / Cheerios   (Petty Enterprises) 	Dodge 	389 	82510 	running 	0 	79
29 	39 	1 	  John Andretti 	Snap-On Tools   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) 	Chevrolet 	388 	64000 	running 	0 	76
30 	37 	50 	  Derrike Cope 	Matrix Systems / Arnold Development Co.   (Don Arnold)	Dodge 	386 	56375 	running 	0 	73
31 	19 	10 	  Scott Riggs 	Valvoline   (James Rocco) 	Chevrolet 	383 	80937 	running 	0 	70
32 	38 	14 	  Larry Foyt 	Foyt Racing   (A.J. Foyt) 	Dodge 	380 	55675 	running 	0 	67
33 	33 	15 	  Michael Waltrip 	NAPA   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) 	Chevrolet 	379 	92481 	running 	0 	64
34 	43 	80 	  Andy Hillenburg 	Commercial Truck & Trailer   (Stan Hover) 	Ford 	376 	55425 	running 	0 	61
35 	17 	32 	  Ricky Craven 	Tide   (Cal Wells) 	Chevrolet 	365 	63275 	running 	0 	58
36 	34 	31 	  Robby Gordon 	Cingular Wireless   (Richard Childress) 	Chevrolet 	350 	90412 	crash 	5 	60
37 	28 	99 	  Jeff Burton 	SKF   (Jack Roush) 	Ford 	344 	88592 	engine 	0 	52
38 	42 	46 	  Carl Long 	Al Smith Dodge / IPG   (Rick Glenn) 	Dodge 	255 	55135 	crash 	0 	49
39 	30 	45 	  Kyle Petty 	Georgia-Pacific / Brawny   (Petty Enterprises) 	Dodge 	221 	55070 	engine 	0 	46
40 	9 	88 	  Dale Jarrett 	UPS   (Yates Racing) 	Ford 	210 	85907 	engine 	0 	43
41 	29 	48 	  Jimmie Johnson 	Lowe's   (Rick Hendrick) 	Chevrolet 	128 	74750 	crash 	0 	40
42 	41 	72 	  Kirk Shelmerdine 	Tucson   (Kirk Shelmerdine) 	Ford 	19 	54895 	rear end 	0 	37
43 	40 	09 	  Joe Ruttman 	Phoenix Racing   (James Finch) 	Dodge 	1 	54196 	parked 	0 	34
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes: 	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:	Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:
WD 	PT 	40 	Sterling Marlin 	Coors Light (Chip Ganassi) 	Dodge 	 	 	 	 	
WD 	 	39 	Larry Gunselman 	Jay Robinson Inc. 	Chevrolet 	 	 	 	 	
WD 	 	59 	Andy Belmont 	Continental Fire & Safety 	Pontiac 	 	 	 	 	
WD 	 	89 	Morgan Shepherd 	Victory In Jesus 	Ford 	 	 	 	 	
WD 	 	90 	Andy Hillenburg 	Donlavey Racing 	Ford 	 	 	 	 	
Category:Dale Earnhardt Survives