Aaron's 499
The Aaron's 499 was held on April 25 at Talladega Superspeedway. Ricky Rudd won the pole.
The race ended under controversy when Brian Vickers crashed with four laps to go. At the same time, Jeff Gordon was about to be passed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. As Gordon's car was still ahead of Earnhardt's, he kept the lead for the following caution. However, the race never was restarted, and Gordon won the race under the caution, prompting angered fans to throw beverage cups at his car while he celebrated his victory by doing doughnuts on the track.
The issue was very similar to the 2002 Indianapolis 500 controversial finish when Hélio Castroneves and Paul Tracy raced when the caution signal was given during Tracy's attempted pass of Castroneves.
This led to the implementation of the green-white-checker finish rule in order to avoid such situations in the future.
- Complete Results
Top Ten Results
- Jeff Gordon
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Kevin Harvick
- Jimmie Johnson
- Robby Gordon
- Mark Martin
- Jeff Burton
- Casey Mears
- Jamie McMurray
- Bobby Labonte
Failed to qualify: Larry Foyt (#14), Todd Bodine (#98), Kirk Shelmerdine (#72)
Read more about this topic: 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series