2004 Budweiser Shootout

The 2004 Budweiser Shootout was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series (now the NASCAR Cup Series) exhibition race for the 2003 pole winners run on February 7, 2004 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Dale Jarrett led only the final lap en route to his to second Shootout victory, taking the checkered over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

Background
The 2004 Budweiser Shootout was the first of two non-points scoring stock car races of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, the 26th edition of the event, and the first time it was held at night. It was held on February 8, 2003 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a superspeedway that holds NASCAR races. Its standard track is a four-turn, 2.5 mi superspeedway. Daytona's turns are banked at 31 degrees, and the front stretch (the location of the finish line) is banked at 18 degrees.

In other changes, NASCAR mandated every car to run a 13.6 USgal from the standard 22 USgal cells in a bid to have an additional pit stop and prevent multi-car accidents. Furthermore, all the teams were required to utilize a new car package, which underwent 18 alterations to remove several aerodynamic differences (such as the rear spoiler and the deck lid) between each of the four makes of car that competed in the Cup Series to provide parity across the field. The body design of the updated car package had a uniform appearance at its center, but its front and rear underwent a minor reshaping.

The Budweiser Shootout was created by brand manager Monty Roberts as the Busch Clash in 1979. The race, designed to promote Busch Beer, invites the fastest NASCAR drivers from the previous season to compete. The race is considered a "warm-up" for the Daytona 500. It was renamed the Bud Shootout in 1998. The name changed to the Budweiser Shootout in 2001, the Sprint Unlimited in 2013 and the Advance Auto Parts Clash in 2017.

There were 19 drivers eligible to compete in the race, including the 15 pole position winners from the 2002 season and four previous shootout winners. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the race's defending champion. The race was 70 laps long, with two segments of 20 and 50 laps separated by a ten-minute pit stop. During the pit stop, teams could change tires, add fuel and make normal chassis adjustments but could not change springs, shock absorbers or rear ends. Should the race be stopped, pit crews were permitted to work on their cars in either the garage or on the pit road. Yellow caution and green-flag laps were scored in the race and the second segment would be extended beyond 50 laps if it was deemed necessary. Every rolling restart had cars alongside each other in pairs, and all lapped competitors were required to move to the rear of the field.