This Race - 2004 Samsung/Radio Shack 500

Hello everyone! One of your 3 proud leaders of Nascar Amino, Tanor Campos, here and welcome to the newest installment of This Race on NA! Today's first installment of This Race in 2025 will revisit the start of the breakout campaign of Elliott Sadler, who finally became the driver that many people were hoping for after beating rookie sensation Kasey Kahne in photo finish at Texas Motor Speedway. Anyways, with that being said, I hope y'all enjoy the first installment of This Race in 2025 and if you wish to keep up with any of my latest blogs on Nascar Amino then please consider ing my public blogging chatroom to stay up-to-date with my content in 2025!

Pre-Race Notes

Bobby Labonte earned his 26th/final pole position of his Nascar Cup Series career after posting the quickest time of 27.849 and the quickest speed of 193.903 MPH during time trials on Friday afternoon

Casey Mears was the quickest driver in first practice on Friday morning, Bill Elliott was the quickest driver in second practice on Saturday morning, and Jeremy Mayfield was the quickest driver in final practice on Saturday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway

Starting Grid

18 Bobby Labonte Row 1 91 Bill Elliott

9 Kasey Kahne Row 2 16 Greg Biffle

01 Joe Nemechek Row 3 41 Casey Mears

8 Dale Earnhardt Jr Row 4 48 Jimmie Johnson

24 Jeff Gordon Row 5 2 Rusty Wallace

88 Dale Jarrett Row 6 97 Kurt Busch

25 Brian Vickers Row 7 40 Sterling Marlin

12 Ryan Newman Row 8 77 Brendan Gaughan

20 Tony Stewart Row 9 31 Robby Gordon

38 Elliott Sadler Row 10 23 Dave Blaney

19 Jeremy Mayfield Row 11 29 Kevin Harvick

99 Jeff Burton Row 12 10 Scott Riggs

17 Matt Kenseth Row 13 42 Jamie McMurray

0 Ward Burton Row 14 6 Mark Martin

21 Ricky Rudd Row 15 5 Terry Labonte

50 Derrike Cope Row 16 22 Scott Wimmer

43 Jeff Green Row 17 09 Johnny Benson

14 Larry Foyt Row 18 98 Todd Bodine

30 Johnny Sauter Row 19 45 Kyle Petty

49 Ken Schrader Row 20 32 Ricky Craven

15 Michael Waltrip Row 21 4 Jimmy Spencer

72 Kirk Shelmerdine Row 22

DNQS

Kyle Busch, Morgan Shepherd, Andy Hillenburg, and Andy Belmont failed to qualify for the 2004 Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway while Stanton Barrett withdrew from the race weekend

Dropping To The Rear

Ward Burton, Jeremy Mayfield, Scott Wimmer, and Todd Bodine started from the rear of the field following engine changes prior to the race in Fort Worth, Texas

Race Highlights

Bobby Labonte would bring the field down to the green flag for the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, but unfortunately the 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet wouldn't lead the opening lap of the race as Bill Elliott ed him on the highside exiting turn 2 and proceeded to lead the opening 19 laps at Texas

Todd Bodine fell off the pace with engine problems that forced the 98 Mach 1 Motorsports Ford behind the wall, which effectively ended his day in Fort Worth, TX

Kirk Shelmerdine was blacked flag by Nascar for failing to reach minimum speed that led to the 72 Kirk Shelmerdine Racing Ford going behind the wall, which effectively ended his day at Texas Motor Speedway

The first caution of the race at Texas Motor Speedway came out on lap 18 for debris on the backstretch after Jeff Gordon partially ripped in the back end of the 41 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge driven by Casey Mears

Everyone came down pitroad for pitstops under the yellow flag as the 2 Team Penske Dodge won the race off pitroad which gave Rusty Wallace the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 2 laps in Fort Worth, Texas

Sterling Marlin ed Rusty Wallace on the lowside exiting turn 4 that allowed the 40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge to takeover the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 14 laps in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500

Ken Schrader went extremely wide in turn that luckily didn't lead to any with the wall, which kept the 49 BAM Racing Dodge on the racetrack, but unfortunately he fell from 32nd place to 35th place

Bill Elliott and Sterling Marlin dueled for the top spot during the next 11 laps which saw the 91 Evernham Motorsports Dodge lead 7 laps while the 40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge led 4 laps in Fort Worth, Texas

Kasey Kahne ed Sterling Marlin on the lowside, heading into turn 1 that allowed the 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge to takeover the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 33 laps at Texas

Kasey Kahne would run into lap traffic on lap 57 that luckily didn't cost the 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge any time while still leading the field around Texas

Michael Waltrip came down pitroad for his scheduled green flag pitstop on lap 78, which officially kicked off the first cycle of green flag pitstops in Fort Worth, TX

Kasey Kahne surrendered the top spot in order to make his scheduled green flag pitstop which allowed Elliott Sadler, Dale Earnhardt Jr, and Johnny Sauter to take turns at leading the field in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway during the next 4 laps

Kurt Busch had a scary encounter during his scheduled green flag pitstop as the 97 Roush Racing Ford had to dodge crew from Derrike Cope's team while coming to his pit stall that luckily didn't injure anyone

Kasey Kahne retained the top spot after the first cycle of green flag pitstops concluded as the 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge proceeded to lead the next 35 laps

The second caution of the race came out on lap 118 for debris in turn 4 that led to every lead lap driver coming down pitroad for pitstops under the yellow which saw Kasey Kahne retain the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 3 laps in Fort Worth Texas

The 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was pushed behind the wall with serious mechanical problems, which effectively ended Terry Labonte's day early

Elliott Sadler ed Kasey Kahne during the restart of the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas that allowed the 38 Robert Yates Racing Ford to takeover the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 20 laps at Texas

Sterling Marlin fell off the pace after hitting the wall that forced the 40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge down pitroad for unscheduled green flag pitstop and took him off the lead lap in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500

Matt Kenseth got into the wall exiting turn 4, which caused minor damage to the 17 Roush Racing Ford that luckily allowed him to keep racing on the racetrack

Kasey Kahne ed Elliott Sadler on the highside, heading down the backstretch that allowed the 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge to takeover the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 37 laps in Fort Worth

Kasey Kahne would run into lap traffic on lap 156 that luckily didn't cost the 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge any time while still leading the field around Texas

Jeremy Mayfield came down pitroad for his scheduled green flag pitstop on lap 177, which officially kicked off the second cycle of green flag pitstops at Texas

Kasey Kahne surrendered the top spot in order to make his scheduled green flag pitstop which allowed Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr to take turns at leading the field in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway during the next 3 laps in Fort Worth

Elliott Sadler slightly slid over the pit line while coming down pitroad for his scheduled green flag pitstop that unfortunately dropped him down to 5th place at Texas

Kasey Kahne retained the top spot after the 2nd cycle of green flag pitstops concluded as the 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge proceeded to lead the next 15 laps

The third caution of the race came out on lap 196 for Ryan Newman crashing hard in turn 4 that caused significant damage to the 12 Team Penske Dodge, which effectively ended Ryan Newman's day early

Every lead lap driver came down pitroad for pitstops under the yellow flag as the 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet won the race off pitroad that allowed Bobby Labonte to takeover the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 5 laps in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500

Joe Nemechek ed Bobby Labonte on the lowside, heading into turn 3 that allowed the 01 MB2 Motorsports Chevrolet to takeover the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 32 laps in Fort Worth, TX

Jeff Burton nearly lost control of his racecar while battling with Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, exiting turn 4 that luckily saw the 99 Roush Racing Ford save it

Jamie McMurray fell off the pace with serious problems for a brief moment before the 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge came back to life and continued racing at Texas Motor Speedway

Bobby Labonte came down pitroad for unscheduled green flag pitstop after experiencing battery problems that unfortunately dropped him off the lead lap in TX

The 77 Team Penske Dodge was pushed behind the wall with serious mechanical problems, which effectively ended Brendan Gaughan's day early

Kasey Kahne ed Joe Nemechek on the highside, heading down the backstretch that allowed the 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge to takeover the top spot and proceeded to lead the next 25 laps at Texas

Greg Biffle came down pitroad for his scheduled green flag pitstop with 74 laps to go, which officially kicked off the third cycle of green flag pitstops at Texas

Kasey Kahne surrendered the top spot in order to make his scheduled green flag pitstop which allowed Jeff Gordon to lead the field around Texas during the next 46 laps right as the 4th caution came out for the 0 car

Jimmie Johnson was black flagged by Nascar for penalty on pitroad that unfortunately dropped him off the lead lap in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas

Every lead lap driver who hadn't pitted yet during the third cycle of green flag pitstops finally made their way down pitroad under the yellow flag as the 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet retained the top spot at Texas

Bill Elliott fell off the pace with serious problem that unfortunately led to the 91 Evernham Motorsports Dodge crashing in turn 3, which immediately brought out the fifth caution of the race on lap 276 at Texas

The sixth caution of the race came out on lap 284 for a multi-car accident on the frontstretch involving Jeremy Mayfield, Scott Wimmer, and Brian Vickers which effectively eliminated the 19 and 22 from the race

The final caution of the race came out on lap 295 for Jeff Green blowing an engine on the frontstretch which effectively eliminated the 43 Petty Enterprises Dodge from the race in the Samsung/Radio Shack 500

Elliott Sadler ed Jeff Gordon on the highside, heading into turn 3 that allowed the 38 Robert Yates Racing Ford to takeover the top spot with 27 laps to go

Jeff Gordon fell off the pace with serious problem for a brief moment before the 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet came back to life and continued racing but unfortunately cost him a chance at winning the race

Elliott Sadler had to hold off hard charging Kasey Kahne during the closing moments of the race as the 9 Evernham Motorsports Dodge was able to get side-by-side the 38 Robert Yates Racing Ford but unfortunately it was too late as Elliott Sadler scored the victory at Texas Motor Speedway by 0.028 seconds

Finishing Order

1st Elliott Sadler - 48 Laps Led

2nd Kasey Kahne - Most Laps Led Of 148

3rd Jeff Gordon - 47 Laps Led

4th Dale Earnhardt Jr - 4 Laps Led

5th Rusty Wallace - 2 Laps Led

6th Kurt Busch - 1 Lap Led

7th Casey Mears

8th Tony Stewart

9th Jimmie Johnson

10th Jamie McMurray

11th Dave Blaney

12th Brian Vickers - 1 Laps Down

13th Kevin Harvick - 1 Lap Down

14th Joe Nemechek - 1 Lap Down/33 Laps Led

15th Scott Riggs - 2 Lap Down

16th Matt Kenseth - 2 Laps Down

17th Mark Martin - 2 Laps Down

18th Dale Jarrett - 2 Laps Down

19th Ken Schrader - 2 Laps Down

20th Michael Waltrip - 2 Laps Down

21st Kyle Petty - 2 Laps Down/1 Lap Led

22nd Ricky Rudd - 2 Laps Down

23rd Robby Gordon - 3 Laps Down

24th Johnny Sauter - 3 Laps Down/1 Lap Led

25th Bobby Labonte - 4 Laps Down/5 Laps Led

26th Sterling Marlin - 4 Laps Down/18 Laps Led

27th Jeff Burton - 4 Laps Down

28th Ricky Craven - 4 Laps Down

29th Jimmy Spencer - 6 Laps Down

30th Larry Foyt - 7 Laps Down

31st Greg Biffle - Engine Failure

32nd Jeff Burton - 30 Laps Down

33rd Scott Wimmer - Accident

34th Jeremy Mayfield - Accident

35th Jeff Green - Engine Failure

36th Bill Elliott - Accident

37th Derrike Cope - Driveshaft Problems

38th Brendan Gaughan - Engine Failure

39th Ryan Newman - Accident

40th Johnny Benson - Rear End Failure

41st Terry Labonte - Engine Failure

42nd Kirk Shelmerdine - Handling Issues

43rd Todd Bodine - Engine Failure

Star Rating For This Race

:star: :star: :star: :star:

My Thoughts On This Race

The 2004 Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway definitely falls under the radar in of good races in Nascar history as the racing action was very intriguing throughout the day and featured an exciting finish between Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne. Elliott Sadler proved himself to the entire NASCAR world that he was capable of performing at a high level for a great team as he managed to stay in contention all day long and held off hard charging Kasey Kahne during the closing moments of the race in Fort Worth. This race is a good watch for anyone who wants to see a fast-paced showdown between the best Nascar Cup Series drivers during the 2004 season while seeing how Elliott Sadler briefly turned himself into superstar.

#RTR