Jeff Gordon was one of NASCAR’s most beloved drivers back in the day. He was highly popular among the fans and boasted a loyal crowd of followers. But the NASCAR fandom only gave him so much leverage for it loved another driver who went by the name of Dale Earnhardt Jr. as well. The same was evidenced by the Talladega races of 2004.
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The first race of the season at the 2.66-mile-long venue was the Aaron’s 499. Following a tough battle, Dale Jr. passed Gordon as they came to four laps to go in the nine-lap shootout that ended the race. But the shootout ended when Brian Vickers wrecked in Turn 3 and the caution came out.
NASCAR froze the field and Gordon took the checkered flag four laps later. The fans were left extremely frustrated and to no one’s surprise. Gordon recently looked back on the same on an episode of The Dale Jr. Download.
“I was sitting there going, ‘I think I was ahead, I think I was ahead!’ When they told me I was, I was like ‘Yeeeees!’ Then all of sudden I realized, ‘Uh oh, there’s going to be a lot of pissed off people in the grandstands.’” There sure were as cans of beer rained on Gordon and his #24 car in anger.
Going head-to-head against Dale Jr. and having it all come down to a controversial finish wasn’t something Gordon liked experiencing. He continued, “It was one of those times where I was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to win this race or not.’ I also wanted to get out of here alive.” Six months after this heartbreak for Dale Jr. and his fans, the icon equalized his scores with Gordon in the 2004 EA Sports 500.
Dale Jr. dramatically gets back at Gordon for defeat in Talladega
The second Talladega race of 2004 unfolded on October 3. Junior qualified his iconic #8 Budweiser Chevrolet in tenth place but infamously told the flagman Rodney Wise that he’d be leading the field by Lap 4. He wasted no time getting on the throttle and was indeed leading by the end of Lap 4. He waved to the flagstand as he went by to continue the rest of his race.
The icon raced in the top 10 for most of the opening 100 laps and a two-tire pit stop on Lap 144 helped him get the lead back for the seventh time that day. A spirited battle followed between him, Kurt Busch, and Gordon. With the cars shoving each other to gain an advantage, they approached the end of the race.
October 3, 2004: Dale Jr. qualified 10th at Talladega. Before the start, he told flagman Rodney Wise he’d be leading by lap 4. With a wave to the flagstand as he went by, Earnhardt called his shot and took the lead on lap 4. pic.twitter.com/98pIHKfm16
— nascarman (@nascarman_rr) October 3, 2024
The #8 crew pitted for another stop on Lap 178 but Dale Jr. was pushed to 11th place at the restart on Lap 184. In a mere two laps, he crossed the entire field and regained the lead for the final three laps. He then won the race and gave the grandstands a deserving reason to celebrate.
