Martinsville Speedway, considered the "Paperclip" for its paper clip shape, is the shortest track on the Cup circuit at only 0.526 miles (0.847 km) long.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5826), Jeff Gordon (5776), Elliott Sadler (5693), and Mark Martin (5664) comprised the top five, while Tony Stewart (5646), Matt Kenseth (5635), Jimmie Johnson (5623), Ryan Newman (5579), and Jeremy Mayfield (5501) rounded out the Chase field.

[9] 51 cars entered the race, ten of whom had attempted less than 20 races in 2004: Ryan McGlynn (#00), Greg Sacks (#13), Kevin Lepage (#37), Carl Long (#46), Tony Raines (#51), Klaus Graf (#59), Mike Garvey (#75), Mario Gosselin (#80), Brad Teague (#94), and Chad Chaffin (#98).

Ricky Rudd led the Friday practice with a lap speed of 96.293 mph (154.969 km/h), faster than the previous track record.

Ward Burton # 0 Netzero HiSpeed Chevrolet Haas CNC Racing 96.107 mph 5.

Jamie McMurray #42 Texaco Havoline Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 96.039 mph 9.

Ricky Rudd #21 Motorcraft/US Air Force Ford Wood Brothers Racing 95.772 mph 10.

Sterling Marlin #40 Coors Light Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 95.622 mph 17.

Bobby Labonte #18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing 95.549 mph 18.

Kevin Harvick #29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 95.218 mph 20.

Ken Schrader #49 Schwan's Home Service Dodge BAM Racing 95.127 mph 21.

Casey Mears #41 Target/Breast Cancer Research Foundation Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 94.732 mph 29.

Michael Waltrip #15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt Incorporated 94.618 mph 31.

Brian Vickers * #25 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 94.289 mph 35.

Robby Gordon #31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 93.975 mph 37.

Jimmy Spencer #4 Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet Morgan-McClure Racing 92.124 mph (provisional) 40.

On lap 21, Rudd spun out in turn 2, allowing Shelmerdine to gain back a spot.

On lap 66, Robby Gordon crashed in turn 4, allowing Mario Gosselin to be the beneficiary.

The final caution occurred on lap 490, with Edwards and Robby Gordon crashing in turn 3, with Kvapil being the beneficiary again.

[12] Due to the Hendrick Motorsports plane crash, victory lane celebrations were not held,[14] and the grandfather clock often given to the race winner was delivered after the season ended.