The race was on Saturday, October 16, 2004, before a crowd of 140,000 in Concord, North Carolina, at Lowe's Motor Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) permanent quad-oval.

At the race's end, Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports would take advantage of Kasey Kahne's bad luck at the end of the race, holding off the field on the final restart to win his 11th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win and his third of the season.

The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500.

The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area.

[2] ***Edwards drove in pre-race activities, but would not start the car on Saturday due to a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race he attended on the same day going late.

[2] Ryan Newman of Penske-Jasper Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.870 and an average speed of 187.045 miles per hour (301.020 km/h).

[2] Mark Martin of Roush Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.710 and an average speed of 181.757 miles per hour (292.510 km/h).

[4] The third and final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, October 15, at 6:10 PM EST, and would last for 45 minutes.

[2] Elliott Sadler of Robert Yates Racing would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.710 and an average speed of 181.757 miles per hour (292.510 km/h).

Riggs went up the track to move out of the way but Greg Biffle all of a sudden got hit from behind by John Andretti collecting Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Tony Raines, and Ken Schrader.

The race got back going on lap 8 but the caution would be immeadeatly be thrown again when Jeff Fuller blew a tire and hit the wall in turn 1.

On lap 23, the third caution flew when Brian Vickers crashed hard on the front stretch after contact with Robby Gordon.

The race would be red flagged for a short period of time to repair the outside SAFER barrier on the front stretch.

After the red flag was lifted, Elliott Sadler won the race off of pit road and led the field to the restart on lap 31.

On lap 76, the fourth caution flew when Jeff Gordon spun off of turn 4 and got hit again by Rusty Wallace.