the race started on points,  busck lead for 1 lap, jeff gordon untill lap 7....  newman took the lead for 1 lap before comming in the pits for a flat tire........   busch then took back the lead for about 20 laps..... and held it for 6 laps untill jimmy johnson took the lead untill the 1st set of green flag stops.....  mark martin who pitted early led for 6 laps afterward then jimmy johnson took back the lead untill the 1st yellow on lap 84 for bobby hamilton jrs scrap wit hthe wall.......  mark martin held the lead through yellow flag stops and led them off for the restart on lap 87..... greg biffle tok the lead on lap 97 and held it for 10 laps before mark martin took it back..... Jamie macmurry took the lead 2 laps before  the yellow came out for bobby labonte spinning on lap 118 and as reported. kurt busch has gotten major front end damaged when he got together with brenden gaughn...... after pit stops robby gordon with a fantastic pitsop takes the lead on lap 123 and held it for 20 laps untill jimmy johnson took the lead back on lap 143........ right as that happened... mike waltrip and Todd bodine got together for the 3rd caution of the day on lap 144.... the top 3 comming out of the pits were 48,31 and 6......   RESTART ON LAP  147 and johnson led untill the next yellow on lap 194......lug nut hung up on jimmy johnsons car and fell to 11th spot on the restart on lap 201....   teamate jeff gordon took the lead at this time untill 5th yellow came out again for debris on lap 249..... on yellow flag pitstops mark martin beat out jeff gordon......  mark martin held the lead for 1 lap on the restart and gordon took back the lead on lap 254.....  around lap 300 a spin with sterling marlin caused the 6ths yellow and jeff gordon came out 1st during pitstops............biffle smacked the wall with 51 to go and spent 2 laps taking the sheetmetal away from the tires......... no yellow...... 7th yellow came out and the 5th place car at the time ryan newman killed every mosquito in darlington county will a blown motor with 33 to go..... the most critcal yellow flag pitstops have 48 99 97 and 6 the top 4 cars comming out of the pits..... jeff gordon had truble of all things a air hose tangled up.....  at this point the track is TOTALLY LIT... this 1st time in darlington history for a cup race..... green flag came out at lap 341.....  yellow came out for kevin harvicks stalled car in turn 3....... everyone came in for pitstops and the top 4 is 48,97,99 and 6.....   restart came out at lap 350 with 42 and 9 did not pit.. jimmy johnson took the lead with 9 laps to go....... jimmy sohnson has won the last southern 500........  the top 5 is  48,6.24.42.9

thank you for view this highlights and results on this historic day, hope you enjoy it

scott

wow,

see theres a race fan there,   when most people were sitting there with there heads wrapped and almost in snowmobile suits,  people were in there tee shirts and shorts........ got to love it!!!!!!!!!

scott

I couldn't agree with you more!  We arrived in Myrtle Beach S.C. Thursday evening only to find a fine mist in the air.  Upon waking Friday morning, the temperature was a balmy 60, but it rained on and off throughout the day.  We headed for the track, only to find that the CTS race was cancelled, we hung around the garage for a few hours, and packed it in.  Saturday the sun never came out, and with the wind chill the temp never really got above 45!  Hell, I thought I was in Belmar NJ for most of the trip!  At least the sun came out just about the time the NNC took the green on Sunday, but we stayed bundled up the whole day, including gloves and hats.  As soon as the sun went down on Sunday, the temp dropped another 5 to 10 degrees, but the increased visibility along with the excitement of attending such a historical race kept the blood pumping.  We hardly sat in our seats for the 500 miles and got some great pictures.  I plan to have them up on the site soon along with our pictures from the infield throughout the weekend.

Nascars Brian France announced, that the Chase for the Cup will return for the 2005 season with some minor "tweaks". For a link to the story from Nascar.com, click on the link below:

http://aolsvc.sports.aol.nascar.com/2004/news/headlines/cup/11/16/bc.car.nascar.pointsrac.ap/index.html

Kurt Busch is the 2004 Nextel Cup champion. His Roush Racing teamate Greg Biffle won the Ford 400 at the Homestead Speedway. For the finishing order of the race, follow the link below:

http://aolsvc.sports.aol.nascar.com/races/cup/2004/36/data/results_unofficial.html

Joe Gibbs Racing, moved crew chief Steve Addington from the JGR #20 BGN team, to the #18 Nextel Cup team to be Bobby Labontes crew chief in 2005.