2004 NASCAR Cup Series Head-to-Head Playoff Results

Originally published on Jan. 26, 2025

By Zane Miller

First round

(8) #6 Mark Martin v. (1) #24 Jeff Gordon

(7) #20 Tony Stewart v. (2) #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

(6) #38 Elliott Sadler v. (3) #48 Jimmie Johnson

(5) #97 Kurt Busch v. (4) #17 Matt Kenseth

With the playoffs getting underway at Dover, Mark Martin would get an early shot in on the #1-seeded Jeff Gordon. Although Gordon finished third at the Monster Mile, Martin would do one better by hanging on to the runner-up spot. Speaking of early upsets, Tony Stewart took a win over competitor Dale Earnhardt Jr. after claiming the sixth spot while Earnhardt Jr. trailed in ninth.

Elliott Sadler had a disappointing day at the Delaware track, finishing three laps down in 20^th as Jimmie Johnson nabbed the final spot inside the top 10. As for the battle of teammates Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth, Busch would get the upper hand thanks to a splendid fifth-place finish while Kenseth ended up crashing into a pile of tires stacked near the pit lane entrance.

The next race would be at the 2.66-mile behemoth known as Talladega Superspeedway, though Earnhardt Jr. continued his reign of terror with his fifth race win at the track, outdoing Stewart’s sixth-place finish. Kurt Busch was no slouch either, grabbing a fifth-place finish to knock out Kenseth as he could only get up to 14^th. Also eliminated at Talladega was Gordon, as the normally strong restrictor plate racer was stuck back in 19^th at the day’s end, allowing Martin to pull off the shocking upset after finishing 15^th. This was the third year in a row that the #1-seeded driver was eliminated in the first round. On the other hand, the battle between Sadler and Johnson would continue into Kansas, as despite flipping his way across the finish line in 22^nd, Sadler was ahead of Johnson in the running order as the latter blew his engine in the late going.

Only the Stewart-Earnhardt Jr. and Sadler-Johnson series remained at Kansas Speedway, though the latter series would be over prior to the race’s conclusion. Johnson wrecked out in a single car crash with 50 laps to go, ending his title hopes as Sadler went on to score a fourth place finish. Meanwhile, in a close struggle throughout the afternoon, Earnhardt Jr. outlasted Stewart with a ninth-place run to Smoke’s 14^th.

Semifinal

(8) #6 Mark Martin v. (2) #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

(6) #38 Elliott Sadler v. (5) #97 Kurt Busch

Under the lights at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Busch set out to prove that his first round triumph was no fluke. Flighting back from a midpack starting spot, the Las Vegas native finished fifth, while Sadler tailed behind in seventh. Despite leading 32 laps, Martin could only salvage a 13^th-place finish as Earnhardt Jr. challenged for the race win with a third-place result.

At Martinsville, Sadler’s somewhat out-of-nowhere title run came to an end just 25 laps short of the checkered flag after being caught up in an accident with Joe Nemechek. This allowed Busch to easily clear a path to the finals with a fifth-place run. In contrast, Earnhardt Jr. dealt with a treacherous afternoon at the Paper Clip, becoming involved in multiple incidents and falling several laps down before a final crash with 32 laps to go put him out of the race for good. Martin captured a solid 12^th-place finish to force the series to be decided at Atlanta.

The drivers went down to Georgia looking for a finals spot to steal, but, for the second race in a row, Earnhardt Jr. would be out of the race due to a crash. While running inside the top five and chasing down Martin, Dale Jr. would get crossed up with Carl Edwards and spin out down the backstretch before pounding the inside wall head on. Now with no pressure, Martin went on to finish second and set up a teammate vs. teammate duel for the championship.

Final

(8) #6 Mark Martin v. (5) #97 Kurt Busch

The finals would begin out west at Phoenix, where both Busch and Martin would start deep in the field due to poor qualifying runs. While neither racer became a major threat for the race win, Busch led a handful of laps in the middle of the event on the way to a 10^th-place result, while Martin recovered from an early accident to finish on the lead lap. However, he did not recover well enough to unseat Busch, as Martin crossed the line in 15^th.

2004 was the year of the weird one-off November race at Darlington, thus giving Busch the rare opportunity to hoist the newly-redesigned championship trophy at NASCAR’s oldest superspeedway. However, Martin had other ideas, as he took the race lead for the first time on lap 66. The 1989 champ would lose and reclaim the race lead intermittently throughout the rest of the race, but always remained near the front. Despite a strong run from Busch in sixth, Martin would grab the runner-up spot and necessitate a winner-take-all race at Homestead.

For the third straight year, the championship trophy would be lifted at Homestead-Miami Speedway, though Martin would be fighting an uphill battle as Busch started on the pole. However, the title bout was almost over on lap 93, as Busch was preparing to come down pit road before the right-front wheel literally broke free from his car. Now with limited control of his car, Busch almost hit the end of the inside pit wall, but would avert total disaster as the #97 missed making impact by mere inches. Down but not out, Busch began making his charge back to the front, while Martin struggled to make progress from his 11^th-place starting spot. Busch was still following behind Martin with 44 laps to go, when a caution came out. After initially not coming down pit road, Martin came in a lap later after cutting down a tire during the warmup laps. This put him deep in the field with a short time to recover, though he wasted little time in picking his way through traffic. Another caution came out late, setting up a two-lap dash to the checkers with Busch in fifth and Martin in 13^th. Martin gained two spots on the restart, but it was too little, too late as Busch held his position to win his first career Cup Series title.

Kurt Busch’s stats for 2004 featured three victories, 10 top-fives and 21 top-10s, claiming the real-life championship as well in the Cup Series’ initial foray into the postseason.