Remembering the historic 2004 Daytona 500 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning on a momentous day for NASCAR
Description
Why the 2004 season was a crossroads of so many eras beginning and ending for NASCAR (1:30 ); former NASCAR on NBC announcer Allen Bestwick and sports journalist Brant James recall the impact of a visit by President George W. Bushto the Daytona 500 (5:30 ); the scene as President Bush arrived at the track (9:30 ); the president’s prerace interview (11:00 ); the delayed opening ceremonies and the command to start engines (12:30 ); how this was different from previous presidential visits to Cup races (15:00 ); Ben Affleck’s Daytona 500 appearance and NASCAR as a place to “see and be seen” (16:30 ); the debut of Nextel as the new title sponsor of the NASCAR Cup Series (20:00 ); how Nextel changed the approach to NASCAR commercials and marketing (22:30 ); the origins of the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship format and NASCAR’s reasons for making the major change (26:00 ); how NASCAR introduced the controversial new playoff-style system and fended off criticism from fans and the industry (28:00 ); why Dale Jr. was an overwhelming prerace favorite to win his first Daytona 500 (35:30 ); the prerace twists between Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip and the tension between their teams (38:30 ); the massive wreck that took out Waltrip in the Daytona 500 (40:30 ); the surprising wingman bromance between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart (42:30 ); the surprising way the Daytona 500 ended with 300 consecutive miles under the green flag (45:00 ); the winning pass and the jubilant aftermath for Dale Jr. (47:30 ); how Dale Jr. tied all of the emotions together in his typically confessional and emotive postrace interviews (50:00 ); the congratulatory phone call from President Bush to Dale Jr. after the race (55:00 ); the Busch Series win postscript for Dale Jr. (58:00 ); how Earnhardt Jr.’s victory on Feb. 15, 2004 at Daytona closed the loop on his July 7, 2001 triumph at the same track (1:00 ).
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