Remembering the historic 2004 Daytona 500 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning on a momentous day for NASCAR

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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