The 2004 Sharpie 500 was the 24th stock car race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the 44th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, August 28, 2004, before a crowd of 160,000 in Bristol, Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end, Dale Earnhardt Jr. of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. would pull away in the late stages of the race to win his 13th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win and his fourth win of the season. To fill out the podium, Ryan Newman of Penske-Jasper Racing and Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports would finish second and third, respectively.