The 2004 EA Sports 500 was a Nextel Cup (now Sprint Cup) event held at Talladega Superspeedway on October 23, 2004. Dale Earnhardt, Jr, quickly becoming a restrictor plate ace, held off Kevin Harvick for the win. The win was costly, though. A couple of expletives were spoken by Junior, leading to a stiff penalty of money and 25 points. NBC would use a five-second delay in the races since. Junior would have taken the points lead, but was now 12 points behind Kurt Busch (5th) in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.