The 2004 Mountain Dew Southern 500 was a Nextel Cup (now Sprint Cup) event held at Darlington Raceway on November 14, 2004. Jeff Gordon dominated the event for the second straight week, but for the second straight week a late pit issue cost him the victory. Gordon's teammate Jimmie Johnson drove to victory instead, his 4th in the last five races, and narrowed the points gap. With one race to go, Kurt Busch (6th) held a 18-point lead on Johnson and a 21-point lead on Gordon (3rd). Stats