The 2004 Tropicana 400 presented by Meijer was the 18th stock car race of the 2004 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the 4th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 11, 2004, before a crowd of 80,000 in Joliet, Illinois, at Chicagoland Speedway, a 1.5 miles (2.41 km) tri-oval speedway. The race took the scheduled 267 laps to complete. At race's end, Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing would win a controversial race, after an altercation with Evernham Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne left owner Ray Evernham accusing Stewart of numerous occasions of reckless driving and stating that "He needs to get suspended, and he should have his ass beat." The win was Stewart's 18th career NASCAR Nextel Cup Series win and his first of the season. To fill out the podium, Jimmie Johnson of H