July. Steve Park ran at Las Vegas in March, finishing fourth. Martin Truex Jr. ran three races with the car being renumbered to No. 81: Richmond, Dover, and Bristol. He also failed to qualify for the fall Dover race. Truex later ran the No. 8 late in the season at Charlotte, Rockingham, and Homestead, finishing second twice. Hank Parker Jr. made three starts in the car Charlotte in May and Kansas and Atlanta in the fall, finishing seventh and fifth twice. Tony Stewart ran the No. 8 in the Cabela's 250 at Michigan in August, finishing 11th after leading the most laps. The 2004 season saw the first full-time season for Chance 2 as Martin Truex Jr. ran the full schedule and was considered an early season favorite. Truex ran several races for Chance 2 the year before in the No. 8/81 and had made a total of fourteen previous starts in the Busch Series dating to 2001, driving one race for Phoenix Racing in the No. 1 Yellow Transportation Chevrolet, several for his father, Martin Truex, and one race for Stanton Barrett's race team. Truex was expected to battle with Kyle Busch (racing his first full NASCAR season since the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement had taken away his Truck Series ride at Roush Racing when he was 16) for the points championship. Busch drove the No. 5 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, the team that had won the series points championship in 2003 with Brian Vickers. Truex's car carried sponsorship from Bass Pro Shops for a majority of the races, with Yum! Brands sponsoring for 14 races. Truex ran the first race of the season at Daytona in the No. 81, as car owner Earnhardt piloted the No. 8 as an entry for DEI. Truex's team and points then switched to the No. 8 for the second race of the season. His first victory in the No. 8 came in the Sharpie Professional 250 at Bristol in March. He followed it up with three additional victories in the next seven races: the Aaron's 312 at Talladega, the Charter 250 at Gateway, and the Goulds Pumps/ITT Industries 200 at Nazareth, the final race held at the speedway. Truex claimed the points lead after Nazareth but quickly lost it to Busch. However, Truex put together a string of top ten finishes, regaining the points lead and putting distance between him and