For the second consecutive year, Elliott Sadler took a tumble at Talladega. Credit: Autostock

Top 10: Images

If a picture is worth a thousand words, these leave you speechless

This is the third of our top 10 lists for 2004. Monday: Surprises.

Perhaps nothing can capture the spirit of NASCAR like a photograph.

PHOTO GALLERY Top 10 Images of 2004

From the revelry in Victory Lane to the pulse-pounding emotional roller coaster that is a crash, pictures can say more than words. Even a thousand words.

The images of 2004 that are seared in our memories include Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s win in the Daytona 500, Jimmie Johnson taking the checkered flag at Atlanta -- one week after a plane crash claimed the lives of 10 people aboard a Hendrick Motorsports plane -- and Kurt Busch celebrating the inaugural Nextel Cup championship.

And don't forget the rookies, namely Kasey -- who raised a lot of Kahne but came up short so many times at the finish line.

The season gone by was remarkable, just like these images.

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