With a streak of three consecutive top-ten finishes, the #20 Spectrum Controls / Rockwell Automation Team headed to Daytona International Speedway for the final restrictor plate race of the season. With the new "one day show" format in place, where the teams would race their qualifying setup, the pressure was on to figure out a fast drafting package that would also allow you to start in the front to avoid the possible "big one".

Running 13th & 17th in the two practices, the #20 team was confident they could have their car start in the top ten. Bliss drew an early number and quickly jumped up to the top of the board. Although the temperatures began to cool, the wind picked up and played to the #20 Team's advantage. At the conclusion, the time of 49.459 (181.969 mph) was good enough to hold up for the pole position for Friday night's Winn-Dixie 250. This is Bliss's second Busch Pole Award of 2004.

"I was really surprised with this pole," commented Bliss following qualifying. "This is the same car that we completely wrecked at Talladega. The guys have been working hard on this car getting it ready. We did not have time to take it to the wind tunnel and were working on it straight up to Tuesday evening when it left the shop. We weren't really worried much about qualifying because you can go to the front at this track in a hurry, but this is a great accomplishment for us and we are excited to be starting on the front row."

As thunderstorms and rain showers occupied most of the afternoon Friday, the skies cleared up in time to start the race on time. The #20 car looked strong early leading 22 of the first 24 circuits. On lap 24, the DEI engine group of Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr, & Martin Truex teamed up on Bliss and tried to draft by on the pass. Bliss held the lead for almost two laps when the draft proved too strong and he settled into fourth. The caution came out on lap 26 and Bliss followed the leaders to pit road. Reporting the car a tick tight in traffic the #20 team put on four tires, fuel and put in one round of wedge.

Restarting the race in the 2nd position, Bliss immediately went to challenge for the lead. As the tires started to wear away, Bliss reported the car had become "wicked loose" ;. As he began to lose positions, Bliss moved to the back of the pack to drive defensively until the next caution when the crew would be able to work on it again. Bliss made several stops during the next couple cautions to try to find a way to tighten the #20 car up. By lap 70, Bliss had his final set of tires, final adjustments and was ready for his run to the finish.

Bliss restarted for the final 30 laps in the 16th position. He had difficulty getting drafting partners as he swapped positions in the 10 to 20 range. By lap 90, he had moved to 11th for the final 10 laps. As the laps ticked down, racing began to get furious. As the leaders started banging off each other, Bliss was able to hold his line and with the drafting help of the #38 car of Kasey Kahne and the #1 car of Casey Mears, began working his way to the front. After a final lap two-car altercation, Bliss cruised across the line in the sixth position. NASCAR penalized the #00 car of Jason Leffler one second for aggressive driving and Bliss moved into the fifth position, his third top-five finish in the last four races.