2008 Kobalt Tools 500

2008 Kobalt Tools 500
Race details[1]
Race 4 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season

Atlanta Motor Speedway (after 1997, before Atlanta International Speedway)
Date March 9, 2008 (2008-March-09)
Official name Kobalt Tools 500
Location Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia
Course Permanent racing facility
1.54 mi (2.48 km)
Distance 325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 57.9 °F (14.4 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed 140.975 miles per hour (226.877 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Hendrick Motorsports
Time 29.927
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 173
Winner
No. 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2008 Kobalt Tools 500 was the fourth race in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and was held on March 9, 2008 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, located outside the Georgia state capital. The race was televised on Fox starting at 1:30 PM US EDT, and broadcast on the Performance Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio starting at 1 PM US EDT.

Pre-Race News

Qualifying

Qualifying suffered from a short rain delay in the beginning stages but was finally reopened with Jeff Gordon winning the pole followed by Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards and Bobby Labonte rounding out the top five. Forty-eight cars attempted to make the race but only 43 are able to start a Sprint Cup Race.

Failed to qualify: John Andretti (#34), Johnny Benson (#27), Bill Elliott (#21), Burney Lamar (#08), Ken Schrader (#49).

Race

For the first time since June 1954 (when Al Keller won in a Jaguar on the road course at Linden Airport), a foreign nameplate found its way to the winners' circle as Kyle Busch dominated the field to win his fifth Cup race of his career, and give Toyota their first Sprint Cup victory after 40 races. Carl Edwards, still smarting from last week's win that found a loose oil tank, costing him 100 points in the drivers chase, his owner Jack Roush 100 owners' points and suspended crew chief Bob Osborne for six races until April 30 as well as a $100,000 fine, was in the lead until there were 50 laps to go and Edwards' transmission in the #99 Ford blew up, finishing 42nd, and falling deeper out of the top 12.

Much of the pre and post-race talk was about the tires Goodyear supplied to the teams. Tony Stewart claimed that the tires were shoddy in a post-race commentary. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also said that the tires did not work well on the subject of its grip, while Jeff Gordon claimed that in light of Stewart's gripes that "I think he went a little overboard". The tiremaker commented the day after that in a press release "if the drivers aren't happy, Goodyear's not happy."

Top Ten Finishers
Pos Car # Driver Make Team
1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
2 20 Tony Stewart Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
3 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
4 16 Greg Biffle Ford Roush Fenway Racing
5 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
6 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
7 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
8 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Roush Fenway Racing
9 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Team Red Bull
10 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing

References

  1. ↑ Weather information for the 2008 Kobalt Tools 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac. Accessed 2013-06-18. Archived 2013-06-21.
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