2008 Coca-Cola 600

The 2008 Coca-Cola 600, the 49th running of the event, was a NASCAR stock car race held on May 25, 2008, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The race was the twelfth stock car race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. The 400-lap race was won by Kasey Kahne of the Gillett Evernham Motorsports team, who started from the 2nd position. Greg Biffle finished second and Kyle Busch came in third.

2008 Coca-Cola 600

Race details
Race 12 of 36[1] in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date	May 25, 2008
Official name	Coca-Cola 600
Location	Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.414 km)
Distance	400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km)
Weather	Warm with temperatures approaching 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)[2]
Average speed	135.772 miles per hour (218.504 km/h)
Attendance	160,000
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	29.121
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	76
Winner
No. 9	Kasey Kahne	Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds
Radio in the United States
Radio	Performance Racing Network

Report

Background

Lowe's Motor Speedway, the track where the race was held.

The Coca-Cola 600 was the twelfth scheduled stock car race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, out of 36, and the 49th iteration of the event. It was held on May 25, 2008, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.[3] Lowe's Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located thirteen miles from Charlotte, North Carolina in Concord, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad-oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, the Nextel All-Star Challenge, and the Bank of America 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR.[4] The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI). Following the 2008 Coca-Cola 600, Humpy Wheeler retired as track president.[5]

Qualification

There were a total of three practice sessions prior to the race. During the first session on Thursday, May 22, 2008, David Ragan had the fastest speed at 181.622 mph.[6] Before Saturday's first practice session, both Haas CNC Racing cars - the No. 66 of Scott Riggs and the No. 70 Johnny Sauter - were impounded by NASCAR officials and taken to the research and development center for illegal wing adjustments. As a result, they were forced to drive backup cars and start at the rear of the starting lineup. Both teams were also charged a US $100,000 fine in addition to having their crew chiefs suspended for the next six races starting at Dover and running through Daytona.[7]

The second practice session took place on Saturday, May 24, 2008, with Greg Biffle taking the top position with a speed of 180.282 mph.[8] Brian Vickers had the fastest practice speed at 180.735 mph during the third and final practice session on Saturday.[9] Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole, currently known as the Busch Pole Award, with a speed of 185.433 mph for his second pole of 2008 and the fourth of his career.[10] He began on P-1 with Sprint All-Star Race XXIV champion Kasey Kahne next to him filling out the front row.

Failed to Qualify: Jeff Green (No. 34), Stanton Barrett (No. 50), Jon Wood (No. 21), Joe Nemechek (No. 78) and Tony Raines (No. 08).[11]

Race

The 2008 Coca-Cola 600 began with a scheduled green flag at 5:45 p.m. EST. The race award was set at approximately $6,648,557.[10] The Car of Tomorrow had a successful race following its initial introduction at the 2007 Food City 500, and a record number of green flag passes was set with the average green flag run lasting 29.2 laps.[3] Kyle Busch led for the first 33 laps and lost his lead to Brian Vickers until a cut tire sent Vickers into the turn 4 wall while leading the field by an entire backstretch. Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Busch then traded the lead amongst themselves several times after Vickers fell out of contention. Kurt Busch held the longest lead of the race from laps 67 to 119 which totaled to 53 laps led in one consecutive run.[3] Dale Earnhardt Jr. maintained the most laps led throughout at 76 laps. There was a total of 39 lead changes during the race with 16 different drivers leading a lap.[10] Johnson, who was leading late in the race, fell out of the race after experiencing engine failure that caused him to finish 39th. Robby Gordon and Patrick Carpentier also had engine trouble, and Paul Menard was eliminated from the running due to his car overheating. Approximately 12.5% of the race was run under caution, including five turning related accidents and three cautions citing debris.[3]

After pit stops cycled through with 10 laps to go, Tony Stewart led the 2nd place car of Kasey Kahne by a large margin. Stewart cut a tire while leading with 2 laps to go, putting the victory in the lap of Kahne. With his eighth career win, Kahne completed the Charlotte sweep by following up his 2008 Sprint All-Star Race win with a win in the 600. Kahne's margin of victory was 10.203 seconds.[3] This was his first win in 2008—ending his 52 race winless drought.[10] Greg Biffle finished 2nd, Busch finished 3rd, while Jeff Gordon and Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the Top 5. The total race time was 4:25:09.[3]

Live television coverage of the 2008 Coca-Cola 600 began at 6:30 p.m. EDT in the United States on Fox. Radio coverage was handled by Sirius Satellite Radio and the Speedway Motorsports, Inc.-owned Performance Racing Network on terrestrial radio stations.[10]

Results

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Speed	Time
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	185.433	29.121
2	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	185.300	29.142
3	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	185.249	29.150
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	184.969	29.194
5	6	David Ragan	Ford	184.470	29.273
6	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	184.439	29.278
7	8	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	184.181	29.319
8	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	184.106	29.331
9	19	Elliott Sadler	Dodge	183.974	29.352
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	183.924	29.360
11	22	Dave Blaney	Toyota	183.842	29.373
12	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	183.780	29.383
13	66	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	183.673	29.400
14	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	183.617	29.409
15	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	183.580	29.415
16	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	183.455	29.435
17	41	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	183.443	29.437
18	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	183.436	29.438
19	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	183.430	29.439
20	77	Sam Hornish Jr	Dodge	183.349	29.452
21	5	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	183.275	29.464
22	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	183.212	29.474
23	43	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	183.200	29.476
24	1	Martin Truex Jr	Chevrolet	183.169	29.481
25	15	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	183.132	29.487
26	40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	183.057	29.499
27	84	AJ Allmendinger	Toyota	182.852	29.532
28	44	David Reutimann	Toyota	182.729	29.552
29	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	182.692	29.558
30	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	182.168	29.643
31	20	Tony Stewart	Toyota	182.113	29.652
32	38	David Gilliland	Ford	182.020	29.667
33	33	Ken Schrader	Chevrolet	181.984	29.673
34	10	Patrick Carpentier	Dodge	181.867	29.692
35	96	JJ Yeley	Toyota	181.726	29.715
36	45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	181.714	29.717
37	01	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	181.702	29.719
38	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	181.531	29.747
39	07	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	181.482	29.755
40	00	Michael McDowell	Toyota	181.464	29.758
41	28	Travis Kvapil	Ford	180.156	29.974
42	42	Juan Montoya	Dodge	179.521	30.080
43	70	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	181.446	29.761

[12]

Race

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps Run	Points
1	9	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	400	190
2	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	400	175
3	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	400	170
4	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	160
5	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	400	165
6	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	400	155
7	17	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	400	151
8	19	Elliott Sadler	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	400	147
9	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	400	138
10	44	David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	400	134
11	43	Bobby Labonte	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	400	130
12	6	David Ragan	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	400	132
13	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Penske Racing	Dodge	400	124
14	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	400	121
15	8	Mark Martin	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	400	118
16	2	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing	Dodge	400	120
17	22	Dave Blaney	Bill Davis Racing	Toyota	400	117
18	20	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	399	114
19	01	Regan Smith	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	399	106
20	84	AJ Allmendinger	Dietrich Mateschitz	Toyota	399	103
21	12	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing	Dodge	399	105
22	41	Reed Sorenson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	399	97
23	26	Jamie McMurray	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	399	94
24	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	399	96
25	07	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	398	88
26	28	Travis Kvapil	Yates Racing	Ford	398	85
27	55	Michael Waltrip	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	397	82
28	66	Scott Riggs	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	397	79
29	5	Casey Mears	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	396	81
30	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	396	73
31	40	Sterling Marlin	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	396	70
32	00	Michael McDowell	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	395	67
33	33	Ken Schrader	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	395	64
34	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	395	61
35	70	Johnny Sauter	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	395	58
36	45	Kyle Petty	Petty Enterprises	Dodge	389	55
37	10	Patrick Carpentier	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	363	52
38	96	J.J. Yeley	Hall of Fame Racing	Toyota	353	49
39	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	351	51
40	38	David Gilliland	Yates Racing	Ford	343	43
41	15	Paul Menard	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	244	40
42	83	Brian Vickers	Dietrich Mateschitz	Toyota	184	42
43	7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports	Dodge	181	34

[13]

Post-race standings

Rank	Driver	Points
1	Kyle Busch	1860
2	Jeff Burton	1766 (-94)
3	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	1721 (-139)
4	Denny Hamlin	1596 (-264)
5	Clint Bowyer	1578 (-282)
6	Carl Edwards	1538 (-322)
7	Kevin Harvick	1517 (-343)
8	Tony Stewart	1511 (-349)
9	Jimmie Johnson	1493 (-367)
10	Jeff Gordon	1486 (-374)
11	Greg Biffle	1483 (-377)
12	Kasey Kahne	1454 (-406)
13	David Ragan	1398 (-462)
14	Ryan Newman	1369 (-491)
15	Martin Truex Jr.	1291 (-569)
16	Matt Kenseth	1264 (-596)
17	Juan Pablo Montoya	1263 (-597)
18	Bobby Labonte	1258 (-602)
19	Travis Kvapil	1240 (-620)
20	Brian Vickers	1203 (-657)

[3]

References

1. "NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule, NASCAR Schedule, Auto Racing Schedule - ESPN". ESPN.com.
2. "Weather information for the 2008 Coca-Cola 600". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
3. "05/25/2008 Race: Coca Cola 600 (Cup) - Racing-Reference.info". www.racing-reference.info. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
4. "Charlotte Motor Speedway Track History". www.charlottemotorspeedway.com. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
5. "NASCAR promoter Humpy Wheeler to retire after Coca-Cola 600". Autoweek. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
6. "NASCAR Practice #1 Speeds for the 2008 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
7. Newton, David (24 May 2008). "Riggs, Sauter cars impounded before Cup practice". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
8. "NASCAR Practice #2 Speeds for the 2008 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
9. "NASCAR Practice #3 Speeds for the 2008 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
10. "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site - Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page". web.archive.org. 13 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-05-13. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
11. "Qualifying Times: Coca Cola 600". Crash. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
12. "Coca Cola 600 Qualifying Results and Starting Lineup Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR 2008". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
13. "2008 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte Results - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 10 March 2019.