2008 Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400
The 2008 Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 was the tenth stock car race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The event was held on May 3, 2008, before a crowd of 112,000, at Richmond International Racway in Richmond, Virginia. Originally scheduled for 400 laps, Clint Bowyer won the race after a late caution and subsequent green–white–checker finish extended the race to 410 laps.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 10 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
 Richmond International Speedway | |||
| Date | May 3, 2008 | ||
| Official name | Crown Royal Presents The Dan Lowry 400 | ||
| Location | Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Virginia | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.75 mi (1.207 km) | ||
| Distance | 410 laps, 307.5 mi (494.873 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching as low as 57 °F (14 °C); wind speeds up to 18.1 miles per hour (29.1 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 95.786 miles per hour (154.153 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 21.395 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 381 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 07 | Clint Bowyer | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds | ||
Summary
The race was telecast on Fox starting at 7:45 pm US EDT, with radio coverage on Sirius Satellite Radio and MRN beginning at 7:30 pm US EDT. The race is named for Columbiana, Ohio resident Dan Lowry, who was the winner of an essay contest sponsored by race sponsor Crown Royal whisky. Clint Bowyer won the race.
Pre-race news
- Last week at Talladega, Ken Schrader filled in on the #70 Haas CNC Racing car. Schrader was the interim substitute for Dario Franchitti's #40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge, but failed to qualify.
- Johnny Sauter will return again to Haas and pilot their #70 ride for this race.
Race
The action came with 48 laps left. While Denny Hamlin who dominated the race, led on a fuel crisis, the caution flew for Casey Mears' crash. The crash involved Michael Waltrip in his self-owned #55 Toyota. The replays showed that Mears accidentally forced Waltrip into scraping across the wall. Then instantly afterwards Michael Waltrip pushed Mears around. These hits on Mears' rear caused him to eventually hit the wall nearly head-on. For the shove Waltrip was parked by NASCAR.
Denny Hamlin led 381 laps until a cut tire and a pit road penalty ended his day. On lap 398, Kyle Busch, spun Dale Earnhardt Jr. into the wall, triggering an enormous amount of controversy over the matter and intense boos from the crowd, as Earnhardt was extremely popular due to his family relations with his famous father Dale Sr.. Although many fans felt that Busch intentionally caused the accident, Earnhardt would later address the incident and state that Busch did not intentionally cause the wreck.[2]
However, Clint Bowyer surged in front of Busch before the caution flag was thrown. Bowyer was able to hold off Busch and Mark Martin to score his second career cup win, despite leading only two laps. His win was the last one when numbered 07, and his win brought Chevrolet to having the most NASCAR wins in history.
References
- Complete weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- Martinelli, Michelle R. (April 18, 2018). "Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch rehash bitter details of decade-old feud". usatoday.com. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
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Sprint Cup Series 2008 season |
Next race: 2008 Dodge Challenger 500 |