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2008 Pepsi 500

The 2008 Pepsi 500 was the twenty-fifth race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and the next-to-last race to determine the twelve drivers to compete in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup. The 500 mi race was held on Sunday night, August 31 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. ESPN carried the race beginning at 7 PM US EDT and MRN along with Sirius Satellite Radio having radio coverage starting at 7:15 PM US EDT. This year marked the final time that this race would be run on Labor Day Weekend. In 2009, this race will move into the current spot occupied to Talladega Superspeedway as part of the NASCAR 2009 realignment.

Pre-Race News

Jeff Burton joined the NASCAR 500 Start club this week.
In this week's edition of "The Worst Kept Secret in NASCAR", Joe Gibbs Racing officially announced August 25 that Joey Logano will officially take the place of the soon-to-be-departing Tony Stewart in the #20 Toyota for the 2009 season. Logano will debut in the series next week at Richmond driving the #02 car.
Reed Sorenson will leave Chip Ganassi Racing and the #41 Dodge and become a driver for Gillett Evernham Motorsports in 2009. His car number and sponsors will be announced at a later date.

Qualifying

Jimmie Johnson took the top position for the fourth time this season and 17th in his career, and A. J. Allmendinger closed fast to take the other front row spot, edging Johnson's Hendrick teammate, Jeff Gordon.

Failed to qualify: Tony Raines (#70).

Race

A caution came out early in the race due to debris when one of the track's caution lights fell onto the track itself. Another caution came out on lap 43 when Kurt Busch spun due to tire tread separation on his left rear tire. The fourth caution came out when Joe Nemechek over corrected for over steer and hit the wall. The fifth caution came out around lap 102 due to debris on the track. The sixth caution on 160 was also due debris that was from a small piece of another caution light falling on the track. The seventh caution came out with 70 laps to go due to Robby Gordon spinning out. The eighth caution came out due to Marcos Ambrose's car hitting a wall, after which Jimmie Johnson won the race, leading 228 of 250 laps. Three drivers - Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton - all locked up spots in the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Greg Biffle, who finished second, also all but wrapped up a spot in the Chase as well, and all he'll have to do is qualify his car and start in Richmond next week.

Polesitter Johnson dominated, leading 228 out of 250 laps to score his 36th victory at the venue where he scored his first just more than six years prior.

Post-race temperatures got as low as 61.9 F; a radical shift from the high temperatures witnessed prior to the race.

Results

POS	ST	#	DRIVER	SPONSOR / OWNER	CAR	LAPS	MONEY	STATUS	LED	PTS
1	1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's / Jimmie Johnson Foundation (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	250	314611	running	228	195
2	15	16	Greg Biffle	3M (Jack Roush)	Ford	250	185375	running	12	175
3	21	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Ground (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	250	178091	running	0	165
4	33	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell / Pennzoil (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	250	170786	running	0	160
5	37	17	Matt Kenseth	R&L Carriers (Jack Roush)	Ford	250	169941	running	1	160
6	26	99	Carl Edwards	Aflac (Jack Roush)	Ford	250	153300	running	0	150
7	11	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	250	120225	running	0	146
8	4	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)	Dodge	250	141691	running	0	142
9	12	44	David Reutimann	UPS / Toys For Tots Literacy Program (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	250	108075	running	3	143
10	31	07	Clint Bowyer	Jack Daniel's (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	250	120150	running	0	134
11	18	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	AMP Energy / National Guard (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	250	108750	running	0	130
12	19	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull (Dietrich Mateschitz)	Toyota	250	107825	running	0	127
13	22	6	David Ragan	AAA Insurance (Jack Roush)	Ford	250	108475	running	1	129
14	2	84	A.J. Allmendinger	Red Bull (Dietrich Mateschitz)	Toyota	250	98225	running	1	126
15	3	24	Jeff Gordon	Pepsi / DuPont (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	250	143636	running	2	123
16	17	12	Ryan Newman	Kodak (Roger Penske)	Dodge	250	135225	running	0	115
17	27	31	Jeff Burton	AT&T Mobility (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	250	137508	running	1	117
18	5	10	Patrick Carpentier	Sears Auto Center / Valvoline (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)	Dodge	250	96700	running	0	109
19	7	1	Martin Truex Jr	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	250	125458	running	0	106
20	23	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Texaco / Havoline (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	250	124033	running	0	103
21	24	43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios / Betty Crocker / Totino's (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	250	130086	running	0	100
22	14	20	Tony Stewart	Subway / Home Depot (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	250	137936	running	0	97
23	42	38	David Gilliland	CitiFinancial (Yates Racing)	Ford	249	111608	running	0	94
24	13	26	Jamie McMurray	Crown Royal (Jack Roush)	Ford	249	99725	running	0	91
25	39	66	Scott Riggs	State Water Heaters (Gene Haas)	Chevrolet	249	107958	running	0	88
26	16	5	Casey Mears	Cheez-It / Carquest (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	249	105800	running	0	85
27	41	41	Reed Sorenson	Target (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	249	117964	running	0	82
28	34	28	Travis Kvapil	Hitachi "Inspire the Next" (Yates Racing)	Ford	249	117739	running	0	79
29	8	22	Dave Blaney	Caterpillar (Bill Davis)	Toyota	249	104583	running	0	76
30	10	8	Aric Almirola	U.S. Army (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	249	124533	running	0	73
31	32	77	Sam Hornish Jr	Penske Truck Rental (Roger Penske)	Dodge	249	132900	running	0	70
32	40	21	Marcos Ambrose	Little Debbie (Wood Brothers)	Ford	249	105595	running	0	67
33	30	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	249	99808	running	1	69
34	6	19	Elliott Sadler	McDonald's (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)	Dodge	249	113495	running	0	61
35	35	00	Mike Skinner	Affliction Clothing (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	249	96647	running	0	58
36	25	01	Regan Smith	DEI / Principal Financial Group (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	249	95050	running	0	55
37	29	15	Paul Menard	Menards / Johns Manville (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	249	95000	running	0	52
38	38	45	Kyle Petty	Wells Fargo (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	249	86950	running	0	49
39	9	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite (Roger Penske)	Dodge	248	86900	running	0	46
40	36	7	Robby Gordon	Monster Energy (Robby Gordon)	Dodge	248	94850	running	0	43
41	28	96	Ken Schrader	DLP HDTV (Jeff Moorad)	Toyota	247	94805	running	0	40
42	43	08	Johnny Sauter	FUBAR All Natural Drink (John Carter)	Dodge	161	86740	overheating	0	37
43	20	78	Joe Nemechek	Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com (Barney Visser)	Chevrolet	67	86212	crash	0	34

References

"2008 Pepsi 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac.
"Race Results".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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