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2008 Kobalt Tools 500

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

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Qualifying

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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

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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 his first win driving for Joe Gibbs Racing. The victory also gave 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."

Results

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POS[2] ST # DRIVER SPONSOR / OWNER CAR LAPS MONEY STATUS LED PTS
1 6 18   Kyle Busch Snickers   (Joe Gibbs) Toyota 325 175575 running 173 195
2 32 20   Tony Stewart Home Depot 10 Years Service Award   (Joe Gibbs) Toyota 325 162886 running 0 170
3 2 88   Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 325 125050 running 62 170
4 13 16   Greg Biffle Jackson Hewitt   (Jack Roush) Ford 325 106875 running 1 165
5 1 24   Jeff Gordon DuPont   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 325 136686 running 1 160
6 7 07   Clint Bowyer DirecTV   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 325 94850 running 52 155
7 8 29   Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 325 124086 running 0 146
8 38 17   Matt Kenseth DeWalt   (Jack Roush) Ford 325 124341 running 0 142
9 35 83   Brian Vickers Red Bull   (Dietrich Mateschitz) Toyota 325 79200 running 1 143
10 15 31   Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility   (Richard Childress) Chevrolet 325 123958 running 0 134
11 29 2   Kurt Busch Miller Lite   (Roger Penske) Dodge 325 79325 running 0 130
12 5 43   Bobby Labonte Cheerios / Betty Crocker   (Petty Enterprises) Dodge 325 114436 running 1 132
13 11 48   Jimmie Johnson Lowe's / Kobalt Tools   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 325 127786 running 0 124
14 12 12   Ryan Newman Alltel   (Roger Penske) Dodge 324 115075 running 0 121
15 22 11   Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground   (Joe Gibbs) Toyota 324 112691 running 0 118
16 19 42   Juan Pablo Montoya Wrigley's Big Red   (Chip Ganassi) Dodge 324 104058 running 0 115
17 39 5   Casey Mears Kellogg's / Carquest   (Rick Hendrick) Chevrolet 324 89850 running 0 112
18 28 66   Scott Riggs State Water Heaters   (Gene Haas) Chevrolet 324 93808 running 0 109
19 20 15   Paul Menard Menards / Energizer   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet 324 83225 running 0 106
20 30 00   David Reutimann Aaron's Dream Machine   (Michael Waltrip) Toyota 323 92808 running 0 103
21 3 1   Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet 323 105633 running 0 100
22 10 8   Mark Martin U.S. Army   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet 323 108458 running 0 97
23 14 6   David Ragan AAA   (Jack Roush) Ford 323 83850 running 0 94
24 26 7   Robby Gordon Valvoline / Jim Beam   (Robby Gordon) Dodge 323 95858 running 0 91
25 33 77   Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Truck Rental   (Roger Penske) Dodge 323 117550 running 0 88
26 43 44   Dale Jarrett UPS   (Michael Waltrip) Toyota 322 73725 running 0 85
27 34 84   Mike Skinner Red Bull   (Dietrich Mateschitz) Toyota 322 69800 running 0 82
28 9 9   Kasey Kahne Budweiser   (Gillett Evernham Motorsports) Dodge 322 107041 running 1 84
29 42 28   Travis Kvapil Zaxby's   (Yates Racing) Ford 322 99689 running 0 76
30 27 55   Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts   (Michael Waltrip) Toyota 321 81508 running 0 73
31 25 41   Reed Sorenson Target / Polaroid   (Chip Ganassi) Dodge 321 99489 running 0 70
32 31 38   David Gilliland FreeCreditReport.com   (Yates Racing) Ford 321 81222 running 0 67
33 23 40   Dario Franchitti Fastenal   (Chip Ganassi) Dodge 321 78050 running 0 64
34 16 22   Dave Blaney Caterpillar   (Bill Davis) Toyota 321 69025 running 0 61
35 21 10   Patrick Carpentier Cintas   (Gillett Evernham Motorsports) Dodge 320 68990 running 0 58
36 17 78   Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing   (Barney Visser) Chevrolet 320 68955 running 0 55
37 37 96   J.J. Yeley DLP HDTV / H.H. Gregg   (Jeff Moorad) Toyota 320 76920 running 0 52
38 41 01   Regan Smith DEI / Principal Financial Group   (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) Chevrolet 320 76885 running 0 49
39 36 70   Jeremy Mayfield Haas Automation   (Gene Haas) Chevrolet 318 68850 running 0 46
40 24 26   Jamie McMurray Irwin Industrial Tools   (Jack Roush) Ford 317 76810 running 0 43
41 40 45   Kyle Petty Paralyzed Veterans of America   (Petty Enterprises) Dodge 313 68765 running 0 40
42 4 99   Carl Edwards Aflac   (Jack Roush) Ford 274 116145 engine 33 42
43 18 19   Elliott Sadler Best Buy / Garmin   (Gillett Evernham Motorsports) Dodge 257 94518 crash 0 34
Failed to qualify
POS NAME NBR SPONSOR OWNER CAR
44 Ken Schrader 49 Qtrax.com Beth Ann Morgenthau Dodge
45 Bill Elliott 21 Little Debbie Nutty Bars Wood Brothers Ford
46 Johnny Benson Jr. 27 Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Bill Davis Toyota
47 Burney Lamar 08 Rhino's Energy Drink John Carter Dodge
48 John Andretti 34 Front Row Motorsports Bob Jenkins Chevrolet

References

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  1. ^ Weather information for the 2008 Kobalt Tools 500at The Old Farmers' Almanac. Accessed 2013-06-18. 2013-06-21.
  2. ^ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-29.


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Sprint Cup Series
2008 season
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2008 Food City 500