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
2008 Coca-Cola 600 program cover, made by NASCAR artist Sam Bass. The painting is named "Classic!"
Date	May 25, 2008 (2008-May-25)
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

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]

Entry list

Car[6]	Driver	Hometown	Make	Sponsor	Owner	Team	Crew Chief
00	Michael McDowell	Phoenix, AZ	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	Rob Kauffman	Michael Waltrip Racing
01	Regan Smith	Cato, NY	Chevrolet	DEI / Principal Financial Group	Teresa Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
1	Martin Truex Jr	Mayetta, NJ	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker	Teresa Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
2	Kurt Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Dodge	Miller Lite	Walter Czarnecki	Penske Racing
5	Casey Mears	Bakersfield, CA	Chevrolet	CARQUEST / Kellogg's	Mary Hendrick	Hendrick Motorsports
6	David Ragan	Unadilla, GA	Ford	AAA Insurance	Mike Dee	Roush Fenway Racing
07	Clint Bowyer	Emporia, KS	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's / USO "Toast to the Troops"	Richard Childress	Richard Childress Racing
7	Robby Gordon	Bellflower, CA	Dodge	Jim Beam	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports
08	Tony Raines	LaPorte, IN	Dodge	getFUBAR.com	John Carter	E&M Motorsports
8	Mark Martin	Batesville, AR	Chevrolet	U.S. Army "Salute the Troops"	Teresa Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
9	Kasey Kahne	Enumclaw, WA	Dodge	Budweiser	George Gillett Jr	Evernham Motorsports
10	Patrick Carpentier	Ville Lasalle, Quebec, Canada	Dodge	LifeLock	George Gillett Jr	Evernham Motorsports
11	Denny Hamlin	Chesterfield, VA	Toyota	FedEx Freight	J D Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing
12	Ryan Newman	South Bend, IN	Dodge	Alltel	Roger Penske	Penske Racing
15	Paul Menard	Eau Claire, WI	Chevrolet	Johns Manville / Menards	Teresa Earnhardt	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
16	Greg Biffle	Vancouver, WA	Ford	DISH Network / DishDVRs	Jack Roush	Roush Fenway Racing
17	Matt Kenseth	Cambridge, WI	Ford	R+L Carriers	John Henry	Roush Fenway Racing
18	Kyle Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Toyota	M&M's	Joe Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing
19	Elliott Sadler	Emporia, VA	Dodge	Best Buy / Garmin	Ray Evernham	Evernham Motorsports
20	Tony Stewart	Rushville, IN	Toyota	The Home Depot	Joe Gibbs	Joe Gibbs Racing
21	Jon Wood	Stuart, VA	Ford	U.S. Air Force "Salute the Troops"	Glen Wood	Wood Brothers Racing
22	Dave Blaney	Hartford, OH	Toyota	Caterpillar	Bill Davis	Bill Davis Racing
24	Jeff Gordon	Vallejo, CA	Chevrolet	DuPont	Rick Hendrick	Hendrick Motorsports
26	Jamie McMurray	Joplin, MO	Ford	IRWIN Industrial Tools	Geoff Smith	Roush Fenway Racing
28	Travis Kvapil	Janesville, WI	Ford	Lumber Liquidators	Doug Yates	Yates Racing
29	Kevin Harvick	Bakersfield, CA	Chevrolet	Shell / Pennzoil	Richard Childress	Richard Childress Racing
31	Jeff Burton	South Boston, VA	Chevrolet	AT&T Mobility	Richard Childress	Richard Childress Racing
33	Ken Schrader	Fenton, MO	Chevrolet	Camping World / RVs.com	Richard Childress	Richard Childress Racing
34	Jeff Green	Owensboro, KY	Chevrolet	Gibson Custom Guitars	Bob Jenkins	Front Row Motorsports
38	David Gilliland	Riverside, CA	Ford	FreeCreditReport.com	Max Jones	Yates Racing
40	Sterling Marlin	Columbia, TN	Dodge	Wii Fit / Target	Felix Sabates	Chip Ganassi Racing
41	Reed Sorenson	Peachtree City, GA	Dodge	Target	Chip Ganassi	Chip Ganassi Racing
42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Bogota, Colombia	Dodge	Texaco / Havoline	Floyd Ganassi	Chip Ganassi Racing
43	Bobby Labonte	Corpus Christi, TX	Dodge	Cheerios / Trix / Lucky & Friends	Richard Petty	Petty Enterprises
44	David Reutimann	Zephyrhills, FL	Toyota	UPS	Michael Waltrip	Michael Waltrip Racing
45	Kyle Petty	Trinity, NC	Dodge	Coca-Cola celebrates 2008 Olympics	Kyle Petty	Petty Enterprises
48	Jimmie Johnson	El Cajon, CA	Chevrolet	Lowe's	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
50	Stanton Barrett	Bishop, CA	Chevrolet	NOS Energy Drink / SKI / SBM	Chris Lencheski	SKI Motorsports
55	Michael Waltrip	Owensboro, KY	Toyota	NAPA AUTO PARTS	Michael Waltrip	Michael Waltrip Racing
66	Scott Riggs	Bahama, NC	Chevrolet	Haas Automation	Joe Custer	Stewart-Haas Racing
70	Johnny Sauter	Necedah, WI	Chevrolet	Haas Automation	Margaret Haas	Stewart-Haas Racing
77	Sam Hornish Jr	Defiance, OH	Dodge	Mobil 1	Roger Penske	Penske Racing
78	Joe Nemechek	Lakeland, FL	Chevrolet	Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com	Barney Visser	Furniture Row Racing
83	Brian Vickers	Thomasville, NC	Toyota	Red Bull	Dietrich Mateschitz	Red Bull Racing Team
84	AJ Allmendinger	Los Gatos, CA	Toyota	Red Bull	Dietrich Mateschitz	Red Bull Racing Team
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Kannapolis, NC	Chevrolet	National Guard / AMP Energy	Rick Hendrick	Hendrick Motorsports
96	JJ Yeley	Phoenix, AZ	Toyota	DLP HDTV	Jeffrey Moorad	Hall of Fame Racing
99	Carl Edwards	Columbia, MO	Ford	Office Depot	Jack Roush	Roush Fenway Racing

Qualifying

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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9] Brian Vickers had the fastest practice speed at 180.735 mph during the third and final practice session on Saturday.^[10] 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.^[11] He began on P-1 with Sprint All-Star Race XXIV champion Kasey Kahne next to him filling out the front row.

Pos[12]	No.	Driver	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	29.121	185.433
2	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	29.142	185.300
3	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	29.150	185.249
4	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	29.194	184.969
5	6	David Ragan	Ford	29.273	184.470
6	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	29.278	184.439
7	8	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	29.319	184.181
8	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	29.331	184.106
9	19	Elliott Sadler	Dodge	29.352	183.974
10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	29.360	183.924
11	22	Dave Blaney	Toyota	29.373	183.842
12	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	29.383	183.780
13	66	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	29.400	183.673
14	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	29.409	183.617
15	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	29.415	183.580
16	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	29.435	183.455
17	41	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	29.437	183.443
18	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	29.438	183.436
19	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	29.439	183.430
20	77	Sam Hornish Jr	Dodge	29.452	183.349
21	5	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	29.464	183.275
22	7	Robby Gordon	Dodge	29.474	183.212
23	43	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	29.476	183.200
24	1	Martin Truex Jr	Chevrolet	29.481	183.169
25	15	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	29.487	183.132
26	40	Sterling Marlin	Dodge	29.499	183.057
27	84	AJ Allmendinger	Toyota	29.532	182.852
28	44	David Reutimann	Toyota	29.552	182.729
29	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	29.558	182.692
30	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	29.643	182.168
31	20	Tony Stewart	Toyota	29.652	182.113
32	38	David Gilliland	Ford	29.667	182.020
33	33	Ken Schrader	Chevrolet	29.673	181.984
34	10	Patrick Carpentier	Dodge	29.692	181.867
35	96	JJ Yeley	Toyota	29.715	181.726
36	45	Kyle Petty	Dodge	29.717	181.714
37	01	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	29.719	181.702
38	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	29.747	181.531
39	07	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	29.755	181.482
40	00	Michael McDowell	Toyota	29.758	181.464
41	28	Travis Kvapil	Ford	29.974	180.156
42	42	Juan Montoya	Dodge	30.080	179.521
43	70	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	29.761	181.446
Failed to qualify
44	34	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	29.774	181.366
45	50	Stanton Barrett	Chevrolet	29.982	180.108
46	21	Jon Wood	Ford	29.991	180.054
47	78	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	30.061	179.635
48	08	Tony Raines	Dodge	30.739	175.673

Failed to Qualify: Jeff Green (No. 34), Stanton Barrett (No. 50), Jon Wood (No. 21), Joe Nemechek (No. 78) and Tony Raines (No. 08).^[13]

Race recap

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.^[11] 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.^[11] 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.^[11] 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.^[11]

Race results

Fin[14][15]	St	#	Driver	Sponsor	Make	Team	Laps	Led	Status	Pts	Winnings
1	2	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser	Dodge	Evernham Motorsports	400	66	running	190
2	4	16	Greg Biffle	Dish Network	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	400	2	running	175
3	1	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	400	61	running	170
4	18	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont	Chevy	Hendrick Motorsports	400	0	running	160
5	6	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard, AMP Energy	Chevy	Hendrick Motorsports	400	76	running	165
6	14	31	Jeff Burton	AT&T Mobility	Chevy	Richard Childress Racing	400	1	running	155
7	12	17	Matt Kenseth	R&L Carriers	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	400	1	running	151
8	9	19	Elliott Sadler	Best Buy	Dodge	Evernham Motorsports	400	3	running	147
9	30	99	Carl Edwards	Office Depot	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	400	0	running	138
10	28	44	David Reutimann	UPS	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing	400	0	running	134
11	23	43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios, Trix, Lucky & Friends	Dodge	Petty Enterprises	400	0	running	130
12	5	6	David Ragan	AAA Insurance	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	400	2	running	132
13	20	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Mobil 1	Dodge	Penske Racing	400	0	running	124
14	19	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell, Pennzoil	Chevy	Richard Childress Racing	400	0	running	121
15	7	8	Mark Martin	U.S. Army	Chevy	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	400	0	running	118
16	8	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite	Dodge	Penske Racing	400	64	running	120
17	11	22	Dave Blaney	Caterpillar	Toyota	Bill Davis Racing	400	2	running	117
18	31	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	399	23	running	114
19	37	01	Regan Smith	Principal Financial Group, DEI	Chevy	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	399	0	running	106
20	27	84	A.J. Allmendinger	Red Bull	Toyota	Red Bull Racing Team	399	0	running	103
21	38	12	Ryan Newman	Alltel	Dodge	Penske Racing	399	1	running	105
22	17	41	Reed Sorenson	Target	Dodge	Chip Ganassi Racing	399	0	running	97
23	15	26	Jamie McMurray	Irwin Industrial Tools	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	399	0	running	94
24	16	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Freight	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	399	1	running	96
25	39	07	Clint Bowyer	Jack Daniel's, Toast to the Troops	Chevy	Richard Childress Racing	398	0	running	88
26	41	28	Travis Kvapil	Lumber Liquidators	Ford	Yates Racing	398	0	running	85
27	29	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing	397	0	running	82
28	13	66	Scott Riggs	Haas Automation	Chevy	Stewart-Haas Racing	397	0	running	-71
29	21	5	Casey Mears	CARQUEST Auto Parts, Kellogg's	Chevy	Hendrick Motorsports	396	1	running	81
30	42	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Texaco, Havoline	Dodge	Chip Ganassi Racing	396	0	running	73
31	26	40	Sterling Marlin	Wii Fit	Dodge	Chip Ganassi Racing	396	0	running	70
32	40	00	Michael McDowell	Aaron's Dream Machine	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing	395	0	running	67
33	33	33	Ken Schrader	Camping World	Chevy	Richard Childress Racing	395	0	running	64
34	24	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops, Tracker Boats	Chevy	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	395	0	running	61
35	43	70	Johnny Sauter	Haas Automation	Chevy	Stewart-Haas Racing	395	0	running	-92
36	36	45	Kyle Petty	Coca-Cola	Dodge	Petty Enterprises	389	0	running	55
37	34	10	Patrick Carpentier	LifeLock	Dodge	Evernham Motorsports	363	0	engine	52
38	35	96	J.J. Yeley	DLP HDTV	Toyota	Hall of Fame Racing	353	0	running	49
39	10	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's	Chevy	Hendrick Motorsports	351	35	engine	51
40	32	38	David Gilliland	FreeCreditReport.com	Ford	Yates Racing	343	0	running	43
41	25	15	Paul Menard	Menards, Johns Manville	Chevy	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	244	0	overheating	40
42	3	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull	Toyota	Red Bull Racing Team	184	61	crash	42
43	22	7	Robby Gordon	Jim Beam	Dodge	Robby Gordon Motorsports	181	0	engine	34
Failed to qualify
44		34	Jeff Green	Gibson Custom Guitars	Chevrolet	Front Row Motorsports
45		50	Stanton Barrett	NOS Energy Drink / SKI / SBM	Chevrolet	SKI Motorsports
46		21	Jon Wood	U.S. Air Force "Salute the Troops"	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing
47		78	Joe Nemechek	Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Racing
48		08	Tony Raines	getFUBAR.com	Dodge	E&M Motorsports

^[16]

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 2024-05-26. 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. "2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca Cola 600 Entry List - Charlotte Motor Speedway". frcs.pro. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
7. "NASCAR Practice #1 Speeds for the 2008 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
8. Newton, David (24 May 2008). "Riggs, Sauter cars impounded before Cup practice". ESPN.com. ESPN. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
9. "NASCAR Practice #2 Speeds for the 2008 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
10. "NASCAR Practice #3 Speeds for the 2008 Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
11. "Jayski's® NASCAR Silly Season Site - Sprint Cup Race Info / Rundown Page". 13 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2018-05-13. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
12. "2008 Coca-Cola 600 qualifying results". Racing Reference. Archived from the original on 2021-04-29.
13. "Qualifying Times: Coca Cola 600". Crash. 24 May 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
14. "2008 Coca-Cola 600 - The Third Turn". www.thethirdturn.com. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
15. "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on 2021-04-28. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
16. "2008 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte Results - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved 10 March 2019.

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