2008 Food City 500

2008 Food City 500
Race details
Race 5 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
	2008 Food City 500 program cover
Date	March 16, 2008
Location	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
Course	Permanent racing facility; 0.533 mi (0.857 km)
Distance	506 laps, 269.698 mi (434.036 km)
Scheduled Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 53.6 °F (12.0 °C); wind speeds up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed	89.775 miles per hour (144.479 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jimmie Johnson;
Time	2007 Owner's Points
Most laps led
Driver	Tony Stewart
Laps	267
Winner
No. 31	Jeff Burton
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2008 Food City 500 was the fifth race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and it was held on Sunday, March 16, 2008 at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This race aired on Fox starting at 1:30 PM US EDT with radio coverage handled by Performance Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio with programming starting at 1 PM US EDT. The race marked the last race utilizing the 2007 Top 35 owners points exemption. Starting with the Goody's Cool Orange 500 on March 30 each week's Top 35 teams will be exempt.

The race marked the 676th and final career points start for Dale Jarrett, who made one final start in the Sprint All-Star Race XXIV. Dale's father, Ned, himself a former series champion and television commentator, waved the green flag for his son's final race. Starting on March 30 David Reutimann became the new driver of the #44 car, while Michael McDowell made his debut in the #00 car.

Qualifying

Qualifying was canceled due to rain on March 14 so the field was set by the rulebook for the second (and final) time this year using the 2007 Owners' points. As a result, Jimmie Johnson was on the pole.

Race

Jarrett started deep in the field and fell one lap down to the leader just before the first competition caution on lap 50. That caution was brought out because the track surface had been washed clean by a rain the previous night. He finished 37th.

Drivers that spun out include Kyle Busch (while in the lead) and Robby Gordon. The only car in the 43 car field that wasn't running at the end was driven by Brian Vickers.

With two laps left, Kevin Harvick bobbled entering a turn and pushed up into second place Tony Stewart. Stewart hit the wall, bringing out a caution, and finished as the last car on the lead lap in 14th. Denny Hamlin was leading at the time but he suddenly slowed after he had fuel pickup problems and quickly faded to finish eighth. The race went six laps past its scheduled length due to the green-white-checker finish rule, and was won by Jeff Burton. Richard Childress Racing finished 1-2-3 for the first time in team history, with Harvick finishing second and Clint Bowyer third.

Results

POS^[2]	ST	#	DRIVER	SPONSOR / OWNER	CAR	LAPS	MONEY	STATUS	LED	PTS
1	8	31	Jeff Burton	AT&T Mobility (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	506	209558	running	2	190
2	10	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell / Pennzoil (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	506	167011	running	32	175
3	3	07	Clint Bowyer	Jack Daniel's (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	506	139125	running	81	170
4	14	16	Greg Biffle	Jackson Hewitt (Jack Roush)	Ford	506	123525	running	0	160
5	15	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	National Guard / AMP Energy (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	506	106475	running	0	155
6	12	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	506	128591	running	98	155
7	20	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)	Dodge	506	122916	running	0	146
8	16	8	Aric Almirola	U.S. Army (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	506	126483	running	0	142
9	32	38	David Gilliland	FreeCreditReport.com (Yates Racing)	Ford	506	116083	running	0	138
10	4	17	Matt Kenseth	Dish Network (Jack Roush)	Ford	506	139016	running	0	134
11	2	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	506	135636	running	0	130
12	36	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite (Roger Penske)	Dodge	506	91825	running	0	127
13	11	1	Martin Truex, Jr.	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	506	122133	running	0	124
14	6	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	506	139911	running	267	131
15	21	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Texaco / Havoline (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	505	118633	running	0	118
16	9	99	Carl Edwards	Office Depot (Jack Roush)	Ford	504	133125	running	0	115
17	22	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	504	97000	running	7	117
18	1	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	504	139186	running	14	114
19	27	19	Elliott Sadler	Stanley (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)	Dodge	504	114970	running	0	106
20	39	00	David Reutimann	Aaron's Dream Machine (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	504	106308	running	0	103
21	24	6	David Ragan	AAA Insurance (Jack Roush)	Ford	504	96900	running	0	100
22	31	66	Scott Riggs	Haas Automation (Gene Haas)	Chevrolet	503	101958	running	0	97
23	40	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	503	96833	running	5	99
24	28	7	Robby Gordon	RVs.com (Robby Gordon)	Dodge	503	104897	running	0	91
25	25	96	J.J. Yeley	DLP HDTV (Jeff Moorad)	Toyota	503	95575	running	0	88
26	17	01	Regan Smith	Principal Financial Group (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	503	96350	running	0	85
27	30	28	Travis Kvapil	11 Million (Yates Racing)	Ford	503	113814	running	0	82
28	35	45	Kyle Petty	Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	501	86450	running	0	79
29	7	77	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Mobil 1 (Roger Penske)	Dodge	501	128925	running	0	76
30	33	70	Jeremy Mayfield	Haas Automation (Gene Haas)	Chevrolet	500	86000	running	0	73
31	23	41	Reed Sorenson	Target / Polaroid (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	500	109414	running	0	70
32	29	15	Paul Menard	Menards / Peak (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	499	90125	running	0	67
33	13	12	Ryan Newman	Alltel (Roger Penske)	Dodge	499	124150	running	0	64
34	34	22	Dave Blaney	Caterpillar (Bill Davis)	Toyota	498	82975	running	0	61
35	42	78	Joe Nemechek	Furniture Row / Denver Mattress (Barney Visser)	Chevrolet	498	81975	running	0	58
36	26	40	Dario Franchitti	The Hartford (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	497	89925	running	0	55
37	37	44	Dale Jarrett	UPS (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	496	81875	running	0	52
38	19	43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios / Betty Crocker (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	489	118761	running	0	49
39	38	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull (Dietrich Mateschitz)	Toyota	486	81775	crash	0	46
40	43	84	Mike Skinner	Red Bull (Dietrich Mateschitz)	Toyota	441	81700	running	0	43
41	41	49	Ken Schrader	Qtrax.com (Beth Ann Morgenthau)	Dodge	420	81625	running	0	40
42	5	5	Casey Mears	Carquest / Kellogg's (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	417	99540	running	0	37
43	18	26	Jamie McMurray	Crown Royal (Jack Roush)	Ford	373	89000	running	0	34
Failed to qualify
POS	NAME	NBR	SPONSOR	OWNER	CAR
44	Jeff Green	21	Ford / Motorcraft	Wood Brothers	Ford
45	John Andretti	34	Thompson Metal Services	Bob Jenkins	Chevrolet
46	Patrick Carpentier	10	Charter Communications	Gillett-Evernham Motorsports	Dodge

Failed to make race due to cancellation of qualifying: Patrick Carpentier (#10), Jeff Green (#21), John Andretti (#34).

References

^ "2008 Food City 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2024-05-26. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
^ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-29.

Previous race: 2008 Kobalt Tools 500	Sprint Cup Series 2008 season	Next race: 2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500

[1] "2008 Food City 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2024-05-26. Retrieved 2013-06-17.

[2] "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-29.

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