2008 AMP Energy 500

2008 AMP Energy 500

Race details[1][2]
Race 30 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Talladega Superspeedway
Date	October 5, 2008 (2008-October-05)
Official name	AMP Energy 500
Location	Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	190 laps, 505.4 mi (813.362 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)[3]
Average speed	140.281 miles per hour (225.760 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Travis Kvapil	Yates Racing
Time	51.109
Most laps led
Driver	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	24
Winner
No. 20	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree
Nielsen Ratings	4.6 (Final) 4.0 (Overnight) (7.44 million)[4]

The 2008 AMP Energy 500 was the 30th stock car race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the fourth in the ten-race, season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on October 5, 2008 at Talladega Superspeedway, in Talladega, Alabama before a crowd of 145,000. Tony Stewart of the Joe Gibbs Racing team won the 190-lap race starting from 34th position; Paul Menard finished second, David Ragan was third.

Travis Kvapil, who had the pole position, led until Carl Edwards passed him on lap nine. The race was first stopped 63 laps later when a multi-car collision was triggered by Brian Vickers, and was restarted 17 minutes later, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading the field. A second red-flag period was triggered after Edwards ran into teammate Greg Biffle starting a chain-reaction accident involving a further ten drivers. Stewart led the field for the remainder of the race, until Regan Smith passed him below the yellow line (out of bounds line) on the final lap. Stewart was therefore handed the victory, and Smith was demoted from second to 18th. The race had a total of ten cautions, and 64 lead changes among 28 different drivers, setting a new Sprint Cup Series record.

It was Stewart's first victory of the season, his first at Talladega Superspeedway, and the 33rd of his career. The result advanced him to seventh in the Drivers' Championship, 232 behind leader Jimmie Johnson who extended his lead to 72 points over Edwards. Toyota extended its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, twelve points ahead of Ford in second place. Chevrolet remained in third with a 41-point advantage over Dodge with six races left in the season. The race attracted 7.44 million television viewers.