2008 Food City 500

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.

2008 Food City 500
Race details
Race 5 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date March 16, 2008 (2008-March-16)
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)[1]
Average speed 89.775 miles per hour (144.479 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Hendrick Motorsports
Time 2007 Owner's Points
Most laps led
Driver Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 267
Winner
No. 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

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.

Top Ten Finishers
Pos Car # Driver Car Make Team
1 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
2 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
3 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
4 16 Greg Biffle Ford Roush Fenway Racing
5 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
6 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing
7 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Gillett Evernham Motorsports
8 8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
9 38 David Gilliland Ford Yates Racing
10 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Roush Fenway Racing

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

References
  1. "2008 Food City 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
Previous race:
2008 Kobalt Tools 500		 Sprint Cup Series
2008 season		 Next race:
2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500
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