2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500
The 2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500 was the sixth race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, and was run on Sunday, March 30, 2008 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia. This race aired on Fox starting at 1:30 PM US EDT and radio was handled by Motor Racing Network and Sirius Satellite Radio starting their programming at 1:15 PM US EDT. The race marked the start of the use of the 2008 Top 35 owners points exemption for each week's race for the 2008 season. This was the first points paying race without Dale Jarrett since the 1990 TranSouth 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 6 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
 View from turn one and two bleachers | |||
| Date | March 30, 2008 | ||
| Location | Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway, Virginia | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.526 mi (0.847 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 46 °F (8 °C); wind speeds up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 73.163 miles per hour (117.744 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 19.666 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 146 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds | ||
Pre-Race News
- As announced, Michael McDowell will debut as the new driver of the #00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota Camry for David Reutimann, who moves to the team's #44 car for Dale Jarrett. Jarrett would drive the #44 one last time at the Sprint All-Star Race XXIV on May 17 in Concord, North Carolina. All three MWR teams are safely in the weekly Top 35 Owners Points exemption for this race.
- Bill Davis Racing's #27 team suspended operations due to a lack of sponsorship.
- BAM Racing has switched from Dodge to Toyota as of this week.
Qualifying
Jeff Gordon won the pole for this race, the 65th in his career. Kyle Petty, who was outside the Top 35 exemption rule, failed to qualify for a race for the first time since the 2004 season.
Results
| Top Ten Finishers | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Car # | Driver | Make | Team | ||||
| 1 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||||
| 2 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 3 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | ||||
| 4 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 5 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||||
| 6 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 7 | 5 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 8 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing | ||||
| 9 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing | ||||
| 10 | 07 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | ||||
Failed to qualify: Kyle Petty (#45), Tony Raines (#08), John Andretti (#34), Joe Nemechek (#78).
References
- "2008 Goody's Cool Orange 500 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2013-06-21. Retrieved 2013-06-17.
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Sprint Cup Series 2008 season |
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