|
|
2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season in Review - Week 6
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 18, 2007) – Four different drivers have posted victories in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008: Ryan Newman (Daytona), Carl Edwards (California and Las Vegas), Kyle Busch (Atlanta), Jeff Burton (Bristol). Four drivers have posted top-10 finishes in four of the five races: Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne.
2008 Season Highlights
Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500, his first career restrictor-plate victory. Teammate Kurt Busch finished second, giving car owner Roger Penske not only his first restrictor-plate victory but also his first 1-2 finish in 25 years of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.
Ryan Newman led the points following Daytona; Kyle Busch following California and Carl Edwards following Las Vegas – the first time for all three.
Carl Edwards won back-to-back races at California and Las Vegas – the second time in his career that he had posted consecutive wins.
Kyle Busch won at Atlanta – the first victory on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Toyota. The victory came in the 40th start for Toyota on NASCAR’s premier circuit and was the first by a foreign based manufacturer since Jaguar won with All Keller at the wheel at Linden (NJ) Airport in 1954.
Jeff Burton won at Bristol and was followed across the line by teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer – giving car owner Richard Childress his first-ever 1-2-3 sweep.
Qualifying
Jimmie Johnson won the first ever Coors Light Pole Award, posting his second pole at Daytona.
Qualifying was canceled due to weather at Auto Club Speedway and Bristol.
Kyle Busch became the second pole winner of 2008 – taking the top spot in qualifying for Las Vegas by .125 second over Carl Edwards.
Jeff Gordon won the pole at Atlanta – making this his 16th consecutive year with a pole. Gordon is third on the all-time list for consecutive years with a pole, behind David Pearson (20) and Richard Petty (17).
Twenty-five different drivers have posted at least one top-10 start this season.
Jeff Gordon is the only driver to start from the top 10 in every race in 2008.
The all-time record for the number of different pole winners is 24 (1957) and the Modern Era record is 18 (1997, 2001 and 2007).
There has been a first-time pole winner each season since 1987 – 21 consecutive years.
The Races
Twenty-three different drivers have posted at least one top-10 finish in 2008.
No one has posted a top-10 finish in every race this season.
After 18 wins in 2007, Hendrick Motorsports has yet to win a race in 2008. The organization began competing on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 1984 and won its first race in 1986. HMS has posted at least one victory each of the 22 seasons since and has gone past the fifth race of a season before posting its first win just nine times. The deepest that HMS has gone into a season before scoring a win was 1992 when the first victory for Hendrick did not come until race No. 23.
First-Timers
Start
Dario Franchitti (Daytona)
Laps Led
Dario Franchitti (California)
Lead in Points
Ryan Newman (Daytona)
Kyle Busch (California)
Carl Edwards (Las Vegas) *
* Lost point lead after mid-week penalty
The Turnarounds
Dale Earnhardt Jr. gained 13 positions at Las Vegas – returning to the top-10 in the point standings after dropping to 23rd at California
Kasey Kahne was the only driver with three top-10 finishes in the first three races this season. In 2007, Kahne did not get his third top-10 until Race No. 24 (Bristol).
Clint Bowyer has gained 15 positions in the point standings in the last two races.
Chase Preview
In each season since the implementation of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2004, seven drivers that were in the top-10 following the first race at Bristol also qualified for the Chase. In 2007, the number of drivers eligible for the Chase increased to 12 and 10 of the 12 that made the cut were in the top 12 following Bristol.
The Pole Winner/Race Winner
The pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying) finishing position:
First 0
2nd-5th 2
6th-10th 0
11th-30th 3
31st or beyond 0
The lap-leader performance of the pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying):
Led First Lap 2
Led at All 5
Led Most Laps 1
Won Race 0
The race winner’s starting positions:
Pole 0
Top -Five 1
6th-10th 4
11th-30th 0
31st or beyond 0
The lap-leader performance of the race winner:
Led First Lap 0
Led Most Laps 3
Led Mid-Race Lap 2
Led With 10 to Go 4
Led With One to Go 5
Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.
Laps Completed
Thirty-two drivers completed all 200 laps of the season-opening Daytona 500 – one shy of the all-time record.
Three drivers have completed every lap raced this season: Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick.
Laps Led
27 drivers have led at least one lap this season.
Kyle Busch (two); Carl Edwards (one), Jimmie Johnson (one) and Tony Stewart (one) have led the most laps at least once this season.
Points
Kyle Busch retook the lead in the point standings following the penalty on Edwards’ team mid-week following Las Vegas.
Rookie Performance
Sam Hornish Jr. has posted the best finish by a rookie in 2008: 15th at Daytona.
Sam Hornish Jr. was the highest finishing rookie in the Daytona 500 and Atlanta; Regan Smith at California and Bristol; Dario Franchitti at Las Vegas.
Penalties
There have been 91 on-track penalties issued this season.
Every team that has competed in two or more races this season has received at least one on-track penalty.
Penalty Recap:
Pitting Before Pit Road is Open 57
Too Fast Entering Pit Road 13
Too Fast Exiting Pit Road 0
Others 21
Manufacturer
After five races Chevrolet and Ford are tied for the lead in the manufacturer point standings, each with 21 points. Toyota has 26 points. Dodge has 22.
Ryan Newman posted the first Daytona 500 victory for Dodge since Ward Burton won in 2002. That victory was the only other restrictor-plate victory for Dodge.
Behind the Numbers
Speed MOV Leaders Changes Cautions Laps Lead Lap DNFs
Daytona 152.672 0.092 17 42 7 32 32 5
California 132.704 UC 15 33 11 43 22 2
Las Vegas 127.729 0.504 9 19 11 44 21 6
Atlanta 140.975 2.066 9 26 8 35 13 2
Bristol 89.775 0.588 8 17 10 68 21 1
Average 128.771 0.813 11.600 27.400 9.400 44.400 21.800 3.200
# - Extended Race * - Shortened Race
News and Results |
Point Standings |
2008 Schedule |
2008 Teams |
2007 Schedule and Results
©Copyright 2008 Race 2 Win
|
