Older Article

Newer Article

[NASCAR] NASCAR Sprint Cup review

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2008) – Jimmie Johnson won the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup

Series championship – his third consecutive title. He joined Cale Yarborough (1976-78) as the only drivers to win three consecutive series championships. With seven wins, 15 top fives and 22 top 10s, Johnson finished the 2008 season 69 points ahead of Carl Edwards. Three of his victories and eight of his top-10s came during the 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers won all 10 Chase races: Jimmie Johnson (three), Carl Edwards (three), Greg Biffle (two), along with Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton (one each).

• All 12 Chase drivers have posted at least one top-10 finish in a Chase race. Only Jimmie Johnson

and Carl Edwards did so in eight.

• All 12 Chase drivers have led laps in at least one of the first nine Chase races, with Jimmie Johnson

leading in nine.

• Chase drivers led 2,642 of the 3,234 laps (81.7%).

• With his back-to-back wins at New Hampshire and Dover to open the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint

Cup, Greg Biffle became the first driver to win the first two Chase races.

• Jimmie Johnson has won 14 of the 50 Chase races run since the inception of the playoff system,

including three this season.

• Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500, his first career restrictor-plate victory.

• Carl Edwards won back-to-back races at California and Las Vegas – the second time in his career

he has posted consecutive wins.

• Kyle Busch won at Atlanta, the first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Toyota. The victory

came in the 40th start for Toyota in NASCAR’s premier series and was the first by a foreign-based

manufacturer since Jaguar won with Al Keller at Linden (N.J.) 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.

• Carl Edwards won at Texas to join Jeff Burton as the only drivers with multiple victories at Texas.

• Kyle Busch won at Darlington and became the youngest race winner there.

• Kasey Kahne followed up his win in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race with a victory in the Coca-Cola

600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He became the sixth driver to win both races in the same season.

• Kyle Busch became the first driver to post four victories with his win at Dover.

• Kasey Kahne won the Pocono 500 and became the third multiple-race winner of 2008.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Michigan, ending a 76-race winless streak.

• Kyle Busch won at Infineon Raceway, scoring his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series roadcourse

victory and giving him victories on all four types of tracks in NASCAR’s premier circuit.

• Kurt Busch won at New Hampshire, his first victory since Michigan in August 2007.

• Kyle Busch continued to win, capturing the July race at Daytona, his sixth win of the season.

• At Chicagoland, Kyle Busch won back-to-back races for the first time in his career, extending his

collection of checkered flags in 2008 to seven.

• At Indianapolis, Jimmie Johnson won his second race of 2008 – his second win at the Brickyard.

• Carl Edwards returned to Victory Lane at Pocono Raceway after waiting out rain and fuel issues for

his fourth victory of the season.

• Kyle Busch won at Watkins Glen, completing a sweep of the two road-course races this season.

• Carl Edwards completed the second NASCAR Sprint Cup-NASCAR Nationwide Series weekend

sweep of the season with his victory at Michigan.

• Carl Edwards posted back-to-back victories for the second time in 2008 when he won at Bristol.

• Jimmie Johnson dominated the field at Auto Club Speedway, scoring a perfect Driver Rating of

150.0 to post his third victory.

• Jimmie Johnson reversed his California strategy at Richmond, waiting until the closing laps before

moving to the front to capture his fourth win of the season.

• With his victory at New Hampshire, Greg Biffle became the 11th different race winner in 2008.

• Greg Biffle won at Dover, posting consecutive series wins for the first time in his career.

• Jimmie Johnson continued to share Victory Lane with Roush Fenway drivers as he posted his fifth

victory of 2008 in winning the Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman at Kansas Speedway.

• Tony Stewart won at Talladega, his 33rd career victory but his first in 2008. It was also his first win at

Talladega Superspeedway.

• Jeff Burton won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, making 2008 his first multiple-win season since 2001.

• Jimmie Johnson won at Martinsville in dominating fashion, leading 339 laps – the most he has ever

led in a race in his career.

• Carl Edwards won at Atlanta, posting his seventh win of 2008.

• Carl Edwards won at Texas, closing the gap between himself and points leader Jimmie Johnson to

106 points with two races remaining.

• Jimmie Johnson posted his seventh victory of 2008 with his win at Phoenix.

• Carl Edwards posted his series-leading ninth victory with his win in the season finale at Homestead-

Miami Speedway.

• 84 drivers attempted to qualify for at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season, including

Matt Crafton who qualified Robby Gordon’s car at Dover.

• There were 15 different pole winners in 2008:

Jimmie Johnson (six)

Jeff Gordon (four)

Kyle Busch (two)

Greg Biffle (two)

Kasey Kahne (two)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one)

Ryan Newman (one)

Joe Nemechek (one)

Denny Hamlin (one)

Patrick Carpentier (one)

Paul Menard (one)

Brian Vickers (one)

Carl Edwards (one)

Travis Kvapil (one)

David Reutimann (one)

• There were four first-time pole winners in 2008, continuing a 22-year streak of at least one first-time

pole winner (1987-2008).

Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire)

Paul Menard (Daytona-2)

Travis Kvapil (Talladega-2)

David Reutimann (Homestead)

• Patrick Carpentier and Paul Menard won consecutive career-first poles – the first time that careerfirst

poles had been posted in back-to-back races since David Green (Homestead) and Kevin

Lepage (Atlanta) in 1999.

• Qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather at the Auto Club Speedway, Bristol, Michigan,

Chicago, Watkins Glen, Richmond-2, New Hampshire-2, Lowe’s-2, Martinsville-2 and Atlanta-2.

• 49 different drivers have posted at least one top-10 start, led by Jimmie Johnson with 27.

• The pole winner (or driver who started first) won nine times and finished in the top 10 in 20 races this

season.

• Two pole winners went on to finish last in that race: Ryan Newman (Phoenix) and Greg Biffle

(Darlington).

• The average finish of the pole winner in 2008 is 12.28.

• Landon Cassill won the pole for the NASCAR Nationwide Series at New Hampshire and Patrick

Carpentier followed up with the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race. It was the first time ever that

two Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates swept the poles at the same track in a weekend.

• 71 drivers qualified for/participated in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season.

• There were 12 different race winners this season:

Carl Edwards (nine)

Kyle Busch (eight)

Jimmie Johnson (six)

Greg Biffle (two)

Jeff Burton (two)

Ryan Newman (one)

Clint Bowyer (one)

Kasey Kahne (one)

Denny Hamlin (one)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one)

Kurt Busch (one)

Tony Stewart (one)

• 37 different drivers have posted at least one top-10 finish in 2008, led by Carl Edwards with 27.

• Eight drivers had a best finish of second this season:

David Gilliland

Jeff Gordon

Kevin Harvick

Matt Kenseth

Paul Menard

Juan Pablo Montoya

Brian Vickers

Michael Waltrip

• There were nine green-white-checkered finishes this season: Bristol-1, Texas-1, Richmond-1,

Michigan-1, Infineon, Daytona-2, Talladega-2, Martinsville-2 and Phoenix-2.

Bristol

Texas

Richmond

Michigan

Infineon

Daytona-2

Talladega-2

Martinsville-2

Phoenix-2

• The race was won from a top-10 start 28 times this season.

• The deepest in the field that a race winner started in 2008 was 34th, by Tony Stewart at Talladega-2.

• Nine races were won from the pole and the average start of the race winner in 2008 is 8.00.

Dario Franchitti (Daytona) Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire) None

Michael McDowell (Martinsville) Paul Menard (Daytona-2)

Marcos Ambrose (Infineon) Travis Kvapil (Talladega-2)

Max Papis (Infineon) David Reutimann (Homestead)

Joey Logano (New Hampshire-2)

Scott Speed (Martinsville-2)

Brad Keselowski (Texas-2)

Dario Franchitti (California) Ryan Newman (Daytona) Reed Sorenson (Daytona)

Michael McDowell (Dover) Kyle Busch (California)

Sam Hornish Jr. (Michigan)

Scott Speed (Atlanta)

Carl Edwards (Las Vegas)*

* Lost points lead after mid-week penalty

• The pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying) finishing position:

First 9

2nd-5th 8

6th-10th 3

11th-30th 11

31st or beyond 5

• The lap leader performance of the pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying):

Led First Lap 26

Led at All 35

Led Most Laps 12

Won Race 9

• The race winner’s starting positions:

Pole 9

2nd-5th 12

6th-10th 8

11th-30th 5

31st or beyond 2

• The lap leader performance of the race winner:

Led First Lap 7

Led Most Laps 17

Led Mid-Race Lap 9

Led With 10 to Go 24

Led With One to Go 35

Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.

• Regan Smith won the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year Award.

• Five different drivers were the highest-finishing rookie in 2008:

Regan Smith (12)

Sam Hornish Jr. (11)

Patrick Carpentier (seven)

Michael McDowell (five)

Dario Franchitti (one)

• Jimmie Johnson led 1,959 laps this season, more than any other driver.

• 50 drivers led at least one lap this season. No one has led in every race.

• 11 drivers led the most laps in a race this season:

Jimmie Johnson (10)

Kyle Busch (seven)

Carl Edwards (five)

Tony Stewart (four)

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (three)

Matt Kenseth (two)

Denny Hamlin (one)

Greg Biffle (one)

Kasey Kahne (one)

Mark Martin (one)

David Reutimann (one)

Kyle Busch won at Infineon Raceway, followed by brother Kurt at New Hampshire, giving them the

first back-to-back wins by brothers since Kyle won at California and Kurt at Richmond in September 2005.

Kyle again won at Daytona, making it the first time brothers had won three consecutive races since 1955-

56. Tim Flock won the final race of 1955 and the first of 1956 and his brother, Fonty, won the second

race. Kyle posted the fourth straight win for the Busch brothers with his win at Chicago. It was the fourth

time that brothers had won four straight:

1952 – Tim (Race No. 22 and 23), Bob (Race No. 24) and Fonty Flock (Race No. 25)

1952 – Herb (Race No. 31 and 32), Donald (Race No. 33) and Herb Thomas (Race No. 34)

1955 – Tim (Race No. 36 and 37), Fonty (Race No. 38) and Tim Flock (Race No. 39)

• Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500, his first career restrictor-plate victory.

Teammate Kurt Busch finished second, giving car owner Roger Penske his first restrictor-plate

victory and first 1-2 finish in 25 years of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

• Richard Childress Racing captured the top three finishing positions in the first Bristol race: Jeff

Burton, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer, respectively. It was the first 1-2-3 finish for a car owner

since Roush Fenway racing captured the top four spots at Homestead in November 2005: Greg Biffle,

Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, respectively.

• Joe Nemechek won the pole at Talladega, giving car owner Barney Visser his first-ever NASCAR

Sprint Cup pole. It came in Visser’s 49th as a car owner.

• Hendrick Motorsports began competing in NASCAR Sprint Cup in 1984 and won its first race in

1986. HMS has posted at least one victory each of its 22 seasons since and has gone past the

seventh race of a season before posting its first win eight times – but only four times since 1994

(including this season). The deepest that HMS has gone into a season before scoring a win was 1992

when the first victory did not come until race No. 23.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Michigan and became the 14th different driver to win for Hendrick

Motorsports. Every full-time driver for Hendrick Motorsports since 2000 has posted at least one

victory while with the organization.

• Marcos Ambrose posted a third-place finish driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford at Watkins Glen,

the first top-five finish for the Wood Brothers since Ricky Rudd’s fourth at Bristol in August 2005.

• Carl Edwards posted only the second NASCAR Sprint Cup-NASCAR Nationwide Series weekend

sweep at Michigan when he won both races there in August. Both came with Jack Roush as the car

owner. Mark Martin posted the first in 1993.

• Roush Fenway Racing swept the top three finishing positions at Dover-2: Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth

and Carl Edwards. It was the second 1-2-3 sweep by a car owner in 2008.

• There have been 619 on-track penalties issued this season.

• Penalty Recap:

Pitting Before Pit Road is Open 310

Too Fast Entering Pit Road 63

Too Fast Exiting Pit Road 87

Others 159

• Chevrolet won the Manufacturers’ Championship with 219 points – its sixth straight title and 32nd

overall. Ford had 215, Toyota 207 and Dodge 151.

• Chevrolet and Ford both had 11 victories in 2008. Toyota had 10 victories while Dodge had four wins.

• All four manufacturers have been in the top four finishers four times this season: Texas, Charlotte,

Michigan and Indianapolis.

• Kevin Harvick extended his current streak of running at the finish to 80 races. That is the all-time

record for consecutive races without a DNF. Harvick’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, Clint

Bowyer, is second on the list, currently on a 73-race streak of running at the finish. Note: Herman

Beam completed 84 consecutive races that he competed in (1961-63), but he did not race in all of the

scheduled events during his personal streak. His longest consecutive-race streak was 35 races.

• Five foreign-born drivers participated at Infineon Raceway: Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Patrick

Carpentier and Ron Fellows (Canada), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) and Max Papis (Italy). It

was the largest contingent of foreign-born drivers in a race in NASCAR Sprint Cup history, eclipsing

the previous mark of three which was set eight times – most recently at Infineon in 2007.

• At Watkins Glen, three nations were represented among the top five for the first time in NASCAR

Sprint Cup Series history. Kyle Busch (first), Tony Stewart (second) and Martin Truex Jr. (fifth) are

from the United States, Marcos Ambrose (third) is from Australia and Juan Pablo Montoya (fourth)

is from Colombia.

• The 28 different drivers that led at Talladega-2 set the all-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series record for

different lap leaders in a race. It eclipsed the mark of 26 set at Talladega in July 1986 and tied in April

2001, also at Talladega.

• 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.

• Tony Stewart won at Talladega Superspeedway in his 20th attempt. That leaves only three active

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series tracks at which Stewart has not visited Victory Lane: Auto Club

Speedway, Darlington Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Among active drivers, only Jeff

Gordon has won at more tracks. Gordon has yet to win at two tracks: Homestead-Miami Speedway

and Texas Motor Speedway. By contrast Jimmie Johnson has yet to visit Victory Lane at five active

tracks: Bristol, Chicago, Homestead-Miami, Michigan, Infineon.

• 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).

• Jeff Gordon won the pole at Atlanta, making this his 16th consecutive year with a pole. He is third on

the all-time list for consecutive years with a pole behind David Pearson (20) and Richard Petty (17).

• Jeff Gordon finished 43rd after his accident at Texas, just the second time in his career that he

finished 43rd. The other also came at Texas (March 1999).

• Greg Biffle won the pole on the newly-repaved Darlington Raceway, breaking Ward Burton’s 1996

track qualifying record. Burton’s was the longest-standing qualifying record at an active, nonrestrictor-

plate track.

• Denny Hamlin led 381 laps, setting the record for the number of laps led in a 400-lap race at

Richmond. He eclipsed the mark of 369 set by Bobby Allison in September 1979. The record for

laps led all-time at Richmond is 488 of 500 on the half-mile configuration by David Pearson in

September 1970.

• Kyle Busch led 786 laps in the first 14 races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. He had

also led the exact same number through the first 15 races (the same weekend) in the NASCAR

Nationwide Series.

• Kyle Busch led 415 laps at Bristol, the 13th time a driver has led 400 laps or more at the Tennessee

short track. The standard was set by Cale Yarborough, who led all 500 laps in March 1973. Busch

became the third driver to lead over 400 laps and not win the race, joining Richard Petty (442 laps in

July 1964) and Rusty Wallace (409 laps in August 1993).

• 42 cars completed the Pepsi 500 – setting the track record for cars running at the finish for Auto Club

Speedway.

• The 43 cars running at the finish in the second Richmond race is the first time that all the cars have

been running at the finish of a Richmond race, breaking the record of 39 which occurred four times. It

was just the second time since the field was mandated to 43 cars that all starters finished a race. The

other was at New Hampshire in September 2007.

• The 40 cars running at the finish at Dover set the record for cars finishing a race there.

• The 42 cars running at the finish at Kansas set the record for cars finishing a race there.

• Chad McCumbee started his first Lowe’s Motor Speedway race, becoming the 500th different driver

to compete at LMS.

• Mark Martin has started second six times this season – all as a result of timed qualifying. The

modern era record for second-place starts is 10 by Jeff Gordon in 1996. Richard Petty (1964) and

David Pearson (1968) each had 17 second-place starts – the all-time record – but both came in

seasons with more than 48 races.

Daytona 152.672 0.092 17 42 7 23 32 5

California 132.704 UC 15 33 12 44 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 14 1

Martinsville 73.163 0.398 8 20 18 89 17 4

Texas 144.814 0.399 6 16 6 27 10 5

Phoenix 103.292 7.002 4 10 8 42 10 3

Talladega 157.409 UC 20 52 8 23 27 8

Richmond 95.786 0.439 4 4 11 62 16 8

Darlington 140.350 3.115 15 35 8 31 20 2

Charlotte 135.772 10.203 16 37 11 50 17 5

Dover 121.171 4.224 9 15 5 26 6 4

Pocono 125.209 3.702 12 23 10 36 34 5

Michigan 145.375 UC 13 31 8 22 23 6

Infineon 76.445 1.716 5 5 6 14 31 6

New Hampshire 106.719 UC 8 9 7 33 26 4

Daytona 138.554 UC 10 21 11 33 30 7

Chicago 133.996 0.159 10 16 9 33 29 1

Indy 115.117 0.332 16 26 11 52 36 2

Pocono 130.567 3.858 13 25 7 31 28 5

WGI 97.148 2.275 5 8 4 9 32 5

Michigan 140.351 0.947 9 18 7 27 17 5

Bristol 91.581 1.969 3 4 8 56 15 7

California 138.857 2.076 9 20 8 34 22 2

Richmond 92.680 0.365 10 22 14 71 32 0

New Hampshire 105.468 0.505 8 14 8 37 21 6

Dover 114.168 0.934 9 15 10 45 16 3

Kansas 133.549 0.280 10 16 7 25 17 1

Talladega 140.281 0.052 28 64 10 41 18 16

Charlotte 133.699 0.946 16 24 10 49 16 5

Martinsville 75.931 0.708 14 7 12 76 13 4

Atlanta 134.272 2.684 8 18 10 43 18 3

Texas 144.219 8.310 9 16 5 26 12 3

Phoenix 97.804 0.295 5 9 10 55 18 8

Homestead 129.472 7.548 8 15 7 31 18 2

# - Extended Race * Shortened Race

Older Article	Newer Article
Browse 'NASCAR'

LATEST IMAGES

Click on image to view gallery..