2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports was crowned champion at season's end, making him only the second driver in NASCAR's top division to win three championships in a row, with the first being Cale Yarborough.
The Yates team made do in piecemeal fashion, finding companies to sponsor a few races at a time, a practice that paid the bills but stretched the marketing department.
31 car driven by Jeff Burton, while General Mills, associating itself with Petty Enterprises since 2000, also left to head for RCR's fourth team.
[6] The biggest changes involved ESPN and ABC, as Dale Jarrett became the network's lead race color commentator and Rusty Wallace became the pre-race analyst.
Dale, who completed his driving career with the Sprint All-Star Race XXIV, followed in the footsteps of his father, Ned, who worked with ESPN through most of the 1980s through the 2000 NASCAR season.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first NASCAR race with his new team Hendrick Motorsports and his first Sprint Cup Series win since May 2006 at Richmond, leading a record 47 of the 70 laps.
Jimmie Johnson won the pole with Michael Waltrip starting second who had been the center of controversy during a cheating scandal in last year's race.
Ryan Newman won the race with teammate Kurt Busch finishing second, it marked team owner Roger Penske's first win on a restrictor-plate track.
The first caution of the race was brought out when Denny Hamlin lost control in turn 3 after running over some water that had seeps up through cracks in the track surface.
Drivers who were involved in early wrecks notably Earnhardt Jr. and Mears complained that NASCAR should not have started the race with water still seeping onto the track.
Failed to make race as qualifying was canceled due to rain: Patrick Carpentier (#10), Mike Skinner (#27), Ken Schrader (#49), A. J. Allmendinger (#84), Burney Lamar (#08) The UAW-Dodge 400 was run on March 2 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Qualifying was canceled due to a day-long rain on March 14, and as a result, the field was set by NASCAR's rulebook, giving Jimmie Johnson the 2007 series champion, the pole position.
Jeff Burton won the race after it was extended six laps due to the green-white-checkered finish rule when Denny Hamlin had fuel pump problems on the final restart.
The major story of the race weekend was Michael McDowell's near head-on crash during qualifying after he lost control heading into turn 1 on his second lap.
[17] Failed to qualify: Dario Franchitti (#40), Chad McCumbee (#45), Burney Lamar (#08) The Subway Fresh Fit 500 was held on April 12 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
David Stremme substituted for Dario Franchitti, who fractured his left ankle in a hard crash during the Nationwide Series Aaron's 312 race.
NASCAR's longest race in terms of distance, the Coca-Cola 600 was run on May 25 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, a suburb of Charlotte.
A wreck on lap 17 ruined the day for championship contenders Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne.
The big surprise was sprung in qualifying when following a rain delay of nearly two hours, Québécois Patrick Carpentier won the pole position over Bobby Labonte.
Another big surprise was when Kurt Busch won the race, curtailed 17 laps shy of the scheduled distance as severe thunderstorms hit the area under the seventh and final caution.
Failed to qualify: Scott Riggs (#66), J. J. Yeley (#96) The second half of the season began with the LifeLock.com 400, held under the lights for the first time on July 12 at Chicagoland Speedway in the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Joilet.
The final "regular season" race, the Chevy Rock and Roll 400, was scheduled to have been held on Saturday, September 6 at Richmond International Raceway in Henrico County, Virginia.
However, Tropical Storm Hanna forced a postponement to Sunday, September 7 in the afternoon and television was moved from ABC to ESPN due to prior commitments to carry an WNBA game and an IndyCar Series race from Chicago, Illinois.
This race will be moved to November 1, 2009 as part of the 2009 NASCAR Schedule Realignment and the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway will be run in this spot next season.
Failed to make race as qualifying was cancelled due to rain: Brad Keselowski (#25), Bryan Clauson (#40), Derrike Cope (#75), Scott Speed (#82).
Following the race at NASCAR's Research and Development Center, an inspection found that Team Red Bull's #83 Toyota, driven by Brian Vickers, had sheet metal that was thinner than required.
For the third consecutive race and 10th overall this season, qualifying was cancelled because of rain, which meant Jimmie Johnson would be on the pole as NASCAR's rulebook set the field once again.
Failed to make race as qualifying was cancelled due to rain: Joey Logano (#02), Bryan Clauson (#40) NOTE: The #08 car, which was to have been driven by Johnny Sauter, was withdrawn earlier in the week.
Brad Keselowski made his NASCAR debut, finishing 19th Failed to qualify: Johnny Sauter (#08), Max Papis (#13), Bryan Clauson (#40), Chad McCumbee (#45), Tony Raines (#70) The Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, serving as the penultimate Chase (ninth) and season (35th) race, was held on Sunday, November 9, at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.
Failed to qualify: Max Papis (#13) Sam Hornish Jr. (#77), Ken Schrader (#96) (key) Bold - Pole position awarded by time.
