| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 36 in the2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
_-_Speedway.svg) Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway | |||
| Date | February 24, 2008 (2008-02-24)–February 25, 2008 (2008-02-25) | ||
| Location | Auto Club Speedway,Fontana, California | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.0 miles (3.23 km) | ||
| Distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures approaching an average of 53.3 °F (11.8 °C); wind speeds up to 7 miles per hour (11 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 132.704 miles per hour (213.566 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 2007 Owner's Points | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 76 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip andLarry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen ratings | 1.6/3 (1.4) (Final) | ||
The2008 Auto Club 500 was the second race of the2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and started on February 24, 2008, atAuto Club Speedway of Southern California inFontana, California, a suburb ofLos Angeles. The race was telecast onFox starting at 3:30 PM USEST/12:30 PMPST, withMRN andSirius Satellite Radio's broadcast starting at 2:45 PM EST/11:45 AM PST. Rain stopped the race on Lap 87 and the race would continue on Monday, February 25 at 1 PM US EST/10 AM PDT.[2]
This race was the first time that theCar of Tomorrow raced at Fontana, as many people (since the shift from theNorth Carolina Speedway inRockingham, North Carolina following theFerko lawsuit in 2004) claim that it is the first "real race" of the season, following the running of theDaytona 500 with itsrestrictor plates in use.
Auto Club Speedway (previously California Speedway) was a two-mile (3.2 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which hosted NASCAR racing annually from 1997 to 2023. It was also used for open wheel racing events. The racetrack was located near the former locations of Ontario Motor Speedway and Riverside International Raceway. The track was owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation and was the only track owned by ISC to have its naming rights sold. The speedway was served by the nearby Interstate 10 and Interstate 15 freeways as well as a Metrolink station located behind the backstretch.
For the first time in theSprint Cup Series, a new qualifying system was to have been introduced for this race and the rest of the 2008 season.
The new qualifying format is being divided into two groups, that has been called by many as "The Boris Said Rule" after what happened prior to the2007 Pepsi 400, when Said was on the provisional pole when qualifying was canceled, and the field was set by the rulebook. The format debuted in the Nationwide andCraftsman Truck series at Daytona.
In the first group, the Top 35 Exempt teams will go onto the track first and set their positions in the time trials. The second group will involve those outside said Top 35, and will fill the remaining eight spots. However, rain canceled the scheduled qualifying session, and the field was set by the NASCAR rulebook. The first time that the new qualifying session format was used was at theUAW-Dodge 400 the following week inLas Vegas, Nevada.
The outset of the race was plagued with rain, which was an ongoing theme throughout the weekend, delaying the start by 2½ hours, but weeping in the banked turns from all the inclement weather that fell throughout the weekend because of poor drainage caused the first two cautions. On Lap 14,Denny Hamlin hit the wall in Turn 3, causing the first caution of the day. After just two more laps of green,Casey Mears crashed intoDale Earnhardt Jr., andSam Hornish Jr., who was blinded from the upraised hood who then hitReed Sorenson and then turned Mears' car 270 degrees, setting Hornish's car ablaze and causing the first red flag of the race on Lap 21. Track dryers were brought out to clear the track, and concrete saws were used to create pathways for the water to flow off Turns 1 and 2, which was not draining properly. After hour and seven minute delay, racing continued on Lap 25 before a caution was called on Lap 39 due to rain in Turn 4. After drying finished, racing began again onLap 47 before a yellow flag was shown on Lap 56 due toJeremy Mayfield's flat tire. Another yellow flag was shown whenJoe Nemechek spins out due to a flat tire on Lap 62. Eight laps afterward, the sixth caution flag was shown whenElliott Sadler hit the wall after attempting to avoidRobby Gordon. The seventh caution flag was displayed on Lap 81 when rain began to fall, and was finally called off officially on Lap 87 with a red flag, over five hours after the scheduled start of the race.
NASCAR continued to dry the track and scheduled a night restart at 9 PM PST. That time was postponed twice by an hour to 11 PM local time, when they felt that track drying was inadequate. Ultimately at the time the race was to have restarted, NASCAR officials suspended activities for the evening. When action resumed on Monday morning,Jimmie Johnson led the race when on Lap 132,Jeff Burton brushed the wall on Turn 3 to force the eighth caution period. Three more cautions would follow, ultimately letting Carl Edwards win the race under caution whenDale Jarrett spun in Turn 3 on the last lap.Mark Martin made his 800th career Winston/NEXTEL/Sprint Cup start in this race.
| Top Ten Finishers | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Car # | Driver | Make | Team | ||||
| 1 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing | ||||
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 3 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 4 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||||
| 5 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing | ||||
| 6 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | ||||
| 7 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||||
| 8 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | ||||
| 9 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Gillett Evernham Motorsports | ||||
| 10 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Dodge | Penske Racing | ||||
Failed to make the race as a result of qualifying being canceled due to rain:A. J. Allmendinger (#84),Ken Schrader (#49), Mike Skinner (#27), Burney Lamar (#08),Patrick Carpentier (#10).
| Previous race: 2008 Daytona 500 | Sprint Cup Series 2008 season | Next race: 2008 UAW-Dodge 400 |