2008 Chevy Rock & Roll 400

Race details
Race 26 of 36 in the2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Richmond International Speedway
Date	September 7, 2008 (2008-09-07)
Official name	Chevy Rock & Roll 400
Location	Richmond Fairgrounds,Richmond, Virginia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	0.75 miles (1.207 km)
Distance	400 laps, 300.0 mi (482.803 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds up to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)[1]
Average speed	92.68 miles per hour (149.15 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Most laps led
Driver	David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip Racing
Laps	104
Winner
No. 48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Jerry Punch Dale Jarrett Andy Petree

The2008 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 was the twenty-sixth race of the2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and served as the final "regular season" race before the2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup, where the top twelve drivers were "locked into" the ten-race playoff.

The 400 lap (300 miles (480 km)) event was scheduled to have been held on Saturday night, September 6 at the 0.75 miles (1.21 km)Richmond International Raceway inHenrico County, Virginia, outsideRichmond, the Commonwealth's capital city. However,Hurricane Hanna altered the plans and forced the race to be moved to the next day, September 7 at 1 PMUS EDT. This was to have been the first race to be carried onABC, however due to a prior commitment to carry both aWNBA game and anIndycar Series race inChicago,ESPN carried the race. In place of the race that night, ABC aired the movieCatch Me If You Can. Radio coverage viaMRN along withSirius Satellite Radio commenced at 12 noon US EDT Sunday.

As this is the final race before the Chase is set, five drivers have clinched their positions in the 2008 playoff, while two more will clinch a spot when the green flag drops.

Kyle Busch,Carl Edwards,Jimmie Johnson,Dale Earnhardt Jr. andJeff Burton have all wrapped up positions in the Chase, where Kyle Busch will be ranked number one with at least 5,080 points. Edwards will be seeded second with a minimum of 5,050 points, even though he has six wins; one win was taken away as part of punishment after a post-race inspection following theUAW-Dodge 400 atLas Vegas in March.

Greg Biffle andKevin Harvick were exempt as per the Top 35 Owner Points standings rule, both started the race and clinched spots. This left seven drivers and five spaces in the chase. With the assumption that both past two-time championTony Stewart and 2003 series championMatt Kenseth made the chase, the three that were "sitting on the bubble" are all qualifiers from last year's Chase: four-time series championJeff Gordon,Clint Bowyer andDenny Hamlin.

Just below them wereDavid Ragan, who was 17 points out of the chase in 13th andKasey Kahne, 48 points out of the chase in 14th. In addition, both Hamlin and Bowyer had won races in the Commonwealth of Virginia this season, and they carried a ten-point bonus into the Chase if they make it; Hamlin winning thespring event at Martinsville and Bowyer themost recent Richmond race. Kahne held two wins (the Memorial Day Charlotte race andthe June race at Pocono); Ragan has not won a race despite being the most improved driver this season, while Jeff Gordon's last win waslast October in Charlotte.

• As announced last week, 18-year-old sensationJoey Logano moved into the #20Toyota atJoe Gibbs Racing after Tony Stewart leaves. He was to have attempted to qualify for this week's race driving the #02 ride.Tropical Storm Hanna had other ideas as qualifying was cancelled, and because he was outside the Top 35, he did not make the race. Logano will later try to run five races forHall of Fame Racing in the #96 car later this season, and two more in the #02.
• NASCAR began a newdrug testing policy within the next few weeks, and will now use random drug testing on all drivers, crews and other personnel as part of the new program. This puts the stock car sanctioning body with all the other major North American sports on random testing.
• David Stremme, who lost his ride toDario Franchitti, became the new driver of the #12Penske RacingDodge in 2009. Stremme had been driving in the Nationwide Series and was a test driver for PR this year.

As earlier stated, Hanna caused the cancellation of the qualifying of the race, and the field was set by the rulebook.

Failed to make race as a result of qualifying being cancelled by rain: Joey Logano (#02),Sterling Marlin (#09),Tony Raines (#34).

David Reutimann dominated the race and led 104 laps, but a braking problem cut his hopes short. It wasJimmie Johnson who took over and won the race by holding off a determinedTony Stewart.David Ragan's chances of making the chase were all but finished when he was involved in an incident with teammateMatt Kenseth.Jimmie Johnson held offTony Stewart and win the first daytime fall race at Richmond since 1990.

It was the first Sprint Cup race since the2007 Sylvania 300 where all 43 cars started finished the race, with no retirements.

Drivers in green made Chase for Sprint Cup.

• 2008 in sports in Virginia
• 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Richmond Raceway

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