2008 Kobalt Tools 500

Race details[1]
Race 4 of 36 in the2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
2008 Kobalt Tools 500 program
Date	March 9, 2008 (2008-03-09)
Official name	Kobalt Tools 500
Location	Atlanta Motor Speedway,Hampton, Georgia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.54 miles (2.48 km)
Distance	325 laps, 500.5 mi (805.476 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 57.9 °F (14.4 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)
Average speed	140.975 miles per hour (226.877 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	29.927
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	173
Winner
No. 18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip andLarry McReynolds

The2008 Kobalt Tools 500 was the fourth race in the2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and was held on March 9, 2008 atAtlanta Motor Speedway inHampton, Georgia, located outsidethe Georgia state capital. The race was televised onFox starting at 1:30 PMUS EDT, and broadcast on thePerformance Racing Network andSirius Satellite Radio starting at 1 PM US EDT.

• A major shakeup atTeam Red Bull findsA. J. Allmendinger out of the #84Toyota andMike Skinner, who drove the #27Bill Davis Racing ride last week takes over for four races to give the team feedback on the current information. Meanwhile,Johnny Benson will replace Skinner in the #27 ride.

Qualifying suffered from a short rain delay in the beginning stages but was finally reopened withJeff Gordon winning the pole followed byDale Earnhardt Jr.,Martin Truex Jr.,Carl Edwards andBobby Labonte rounding out the top five. Forty-eight cars attempted to make the race but only 43 are able to start a Sprint Cup Race.

Failed to qualify:John Andretti (#34),Johnny Benson (#27),Bill Elliott (#21),Burney Lamar (#08),Ken Schrader (#49).

For the first time since June 1954 (whenAl Keller won in aJaguar on the road course atLinden Airport), a foreign nameplate found its way to the winners' circle asKyle Busch dominated the field to win his fifth Cup race of his career, and his first win driving forJoe Gibbs Racing. The victory also gaveToyota their first Sprint Cup victory after 40 races.Carl Edwards, still smarting from last week's win that found a loose oil tank, costing him 100 points in the drivers chase, his ownerJack Roush 100 owners' points and suspended crew chiefBob Osborne for six races until April 30 as well as a $100,000 fine, was in the lead until there were 50 laps to go and Edwards' transmission in the #99Ford blew up, finishing 42nd, and falling deeper out of the top 12.

Much of the pre and post-race talk was about the tiresGoodyear supplied to the teams.Tony Stewart claimed that the tires were shoddy in a post-race commentary. Dale Earnhardt Jr. also said that the tires did not work well on the subject of its grip, while Jeff Gordon claimed that in light of Stewart's gripes that "I think he went a little overboard". The tiremaker commented the day after that in a press release "if the drivers aren't happy, Goodyear's not happy."

• 2008 in sports in Georgia (U.S. state)
• 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway
• March 2008 sports events in the United States

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