2008 Subway Fresh Fit 500

Race details
Race 8 of 36 in the2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2008 Subway Fresh Fit 500 program cover
Date	April 12, 2008 (2008-04-12)
Location	Phoenix International Raceway inAvondale, Arizona
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1 miles (1.6 km)
Distance	312 laps, 312 mi (502.115 km)
Weather	Temperatures as low as 57 °F (14 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
Average speed	103.292 miles per hour (166.232 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ryan Newman	Penske Racing
Time	26.975
Most laps led
Driver	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	120
Winner
No. 48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy,Darrell Waltrip andLarry McReynolds

The2008 Subway Fresh Fit 500 was the eighth race for theNASCAR Sprint Cup season and ran on Saturday, April 12 atPhoenix International Raceway for 312 laps inAvondale, Arizona. The race was broadcast on television byFox starting at 8:53 PMUS EDT, and broadcast via radio andSirius Satellite Radio on theMotor Racing Network beginning at 7:45 PM US EDT.

• Jeremy Mayfield was dropped as the driver of theHaas CNC Racing #70Chevrolet and replaced by the former driver of the #70 car they own,Johnny Sauter.

Daytona 500 championRyan Newman won the pole position, the 34th of his career.Elliott Sadler started on the outside.Kyle Petty andJohn Andretti failed to qualify.

OP: qualified via owners points

PC: qualified as past champion

PR: provisional

QR: via qualifying race

* - had to qualify on time

The outcome of this race was determined largely onfuel mileage strategy. Based oncrew chiefChad Knaus' calculations,Jimmie Johnson stayed out late in the race while leadersDale Earnhardt Jr. andMark Martin entered their pits. Johnson held on for the win whileClint Bowyer finished second.

Jeff Burton climbed from 39th starting position to a sixth-place finish and retained his lead in points.

Coverage of the pre-race was interrupted when Fox switched over to cover the remainingNew York Yankees-Boston Red Sox baseball game which had been delayed due to rain.^[2] Fox then switched back to the race as the cars were on the dogleg just after the start. The final two pitches of the game were shown on thecable /satellite channelFX leaving some baseball fans confused.^[2] Fox was contractually required to show the entire race on its broadcast network.

NASCAR fans were upset that the network did not show theinvocation andnational anthem, especially as it was realized that the game was shown on both Fox and FX, in asimulcast, for about 10 minutes. Theoretically, the baseball game could have continued on Fox and the pre-race ceremonies would have been seen on FX, but parent companyNews Corporation chose not to use that option.^[3]

This is the first known occurrence in the history in American sports television that a network missed both the ending of one event (similar to theHeidi Game, except that there was an option to see the remainder of it) and the beginning of another.

On the Speed Channel rebroadcast later that week, the start of the race was shown, in real time, fromBrett Bodine pulling the pace car to pit road, and Fox analystLarry McReynolds waving the green flag, all the way through the entire first lap. It is evident in that replay that the broadcast started on the backstretch as the graphics package did not appear until the cars were on the dogleg.

• Complete race results
• Points standings
• Complete weather information

• 2008 in sports in Arizona
• 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Phoenix Raceway

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