2008 TUMS QuikPak 500
Encyclopedia
The 2008 Tums QuikPak 500 was the thirty-second race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season
and started off the second half of the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup
. The 500-lap, 263 miles (423.3 km) event, the only race on the Chase that is scheduled to be held on a short track (0.526 mile (0.84651284 km)), was held on October 19 at Martinsville Speedway
in Martinsville, Virginia
. ABC
carried the race beginning at 1 pm US EDT
and MRN
along with Sirius Satellite Radio
had radio coverage starting at 12:45 pm US EDT.
As Rockingham is not on any of NASCAR's national series, unrestricted testing was permissible at the track, and six teams tested at Rockingham in preparation for the race—Sprint Cup teams Furniture Row Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Haas CNC Racing, in addition to the Craftsman Truck team of Wyler Racing tested Tuesday. Hendrick Motorsports, Petty Enterprises, and Gillett Evernham Motorsports (which tested both AJ Allemendinger, who drives the #10 for the remainder of 2008, and test driver Dennis Setzer) tested Wednesday. Thursday, Colin Braun tested a Sprint Cup car in the afternoon after testing on the traditional 1.017 miles (1.6 km) speedway in the morning.
Jimmie Johnson, who tested for Hendrick, noted Rockingham's half-mile was similar to Martinsville, and credited the Wednesday test for helping him during Saturday practice and eventually Sunday's race at Martinsville.
With NASCAR's 2009 testing ban in effect, Rockingham's half-mile is expected to pick up testing, especially in the week before the Sprint Cup returns to Martinsville.
O&O KABC-TV
in Los Angeles
for an episode of The Replacements in order to fulfill an E/I
commitment. The show also was not aired on KXLY-TV
in Spokane, WA in favor of a local news special on plastic surgery.
and Jeff Gordon
were the main two factors early in the race until Gordon's car started falling back where Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the only one giving Johnson a run for his money. Jimmie Johnson went on to win the race and Earnhardt finished second. Earnhardt criticized NASCAR for finding a way to bring out the yellow flag.
NOTE: Race extended four laps due to green-white-checker finish
rule.
Failed to make race as qualifying was cancelled due to rain: Sterling Marlin
(#09), Derrike Cope
(#75).
Following the race in an inspection at NASCAR's Research and Development Center, it was discovered that the Team Red Bull
#83 Toyota driven by Brian Vickers
had illegal sheet metal thinner than that required under NASCAR's rules. As a result, the team's crew chief, Kevin Hamlin and car chief Kevin Smokstad were suspended indefinitely, Hamlin fined $100,000 and the team and Vickers were penalized 150 owners and drivers points respectively.
2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season began on February 9, 2008 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout, followed by pole qualifying on Sunday, February 10, 2008 for the 50th Daytona 500 on February 17...
and started off the second half of the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup
2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup
The 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup was the ten-race playoffs which concluded the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The Chase began with the Sylvania 300 on September 14, 2008 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and ended with the Ford 400 on November 16, 2008 at Homestead-Miami Speedway...
. The 500-lap, 263 miles (423.3 km) event, the only race on the Chase that is scheduled to be held on a short track (0.526 mile (0.84651284 km)), was held on October 19 at Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway
Martinsville Speedway is an International Speedway Corporation-owned NASCAR stock car racing track located in Henry County, near Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved...
in Martinsville, Virginia
Martinsville, Virginia
Martinsville is an independent city which is surrounded by Henry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 13,821 in 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Martinsville with Henry County for statistical purposes...
. ABC
NASCAR on ABC
NASCAR on ESPN is the coverage of NASCAR on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC. ABC, and later ESPN, carried NASCAR races from the sanctioning body's top three divisions at various points from the early 1960s until 2002. ESPN resumed coverage of NASCAR with the Nationwide Series race at Daytona in February 2007...
carried the race beginning at 1 pm US EDT
North American Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
and MRN
Motor Racing Network
The Motor Racing Network is the principal radio broadcasting operation of NASCAR, promoting themselves as "The Voice of NASCAR." It broadcasts coverage of most major NASCAR races at the top three levels of NASCAR at tracks owned by International Speedway Corporation as well as Dover International...
along with Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
had radio coverage starting at 12:45 pm US EDT.
Rockingham testing
A new 0.526-mile clone of Martinsville at Rockingham Speedway was finished the Monday before the race, and was broken-in by owner Andy Hillenburg's driving school.As Rockingham is not on any of NASCAR's national series, unrestricted testing was permissible at the track, and six teams tested at Rockingham in preparation for the race—Sprint Cup teams Furniture Row Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, and Haas CNC Racing, in addition to the Craftsman Truck team of Wyler Racing tested Tuesday. Hendrick Motorsports, Petty Enterprises, and Gillett Evernham Motorsports (which tested both AJ Allemendinger, who drives the #10 for the remainder of 2008, and test driver Dennis Setzer) tested Wednesday. Thursday, Colin Braun tested a Sprint Cup car in the afternoon after testing on the traditional 1.017 miles (1.6 km) speedway in the morning.
Jimmie Johnson, who tested for Hendrick, noted Rockingham's half-mile was similar to Martinsville, and credited the Wednesday test for helping him during Saturday practice and eventually Sunday's race at Martinsville.
With NASCAR's 2009 testing ban in effect, Rockingham's half-mile is expected to pick up testing, especially in the week before the Sprint Cup returns to Martinsville.
Qualifying
For the second week in a row and the ninth time this season, rain cancelled qualifying, and the field will be set via rulebook.Issues with ABC affiliates
NASCAR Countdown was preempted on ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
O&O KABC-TV
KABC-TV
KABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for an episode of The Replacements in order to fulfill an E/I
E/I
E/I, which stands for "educational and informative," refers to a type of children's television programming shown in the United States. The Federal Communications Commission requires that every full-service Terrestrial television station in the U.S. show at least three hours of these television...
commitment. The show also was not aired on KXLY-TV
KXLY-TV
KXLY-TV, virtual channel 4, is an ABC-affiliated television station in Spokane, Washington, USA. KXLY-TV is owned by Spokane Television Group, a subsidiary of Morgan Murphy Media, it is one of five local Spokane TV stations seen in Canada on the Shaw Direct satellite provider.-History:Although KHQ...
in Spokane, WA in favor of a local news special on plastic surgery.
Race recap
Jimmie JohnsonJimmie Johnson
Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver. He currently drives the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports....
and Jeff Gordon
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...
were the main two factors early in the race until Gordon's car started falling back where Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the only one giving Johnson a run for his money. Jimmie Johnson went on to win the race and Earnhardt finished second. Earnhardt criticized NASCAR for finding a way to bring out the yellow flag.
| Top Ten Finishers (Chase Drivers highlighted in yellow) |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Car No | Driver | Car Make | Team | ||||
| 1 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver. He currently drives the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.... |
Chevrolet Chevrolet Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918... |
Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports , originally named All Star Racing, is a current American auto racing team created in 1984 by Rick Hendrick. The team currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chevrolet Impalas... |
||||
| 2 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. * NOTE: References to "Earnhardt", "he", and "him" refer to the subject of this article, unless otherwise specified. References to his father will include "Sr."... |
Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 3 | 99 | Carl Edwards Carl Edwards Carl Michael Edwards, II is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #99 Fastenal/Aflac Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series and the #60 Ford in the Nationwide Series for Roush Fenway Racing... |
Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK... |
Roush Fenway Racing | ||||
| 4 | 24 | Jeff Gordon Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the... |
Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 5 | 11 | Denny Hamlin Denny Hamlin James Dennis Alan "Denny" Hamlin is an American race car driver. Though originally born in Tampa, Florida, Hamlin was raised for most of his life in Chesterfield, Virginia. After racing in go-karts for a number of years, he worked his way up to Late Models by 2004 and signed a development contract... |
Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned and operated by former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991, and J. D. Gibbs, his son... |
||||
| 6 | 5 | Casey Mears Casey Mears Casey James Mears is the driver of the #13 GEICO Toyota for Germain Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. He is a former winner of the Coca-Cola 600.... |
Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 7 | 29 | Kevin Harvick Kevin Harvick Kevin Michael Harvick is an American stock car auto racing race car driver and car owner currently competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing, driving the No. 29 Budweiser/Jimmy John's/Rheem/Okuma/Realtree Outdoors/Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet Impala... |
Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing RCR Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Richard Childress Racing, is a NASCAR team based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by former driver Richard Childress... |
||||
| 8 | 17 | Matt Kenseth Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy "Matt" Kenseth is an American stock car driver. Kenseth currently drives the No. 17 Crown Royal Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Roush Fenway Racing... |
Ford | Roush Fenway Racing | ||||
| 9 | 07 | Clint Bowyer Clint Bowyer Clint Bowyer is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #15 5 Hour Energy Toyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series for Michael Waltrip Racing. Early in his career, he drove for Richard Childress Racing. He won the 2008 Nationwide Series championship.... |
Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | ||||
| 10 | 1 | Martin Truex, Jr. | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. was a NASCAR-related organization located in Mooresville, North Carolina, United States working to continue the legacy of Dale Earnhardt. It was originally formed in 1980 by seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt who died in a crash on the closing lap of the 2001... |
||||
NOTE: Race extended four laps due to green-white-checker finish
Green-white-checker finish
The green-white-checker finish is a rule implemented into many levels of automobile racing in the United States. When the race would otherwise end during a yellow-flag caution condition , this rule gives the field an attempt to finish the race under a green-flag, racing condition...
rule.
Failed to make race as qualifying was cancelled due to rain: Sterling Marlin
Sterling Marlin
Sterling Marlin is a retired NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. He is the son of late NASCAR driver Coo Coo Marlin. He is married to Paula and has a daughter, Sutherlin, and a son, Steadman, who sometimes races in the Nationwide Series....
(#09), Derrike Cope
Derrike Cope
Derrike Cope is a NASCAR driver. He is best known for his win in the 1990 Daytona 500. He currently drives the #28 Chevrolet for Jay Robinson Racing in the Nationwide Series and the #75 Chevrolet/Dodge for his own team in the Sprint Cup Series.-Early years:Cope was born in San Diego, California...
(#75).
Following the race in an inspection at NASCAR's Research and Development Center, it was discovered that the Team Red Bull
Team Red Bull
Red Bull Racing Team, also known as Team Red Bull, is a NASCAR team owned by Dietrich Mateschitz. The team is based in Mooresville, North Carolina in the United States and is managed by Jay Frye...
#83 Toyota driven by Brian Vickers
Brian Vickers
Brian Lee Vickers is a American NASCAR driver. He was the 2003 Busch Series champion, and at age 20, became the youngest champion in any of NASCAR's three top-tier series...
had illegal sheet metal thinner than that required under NASCAR's rules. As a result, the team's crew chief, Kevin Hamlin and car chief Kevin Smokstad were suspended indefinitely, Hamlin fined $100,000 and the team and Vickers were penalized 150 owners and drivers points respectively.