2008 Pocono 500

Date June 8, 2008

Official name Pocono 500

Location Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania

Course Permanent racing facility

2008 Pocono 500
Race details
Race 14 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
2008 Pocono 500 program cover
Date	June 8, 2008 (2008-06-8)
Official name	Pocono 500
Location	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	4.023 km (2.5 miles)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 91.9 °F (33.3 °C); average wind speeds of 20 miles per hour (32 km/h)^[1]
Average speed	125.209 miles per hour (201.504 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kasey Kahne	Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Time	52.873
Most laps led
Driver	Kasey Kahne	Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Laps	69
Winner
No. 9	Kasey Kahne	Gillett Evernham Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	TNT
Announcers	Bill Weber, Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach Jr.

The 2008 Pocono 500 was the fourteenth race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule and was run on Sunday, June 8 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The race was the first NASCAR telecast on TNT for the 2008 season starting at 12:30 PM US EDT and on radio via MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio at 1:15 PM US EDT.

Terry Labonte would fill in for Kyle Petty in the #45 Petty Enterprises Dodge for six races as Petty moves upstairs to the broadcast booth.
Dario Franchitti returns to the #40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge following his injury several weeks ago.

Qualifying

Jimmie Johnson started out on the pole position, but almost an hour later, Kasey Kahne bumped him. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. teammates Mark Martin and Regan Smith made up the second row, while Joe Nemechek and Carl Edwards made up their third row.

RANK^[2]	DRIVER	NBR	CAR	TIME	SPEED
1	Kasey Kahne	9	Dodge	52.873	170.219
2	Jimmie Johnson	48	Chevrolet	52.986	169.856
3	Mark Martin	8	Chevrolet	53.287	168.897
4	Regan Smith	01	Chevrolet	53.335	168.745
5	Joe Nemechek	78	Chevrolet	53.342	168.723	*
6	Carl Edwards	99	Ford	53.407	168.517
7	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	88	Chevrolet	53.411	168.505
8	A.J. Allmendinger	84	Toyota	53.419	168.479	*
9	Scott Riggs	66	Chevrolet	53.447	168.391	*
10	Kyle Busch	18	Toyota	53.527	168.139
11	Kurt Busch	2	Dodge	53.532	168.124
12	Tony Stewart	20	Toyota	53.554	168.055
13	Matt Kenseth	17	Ford	53.581	167.970
14	Dario Franchitti	40	Dodge	53.591	167.939	*
15	Brian Vickers	83	Toyota	53.602	167.904
16	Denny Hamlin	11	Toyota	53.605	167.895
17	Paul Menard	15	Chevrolet	53.623	167.838
18	Elliott Sadler	19	Dodge	53.640	167.785
19	Michael Waltrip	55	Toyota	53.655	167.738
20	Jeff Burton	31	Chevrolet	53.656	167.735
21	Juan Pablo Montoya	42	Dodge	53.742	167.467
22	Jamie McMurray	26	Ford	53.752	167.436
23	Travis Kvapil	28	Ford	53.774	167.367
24	Patrick Carpentier	10	Dodge	53.781	167.345	*
25	Martin Truex Jr.	1	Chevrolet	53.787	167.327
26	Jason Leffler	70	Chevrolet	53.809	167.258	*
27	Ryan Newman	12	Dodge	53.810	167.255
28	Kevin Harvick	29	Chevrolet	53.883	167.029
29	Bill Elliott	21	Ford	53.970	166.759	*
30	David Ragan	6	Ford	53.986	166.710
31	Reed Sorenson	41	Dodge	53.993	166.688
32	Dave Blaney	22	Toyota	54.006	166.648
33	Greg Biffle	16	Ford	54.007	166.645
34	Casey Mears	5	Chevrolet	54.020	166.605
35	Clint Bowyer	07	Chevrolet	54.024	166.593
36	David Reutimann	44	Toyota	54.025	166.590
37	Bobby Labonte	43	Dodge	54.032	166.568
38	Jeff Gordon	24	Chevrolet	54.069	166.454
39	J.J. Yeley	96	Toyota	54.103	166.349	*
40	Michael McDowell	00	Toyota	54.127	166.276
41	Terry Labonte	45	Dodge	54.127	166.276	PC
42	Robby Gordon	7	Dodge	54.259	165.871
43	Sam Hornish Jr.	77	Dodge	54.522	165.071	OP
44	David Gilliland	38	Ford	54.555	164.971	OP

OP: qualified via owners points

PC: qualified as past champion

PR: provisional

QR: via qualifying race

* - had to qualify on time

Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes: J.J. Yeley (#96), Kenny Wallace (#87-WD)

Happy Hour

It was anything but happy for points leader Kyle Busch, attempting to race all three series in three days in three sites. His primary car crashed and will be forced to a back-up car and start from the rear as a result. Also going to the back of the field was Sam Hornish Jr. for the same reason. Carl Edwards ran the fastest lap of the session at 164.769 mph. Eventual race winner Kasey Kahne ran the second lap of the session, which was 0.6 seconds slower than Edwards lap.

Race

Results

POS^[3]	ST	#	DRIVER	SPONSOR / OWNER	CAR	LAPS	MONEY	STATUS	LED	PTS
1	1	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)	Dodge	200	260866	running	69	195
2	15	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull (Dietrich Mateschitz)	Toyota	200	144425	running	18	175
3	16	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Ground (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	200	162866	running	17	170
4	7	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard / AMP Energy (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	200	121200	running	0	160
5	20	31	Jeff Burton	AT&T Mobility (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	200	143258	running	0	155
6	2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	200	147586	running	59	155
7	13	17	Matt Kenseth	DeWalt (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	130866	running	2	151
8	11	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite (Roger Penske)	Dodge	200	87175	running	0	142
9	6	99	Carl Edwards	Aflac (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	123700	running	2	143
10	3	8	Mark Martin	Steak-umm Burgers (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	200	114083	running	0	134
11	37	43	Bobby Labonte	Cheerios / Betty Crocker (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	200	121536	running	0	130
12	8	84	A.J. Allmendinger	Red Bull (Dietrich Mateschitz)	Toyota	200	75200	running	0	127
13	28	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell / Pennzoil (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	200	118061	running	0	124
14	38	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	200	117711	running	0	121
15	33	16	Greg Biffle	3M (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	81175	running	4	123
16	42	38	David Gilliland	FreeCreditReport.com (Yates Racing)	Ford	200	89583	running	0	115
17	25	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	200	101808	running	2	117
18	27	12	Ryan Newman	Kodak (Roger Penske)	Dodge	200	109350	running	0	109
19	36	44	David Reutimann	UPS (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	200	70225	running	0	106
20	22	26	Jamie McMurray	Irwin Industrial Tools (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	80250	running	0	103
21	9	66	Scott Riggs	State Water Heaters (Gene Haas)	Chevrolet	200	85708	running	6	105
22	32	22	Dave Blaney	Caterpillar (Bill Davis)	Toyota	200	83408	running	1	102
23	23	28	Travis Kvapil	Dish Network / Dish DVRs (Yates Racing)	Ford	200	97064	running	0	94
24	30	6	David Ragan	AAA Insurance (Jack Roush)	Ford	200	76675	running	0	91
25	17	15	Paul Menard	Menards / Pittsburgh Paints (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	200	76450	running	0	88
26	34	5	Casey Mears	Kellogg's / Carquest (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	200	83800	running	0	85
27	39	00	Michael McDowell	Champion Mortgage (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	200	80808	running	0	82
28	4	01	Regan Smith	Principal Financial Group (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.)	Chevrolet	200	73000	running	0	79
29	5	78	Joe Nemechek	Furniture Row / Denver Mattress (Barney Visser)	Chevrolet	200	64850	running	0	76
30	43	45	Terry Labonte	Paralyzed Veterans of America (Petty Enterprises)	Dodge	200	74747	running	0	73
31	29	21	Bill Elliott	U.S. Air Force (Wood Brothers)	Ford	200	82895	running	0	70
32	24	10	Patrick Carpentier	Charter Communications (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)	Dodge	200	64375	running	0	67
33	31	41	Reed Sorenson	Target (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	200	92339	running	0	64
34	18	19	Elliott Sadler	Stanley (Gillett Evernham Motorsports)	Dodge	200	90320	running	6	66
35	12	20	Tony Stewart	Home Depot (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	199	112561	running	14	63
36	40	7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports (Robby Gordon)	Dodge	199	71600	running	0	55
37	19	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts (Michael Waltrip)	Toyota	199	63425	running	0	52
38	21	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Texaco / Havoline (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	157	91208	crash	0	49
39	35	07	Clint Bowyer	Jack Daniel's (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	155	81175	running	0	46
40	26	70	Jason Leffler	Haas Automation (Gene Haas)	Chevrolet	140	63025	crash	0	43
41	14	40	Dario Franchitti	Target (Chip Ganassi)	Dodge	137	70880	crash	0	40
42	41	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Mobil 1 (Roger Penske)	Dodge	130	108305	crash	0	37
43	10	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's (Joe Gibbs)	Toyota	95	80999	crash	0	34
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:
POS	NAME	NBR	SPONSOR	OWNER	CAR
44	J.J. Yeley	96	DLP HDTV	Jeff Moorad	Toyota
WD	Kenny Wallace	87	Furniture Row	Barney Visser	Chevrolet

Incidents

On lap 41, Kurt Busch would lose control of his car exiting turn 1, he slides into the grass and briefly becomes airborne due to the bumpiness of the infield. He would later recover with no significant damage and rally to an 8th-place finish.
Points leader Kyle Busch would hit the frontstretch wall after unsuccessfully trying to change lanes on lap 48, causing Jamie McMurray to make contact with the left rear corner of his car. The incident causes significant body damage on the entire right side of his car.
Patrick Carpentier and Sam Hornish Jr. make contact in turn 1 on lap 58, also collecting David Gilliland.
On lap 82, Clint Bowyer loses control of his car exiting turn 3. Juan Pablo Montoya has nowhere to go, and ends up hitting Bowyer behind the driver's door on the left side of the car. Bowyer spins and eventually finds the pit road wall where his car comes to a stop. Montoya's car is on fire and he limps to the end of pit road where he exits the car. Bowyer later returns to finish the race 45 laps down, and Montoya parks his car after 157 laps.
Michael Waltrip would hit the turn 1 outside retaining wall on lap 106.
Dario Franchitti would spin in turn 3 on lap 123.
Already nursing a damaged race car, Kyle Busch hits the curb in the famed tunnel turn causing him to spin during the cycle of the last green flag pit stops on lap 178. This spin would seal his 43rd-place finish in the event.

v t e 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Points races	Daytona 500 Auto Club 500 UAW-Dodge 400 Kobalt Tools 500 Food City 500 Goody's Cool Orange 500 Samsung 500 Subway Fresh Fit 500 Aaron's 499 Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400 Dodge Challenger 500 Coca-Cola 600 Best Buy 400 Pocono 500 LifeLock 400 Toyota/Save Mart 350 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Coke Zero 400 LifeLock.com 400 Brickyard 400 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 Centurion Boats at the Glen 3M Performance 400 Sharpie 500 Pepsi 500 Chevy Rock & Roll 400
Chase for the Sprint Cup	Sylvania 300 Camping World RV 400 Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman AMP Energy 500 Bank of America 500 Tums QuikPak 500 Pep Boys Auto 500 Dickies 500 Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 Ford 400
Exhibition races	Budweiser Shootout Gatorade Duels All-Star Race

Qualifying

Happy Hour

Race

Information

Results

Incidents

References

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