Ten different drivers have posted victories in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2008, led by Kyle Busch with five. Carl Edwards (three), Kasey Kahne (two), Ryan Newman (one), Jeff Burton (one), Denny Hamlin (one), Jimmie Johnson (one), Clint Bowyer (one), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one) and Kurt Busch (one) are the others. If those drivers make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, each has earned 10 points per win toward their Chase “seeding.” Ties in number of wins are broken by the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rule Book (number of seconds, thirds, etc.).
All-time Record
Kevin Harvick extended his current streak of running at the finish, which now stands at 61 races. That is the all-time record for consecutive races without a DNF. Harvick broke a tie with Jeff Gordon for second place on the all-time list at Dover – giving him the top two positions on the list.
Note: Herman Beam completed 84 consecutive races that he compted in (1961-63), but he did not race in all of the scheduled events during his personal streak. His longest consecutive-race streak was 35 races.
Foreign-Born
Five foreign-born drivers participated at Infineon Raceway: Marcos Ambrose (Australia), Patrick Carpentier and Ron Fellows (Canada), Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) and Max Papis (Italy). It was the largest contingent of foreign-born drivers in a race in NASCAR Sprint Cup history, eclipsing the previous mark of three which was set eight times – most recently at Infineon in 2007.
• Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500, his first career restrictor plate victory.
• Carl Edwards won back-to-back races at California and Las Vegas – the second time in his career he has posted consecutive wins.
• Kyle Busch won at Atlanta – the first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Toyota. The victory came in the 40th start for Toyota in NASCAR’s premier series and was the first by a foreignbased manufacturer since Jaguar won with Al Keller at the wheel at Linden (N.J.) Airport in 1954.
• Jeff Burton won at Bristol and was followed across the line by teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer – giving car owner Richard Childress his first-ever 1-2-3 sweep.
• Carl Edwards won at Texas to join Jeff Burton as the only drivers with multiple victories at Texas.
• Kyle Busch won at Darlington and became the youngest race winner there.
• Kasey Kahne followed up his win in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race with victory in the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. He became the sixth driver to win both races in the same season.
• Kyle Busch became the first driver to post four victories with his win at Dover.
• Kasey Kahne won the Pocono 500 and became the third multiple-race winner of 2008.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Michigan, ending a 76-race winless streak.
• Kyle Busch won at Infineon Raceway, scoring his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series roadcourse victory and giving him victories on all four major types of tracks in NASCAR’s premier circuit.
Qualifying
• 74 drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season, including Matt Crafton who qualified Robby Gordon’s car at Dover.
• There have been 10 different pole winners in 2008: Jeff Gordon (two), Kyle Busch (two), Greg Biffle (two) , Kasey Kahne (two), Jimmie Johnson (one), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one), Ryan Newman (one), Joe Nemechek (one), Denny Hamlin (one) and Patrick Carpentier (one).
• Patrick Carpentier became the first driver to post a career-first pole when he won the pole at New Hampshire. He continued a 22-year streak of at least one first-time pole winner (1987-2008).
• Qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather at the Auto Club Speedway, Bristol and Michigan.
• 40 different drivers have posted at least one top-10 start, led by Jimmie Johnson with 13.
• The average finish of the pole winner in 2008 is 17.41.
Rookie Pole Sweep
Landon Cassill won the pole for the NASCAR Nationwide Series at New Hampshire and Patrick Carpentier followed up with the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race. It was the first time ever two Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidates swept the poles at the same track in a weekend.
The Races
• 63 drivers have qualified for/participated in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season.
• 33 different drivers have posted at least one top-10 finish in 2008, led by Carl Edwards with 12.
• There have been five green-white-checkered finishes this season: Bristol, Texas, Richmond, Michigan and Infineon.
• There has been one last-lap pass for the lead in 2008: Daytona.
• There has been one track race record set this season: Darlington.
• The average start of the race winner in 2008 is 8.65.
Brotherly Wins
Kyle Busch won at Infineon Raceway. Brother Kurt countered with his victory at New Hampshire the following weekend, giving them the first back-to-back wins by brothers since Kyle won at California and Kurt at Richmond in September 2005.
First-Timers
Start Pole Win
Dario Franchitti (Daytona) Patrick Carpentier (New Hampshire) None
Michael McDowell (Martinsville)
Marcos Ambrose (Infineon)
Max Papis (Infineon)
Laps Led Lead in Points Top 10 in Points
Dario Franchitti (California) Ryan Newman (Daytona) Reed Sorenson (Daytona)
Michael McDowell (Dover) Kyle Busch (California)
Sam Hornish Jr. (Michigan) Carl Edwards (Las Vegas) *
* Lost point lead after mid-week penalty
The Pole Winner/Race Winner
• The pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying) finishing position:
First 1
2nd-5th 6
6th-10th 0
11th-30th 6
31st or beyond 4
• The lap-leader performance of the pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying):
Led First Lap 11
Led at All 16
Led Most Laps 4
Won Race 1
• The race winner’s starting positions:
Pole 3
2nd-5th 5
6th-10th 6
11th-30th 2
31st or beyond 1
• The lap-leader performance of the race winner:
Led First Lap 1
Led Most Laps 6
Led Mid-Race Lap 2
Led With 10 to Go 11
Led With One to Go 1
Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.
Laps Led
• Kyle Busch has led 869 laps this season, more than any other driver.
• 45 drivers have led at least one lap this season. No one has led in every race.
• Kyle Busch (four); Jimmie Johnson (three), Tony Stewart (three), Carl Edwards (two), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two), Denny Hamlin (one), Greg Biffle (one) and Kasey Kahne (one) have led the most laps at least once this season.
• The race winner also led the most laps in 10 races this season.
Points
• Jeff Burton became the fourth different driver to lead the points when he took the lead following Martinsville. It is his first time to lead the points since Oct. 14, 2006 (Lowe’s Motor Speedway).
• Kyle Busch re-assumed the lead in the point standings following his second-place finish at Richmond and has held it since.
• The point spread between first and second has varied from a low of six points following California to a high of 142 following Dover.
The Race to the Chase
With nine races remaining before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins, 12th to 17th in the point standings are separated by just 128 points.
Rookie Performance
• Five different drivers have been the highest-finishing rookie in 2008: Sam Hornish Jr. (six), Regan Smith (six), Michael McDowell (three), Dario Franchitti (one) and Patrick Carpentier (one).
• Sam Hornish Jr. has posted the best finish by a rookie candidate in 2008: 13th at Lowe’s.
Owner Highlights
• Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500, his first career restrictor plate victory. Teammate Kurt Busch finished second, giving car owner Roger Penske his first restrictor plate victory and first 1-2 finish in 25 years of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.
• Joe Nemechek won the pole at Talladega, giving car owner Barney Visser his first-ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole. It came in Visser’s 49th race as a car owner.
• Hendrick Motorsports began competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 1984 and won its first race in 1986. HMS has posted at least one victory each of its 22 seasons since and has gone past the seventh race of a season before posting its first win eight times – but only four times since 1994 (including this season). The deepest that HMS has gone into a season before scoring a win was 1992 when the first victory did not come until race No. 23.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Michigan and became the 14th different driver to win for Hendrick Motorsports. Every full-time driver for Hendrick Motorsports since 2000 has posted at least one victory while with the organization.
Penalties
• There have been 278 on-track penalties issued this season.
• Every team that has competed in two or more races this season has received at least one on-track
penalty.
• Penalty Recap:
Pitting Before Pit Road is Open 148
Too Fast Entering Pit Road 23
Too Fast Exiting Pit Road 33
Others 74
Manufacturer
• Toyota leads the manufacturer point standings with 106 points. Chevrolet has 96, Ford 89 and Dodge has 83.
• Toyota has posted six victories in 2008. Chevrolet has four while Ford and Dodge each have three.
Notebook
• Ryan Newman posted the first Daytona 500 victory for Dodge since Ward Burton won in 2002. That victory was the only other restrictor-plate victory for Dodge.
• Kasey Kahne was the only driver with three top-10 finishes in the first three races this season. In 2007, Kahne did not get his third top 10 until race No. 24 (Bristol).
• Jeff Gordon won the pole at Atlanta – making this his 16th consecutive year with a pole. Gordon is third on the all-time list for consecutive years with a pole, behind David Pearson (20) and Richard Petty (17).
• Jeff Gordon finished 43rd after his accident at Texas, just the second time in his career that he finished 43rd. The other also came at Texas (March 1999).
• The pole winner has finished last in a race twice in 2008: Ryan Newman (Phoenix) and Greg Biffle (Darlington).
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – Season In Review
• Greg Biffle won the pole on the newly-repaved Darlington Raceway, breaking Ward Burton’s 1996 track qualifying record. Burton’s was the longest-standing qualifying record at an active, nonrestrictor- plate track.
• Denny Hamlin led 381 laps, setting the record for the number of laps led in a 400-lap race at Richmond. He eclipsed the mark of 369 set by Bobby Allison in September 1979. The record for laps led all-time at Richmond is 488 of 500 on the half-mile configuration by David Pearson in September 1970.
• Kyle Busch led 786 laps in the first 14 races on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this season. He had also led the exact same number through the first 15 races (the same weekend) in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
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