The 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup was contested in the final ten races of the

2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 60th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 37th modern-era Cup season. It was contested over thirty-six races, and began on February 9 at Daytona International Speedway w ...

to determine a champion. The Chase began with the

Sylvania 300 The ISM Connect 300 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series stock car race that was , traditionally held in mid-September at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, the other one being the Ambetter 301 in July. The New England ...

on September 14, 2008 at

New Hampshire Motor Speedway New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a Oval track racing, oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire, which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1990, as well as the longest-running motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nickna ...

and ended with the

Ford 400 The Dixie Vodka 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Homestead–Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The inaugural race was held in 1999 and was the final race in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2002 until 2019, as well as the final race of the ...

on November 16, 2008 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The 2008 Chase was won by

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...

, his third consecutive championship. From 2004 through 2007, the championship system was known as the "Chase for the Nextel Cup", but with the 2005 merger of Sprint and Nextel, the name of the series became known as the

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

in 2008.

Drivers

Seeding

♦ – Edwards was docked the ten-point winner's bonus as a result of a violation found during post-race inspection at the

UAW-Dodge 400 The Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is the first of two races at Las Vegas with the other one being the South Point 400 in the playof ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Schedule

≠ — Non-qualifier for the 2007 Chase.
''Italics'' denotes non-qualifier for 2008 chase.
♣ – Denotes night race or race that will start in the late afternoon and finish at night.

Television

This marked the second year of exclusive national television coverage of the Chase for the Sprint Cup on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Dr. Jerry Punch Gerald Punch (born August 20, 1953) is an American auto racing and American football, college football commentator working for ESPN, as well as a physician. Punch also does local radio spots in Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Punch is currentl ...

remained in the play-by-play position, with

Andy Petree Joseph Andrew Petree III (born August 15, 1958), is a former NASCAR crew chief, driver, team owner, and broadcaster who has worked as the rules analyst for ''Fox NASCAR'' and the Vice President of Competition at Richard Childress Racing. After ra ...

in one color commentary position, but there were changes in the booth and host position.

Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was one of the original members ...

and

Suzy Kolber Suzy Kolber (; born ) is an American football sideline reporter, co- producer, and sportscaster for ESPN. She was one of the original anchors of ESPN2 when it launched in 1993. Three years later, she left ESPN2 to join Fox Sports, and rejoined ...

were out in the host position, and former

MRN Radio Motor Racing Network (MRN) is a U.S. radio network that syndicates broadcasts of auto racing events, particularly NASCAR. MRN was founded in 1970 by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. and broadcaster Ken Squier, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of ...

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

play-by-play voice

Allen Bestwick Allen Bestwick (born September 24, 1961) is an American sportscaster. He is the lead play-by-play voice for University of Connecticut women’s basketball telecasts for SNY, the lead track announcer at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the l ...

took their place after spending the 2007 season on pit road. Joining him were 1989 NASCAR series champion

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

and

JTG Daugherty Racing JTG Daugherty Racing (formerly ST Motorsports and JTG Racing) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team is owned by former advertising executive Tad Geschickter and his wife Jodi ...

owner and former

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

center

Brad Daugherty Brad Daugherty may refer to: * Brad Daugherty (basketball) (born 1965), American NBA player, currently a television sportscaster * Brad Daugherty (poker player) (born 1951), American poker player {{Hndis, Daugherty, Brad ...

in the on-site studio, while 1999 series champion

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champio ...

took Wallace's spot in the broadcast booth and

Shannon Spake Shannon Spake (born July 23, 1976) is an NFL reporter and NASCAR host for Fox Sports. Previously, she worked for ESPN where she contributed to ''SportsCenter'' to give pre and post-game reports, and also worked as a sideline reporter for SEC on E ...

replaced Bestwick on pit road, joining

Jamie Little Jamie Little (born April 9, 1978) is an American pit reporter for NASCAR coverage on Fox. Little is a former pit reporter for ESPN/ABC coverage of the Indy Racing League, although she returned to her pit reporting duty for the 2007 and 2008 I ...

, Dave Burns and

Mike Massaro Michael Massaro (born 1970) is an American sportscaster and journalist who covers auto racing as a pit reporter for MAVTV's ARCA Menards Series coverage. He was previously a studio host and pit reporter for NASCAR on ESPN and NASCAR on NBC. He ...

Results

''NOTE: Actual race finish in parentheses.''

Race One: 2008 Sylvania 300

Results: # Greg Biffle (1) # Jimmie Johnson (2) # Carl Edwards (3) # Jeff Burton (4) # Dale Earnhardt Jr. (5) # Tony Stewart (8) # Denny Hamlin (9) # Kevin Harvick (10) # Clint Bowyer (12) # Jeff Gordon (14) # Kyle Busch (35) # Matt Kenseth (40) Point Standings: # Carl Edwards 5,220 ₧ (leader via tiebreaker with Johnson, six wins) # Jimmie Johnson tied # Greg Biffle −30 # Dale Earnhardt Jr. -50 (fourth via tiebreak with Burton, more top 5 finishes) # Jeff Burton −50 # Denny Hamlin −72 # Tony Stewart −77 # Kyle Busch −78 # Clint Bowyer −83 # Kevin Harvick −86 # Jeff Gordon −99 # Matt Kenseth −177

Race Two: 2008 Camping World RV 400

Results: # Greg Biffle (1) # Matt Kenseth (2) # Carl Edwards (3) # Jimmie Johnson (5) # Kevin Harvick(6) # Jeff Gordon (7) # Clint Bowyer (8) # Jeff Burton (9) # Tony Stewart (11) # Dale Earhnhardt Jr. (24) # Denny Hamlin (39) # Kyle Busch (43) Points: # Carl Edwards, 5,390 ₧, leader # Jimmie Johnson −10 (Second via tiebreaker with Biffle, four wins) # Greg Biffle −10 # Jeff Burton −82 # Kevin Harvick −101 # Clint Bowyer −106 # Tony Stewart −113 # Jeff Gordon −118 # Dale Earhnardt Jr. -129 # Matt Kenseth −167 # Denny Hamlin, −193 # Kyle Busch, −210

Race Three: 2008 Camping World RV 400 presented by Coleman

Results: # Jimmie Johnson (1) # Carl Edwards (2) # Greg Biffle (3) # Jeff Gordon (4) # Matt Kenseth (5) # Kevin Harvick (6) # Jeff Burton (7) # Denny Hamlin (11) # Clint Bowyer (12) # Dale Earnhardt Jr. (13) # Kyle Busch (28) # Tony Stewart (40) Points: # Jimmie Johnson, 5,575 ₧, leader # Carl Edwards, −10 # Greg Biffle, −30 # Jeff Burton, −121 # Kevin Harvick, −136 # Jeff Gordon, −143 # Clint Bowyer, −164 # Dale Earnhardt Jr., −190 # Matt Kenseth, −192 # Denny Hamlin, −243 # Tony Stewart, −255 # Kyle Busch, −311

Race Four: 2008 AMP Energy 500

Results: # Tony Stewart (1) # Jeff Burton (4) # Clint Bowyer (5) # Jimmie Johnson (9) # Kyle Busch (15) # Kevin Harvick (20) # Greg Biffle (24) # Matt Kenseth (26) # Dale Earnhardt Jr. (28) # Carl Edwards (29) # Jeff Gordon (38) # Denny Hamlin (39) Points: # Jimmie Johnson, 5,718 ₧, leader # Carl Edwards, −72 # Greg Biffle, −77 # Jeff Burton, −99 # Clint Bowyer, −152 # Kevin Harvick, −171 # Tony Stewart, −203 # Jeff Gordon, −232 # Matt Kenseth, −245 # Dale Earnhardt Jr., −249 # Kyle Busch, −331 # Denny Hamlin, −335

Race Five:
2008 Bank of America 500 The 2008 Bank of America 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on October 11, 2008 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. The race was the thirty-first race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and fifth of the Chas ...

Results: # Jeff Burton (1) # Kyle Busch (4) # Jimmie Johnson (6) # Greg Biffle (7) # Jeff Gordon (8) # Tony Stewart (11) # Clint Bowyer (12) # Kevin Harvick (13) # Denny Hamlin (16) # Carl Edwards (33) # Dale Earnhardt Jr. (36) # Matt Kenseth (41) Points: # Jimmie Johnson, 5,878 ₧, leader # Jeff Burton, −69 # Greg Biffle, −86 # Carl Edwards, −168 # Clint Bowyer, −185 # Kevin Harvick, −207 # Tony Stewart, −228 # Jeff Gordon, −245 # Kyle Busch, −326 # Dale Earnhardt Jr., −354 # Matt Kenseth, −360 # Denny Hamlin, −380

Race Six: 2008 TUMS QuikPak 500

Results: # Jimmie Johnson (1) # Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2) # Carl Edwards (3) # Jeff Gordon (4) # Denny Hamlin (5) # Kevin Harvick (7) # Matt Kenseth (8) # Clint Bowyer (9) # Greg Biffle (12) # Jeff Burton (17) # Tony Stewart (26) # Kyle Busch (29) Points: # Jimmie Johnson, 6,073 ₧, leader # Greg Biffle, −149 # Jeff Burton, −152 # Carl Edwards, −198 # Clint Bowyer, −242 # Kevin Harvick, −256 # Jeff Gordon, −275 # Tony Stewart, −338 # Dale Earnhardt Jr., −379 # Matt Kenseth, −408 # Denny Hamlin, −420 # Kyle Busch, −445

References

External links

NASCAR's Official Web Site

Jayski's Silly Season Site – NASCAR news
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 Chase For The Sprint Cup

Chase for the Sprint Cup The NASCAR playoffs is a championship playoff system used in NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to 2015. Si ...