The 2008 Dodge Challenger 500, the 52nd running of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

, was the eleventh race on the NASCAR Sprint Cup season. It was held on Saturday, May 10, 2008 at the fabled Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina.

Summary

The race was televised in the USA on

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starting at 7 PM US EDT with radio being handled on MRN on terrestrial radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. It was the first race on the newly repaved 1.366 mile track as "The Lady in Black" has gone under an extreme makeover akin to

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, with speeds at Goodyear tire testing in March having cars clocked at or over 200 MPH. The race also served as the last chance to qualify for Sprint All-Star Race XXIV to be held the following week at

Lowe's Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the cit ...

. Otherwise, those who have not won a race, a series championship or a previous All-Star race would have to qualify via the Sprint Showdown race as one of the top two finishers or through fan voting by being on the lead lap in the Showdown.

Pre-race news

*Back in the saddle for the #40

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

was Sterling Marlin after Ken Schrader failed to make the Richmond race the previous week. Another change found Jeff Green replacing John Andretti in the #34 car, however they failed to qualify.

Qualifying

Greg Biffle Gregory Jack Biffle (born December 23, 1969) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 44 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for NY Racing Team and full-time in the ...

edged out

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, team owner, author, and an analyst for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving t ...

for the pole position.

Race

After getting a rousing chorus of booing from Earnhardt fans for what he did the previous week at Richmond, Kyle Busch quieted them down with his third win of the 2008 campaign. Other finishers in the top ten were Carl Edwards,

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

David Ragan David Lee Ragan (born December 24, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox ...

, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Travis Kvapil, Dave Blaney and

Jeff Burton Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...

.Top ten finishers of the ''2008 Dodge Challenger 500''
at Driver Averages. Accessed 2013-06-18.
Archived
2013-06-21. Failed to Qualify: Johnny Sauter (#70), Jeff Green (#34).

Top 10 results

References

{{Bojangles' Southern 500

Dodge Challenger 500 The Goodyear 400 is a NASCAR Cup Series race held at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. A race was held in May at the track in 1952, however the event did not become a regular one on the NASCAR schedule until 1957, as a race in th ...

NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway