| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season | |||
 Layout of New Hampshire Motor Speedway | |||
| Date | September 14, 2008 | ||
| Official name | Sylvania 300 | ||
| Location | New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.058 mi (1.702 km) | ||
| Distance | 300 laps, 317.4 mi (510.805 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures up to 78.1 °F (25.6 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 105.468 miles per hour (169.734 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | qualified by virtue of owner's points | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 96 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 16 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers | Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree | ||
The 2008 Sylvania 300 was the twenty-seventh race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and the first race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Summary
The 300-lap, 317.4 miles (510.8 km) race was held on September 14 at the 1.058 miles (1.703 km) New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. ABC televised the race beginning at 1 pm US EDT with radio coverage by Performance Racing Network along with Sirius Satellite Radio starting at that same time. This was PRN's first race to be broadcast from NHMS as Motor Racing Network handled the June event following an agreement settled in May, almost one year following the purchase of the facility by Speedway Motorsports, Inc.
Pre-race news
- Joey Logano would race after the previous week's cancellation of qualifying at Richmond due to the remains of Hanna to try to qualify for this week's race.
Qualifying
After a 90-minute practice session, rain hit Loudon and washed out qualifying, so the field was lined up according to the rulebook.
Race recap
Kyle Busch, who came into the race as the top seed in the chase, suffered major mechanical problems as his sway bar was broken. Matt Kenseth was involved in a major crash and, when all was settled, Greg Biffle won and jumped to third place in the Chase standings.
| Top ten finishers (Chase participants in yellow background) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Car # | Driver | Car make | Team | ||||
| 1 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing | ||||
| 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 3 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing | ||||
| 4 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | ||||
| 5 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| 6 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Penske Racing | ||||
| 7 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. | ||||
| 8 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||||
| 9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||||
| 10 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | ||||
Failed to make race as qualifying was canceled due to rain: Tony Raines (#34) and Carl Long (#46).
References
- ↑ "2008 Sylvania 300 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on July 6, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.