2008 Dodge Challenger 500

Race details[1]
Race 11 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Layout of Darlington Raceway
Date	May 10, 2008 (2008-May-10)
Official name	Dodge Challenger 500
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington County, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.799 km)
Weather	Chilly with temperatures plummeting as low as 64 °F (18 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)
Average speed	140.35 miles per hour (225.87 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing
Time	27.405
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	169
Winner
No. 18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2008 Dodge Challenger 500, the 52nd running of the event, 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 Fox 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 plastic surgery, 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 in Concord, North Carolina. 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 Dodge 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 edged out Dale Earnhardt Jr. 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, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Travis Kvapil, Dave Blaney and Jeff Burton.^[2]

Failed to Qualify: Johnny Sauter (#70), Jeff Green (#34).

Top 10 results