| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 30 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
 Talladega Superspeedway | |||
| Date | October 5, 2008 | ||
| Official name | AMP Energy 500 | ||
| Location | Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km) | ||
| Distance | 190 laps, 505.4 mi (813.362 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 188 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)[3] | ||
| Average speed | 140.281 miles per hour (225.760 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Yates Racing | ||
| Time | 51.109 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 24 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 20 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers | Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree | ||
| Nielsen Ratings |
| ||
The 2008 AMP Energy 500 was the 30th stock car race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the fourth in the ten-race, season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on October 5, 2008, at Talladega Superspeedway, in Talladega, Alabama before a crowd of 145,000. Tony Stewart of the Joe Gibbs Racing team won the 190-lap race starting from 34th position; Paul Menard finished second, David Ragan was third.
Travis Kvapil, who had the pole position, led until Carl Edwards passed him on lap nine. The race was first stopped 63 laps later when a multi-car collision was triggered by Brian Vickers, and was restarted 17 minutes later, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading the field. A second red-flag period was triggered after Edwards ran into teammate Greg Biffle starting a chain-reaction accident involving a further ten drivers. Stewart led the field for the remainder of the race, until Regan Smith passed him below the yellow line (out of bounds line) on the final lap. Stewart was therefore handed the victory, and Smith was demoted from second to 18th. The race had a total of ten cautions, and 64 lead changes among 28 different drivers, setting a new Sprint Cup Series record.
It was Stewart's first victory of the season, his first at Talladega Superspeedway, and the 33rd of his career. The result advanced him to seventh in the Drivers' Championship, 232 behind leader Jimmie Johnson who extended his lead to 72 points over Edwards. Toyota extended its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, twelve points ahead of Ford in second place. Chevrolet remained in third with a 41-point advantage over Dodge with six races left in the season. The race attracted 7.44 million television viewers.
- ^ "The Race: AMP Energy Drink 500". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on November 30, 2008. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
- ^ "2008 AMP Energy 500". Racing-Reference. USA Today Media Sports Group. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ "Weather Information for Talladega, Alabama". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Archived from the original on May 26, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2013.
- ^ "TV Ratings 2008". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2015.