The big story of the weekend was the weather. NASCAR was only able to get 87 laps in the books on Sunday. Then they tried for hours to get the track dry so that racing could continue. They finally conceded to the weather at 2am Eastern time and finished the race on Monday afternoon.
Qualifying
Qualifying was rained out on Friday so the starting lineup was determined by 2007 car owner points. This put Jimie Johnson on the pole next to his teammate Jeff Gordon. Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth and Casey Mears rounded out the top five.
Drop Of The Green
Rain delayed the start a bit and then Michael Waltrip's engine left a stream of oil on the race track that delayed the start even further. They finally took the green flag about three hours after the scheduled start.
Jeff Gordon jumped to the lead from his outside front row starting position. Matt Kenseth crossed the line second and Jimmie Johnson dropped back from the pole into third spot. Johnson didn't stay there long as he quickly passed Kenseth and set sail for the front.
With all of the rain drivers were taking it easy early in the going. They were feeling out their cars and each other. Jeff Gordon got away to a nearly four second lead over Jimmie Johnson before the first caution flew.
Storylines
Weather was the story of this race.
- The race started late as track drying efforts were still underway from an earlier afternoon shower.
- When the race got underway the first caution came when Denny Hamlin hit some water on the track.
- The second caution brought a long red flag as NASCAR worled on repairing the weepers to keep water from running onto the track.
- The third caution was for a rain shower.
- Then the seventh caution came for rain on lap 82 followed by the red flag on lap 87.
- NASCAR kept trying hour-after-hour until finally calling it quits at 2am Eastern time.
- The weather on Monday was better and they ran the rest of the race without interruption.
Chasing The Checkers
Carl Edwards hung out near the lead pack for most of the day but hadn't showed any real strength. With 50 laps to go Edwards took over the top spot and put more than five seconds between himself and second place Jeff Gordon. Jimmie Johnson was running third.
Although Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon won the final race off of pit road it was Carl Edwards who got to the checkered flag first.
Top Ten
- Carl Edwards
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jeff Gordon
- Kyle Busch
- Matt Kenseth
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Tony Stewart
- Kevin Harvick
- Greg Biffle
- Ryan Newman
The Points
Kyle Busch is the only Sprint Cup driver to post two top five finishes in the first two races of 2008. As a result Toyota driver Kyle Busch is the current Sprint Cup point leader.
The top twelve are now:
- Kyle Busch
- Ryan Newman -6
- Tony Stewart -19
- Kurt Busch -36
- Carl Edwards -39
- Kasey Kahne -41
- Kevin Harvick -67
- Jimmie Johnson -68
- Greg Biffle -73
- Jeff Burton -74
- Brian Vickers -78
- Martin Truex Jr. -82
Next Week
Next week the Sprint Cup sereis visits Las Vegas. For the last few years Jimmie Johnson has dominated in Vegas. Even the reconfigured race track in 2007 didn't stop his winning ways. Can Jimmie Johnson win his fourth Las Vegas race in a row?
