2008 AMP Energy 500

Background

The 2008 AMP Energy 500 was the 30th of 36 scheduled races in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the fourth of ten in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It took place at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66-mile superspeedway with turns banked at 33 degrees, a front stretch banked at 16.5 degrees, and a back stretch with two-degree banking. Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, and Kyle Busch completed the top twelve Chase drivers. Jeff Gordon was the defending race winner.

Edwards expected the top three points leaders to stay together during the race. Earnhardt aimed for his sixth Talladega victory to advance in the standings. Gordon, winless in 2008, believed he could win and planned to avoid multi-car wrecks. Johnson called the race a potential turning point in the Chase.

Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions were held on Friday. Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered an engine failure and his team installed a new one; David Ragan also changed engines between sessions. Nine minutes into the second session, Earnhardt's right-rear tire exploded while leading a pack, triggering a chain-reaction accident involving cars driven by David Gilliland, Tony Stewart, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, and Kahne.

The session was stopped for 30 minutes. No drivers were injured, but Earnhardt and Gilliland were checked at the infield medical center and released. Earnhardt, Bowyer, Kahne, Gilliland, and Reutimann switched to back-up cars.

Race

Live coverage on ABC began at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time under sunny conditions. Pre-race ceremonies included an invocation by Fred Cook and the national anthem by Brad Arnold. Earnhardt and Ragan moved to the rear after engine changes; Johnson did the same due to an engine adjustment outside impound.

The race started at 2:23 p.m. Travis Kvapil held the lead on the first lap as cars ran three and four abreast. Carl Edwards passed Kvapil on lap nine, and the two exchanged the lead. The race was first red-flagged 63 laps later after a multi-car collision triggered by Brian Vickers; it restarted 17 minutes later with Dale Earnhardt Jr. leading.

A second red flag occurred after Edwards ran into Greg Biffle, starting a chain-reaction involving ten more drivers. Tony Stewart led the remainder until Regan Smith passed him below the yellow line on the final lap. Stewart was awarded the victory; Smith was demoted to 18th. The race set a Sprint Cup Series record with 64 lead changes among 28 drivers.