2008 AMP Energy 500
Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 28 Travis Kvapil Yates Racing Ford 51.109 187.364
2 5 Casey Mears Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.128 187.295
3 8 Aric Almirola Dale Earnhardt , Inc Chevrolet 51.136 187.265
4 01 Regan Smith Dale Earnhardt , Inc Chevrolet 51.159 187.181
5 15 Paul Menard Dale Earnhardt , Inc Chevrolet 51.170 187.141
6 33 Mike Wallace Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 51.213 186.984
7 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 51.217 186.969
8 70 Tony Raines Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 51.280 186.740
9 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 51.289 186.707
10 1 Martin Truex Jr Dale Earnhardt , Inc Chevrolet 51.298 186.674
11 66 Scott Riggs Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet 51.306 186.645
12 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 51.344 186.507
13 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 51.365 186.430
14 00 Kenny Wallace Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 51.365 186.430
15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.367 186.423
16 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 51.387 186.351
17 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 51.396 186.318
18 09 Sterling Marlin Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 51.410 186.267
19 44 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 51.420 186.231
20 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.422 186.224
Practice and qualifying -- Qualifying results
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. The 190-lap race was won by Tony Stewart of the Joe Gibbs Racing team after he started from 34th position; Paul Menard finished second, David Ragan came in 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.