The 2008 Aaron's 312 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, on April 26, 2008. The race was the 17th iteration of the event. Tony Stewart dominated the race. Stewart won the pole, led the most laps, and won the race, his first career victory at Talladega.[2] But the race was mostly remembered by two crashes. One being a crash by Dario Franchitti that left him with a fractured ankle. And the second one being the most infamous one when Kevin Lepage pulled up right in front of the field going about 150 miles per hour (240 km/h) slower after coming off pit road and causing the big one while he did not take responsibility for his mistake.

2008 Aaron's 312
Race details[1]
Map of Speedway
Map of Speedway
Date April 26, 2008 (2008-04-26)
Official name 2008 Aaron's 312
Location Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course Superspeedway
2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance 117 laps, 311.2 mi (500.83 km)
Weather Cloudy
Average speed 133.111 mph (214.221 km/h)
Attendance 80,000
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 51.676
Most laps led
Driver Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 81
Winner
No. 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dale Jarrett

Background

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Talladega Superspeedway, the race track where the race was held.

Talladega Superspeedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway.[3] The standard track layout is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.66 miles (4.28 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at thirty-three degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 16.5 degrees. The back stretch has a two-degree banking.[4] Talladega Superspeedway can seat up to 143,231 people.[5]

Entry List

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver
# Driver Team Make
0 Dwayne Leik JD Motorsports Chevrolet
01 Kertus Davis JD Motorsports Chevrolet
1 Mike Bliss Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
2 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
4 Robert Richardson Jr. Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
05 Brett Rowe Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet
5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsports Chevrolet
6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford
7 Mike Wallace Germain Racing Toyota
9 Patrick Carpentier Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge
11 Jason Keller CJM Racing Chevrolet
16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
21 Stephen Leicht Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
22 Reed Sorenson Fitz Motorsports Dodge
24 Eric McClure Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet
25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Team Rensi Motorsports Ford
27 Brad Coleman Baker Curb Racing Ford
28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
29 Scott Wimmer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
32 Denny Hamlin Braun Racing Toyota
33 Cale Gale (R) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet
38 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota
40 Dario Franchitti (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge
41 Kyle Krisiloff Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge
47 Kelly Bires JTG Daugherty Racing Ford
52 Donnie Neuenberger Means Racing Chevrolet
57 Justin Ashburn Beahr Racing Enterprises Dodge
59 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Ford
60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford
61 Kevin Lepage Specialty Racing Ford
64 David Stremme Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet
66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet
70 Mark Green ML Motorsports Chevrolet
75 Johnny Sauter Bob Schacht Motorsports Chevrolet
81 D. J. Kennington MacDonald Motorsports Dodge
84 Mike Harmon Elite 2 Racing Chevrolet
88 Brad Keselowski JR Motorsports Chevrolet
89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Dodge
90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet
91 Larry Gunselman MSRP Motorsports Ford
99 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
Official Entry List

Qualifying

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Tony Stewart won the pole with a time of 51.676 and a speed of 185.308 mph.[6]

Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 51.676 185.308
2 1 Mike Bliss Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 51.745 185.061
3 38 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota 51.768 184.979
4 40 Dario Franchitti (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 51.809 184.833
5 88 Brad Keselowski JR Motorsports Chevrolet 51.917 184.448
6 2 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 51.944 184.352
7 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsports Chevrolet 51.958 184.303
8 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 51.969 184.264
9 33 Cale Gale (R) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 51.984 184.211
10 32 Denny Hamlin Braun Racing Toyota 51.984 184.211
11 60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 52.002 184.147
12 9 Patrick Carpentier Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 52.086 183.850
13 21 Stephen Leicht Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.150 183.624
14 41 Kyle Krisiloff Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 52.237 183.318
15 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 52.242 183.301
16 27 Brad Coleman Baker Curb Racing Ford 52.246 183.287
17 81 D. J. Kennington MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 52.258 183.245
18 47 Kelly Bires JTG Daugherty Racing Ford 52.266 183.217
19 29 Scott Wimmer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.322 183.021
20 7 Mike Wallace Germain Racing Toyota 52.333 182.982
21 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 52.442 182.602
22 75 Johnny Sauter* Bob Schacht Motorsports Chevrolet 52.452 182.567
23 01 Kertus Davis JD Motorsports Chevrolet 52.455 182.556
24 64 David Stremme Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet 52.552 182.220
25 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet 52.612 182.012
26 70 Mark Green ML Motorsports Chevrolet 52.694 181.728
27 99 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 52.732 181.598
28 28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 52.762 181.494
29 24 Eric McClure Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 52.795 181.381
30 59 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Ford 52.818 181.302
31 0 Dwayne Leik JD Motorsports Chevrolet 52.824 181.281
32 22 Reed Sorenson Fitz Motorsports Dodge 52.828 181.268
33 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Dodge 52.938 180.891
34 91 Larry Gunselman MSRP Motorsports Ford 52.950 180.850
35 11 Jason Keller CJM Racing Chevrolet 52.954 180.836
36 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 52.960 180.816
37 4 Robert Richardson Jr. Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 53.081 180.404
38 61 Kevin Lepage Specialty Racing Ford 53.157 180.146
39 52 Donnie Neuenberger Means Racing Chevrolet 53.312 179.622
40 05 Brett Rowe Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet 53.371 179.423
41 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 53.560 178.790
42 57 Justin Ashburn Beahr Racing Enterprises Dodge 54.732 174.962
43 84 Mike Harmon* Elite 2 Racing Chevrolet
Official Starting grid

* - Johnny Sauter and Mike Harmon both had to start at the rear of the field due to missing the drivers meeting.

Race

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Pole sitter Tony Stewart led the first lap of the race. On lap 7, Brad Keselowski took the lead from Stewart. On lap 10, Stephen Leicht took the lead from Keselowski for a moment before Keselowski immeadietly took it back. On lap 11, the first caution flew for a hard four car crash in turn 3. Dario Franchitti was running in the midst of the top 10 when his right rear tire went flat going into turn 3. Franchitti spun in turn 3 while Clint Bowyer hit the outside wall trying to avoid Franchitti but ended up making contact with David Ragan sending Bowyer into the outside wall and Johnny Sauter spun trying to avoid Franchitti. Franchitti's car backed into the outside wall and spun back down across the track where he was t-boned in the driver's side at over 100 mph by Larry Gunselman. Franchitti climbed out and had to be helped over to a stretcher near an ambulance. Both Franchitti and Gunselman were taken to a nearby hospital for further evaluation. Gunselman was fine but Franchitti had suffered a minor fracture in his left ankle. Franchitti was scheduled to drive in the Cup Series race the following day but was unable to and was replaced by David Stremme. Franchitti would be able to return to racing about a month later in the Nationwide Series race at Dover.[7] Brad Keselowski led the field to the restart on lap 17. On lap 18, Jason Leffler took the lead. On lap 19, Keselowski tried to take the lead from Leffler and led that lap before the second caution flew on lap 20 when Scott Wimmer blew a right front tire in turn 1 and hit the outside wall. Leffler was in the lead when the caution flew and he led the field to the restart on lap 25. On lap 26, Tony Stewart took the lead from Leffler. On lap 40, Brad Coleman took the lead from Stewart with a push from Denny Hamlin. But on the next lap, Stewart would take the lead back. On lap 43, the third caution flew when Eric McClure spun on the frontstretch off of turn 4. Tony Stewart won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 47. On lap 50, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead with a push from Reed Sorenson. On lap 63, the fourth caution flew when David Ragan spun on the backstretch after contact with Reed Sorenson.

The Big One

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Tony Stewart won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 51 laps to go. With 47 to go, the big one struck in turn 1 in one of the most unusual ways and in one of the dumbest moves in NASCAR history. Kevin Lepage had recently made a pit stop and had just gotten off of pit road. Lepage came off as soon as the pack was at full speed through the tri-oval. Instead of staying below the yellow line until he was at a good enough speed to merge onto the track like on the backstretch, Lepage thought it would be a good idea to merge right onto the track heading into turn 1, right in front of the whole pack of over 20 cars that were going at speeds of nearly 190 miles per hour. Lepage's spotter warned him constantly about the oncoming pack but Lepage never listened and it was unfortunately too late. Cars began to swerve to miss Lepage but almost no one missed Lepage. Mike Wallace swerved up at almost the last second to avoid Lepage and ended up turning David Reutimann while the car that was behind Wallace with that being Carl Edwards ran into the rear of Lepage's car head on causing the front of Edwards' car to bounce off the ground and destroying the whole rear of Lepage's car and ultimately triggered the big one. The wreck took out many good cars who were running in the top 5 or 10 and ended their days. The wreck collected a total of 16 cars. The wreck even baffled commentators Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, and Dale Jarrett. The wreck collected Mike Wallace, Patrick Carpentier, Jason Keller, Kyle Busch, Stephen Leicht, Reed Sorenson, Kenny Wallace, Cale Gale, Kyle Krisiloff, Kelly Bires, Marcos Ambrose, Carl Edwards, Kevin Lepage, Steve Wallace, Brad Keselowski, and David Reutimann. The red flag was displayed that lasted for about 25 minutes. Instead of admitting to his mistake, Lepage instead blamed the spotters on the cars involved saying they should've seen him coming onto the race track and said "if they couldn't see me coming out of the pits with this red and yellow race car, then maybe they need to get new spotters." Eventually, two days after the incident, Lepage apologized and took full responsibility for causing the big one.[8]

Final laps

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Tony Stewart won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 43 laps to go. With 29 to go, the 6th caution flew for a three car crash in turn 1. It started when D. J. Kennington got loose and spun and collected Brett Rowe and Brad Coleman. Stewart led the field to the restart with 24 to go. With 19 to go, the 7th caution flew for debris. The race restarted with 15 laps to go. With 13 to go, Mike Wallace attempted to take the lead from Stewart but was unable to make it stick. Stewart held off the pack but the 8th and final caution would fly with just 5 laps to go for debris. The wreck would set up a two lap shootout. On the final lap, Stewart got far ahead of the pack but the pack would quickly catch him and Dale Earnhardt Jr. would get to Stewart's outside on the backstretch. But Junior couldn't make it stick and Tony Stewart would hold off the pack and win the race. The win would be Stewart's first at Talladega in his career. David Stremme, Bobby Hamilton Jr., Jason Leffler, and Mark Green would round out the top 5 while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mike Bliss, Patrick Carpentier, Scott Wimmer, and Mike Wallace rounded out the top 10.[9]

Race results

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Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Laps Led Status Points
1 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 117 81 running 195
2 64 David Stremme Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet 117 0 running 170
3 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 117 0 running 165
4 38 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota 117 7 running 165
5 70 Mark Green ML Motorsports Chevrolet 117 0 running 155
6 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsports Chevrolet 117 14 running 155
7 1 Mike Bliss Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 117 0 running 146
8 9 Patrick Carpentier Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 117 0 running 142
9 29 Scott Wimmer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 117 0 running 138
10 7 Mike Wallace Germain Racing Toyota 117 0 running 134
11 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 117 0 running 130
12 01 Kertus Davis JD Motorsports Chevrolet 117 0 running 127
13 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Dodge 117 1 running 129
14 52 Donnie Neuenberger Means Racing Chevrolet 116 0 running 121
15 24 Eric McClure Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 114 0 running 118
16 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 114 0 running 115
17 84 Mike Harmon Elite 2 Racing Chevrolet 113 0 running 112
18 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 111 0 running 109
19 4 Robert Richardson Jr. Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 108 1 overheating 111
20 99 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 105 0 running 103
21 11 Jason Keller RJM Racing Chevrolet 103 0 running 100
22 33 Cale Gale (R) Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 101 0 crash 97
23 88 Brad Keselowski JR Motorsports Chevrolet 97 9 running 99
24 27 Brad Coleman Baker Curb Racing Ford 95 1 crash 96
25 2 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 93 0 running 88
26 81 D. J. Kennington MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 88 0 crash 85
27 05 Brett Rowe Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet 88 0 crash 82
28 59 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Ford 81 0 running 79
29 22 Reed Sorenson Fitz Motorsports Dodge 76 1 crash 81
30 28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 75 0 crash 73
31 60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 70 0 crash 70
32 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet 70 0 crash 67
33 41 Kyle Krisiloff Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 70 0 crash 64
34 21 Stephen Leicht Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 70 0 crash 61
35 61 Kevin Lepage Specialty Racing Ford 69 0 crash 58
36 47 Kelly Bires JTG Daugherty Racing Ford 69 0 crash 55
37 32 Denny Hamlin Braun Racing Toyota 47 0 engine 52
38 57 Justin Ashburn Beahr Racing Enterprises Dodge 35 0 rear end 49
39 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 29 0 transmission 46
40 0 Dwayne Leik JD Motorsports Chevrolet 24 2 transmission 48
41 40 Dario Franchitti (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 10 0 crash 40
42 75 Johnny Sauter Bob Schacht Motorsports Chevrolet 10 0 ignition 37
43 91 Larry Gunselman MSRP Motorsports Ford 10 0 crash 34
Official Race results

References

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  1. ^ "2008 Aaron's 312". Retrieved April 26, 2008.
  2. ^ "Stewart edges Junior to nab Nationwide race, first career victory at Talladega". 26 April 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
  3. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "NASCAR Tracks — The Talladega Superspeedway". Talladega Superspeedway. Archived from the original on August 27, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  5. ^ "Talladega". NASCAR. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  6. ^ "Tony Stewart wins the pole for Aaron's 312 Nationwide race". Retrieved April 25, 2008.
  7. ^ Blount, Terry (26 April 2008). "Franchitti out of Talladega Cup race after breaking ankle in Nationwide race". ESPN. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  8. ^ Demmons, Doug (April 28, 2008). "Kevin Lepage apologizes for causing the Big One in Saturday's Nationwide race at Talladega". The Birmingham News. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  9. ^ "Tony Stewart wins Talladega Nationwide race". 27 April 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2008.


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