Joe Gibbs Racing Race Report Presented by Interstate Batteries
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race
Date: May 17, 2008
Event: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race (non-points event)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile oval)
Winner: Kasey Kahne of Gillette Evernham Motorsports (Dodge)
JGR Finish: Tony Stewart (Started 12th, Finished 5th / Running, completed 100 of 100 laps)
Denny Hamlin (Started 20th, Finished 23rd / Engine, completed 84 of 100 laps)
Kyle Busch (Started 1st, Finished 24th / Engine, completed 50 of 100 laps)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) contingent at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway by finishing fifth in Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. It was the second straight fifth-place finish for Stewart in the All-Star Race and his fifth top-five finish in 10 All-Star Race appearances.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota for JGR, finished a disappointing 23rd after leading twice for seven laps before engine problems forced him into the garage.
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for JGR, finished right behind Hamlin in 24th after he too experienced engine woes. Busch appeared to be the class of the field, as he led a race-high 38 laps from the pole before retiring from the event on lap 50.
Kasey Kahne won the All-Star Race to take the home the $1 million payout. Greg Biffle finished 1.327 seconds behind Kahne, while Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Ryan Newman, Sam Hornish Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Carl Edwards comprised the remainder of the top-10.
The race ran caution-free, with only Busch and Hamlin failing to finish the 100-lap contest.
The Sprint Cup Series returns to point-paying racing on May 25 with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte. The longest race on the Sprint Cup schedule gets underway at 5:30 p.m. EDT with live, high-definition coverage provided by FOX beginning at 5 p.m. The race will also be broadcast live on SIRIUS Satellite Radio Channel 128.
