2008 AMP Energy 500: Tony Stewart Wins at Talladega After the Regan Smith Penalty

Tony Stewart's win at Talladega in October 2008 is remembered as much for the finish as for the result. A last-lap pass by Regan Smith was ruled illegal, and the race ended with 64 lead changes, a new Sprint Cup Series record.

Who won the 2008 AMP Energy 500?

Tony Stewart won the 2008 AMP Energy 500, his first victory of the season and the 33rd of his career. He had started 34th and earned $270,136 for the win. It was also his first win at Talladega Superspeedway, a track where he had long wanted to win.

Stewart celebrated in victory lane in front of a crowd of 145,000. He admitted that Talladega had not always been a friendly place for him with the fans, and he dedicated the win to the people in the grandstands.

A last-lap pass below the yellow line, a 64-change race and a penalty that handed Tony Stewart the win at Talladega.

Why did this race matter in the Chase?

It was the fourth round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and the result reshaped the top of the standings. Jimmie Johnson led the championship by 72 points over Carl Edwards after the race, and Stewart climbed to seventh.

Johnson had entered the race with 5,575 points, ahead of Edwards and Greg Biffle. Edwards said he expected the top three to stay together for the race, while Johnson described the event as a turning point in the Chase.

Which drivers changed teams before the race?

Red Bull Racing swapped its regular driver A. J. Allmendinger for Mike Skinner at Talladega, and the team then brought in former Formula One driver Scott Speed, who had raced for Scuderia Toro Rosso, for the seven remaining races of the season. Red Bull's vice president and general manager, Jay Frye, said the changes would let the team keep developing for the future.

Kenny Wallace took over the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Racing car from Michael McDowell at Talladega, after the team chose to regroup following the Kansas race weekend. Richard Childress Racing also fielded a fourth car, driven by Nationwide Series driver Mike Wallace.

What happened in practice?

Two practice sessions were held on Friday, lasting 75 minutes and 45 minutes. Burton was fastest in the first at 48.887 seconds, with Elliott Sadler second and Brian Vickers third. Robby Gordon was fourth and Harvick fifth. Earnhardt's engine failed during practice and his team fitted a new unit, as David Ragan's team had done between sessions.

Earnhardt's right-rear tyre exploded nine minutes into the final session, at the exit of turn two while he was leading a pack of cars. That started a chain-reaction accident involving Gilliland, Stewart, Reutimann, Hamlin, Bowyer and Kahne, and the session was halted for 30 minutes. Nobody was hurt, though Earnhardt and Gilliland were examined at the infield medical centre and cleared.

Earnhardt, Bowyer, Kahne, Gilliland and Reutimann switched to back-up cars. Vickers paced the final session at 49.694 seconds, ahead of Kahne and Bobby Labonte, with thirty-seven drivers taking part. Earnhardt, a Chase driver, was eighth in that session, with Skinner and Stewart ninth and tenth.

How did qualifying set the grid?

Forty-five cars entered qualifying, but NASCAR's procedure allowed only forty-three to race. Travis Kvapil took his first career pole at 51.109 seconds, with Casey Mears alongside on the front row in his best qualifying performance of the season. Aric Almirola qualified third, Regan Smith fourth and Paul Menard fifth.

Mike Wallace, Joe Nemechek, Tony Raines, Vickers and Martin Truex Jr. completed the top ten. Carl Edwards was twelfth, Burton 17th and Johnson 20th, while Sam Hornish Jr. and Patrick Carpentier failed to qualify.

Kvapil said qualifying did not mean much for the 500 miles ahead, but his pit selection would reduce the risk of an early wreck. He also described the pole as special, since Ford had not held the Talladega pole for years.

How did the race start and who led?

Travis Kvapil started from the pole at 51.109 seconds, his first career pole, and led until Carl Edwards passed him on lap 9. It was Ford's first pole at Talladega since 1997, which gave the start a particular significance for the manufacturer.

The early laps were full of changes at the front. Mike Wallace challenged Kvapil on lap 4, Almirola passed Vickers for the lead on the 14th lap, and Earnhardt moved ahead before Kvapil took it back on lap 30. Debris in turn two brought the first caution just after lap 33.

Gordon had dropped down the field early on but was back up to seventh by lap 18, while Johnson worked his way forward to fourth. The field ran three and four abreast at times, and the leaders swapped positions several times in the first half of the race.

What happened in the middle of the race?

Waltrip took the lead on the 163rd lap, but an eighth caution came on lap 165 when Biffle made contact with Ragan, who hit Harvick. Some drivers, including Waltrip, pitted for fresh tyres and fuel, while Montoya stayed out and led the restart on lap 170. The top six then began to pull away from the rest of the field.

The seventh caution, on lap 138, came when smoke and fluid poured from Gordon's car and ended his race. During the pit stops that followed, Nemechek led one lap as the 27th different leader of the event, a new Sprint Cup record for leaders in a single race.

Kyle Busch led the lap 145 restart, but he lost the draft on lap 151 and Earnhardt retook first place. Johnson had dropped from fifth to the back of the field as part of a deliberate strategy to run at the rear until the end. Burton moved back into the lead on lap 156 with help from his Richard Childress Racing teammates.

Ragan took over the lead on lap 160 after help from Earnhardt. Stewart ran fourth and Harvick 16th by lap 172, and on lap 173 Stewart and Montoya ran side by side at the line before Stewart moved ahead for the lead one lap later.

What caused the two red-flag periods?

Two red flags interrupted the 2008 race. The first came after Brian Vickers' right-front tyre blew on lap 68, starting a multi-car crash. The second followed Carl Edwards' contact with teammate Greg Biffle on lap 174, which set off a chain reaction involving ten more drivers.

The race resumed seventeen minutes after the first stoppage, once officials had cleared debris from the track. Earnhardt led the restart, followed by Menard, Burton, Harvick and Montoya. After the second stoppage the restart came twelve minutes later, with some drivers taking the opportunity to pit for fresh tyres and fuel.

Why did so many tyres fail during the race?

Several tyres failed during the race. Mike Wallace's right-rear tyre blew on the 81st lap, Hamlin's right-front exploded on lap 99 and struck the turn two wall, and McMurray's right-rear failed on lap 185. Goodyear later analysed the failures at its Akron, Ohio plant.

Hamlin was taken from his car on a stretcher and transported to a local hospital for evaluation. He stayed overnight, complaining of a headache and favouring his right foot. His crew chief said the right-rear tyre had been cut before the crash, and Hamlin attributed that to debris on the track.

Vickers described his right-front failure in dramatic terms, saying it sounded like a bomb had exploded. Goodyear's product manager said the tyres were the same as those used at the 2003 Aaron's 499.

What was the final-lap penalty?

On the closing lap, Regan Smith moved past Stewart on the frontstretch, dropping below the yellow line, and crossed the line ahead of him. NASCAR officials reviewed the video, declared the pass illegal, and dropped Smith from second to 18th.

Smith argued that he had been forced below the yellow line, and that the last lap of a race was effectively open to any move. NASCAR president Mike Helton upheld the penalty and made clear that no driver could gain a position by going below the yellow line at any time during a race.

NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said the drivers had been warned about the rule at the pre-race drivers meeting. Observers drew comparisons with Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s pass of Matt Kenseth below the yellow line at Talladega in the 2003 Aaron's 499.

Earnhardt said Smith deserved to win, pointing to a lack of clarity over what going below the yellow line meant. Johnson said he had heard rumours that the rule was relaxed on the last lap of the previous day's Craftsman Truck Series race, and he did not know what to believe.

How did the result change the standings?

After the race Johnson led the championship with a 72-point advantage over Edwards. Biffle and Burton held third and fourth, Bowyer moved up to fifth, and Harvick climbed into sixth. Toyota extended its manufacturers lead over Ford to twelve points, with Chevrolet third on 165 points.

Stewart's win lifted him from eleventh to seventh, 232 points behind the leader. Gordon, Kenseth, Earnhardt, Kyle Busch and Hamlin rounded out the top twelve, and the race attracted 7.44 million viewers on television.

Who finished second and third?

Paul Menard finished second, and David Ragan was third for Roush Fenway Racing. Menard said the car had speed all day and that the team made only a small air-pressure change after the first run, so the result came down mostly to track position.

Ragan said he felt his car could have won under the right circumstances, but he counted it a good day for the team. He credited the Roush Fenway effort on the superspeedways, where he said the team was always quick.

How did the race look at a glance?