2008 UAW-Dodge 400
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 36 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
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| Date | March 2, 2008 | ||
| Official name | UAW-Dodge 400 | ||
| Location | Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.41 km) |
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| Distance | 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 77 °F (25 °C); wind speeds up to 28.9 miles per hour (46.5 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 127.729 miles per hour (205.560 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 29.613 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | |
| Laps | 86 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 99 | Carl Edwards | Roush Fenway Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen Ratings |
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The 2008 UAW-Dodge 400 was the third of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on March 2, 2008, before a crowd of 153,000 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races. The 267-lap race was won by Carl Edwards of the Roush Fenway Racing team who started from second position. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second and Edwards' teammate Greg Biffle came in third.
Kyle Busch won the pole position, which he held for 20 laps until he was passed by Edwards. He held the lead until the first green-flag pit stops and regained the position after the stops ended. Busch retook the lead on lap 81 and held it until he was passed by Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon took over the lead on lap 163, before Earnhardt became the leader on the 181st lap and maintained this position until Edwards regained it 14 laps later. The race was stopped for 17 minutes when Gordon crashed on lap 262, and car parts were strewn into the path of other drivers, requiring officials to clean the track. Edwards maintained the lead at the restart and held it to win the race. There were eleven cautions and 19 lead changes by nine different drivers during the race.
The race was Edwards' second consecutive win of the season, and the ninth of his career. Edwards was later issued with a 100-point penalty after his car was found to violate NASCAR regulations, dropping him from first to seventh in the Drivers' Championship. Kyle Busch increased his lead over Ryan Newman to 20 points as a consequence. Ford took over the lead of the Manufacturers' Championship, five points ahead of Dodge. Chevrolet moved clear of Toyota in third place, with 33 races left in the season. The race attracted 12.1 million television viewers.
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