(Courtesy NASCAR Media)

Season In Review - Week 11:
A Look At The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Season

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (May 7, 2008) - The new car combined with an impressive talent pool has equaled a boost in competitive balance this season. Seven different drivers have posted victories in the 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races in 2008, led by Carl Edwards with three (California, Las Vegas and Texas). Kyle Busch (Atlanta and Talladega), Ryan Newman (Daytona), Jeff Burton (Bristol), Denny Hamlin (Martinsville), Jimmie Johnson (Phoenix) and Clint Bowyer (Richmond) are the other race winners.

2008 Season Highlights
* Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500, his first career restrictor plate victory.
* Carl Edwards won back-to-back races at California and Las Vegas - the second time in his career he has posted consecutive wins.
* Kyle Busch won at Atlanta - the first victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Toyota. The victory came in the 40th start for Toyota in NASCAR's premier series and was the first by a foreignbased manufacturer since Jaguar won with Al Keller at the wheel at Linden (N.J.) Airport in 1954.
* Jeff Burton won at Bristol and was followed across the line by teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer - giving car owner Richard Childress his first-ever 1-2-3 sweep.
* Denny Hamlin won at Martinsville - his fourth career victory and his first in his home state.
* Carl Edwards won at Texas Motor Speedway to join Jeff Burton as the only drivers with multiple victories at Texas.

Qualifying
* 65 drivers have attempted to qualify for at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season.
* There have been six different pole winners in 2008: Jeff Gordon (two), Jimmie Johnson (one), Kyle Busch (one), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one), Ryan Newman (one), Joe Nemechek (one) and Denny Hamlin (one). Qualifying was canceled due to weather at the Auto Club Speedway and Bristol.
* Jeff Gordon won the pole at Atlanta - marking his 16th consecutive year with a pole. Gordon is third on the all-time list for consecutive years with a pole, behind David Pearson (20) and Richard Petty (17).
* 36 different drivers have posted at least one top-10 start, led by Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson - with seven.

The Races
* 54 drivers have qualified for/participated in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race this season.
* There have been seven different race winners in 2008: Carl Edwards (three), Kyle Busch (two), Ryan Newman (one), Jeff Burton (one), Denny Hamlin (one), Jimmie Johnson (one) and Clint Bowyer (one).
* 28 different drivers have posted at least one top-10 finish in 2008, led by Clint Bowyer, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. - each with seven.
* Jeff Gordon finished 43rd after an accident at Texas - just the second time in his career that he finished 43rd. The other time also was at Texas (March 1999).

First-Timers
Start 
Dario Franchitti (Daytona) 
Michael McDowell (Martinsville)
Pole
None
Win
None
Laps Led
Dario Franchitti (California)
Lead in Points
Ryan Newman (Daytona)
Kyle Busch (California)
Carl Edwards (Las Vegas) *
* Lost point lead after mid-week penalty

The Pole Winner/Race Winner
* The pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying) finishing position:
First 0
2nd-5th 3
6th-10th 1
11th-30th 5
31st or beyond 1
* The lap-leader performance of the pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying):
Led First Lap 5
Led Any Laps 9
Led Most Laps 2
Won Race 0
* The race winner's starting positions:
Pole 0
2nd-5th 4
6th-10th 5
11th-30th 0
31st or beyond 1
* The lap-leader performance of the race winner:
Led First Lap 1
Led Most Laps 5
Led Mid-Race Lap 2
Led With 10 to Go 7
Led With One to Go 10
Note: Mid-Race lap is as scheduled regardless of shortened or extended race length.

Laps Led
* Denny Hamlin has led 630 laps this season, more than any other driver. More than half of his laps led came at Richmond.
* 37 drivers have led at least one lap this season. No one has led every race.
* Kyle Busch (two); Jimmie Johnson (two), Carl Edwards (two), Tony Stewart (two), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (one) and Denny Hamlin (one) have led the most laps at least once this season.
* Denny Hamlin led 381 laps, setting the record for the number of laps led in a 400-lap race at Richmond. He eclipsed the mark of 369 set by Bobby Allison in September 1979. The record for laps led all-time at Richmond is 488 of 500 on the 0.500-mile configuration by David Pearson in September 1970.

Points
* Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards all led the points for one race in 2008 - the first time in their careers for each. Edwards lost the point lead mid-week due to a penalty.
* Jeff Burton became the fourth different driver to lead the points when he took the lead following Martinsville. It is his first time to lead the points since Oct. 14, 2006 (Charlotte).
* Kyle Busch retook the lead in the point standings following his second-place finish at Richmond.

Rookie Performance
* Four different drivers have been the highest-finishing rookie in 2008: Regan Smith (five), Sam Hornish Jr. (three), Dario Franchitti (one) and Patrick Carpentier (one).
* Regan Smith has the best finish by a rookie candidate in 2008: 14th at Martinsville.

Owner Highlights
* Ryan Newman won the season-opening Daytona 500, his career-first restrictor plate victory. Teammate Kurt Busch finished second, giving car owner Roger Penske his first restrictor plate victory and first 1-2 finish in 25 years of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.
* Joe Nemechek won the pole at Talladega, giving car owner Barney Visser his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole.

Penalties
* There have been 172 on-track penalties issued this season.
* Every team that has competed in two or more races this season has received at least one on-track penalty.
* Penalty Recap:
Pitting Before Pit Road is Open 100
Too Fast Entering Pit Road 15
Too Fast Exiting Pit Road 10
Others 47

Manufacturer
* Chevrolet leads the manufacturer point standings with 64 points. Toyota has 60, Ford 56 and Dodge has 41.
* Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota each have three victories this season while Dodge has one.
* Ryan Newman posted the first Daytona 500 victory for Dodge since Ward Burton won in 2002. That victory was the only other restrictor-plate victory for Dodge.

Behind the Numbers