2008 Aaron's 499

The 2008 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule and was raced on April 27th, 2008 at Talladega Superspeedway two miles east of Lincoln in Talladega County, Alabama. This race was the second race of the season utilizing restrictor plates and the first time that the spring race was raced using the Car of Tomorrow template, with the 2007 UAW-Ford 500 (now known as the AMP Energy 500) being the first on the superspeedway. The telecast in the USA started at 1 PM US EDT on Fox, with radio coverage on MRN Radio on terrestrial stations and Sirius Satellite Radio starting at 1:15 PM US EDT.

Pre Race News

*After a fill-in performance two weeks ago by Johnny Sauter, Ken Schrader, who was released from his ride at BAM Racing, will be the new driver of the Haas CNC Racing #70 car starting with this race. BAM Racing has curtailed their schedule as a result of a major sponsorship pullout and the transition to Toyota cars, and may not return until the fall. Schrader helped improve his new team and would start third.
*Tony Stewart, according to reports, wants to get out of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing, but both sides have denied reports.
*Dale Earnhardt, Jr. started his 300th NASCAR Cup race.
*David Stremme, who lost his ride in the #40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge last year after they signed Dario Franchitti, will replace the defending Indy 500 champion after Franchitti broke his ankle in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday.

Qualifying

Furniture Row Racing's #78 car scored the pole thanks to "Front Row" Joe Nemechek, who edged Tony Stewart on the last run of the day.

Failed to qualify: Dave Blaney (#22), John Andretti (#34), J.J. Yeley (#96).

For Yeley, this was the first race he missed as Hall of Fame Racing were outside the Top 35 Owner Points exemption.

Race

Kyle Busch was the winner of the race when "The Big One" occurred in the backstretch off Turn Two and the yellow flag flew on the final lap. Kyle Busch was passing Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the inside, and got loose, bumping into Dale and causing him to spin out.