2008 Bank of America 500
The 2008 Bank of America 500, was the thirty-first race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and race five of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, serving as the only Saturday night race in the Chase as of 2008. The 334-lap, 501 miles (806 km) event was held on October 11 at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. ABC telecast the race beginning at 7 PM US EDT and the Performance Racing Network along with Sirius Satellite Radio had radio coverage starting at the same time.
Pre-race News
- Patrick Carpentier is out of the #10 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge after an argument with his team manager about his performance during time trials last week at Talladega, of which he was faster than his teammmates, Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne. However, Carpentier missed the race. Mike Wallace takes over this week, and A.J. Allmendinger, who will be in the #00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota this week, takes over next week at Martinsville.
- In honor of National Breast Cancer Month, three cars will be in pink paint schemes. Kyle Busch had his M&Ms Toyota in pink, Bobby Labonte had his Petty Enterprises Dodge sponsored by General Mills with pink accents and Elliott Sadler's Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge sponsored by Stanley was trimmed with pink on a black background.
- The U.S. Army will be on the new #39 Chevrolet of Ryan Newman at Stewart Haas Racing next season, coming over from the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. #8 car.
Qualifying
Because of rain, qualifying was cancelled for the eighth time this season, and so the cars lined up by rulebook.
Failed to make race due to qualifying being cancelled by rain: Brad Keselowski (#25), Scott Speed (#82), Bryan Clauson (#40), Derrike Cope (#75).
Issues with ABC Affiliates
Several stations, including KABC-TV in Los Angeles (an ABC owned-and-operated station), KSAT-TV in San Antonio, KXLY-TV in Spokane, and WPLG-TV in Miami preempted NASCAR Countdown in favor of the local news.