NASCAR Nationwide Series 2008 Season Recap, Pt 2

As promised, the 2nd part of the season statistics recapped for the NASCAR Nationwide Series 2008 Season Recap:




Winners
• There were 12 different race winners in 2008:

• Kyle Busch (10)
• Carl Edwards (seven)
• Tony Stewart (five)
• Denny Hamlin (four)
• Brad Keselowski (two)
• Mark Martin (one)
• Matt Kenseth (one)
• Clint Bowyer (one)
• Scott Wimmer (one)
• Joey Logano (one)
• Ron Fellows (one)
• Marcos Ambrose (one)

• 49 drivers registered at least one top-10 finish in 2008, led by Clint Bowyer with 29.

• 10 races were extended by green-white-checkered finishes in 2008:

• Las Vegas
• Atlanta
• Phoenix
• Richmond
• Darlington
• Charlotte
• Daytona-2
• Dover-2
• Memphis
• Phoenix-2

• Two races were shortened in 2008: Bristol (171 laps) and Montreal (48 laps).

• With Denny Hamlin's win at Richmond, it was the fifth consecutive victory for Joe Gibbs Racing.

This was the first time in the history of the NASCAR Nationwide Series that an owner posted five straight wins.

• Busch’s win at O’Reilly Raceway Park gave JGR it's 14th win of the season.
That broke a tie with Richard Childress Racing for the most by a car owner (2007).

Unique Statistic
• James Hylton competed in the second Daytona race At 72 years, 313 days old, making him the oldest competitor in any of NASCAR’s three national series.

The Pole Winner/Race Winner
• The Coors Light Pole winner (or driver that started first in cases of no qualifying) finishing position:

• First 7
• 2nd-5th 9
• 6th-10th 5
• 11th-30th 8
• 31st or beyond 6

• The race winner’s starting positions:

• Pole 7
• 2nd-5th 13
• 6th-10th 5
• 11th-30th 7
• 31st or beyond 3

• 60 drivers led at least one lap this season.

• Kyle Busch led 1,933 laps in 2008, more than any other driver.

• Drivers who led the most laps (number of races):

• Kyle Busch (14)
• Carl Edwards (five)
• Tony Stewart (four)
• Clint Bowyer (four)
• Denny Hamlin (three)
• Mark Martin (one)
• Scott Pruett (one)
• Brad Keselowski (one)
• Marcus Ambrose (one)
• Jeff Burton (one)

Nationwide Series standings
• Two drivers have ranked in the top 10 in points all season: Carl Edwards and David Ragan.


Rookie Performance
• Three rookie contenders won poles this season: Landon Cassill (Memphis), Bryan Clauson (Daytona-2) and Dario Franchitti (Watkins Glen).


Owner Highlights
• Joe Gibbs Racing set the mark for the most owner wins in an NASCAR Nationwide Series season with 19, breaking the record set by Richard Childress Racing.

• Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 40 Dodge posted back-to-back poles at Montreal and Watkins Glen – with different drivers at the wheel – Scott Pruett (Montreal) and Dario Franchitti (Watkins Glen).

Car Owner’s Championship
• Joe Gibbs Racing won the car owner’s championship with the No. 20 Toyota finishing the season 12 points ahead of the No. 2 of Richard Childress Racing.

• The 20 car posted nine victories with four different drivers: Tony Stewart (five), Denny Hamlin (two), Kyle Busch (one) and Joey Logano (one).

• This is the third time in series history that there has been a split championship. All three have occurred since 2003, all involved multiple drivers for the winning car owner and all have involved Richard Childress Racing.


Penalties
• There were 512 on-track penalties issued this season.

• Penalty Recap:

• Pitting Before Pit Road is Open 205
• Too Fast Entering Pit Road 63
• Too Fast Exiting Pit Road 57
• Others 187

Manufacturer Notes
• Toyota won the manufacturers’ championship – its first in the series, with 253 points. Chevrolet was second with 201. Ford had 199 points while Dodge had 117.
• Toyota had 20 victories in 2008; Ford nine and Chevrolet six.
• Toyota swept the first three finishing positions at New Hampshire – the best performance by a manufacturer this season.

And there ya have it for the 2008 season!

source: nascar press release