Kicking off the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup in the fourth position, Dale Earnhardt Jr. failed to please his boss by carrying his pre-chase consistency thoughout the most important part of the season.

“I’m disappointed. I felt like we were so good early on, and we just had tremendous little gremlins bite us here from tire problems to things that you just can’t control,” Rick Hendrick noted. “All of those things that happened to him could have happened to Jimmie Johnson. He could be fifth in the points, and Jimmie could be third in the points. So racing luck has got a lot to do with it, but I think when we look back on the year and we look back at what he’s accomplished and how he’s fit into our organization and how happy he is and [crew chief] Tony [Eury Jr.] is, we’re going to go to work to make it better for next year. That’s the good news: there is next year.”

More and more teams are beginning to become affected by the condition of the U.S. economy. Hall of Fame Racing has been added to that list after it told it's employees that if the organization does not attract more sponsorship before the end of November, they will lay them off until sponsorship is attained.

With a partial schedule already in place with DLP for 2009, team general manager Tyler Epp informs that the team needs more in order to compete full time next season.

Over the season's first 30 points events, Jamie McMurray struggled to collect only six tp-10 outings. With six races remaining in the 2008 season, McMurray decided that he would crank it up a notch.

Concluding the season with four top-5 finishes and on top-10 effort, the driver of the No. 26 may be on the verge of a breakthrough.

“It’s makes you feel like you’re going to start the next year the same way, and I don’t think that ever in my career I had three top-fives in a row, so I’m really excited,” McMurray said. “It’s the best I’ve probably ever run.”

After a stellar year in the 2008 Truck Series, Johnny Benson will not return to the cockpit of the No. 23 Toyota Tundra for the 2009 season.

Collecting five wins, 14 top-5’s and 18 top-10’s – and ultimately the series title – Johnny Benson attained possibly the greatest award that Bill Davis Racing has received.

After verbally assuring to his boss that he would be retiring after the 2008 season, Benson has managed to cause a bit of commotion in the relationship between he and Davis.