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A Look Back: The Best Race Of 2008
Monday, 29 December 2008 09:46

 

The 2008 season was full of memorable races, amazing finishes and close battles, and the Camping World RV 400 presented by AAA at the Dover International Speedway was the jewel of them all. The second race of the Chase, the series' second stop at the one-mile high-banked concrete oval was full of excitement from the beginning of the weekend.

 

Leaving New Hampshire the week before, the twelve-man Chase standings was shaken up - and so was Kyle Busch's confidence. Leading the points going into the Chase, Busch was the class of the field during the regular season. Eight wins, fifteen top-5s, seventeen top-10s and only one DNF gave the Joe Gibbs Racing driver a thirty-point advantage over Carl Edwards in second.

 

All of Busch's momentum seemed to break in New Hampshire along with the bolt connecting the sway bar. After starting from the pole - due to rain - and leading the first three laps, Busch was forced to settle with a 34th-place finish and fell seven spots in the standings to eighth, seventy-four points out of first.

 

Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle took the checkered flag in the Chase-opener in New Hampshire and carried that momentum with him to "The Monster Mile" in Dover. Qualifying in the fifth-spot, Biffle entered the weekend third in points, just thirty marks out of first.

 

Jeff Gordon led the 43-car field to the green flag and roared off to lead the first thirty laps. It did not take long to realize, however, if anyone wanted to take home the trophy this Sunday, they were going to have to beat the Roush Fenway brigade.

 

Jamie McMurray showed his strength early on, taking the lead and driving away. Unfortunately for the driver of the No. 26 IRWIN Tools Ford, an incident with the lapped car of Robby Gordon knocked him out of the lead and out of contention after leading thirty-five laps.

 

As if things could not get any worse for the Kyle Busch, smoke began billowing out of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota just before the halfway mark. Pulling the car behind the wall, the Steve Addington-led crew went to work trying to make repairs, while Busch changed into street clothes.

 

"We're out of the title hunt, that's for sure," a clearly dejected Busch told reporters. "The exact same thing happened two years ago - we wrecked at Loudon and then blew up here."

 

With Busch now out of the way, the trio of Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth knew this would be their chance to capitalize. Edwards entered the weekend tied with Jimmie Johnson for the points lead, Biffle was in third and Kenseth was attempting to dig himself out of a 177-point deficit after a wreck at New Hampshire. All three took turns leading the field and in the process put on one of the greatest shows many had seen in recent history.

 

After Juan Pablo Montoya tagged the wall and brought out the final yellow flag of the afternoon, the leaders hit pit road. Crew chief Bob Osborne made the call to put only two tires on Edwards' No. 99 Office Depot Ford, while the Kenseth and Biffle opted for four fresh Goodyears.

 

Restarting with only forty-four laps until the checkered flag, the Roush Fenway brigade went to work on each other. Racing with a level of trust rarely seen on the track, the three teammates swapped positions and raced as hard as possible lap after lap.

 

As the laps wound down, Osborne's two-tire call began to show as Edwards began to fade just a bit. With Kenseth out front and closing in on lapped traffic, Biffle jumped up on the wheel.

 

Making his move on the No. 17 DEWALT Ford Fusion heading down the backstretch on Lap 391, Biffle looked to take the lead for good heading into turn three. Kenseth threw the block and the two made slight contact before Biffle took the top-spot.

 

Never looking back, Biffle left his teammates behind him as he drove off to his second win in as many weeks, bringing him within ten points of the Chase lead. Kenseth came home second, while Edwards was able to hold on to the third-spot.

 

"Well, it was an exciting day, to say the least," Biffle said following his second victory of the year. "I think a lot of people got to see great racing, the fans, everybody. Dover always puts on a great race."

 

In one of the greatest battles in Dover history, the three Roush Fenway Racing teammates put on the best show of the year. Collectively, the four Roush Fenway drivers - including McMurray - led a total of 285 of the 400 laps.

 

"Yeah, I mean, I can't tell you how proud I am or excited that I was to be racing Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards for the win," Biffle added. "Man, we were going at it. And that's Friday, Saturday night short track racing where you came from. It's a lot of fun. Get in there and beat and bang a little bit. That's just what we love to do."

 

While there were many memorable finishes this year - the Penske push at Daytona, Edwards daring move at Kansas - the fall race in Dover was one for the ages.