David Ragan’s second year on the Sprint Cup tour began like most of his rookie year races ended, with a big wreck. During the season-opening Daytona 500, Ragan lost control of his No. 6 Ford, swept up teammate Kenseth and sent both careening into the wall.
Depending on what you believe, Kyle Petty’s Cup career may be far from over after all. The LATEST rumor, as of January 2nd, was that E&M Motorsports would field Kyle in the No. 08 Dodge in as many as 14 races – with Wells Fargo as a sponsor.
Joe Nemechek got off to a rocky start, finishing 41st and 34th in the season’s first two events. He failed to live up to the “Front Row Joe” moniker from there.
There isn’t a whole lot to summarize for Chad McCumbee’s season, making it a difficult one to put a viable grade on. While the Pettys hoped to put a full-time Nationwide Series deal together for the young driver, nothing materialized, and that forced him to again run the Truck Series in the No. 8 Malcolmson Construction Chevrolet.
Following the lead of other aging veterans, Sterling Marlin chose to cut back to a part-time schedule in 2008, signing up to drive for one of the most powerful independent owners in the Cup business these days – James Finch.
In his third season behind the wheel at P.E., this year was supposed to be the one where Bobby Labonte returned the No. 43 car to its former glory.
The 2008 season wasn’t a huge success for Travis Kvapil, but it was his best points finish in three full-time seasons in the Cup Series (he drove for Penske in 2005 and PPI Motorsports in 2006).
While we’ll still see him as a commentator in the ESPN booth, Dale Jarrett will truly be missed on the racetrack.
Robby Gordon finished all but four races on the 2008 Sprint Cup schedule, with one DNF because of engine troubles and the other three because of wrecks.
There was not much for Bill Elliott or his struggling No. 21 Wood Brothers team to gloat about in 2008. The team fell outside the Top 35 in points last season and could never break the threshold this season.
After losing M&M’s sponsorship to the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 team and Busch, it was simply an uphill battle for David Gilliland to get financial backing in 2008.
Hoping for a breakout year for this promising rookie, both Gillett Evernham and Patrick Carpentier were disappointed by the No. 10’s performance throughout the 2008 season.
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