2008 Woodie Awards
Under the lights at Nashville Superspeedway
Jon Van Hoff
Issue date: 7/16/08 Section: Features
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Joey Logano, the 18-year-old phenomenon who won the pole position for the race earlier that day, led for a solid 64 laps before wrecking due to a bump by another driver. This caused Logano to go spinning into the wall, resulting in him finishing in 31st.
The Joe Gibbs Racing prodigy earned the pole with a quick lap of 30.003 seconds at 159.944 mph in qualifying; bettering his nearest pursuer by more than one-tenth of a second, states Bill Janitz of True Speed Communications.
"He is going to be the next Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt Jr.," Janitz says.
However, Logano was not the only young gun on the track.
Brad Keselowski, racing under Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the US Navy as his sponsor, won the race due to a caution on the track late in the race that pushed him into victory lane.
Other notable drivers who had great contention for a win were Clint Bowyer and David Reutimann. Both men drive in the NASCAR Nextel Sprint Cup, and both pulled double duties due to a Sunday race in Pocono, Pa.
A vast majority of the Sprint Cup drivers pulling double duties were flown by helicopter and barely made the Nashville race.
The big news story of the weekend surrounded Kyle Busch, who fervently made history by driving in all three NASCAR races - the Sprint Cup, Craftsman Truck Series and the Nationwide Series. His performance, though, was lacking and his qualifying times were disappointing to say the least.
Many speculated that his performance was down simply from exhaustion, for each race that weekend was in different states - Texas, Tenn. And Pa. He was unavailable for an interview in Nashville due to his strict schedule.
A sport well known for its blue-collar fan base has now captured the attention of America's corporate elite and fans from all backgrounds. A Nielsen ratings report estimated that over 7.5 million alone watched NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in May, topping the famed Indianapolis 500 that same weekend. These ratings propagate the fact that NASCAR is America's most watched sport.
"Racing is no longer a Saturday night event in the backwoods, but rather a moneymaking machine that generates over a billion dollars a year," says Greg Biffle, who races for Roush Fenway.
The Nashville Motor Speedway alone hosts a multitude of events throughout the year, including two NASCAR Nationwide events - one Craftsman truck race, the Firestone Indy 200 and several other events.
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