The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule has been announced:

Feb. 9: Budweiser Shootout at Daytona – Daytona International Speedway*
Feb. 17: Daytona International Speedway
Feb. 24: California Speedway
March 2: Las Vegas Motor Speedway
March 9: Atlanta Motor Speedway
March 16: Bristol Motor Speedway
March 30: Martinsville Speedway
April 6: Texas Motor Speedway
April 12: Phoenix International Raceway
April 27: Talladega Superspeedway
May 3: Richmond International Raceway
May 10: Darlington Raceway
May 17: NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge – Lowe’s Motor Speedway*
May 25: Lowe’s Motor Speedway
June 1: Dover International Speedway
June 8: Pocono Raceway
June 15: Michigan International Speedway
June 22: Infineon Raceway
June 29: New Hampshire International Speedway
July 5: Daytona International Speedway
July 12: Chicagoland Speedway
July 27: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Aug. 3: Pocono Raceway
Aug. 10: Watkins Glen International
Aug. 17: Michigan International Speedway
Aug. 23: Bristol Motor Speedway
Aug. 31: California Speedway
Sept. 6: Richmond International Raceway
Sept. 14: New Hampshire International Speedway
Sept. 21: Dover International Speedway
Sept. 28: Kansas Speedway
Oct. 5: Talladega Superspeedway
Oct. 11: Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Oct. 19: Martinsville Speedway
Oct. 26: Atlanta Motor Speedway
Nov. 2: Texas Motor Speedway
Nov. 9: Phoenix International Raceway
Nov. 16: Homestead-Miami Speedway

*Non-championship points events; tentative, subject to change

New Hampshire International Speedway will again be the start of the 10-race Chase for the championship and Homestead-Miami Speedway will be the final race of the series and where the Nextel Sprint Cup Series driver will be crowned champion.

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Penalties

The penalties should be of no surprise... Carl Edwards was docked 25 driver points. Jack Roush was docked 25 owner points and Bob Osborne, crew chief, was docked $25,000 for the car being too low in the right rear at the post-race inspection.

Roush Fenway Racing president, Geoff Smith, released this statement about the penalties:

"We have the misfortune of violating a rule which makes no sense. It was promulgated to address restrictor plate races, not downforce races. I say misfortune because we are being penalized for a violation that actually impaired the car's performance.

"We intend to appeal the unfair assessment of the point's penalty. What is unfair is that Carl is receiving a penalty that is 250 percent greater in its effect than a similarly assessed penalty against a non-'Chase' driver. 'Chase' drivers are competing for a total of 1,950 points. All drivers competed for 5,070 points in the first 26 races. Do the math. The net effect is that a 25 point penalty falls unfairly hard on a 'Chase' contender. That's simply not right. To equalize the penalty impact on all competitors not more than 10 points should have been taken from a 'Chase' contender."

So what do you think?

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