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he UAW-Dodge 400 was the third out of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on March 2, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. The standard track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway is a four-turn 1.5-mile (2.4 km) oval. Its turns are banked at 20° and both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch are banked at 9°. Aerial photograph of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, showing the full layout of the track. Las Vegas Motor Speedway, where the race was held Before the race, Kyle Busch led the Drivers' Championship with 335 points, ahead of Ryan Newman in second and Tony Stewart third. Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers, and Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top 12. In the Manufacturers' Cha mpionship, Dodge and Ford were tied for the lead with 12 points each; their rivals Chevrolet and Toyota were tied for third place with 10 points each. Johnson was the race's defending champion. Track layout of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway: The track has four turns with one backstretch linking the turns together. The pit road splits off from the track on the inside of turn four and rejoins the track at the entry of turn one. Track layout of Las Vegas Motor Speedway In preparation for the race, NASCAR held the second of its two preseason tests for Sprint Cup entrants on January 28–29 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Sessions began at 9:00 am Eastern Standard Time (EST), paused from 12:00 to 1:00 pm, and concluded at 5:00 pm Sixty-seven cars participated in the January 28 morning session; Denny Hamlin was quickest with a top speed of 178.265 miles per hour (286.890 km/h), while Kyle Busch was quickest in the afternoon session, with a top speed of 183.350 miles per hour (295.073 k m/h). Several incidents occurred during the second session; Regan Smith spun leaving turn two and damaged his car's nose after hitting the inside wall; Sam Hornish Jr. heavily damaged his car after scraping the wall hard; and Dario Franchitti heavily damaged his Dodge's rear after spinning. Jacques Villeneuve spun, but did not damage his car; David Ragan wrecked after spinning off turn two; and Mark Martin damaged the front of his vehicle when he hit a concrete piling after swerving to avoid a tow truck. During the third session with 74 cars, Edwards had the fastest speed of 184.256 miles per hour (296.531 km/h), and Burton damaged the right side of his car after hitting the wall. Juan Pablo Montoya recorded the fastest speed of the two days, at 186.761 miles per hour (300.563 km/h) in the fourth and final sessio