2008 Summer Paralympics, The Games, Participating NPCs
The following National Paralympic Committees sent delegations to compete. Macau and the Faroe Islands are members of the International Paralympic Committee, but not of the International Olympic Committee; hence they participate in the Paralympic Games but not in the Olympics.


2008 Summer Paralympics, The Games, Participating NPCs
Burundi, Gabon, Georgia, Haiti and Montenegro participated in the Paralympics for the first time.


2008 Summer Paralympics, The Games, Participating NPCs
Botswana was due to take part, but its single athlete, defending Paralympic champion sprinter Tshotlego Morama, withdrew prior to the Games due to injury. The country's last-minute attempt to field other athletes in her place was rejected, as they did not meet the requirement of having participated in international events.


2008 Summer Paralympics, Medal count
This table is based on the medal count of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).


2008 Summer Paralympics, Medal count
The ranking is sorted primarily by the number of gold medals earned by a National Paralympic Committee. The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If countries are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC Country Code.


2008 Summer Paralympics, International television
In France, following the Games, Philippe Juvin, national secretary of the governing Union for a Popular Movement, accused national public television network France Télévisions of having practiced "segregation" by providing live coverage of the Beijing Olympics but only ten-minute daily summaries of events, outside prime time, for the Beijing Paralympics. France Télévisions replied that it would take Juvin to court for slander.


2008 Summer Paralympics, International television
While the Games were not broadcast live in the United States, NBC broadcast a documentary featuring highlights and athlete profiles on November 9, 2008, followed by a week-long series of coverage shown by Universal Sports beginning the day after.


2008 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony
The 2008 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest. It began at 8:00 pm China Standard Time (UTC+8) on September 17, 2008. The number 8 is associated with prosperity and confidence in Chinese culture.


2008 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony, Sequence of events
The closing ceremony took place on September 17, 2008 in the National Stadium . The sequence of events was;


2008 Summer Paralympics medal table
The medal table of the 2008 Summer Paralympics ranks the participating National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) by the number of gold medals won by their athletes during the competition. The 2008 Paralympics was the thirteenth Games to be held, a quadrennial competition open to athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities. The games were held in Beijing, People's Republic of China, from 6 September to 17 September 2008.


2008 Summer Paralympics medal table
Some 3,951 athletes from 146 NPCs participated in 472 events in 20 sports, with Burundi, Gabon, Georgia, Haiti and Montenegro making their Paralympic debuts. This set new records for both the number of NPCs competing and the number of athletes overall. The design of the medals was similar to those awarded in the 2008 Summer Olympics, featuring jade discs inserted into the medals themselves, with different color discs included for the three types of medals. A total of 21 designs were submitted from designers from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Tsinghua University and the China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, with the final design approved in the autumn of 2007.


2008 Summer Paralympics medal table
Athletes from a record 76 NPCs won medals, leaving 70 NPCs without a medal. Athletes from Croatia, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Venezuela won their first ever gold medals. Host China topped the medal table with 211 medals in total, including 89 gold medals, while Great Britain placed second with 102 medals, including 42 golds. Canadian wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc, S9 swimmers Natalie du Toit and Matthew Cowdrey, from South Africa and Australia respectively, each won five gold medals at the 2008 Games. Brazilian S5 swimmer Daniel Dias won the most individual medals overall, a total of nine medals, comprising four golds, four silvers and a bronze.


2008 Summer Paralympics medal table, Medal table
The ranking in this table is based on information provided by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and is consistent with IPC convention in its published medal tables. By default, the table is ordered by the number of gold medals the athletes from a nation have won (in this context, a "nation" is an entity represented by a National Paralympic Committee). The number of silver medals is taken into consideration next and then the number of bronze medals. If nations are still tied, equal ranking is given and they are listed alphabetically by IPC country code.


2008 Summer Paralympics medal table, Medal table
In the judo competition, an additional thirteen bronze medals were awards as the losing competitors in both of the semi finals were each awarded a medal rather than having a playoff bout to decide the medallist. The swimming also saw multiple instances of the same medals being awarded, in the women's 100m backstroke S10, both Sophie Pascoe and Shireen Sapiro swam a dead heat in the final and were both awarded a gold medal, resulting in no silver medal being given that for event. In both the women's 400, freestyle S13 and the men's 100m butterfly S11, two bronze medals were awarded each as two swimmers set the same time in third place.


2008 Summer Paralympics medal table, Changes in medal standings
On 14 September 2008, Rebecca Chin was stripped of the silver medal she had won in the F37-38 discus competition. The IPC overruled a change in her classification made earlier in the month, making her ineligible to have won the medal as she was reclassified as a F44 competitor.


2008 Summer Paralympics national flag bearers
During the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, athletes from each participating country paraded in the stadium, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Paralympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. It is considered a great honour to bear the country's flag in the Parade of Nations.


2008 Summer Paralympics national flag bearers, Parade order
Per tradition, the host country, in this case the People's Republic of China, marched last however contrary to tradition in the Olympic Games the national team of Greece did not enter first. All other nations marched in name order in the language of the host nation, which in this case is the Chinese language. As Chinese is written in characters and not letters, the order of the teams' entry was determined by the number of strokes in the first character of their respective countries' Simplified Chinese names. Countries with the same number of strokes in the first character are sorted by those of the next character. This made Guinea (几内亚) the first country to enter, as it takes two strokes to write the first character in the country's name (几), and Zambia (赞比亚) last-but-one, ahead of China.


2008 Summer Paralympics national flag bearers, List
The following is a list of each country's flag bearer.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony
The 2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium on September 6, 2008 just two weeks after the end of the 2008 Summer Olympics. The event was themed "One World, One Dream" and "Transcendence, Integration, Equality." The show was attended by about 91,000 to 100,000 spectators. It was approximately 3-hours in length and consisted of 6,000 performers and 4,000 disabled athletes from 148 countries.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Pre-ceremony performance
The site of pre-ceremony performance is the Small Stage to the north of the field. After Pre-ceremony performance, the hosts give interactive guidance to the audience for 40 minutes. The pre-ceremony performance included a series of musical performances.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Welcoming ceremony
President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao makes an entrance along with Philip Craven, president of the International Paralympic Committee.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Welcoming ceremony
Countdown started several children displayed cards with "60", "50" and "20" after distributing fireworks in Tiananmen Square for 10 seconds and starting at 19:59:50 China Standard Time at the country and sky above the stadium is the same as the countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics closing ceremony from "10" to "1" with all voice screaming as "10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" or "Shi!! !, Jiu!! !, Ba!! !, Qi!! !, Liu!! !, Wu!! !, Si!! !, San!!! Er!! !, Yi!!!"


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Welcoming ceremony
and "0" (the moment of opening) is used to release large-scale fireworks above the stadium to the Games and herald the start of the officially opening time at 20:00:00 China Standard Time. The flag of the PRC is raised while the military band of the  People's Liberation Army from Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion raise the flag and play the national anthem March of the Volunteers. More fireworks are displayed. Cartoon marathon athletes wear suits of different colors to form a line of rainbow. The rainbow stripe stretches around the stadium. They form the symbol of the Paralympic Games.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Parade of nations
As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, the ceremony included a parade of nations, with a flag bearer for each national team. . As Chinese is written in characters and not letters, the order of the teams' entry was determined by the number of strokes in the first character of their respective countries' Simplified Chinese names. In this list the host country came last Countries with the same number of strokes in the first character are sorted by those of the next character.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Parade of nations
This made Guinea (几内亚) the first country to enter as it takes two strokes to write the first character in the country's name (几). A total of 148 nations enter in the predetermined order. With the Paralympic Games, athletes enter the stadium first and then watch the performances together with the audience. A huge feather consisting of 148 feathers is formed within the Bird's Nest, with each feather symbolizing the ideal of all people with disability in the world.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Artistic section
Sound of birds chirping resonate in the otherwise silent stadium. A sunbird flies from the top of the Bird's Nest. Then the sunbird flies down to the golden meadow in the field to awaken a blind singer from his sleep. The sunbird chirps in front of him, and the singer translates the sunbird's message for the whole audience with sign language. Meanwhile, Chinese and English voice-over is aired "there are dreams in life after all". The sunbird and the blind singer Yang Haitao (杨海涛) walk onto the center stage in the field together referred to as the "White Jade Plate".


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Artistic section
Yang performs the song "Heaven" (天域), then saids "My name is Yang Haitao. I am blind. My home is China. If I can see the light for three days, I want to see my father, my mother and you the most…"  A white cloud appears, then a trumpeter plays the music of "Hello, Stars" and 300 deaf girls communicate with sign languages, led by 50 sign language teachers. The girls form a series of circles at the "White Jade Plate" and expand. Fireworks are lighted.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Artistic section
A girl with one leg appears in a wheelchair. She wears one red shoe having lost her leg in the Sichuan earthquake. She is circled by a group of ballet performers dancing with arm aerobics wearing shoes in their hands. The girl in the center is then carried around.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Artistic section
Blind pianist Jin Yuanhui (金元辉) plays the piano to accompany the four seasons theme. The plate panels are rotated in different colors to represent different sceneries.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Artistic section
Then 2,000 space robots appear in a circle. They change into the four forms of frog, seagull, cow and duck with a popular cartoon dance. The audience imitate the sounds of these animals: "Croak! Croak! Croak!" " Moo! Moo! Moo!" and "Quack! Quack! Quack!" Fireworks are displayed. The Paralympics mascot Fu Niu Lele (福牛乐乐) is represented.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Artistic section
A female singer pushing a baby carriage and a male singer walk and sing on the White Jade Plate. 100 female dancers slowly flow to the White Jade Plate like a galaxy. Thousands of luminous silver threads pull the whole Earth, as if he is carrying a traveling bag full of mountains, rivers and lands of the whole world. A display of 750 performers form birds and swans with their hands. On the blue backdrop it appears as birds or animals in the sky.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Speech
Liu Qi, head of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games accompanies Philip Craven, president of the IPC, to the podium to give an address. Paramount leader Hu Jintao then declares the Paralympics games opened at 22:36 Beijing time.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Paralympic flame lighting of the flame cauldron
After a performance of the theme song Flying with the Dream by Han Hong and Andy Lau, the Paralympic flag was raised by PLA Army from Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion and the Paralympic anthem played.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Paralympic flame lighting of the flame cauldron
Representatives of the athletes and judges then take an oath. Chinese goalball judge Hao Guohua took the Paralympic oath on behalf of all officials, while Paralympic runner Wu Chunmiao took the oath on behalf of the competitors.


2008 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony, Opening ceremony, Paralympic flame lighting of the flame cauldron
The first torchbearer, Jin Jing, brought in the Olympic torch lit from the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. It was handed down by six torchbearers. The Paralympic flame is transferred last by Ping Yali to Hou Bin, the high jump gold medalist with one leg. In his wheelchair, Hou Bin pulls himself up to the cauldron and the flame is lit. A long series of fireworks is displayed around the stadium.


2008 Summer Paralympics torch relay
The torch relay for the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games was held between August 28 and September 6 in eleven cities, and also included the tomb of Yellow Emperor.


2008 Summer Paralympics torch relay, Planned Route
In 2007, the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games announced the torch relay route, composed of three parts:


2008 Summer Paralympics torch relay, Change of the route
In June 2008, the Beijing Games' Organizing Committee announced that the planned four international torch relay cities and four national cities for the Paralympic Games had been cancelled. The Committee stated that the relay was being cancelled to enable the Chinese government to "focus on the rescue and relief work" following the Sichuan earthquake. The torch relay was held exclusively within China.


2008 Summer Paralympics torch relay, Change of the route
Despite the officially stated reason for the cancellation, The Guardian attributed it to China's wish to avoid "a repeat of the protests" which had occurred in a number of cities around the world during the Olympics torch relay. Similarly, The Times wrote: "China has cancelled the international leg of the Paralympic torch relay, which was due to pass through London, in an apparent attempt to avoid similar protests to those that dogged the Olympic torch’s global tour." Reuters reported simply: "China, whose Beijing Olympic torch relay was dogged by protest overseas, on Wednesday cancelled the international leg of the Paralympic torch relay, giving the devastating Sichuan earthquake as the reason."


2008 Summer Paralympics torch relay, Change of the route
The relay started from Tiantan on August 28 and then divided to two parallel lines before coming together in Beijing:


2008 Summer Paralympics torch relay, Final Relay in Main Stadium
Chinese athletes with disabilities carried the torch in Beijing National Stadium during the Games' Opening Ceremony. Jin Jing carried the torch into the stadium, before it was passed on to Paralympic gold medallists Wu Yunhu, Zhang Hongwei, Zhang Haidong, Sun Changting and Hou Bin. Hou then pulled himself up on a rope to the top of the stadium to light the Paralympic flame.


2008 Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2008 Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament was won by Oral Roberts. It took place March 8–11, 2008 at the Union Multipurpose Activity Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.


2008 Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
The top eight eligible men's basketball teams in the Summit League receive a berth in the conference tournament. After the 18 game conference season, teams are seeded by conference record with the following tie-breakers:


2008 Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament, Format, 2008 seeds
NOTE: North Dakota State and South Dakota State are ineligible for the 2008 Tournament.


2008 Summit League Men's Basketball Tournament, Format, 4th Place Tiebreaker
IPFW and Southern Utah split their two games and had identical records against each conference team. Southern Utah received the 4th seed, because their RPI of 231 was better than IPFW's RPI of 235.


2008 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2008 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place on March 5–11, 2008. The first round was held at campus sites. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game took place in Mobile, Alabama at the Mitchell Center. The semifinals were televised by ESPN Regional Television. The Sun Belt Conference Championship Game were televised by ESPN2.


2008 Sun Bowl
The 2008 Brut Sun Bowl, part of the 2008–09 NCAA Division I FBS bowl season, was played on December 31, 2008 at the stadium of the same name on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso in El Paso, Texas. The 75th annual contest pitted the Pittsburgh Panthers against the Oregon State Beavers. Pittsburgh previously appeared in the Sun Bowl in 1975 and 1989. Oregon State previously appeared in the Sun Bowl only once, in 2006. Entering the contest, the teams had a combined 3–0 record in Sun Bowls.


2008 Sun Bowl
Oregon State won 3–0, the lowest scoring bowl game since a 0–0 tie between Air Force and TCU in the 1959 Cotton Bowl Classic and the lowest-scoring Sun Bowl since a 0–0 tie between Arizona State and Catholic University on January 1, 1940. It was the first shutout loss for the Panthers since 1996. This game, however, was special because the only points were scored on a field goal kicked off of a botched hold.


2008 Sun Bowl
Oregon State opted to wear orange uniforms, even though as the nominal visiting team they should have worn white. As a result, they were docked a time out in lieu of a penalty.


2008 Sun Bowl
This game marked the 41st consecutive telecast by CBS Sports. No other network and bowl game has been paired for a longer period of time.


2008 Sun Bowl
The halftime show included a performance by musical group The Village People as Sun Bowl officials broke the Guinness World Record for largest Y.M.C.A. dance.


2008 SunTrust Indy Challenge
The 2008 SunTrust Indy Challenge was the ninth round of the 2008 IndyCar Series season and took place on June 28, 2008 at the 0.750-mile (1.207 km) Richmond International Raceway, in Henrico County, Virginia. At the start, Ryan Hunter-Reay spun just before the start/finish line, which brought the yellow out immediately. The first 7 laps were run under yellow with Tony Kanaan leading from the pole position. On lap 8, the green came out, but only one lap was completed before the next yellow. Will Power was driving below Hélio Castroneves, lost control, and crashed in turn 4.


2008 SunTrust Indy Challenge
The race finally got going on lap 21, when the green came out once again. On lap 31, A. J. Foyt IV touched wheels with John Andretti, and Foyt crashed in the wall in turn 2. His Vision Racing teammate Ed Carpenter ran over debris from the crash, and both cars were sidelined. During the caution, a handful of cars pitted, including Danica Patrick and rookie Jaime Camara, but most of the leaders stayed on the track.


2008 SunTrust Indy Challenge
Kanaan continued to lead when debris brought out the caution again on lap 67. All of the leaders pitted, while Camara and Patrick stayed out and took the first two spots. On the restart, Camara led the field, but Buddy Rice spun and tagged the wall on the frontstretch. The field checked up, and Darren Manning, Ryan Briscoe and Bruno Junqueira were involved in a separate crash. Camara led at the next restart, while Kanaan, Patrick, and Castroneves went 3-wide for second. Behind them in turn 2, John Andretti and Vítor Meira tangled, and crashed hard in the wall. Patrick returned to the pits, and topped off with fuel. Camara continued to lead, and impressively held off Kanaan on the restart. On lap 116, Marco Andretti caught up to Camara, and took the lead for the first time.


2008 SunTrust Indy Challenge
Graham Rahal crashed on lap 133 in turn 4. Many of the leaders pitted, but Marco Andretti stayed out to lead. Another restart saw only three green laps, as yet another crash occurred, this time involving Hunter-Reay and Mario Moraes. Around this time, some teams anticipated that rain might end the race early. Marco Andretti gave up the lead on lap 204 when he made his final pit stop. That put Kanaan back into the lead. On lap 217, after a brilliant run in the top five, Camara lost control and crashed on the frontstretch. The yellow trapped Andretti a lap down, and kept Kanaan in the lead after the final sequence of pits stops. The rain held off, and Kanaan led the rest of the way for his first victory of the season.


2008 Sundance Film Festival
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 17, 2008 to January 27 in Park City, Utah. It was the 24th iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was In Bruges and the closing night film was CSNY Déjà Vu.


2008 Sundance Film Festival, Films
Out of 2,021 U.S. and 1,603 international feature-length films submitted for consideration, 121 were selected to be shown at the festival.


2008 Sundance Film Festival, Films
For a list of films that were shown at the festival, see List of films at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.


2008 Sundance Film Festival, Juries
The juries at the Sundance Film Festival are responsible for determining the Jury Prize winners in each category and to award Special Jury Prizes as they see fit.


2008 Sunderland City Council election
The 2008 Sunderland Council election took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of Sunderland Metropolitan Borough Council in Tyne and Wear, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Labour party stayed in overall control of the council.


2008 Sunderland City Council election, Background
Before the election the council had 53 Labour, 17 Conservative, 4 independents and 1 Liberal Democrat councillors. 25 seats were contested in the election with a record 70,828 voters being registered to vote by post, a third of all registered voters.


2008 Sunderland City Council election, Background
In the period since the previous local elections, the Conservatives had won a seat from Labour in a by-election in September 2007 in Washington East. Two Labour councillors who had left the party in November 2006 to sit as Independents, George Blyth in Doxford and Bryn Sidaway in Hendon, retired at this election.


2008 Sunderland City Council election, Election result
The results saw Labour remain in control of the council, but with a reduced majority after the Conservative party gained 5 seats, including 4 from Labour. The Conservatives gained 2 seats from Labour in Washington and a seat each in Ryhope and St Chads, while also taking a seat from an independent, formerly Labour, councillor in Doxford. The Conservative gains took the party to 22 seats, compared to 48 for Labour. Labour also lost 2 seats to independents in Copt Hill and Houghton wards, but did take one seat back in Hendon which had been held by an independent. This meant there were 4 independents on the council, while the Liberal Democrats remained on 1 seat. Overall turnout in the election was 34.9%.


2008 Sunderland City Council election, Election result
The leader of the Conservatives on the council, Lee Martin, put the Labour losses partly down to national issues such as the abolition of the 10 pence income tax rate and partly down to local issues. The Labour leader of the council described the results as "mid-term blues", while the defeat of the Labour cabinet member Joseph Lawson in Houghton ward to an independent was put down to plans to shut a quarry in the area.


2008 Sunderland City Council election, Ward results
The incumbent Labour councillor, George Blyth, had been elected in 2004 as a Labour candidate, but subsequently left the party to sit as an Independent councillor, and retired at this election.


2008 Sunderland City Council election, Ward results
The incumbent Labour councillor, Bryn Sidaway, had been elected in 2004 as a Labour candidate, but subsequently left the party to sit as an Independent councillor, and retired at this election.


2008 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500
The 2008 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, the twenty-first race of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and was held on August 3 of that year at Pocono Raceway in the village of Long Pond, Pennsylvania. ESPN carried the race beginning at 1 PM US EDT and MRN along with Sirius Satellite Radio had radio coverage of the 500 miles (800 km) race starting at 1:15 PM US EDT.


2008 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500
The race was sponsored by Sunoco through its official NASCAR gasoline sponsorship and will benefit the American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania chapter (covering Philadelphia and the surrounding five-county region), and marked the first time since 1996 that a race at the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) track has had a corporate sponsor.


2008 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, Qualifying
Jimmie Johnson took the pole position with Mark Martin and David Gilliland in the second and third positions, and Jeff Gordon starting fourth.


2008 Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, Race Recap
After "Happy Hour" was washed out on Saturday due to rain, a mandatory caution would be flying at Lap 20, however two accidents predated them. A rain delay held up the race with 69 laps left, and Carl Edwards would win his fourth race of the season.


2008 Sunshine Tour
The 2008 Sunshine Tour was the ninth season of professional golf tournaments since the southern Africa based Sunshine Tour was relaunched in 2000, and the second since the tour switched a calendar based season in 2007. The Sunshine Tour represents the highest level of competition for male professional golfers in the region.


2008 Sunshine Tour
The tour was based predominantly in South Africa, with 26 of the 30 tournaments being held in the country. Two events were held in Swaziland, with one each in Zambia and Namibia. There were two new tournaments, The Africa Open, which the tour hopes will become "Africa's Major" in the future, and the BMG Classic, founded by the Bearing Man Group, who wished to continue their involvement with the tour following the end of their long run as title sponsors of the Highveld Classic.


2008 Sunshine Tour
The order of merit was dominated by Richard Sterne, who won all three European Tour co-sanctioned tournaments, by far the richest on the tour.


2008 Sunshine Tour, Schedule
The table below shows schedule of events for the 2008 Sunshine Tour. As usual, the tour consisted of two distinct parts, commonly referred to as the "Summer Swing" and "Winter Swing". Tournaments held during the Summer Swing generally had much higher prize funds, attracted stronger fields, and were the only tournaments on the tour to carry world ranking points, with three events being co-sanctioned with the European Tour. Since the tour switched to a calendar based season, this part of the tour has been split in two, with six events being held at the start of the year, and the remainder in December.


2008 Sunshine Tour, Schedule
The Winter Swing ran from March to November, starting with the Mount Edgecombe Trophy, and closing with the Coca-Cola Charity Championship, hosted by Gary Player.


2008 Sunshine Tour, Schedule
Prize funds shown did not count directly towards the Order of Merit. The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of official money Sunshine Tour events he had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Sunshine Tour members.


2008 Sunshine Tour, Order of Merit
England's Robert Rock was the third highest money winner (with R1,280,632.80) but did not qualify for the Order of Merit, having only played in two events.


2008 Super 14 Final
The final of the 2008 Super 14 season, a provincial rugby union competition in the Southern Hemisphere, took place on 31 May 2008 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. The match was hosted by the Canterbury Crusaders who defeated the New South Wales Waratahs by 20 points to 12.


2008 Super 14 Final, Road to the Final
The Crusaders and Waratahs finished the round-robin first and second on the Super 14 table respectively. The Crusaders finished nine points clear of second place, and had secured a top of the table position prior to the last week of the round-robin. The Waratahs only secured second place, and a place in the finals in the last round of the competition. The Hurricanes lost to the Blues in their final-match of the round robin, and the Waratah's defeat of the Queensland Reds allowed them to leap the Hurricanes into second place. The Sharks bonus point defeat of the Chiefs in Durban secured them third place on the table.


2008 Super 14 Final, Road to the Final
The Crusaders then hosted the Hurricanes in Christchurch, and the Waratahs hosted the Sharks in Sydney. The Crusaders defeated the Hurricanes 33–22 with three tries each, and the Waratahs defeated the Sharks 28–13. The Crusaders eventually prevailed in a toughly fought final, 20–12.


2008 Super 14 Final, Match, First half
The Crusaders scored the first points of the game when Fly-half Dan Carter kicked a penalty in the fourth minute, giving the Crusaders a 3–0 lead. The Waratahs scored their first points of the match when Kurtley Beale kicked the ball across field, and Waratah's winger Lachlan Turner caught the ball to score a try. The attempted conversion by Beale was unsuccessful, leaving the Waratahs with a 5–3 lead.


2008 Super 14 Final, Match, First half
The next score occurred in the 25th minute when Waratahs flanker Phil Waugh intercepted a pass from Dan Carter. Waugh passed to Turner who chipped the ball and then collected to score his second try. Beale's conversion was successful and the Waratahs extended their lead to 12–3. Carter kicked a penalty in the 32nd minute to reduce the Waratah's lead to 12–6. The final score before half time came in the 38th minute when Crusaders No. 8 Mose Tuiali'i scored in the right hand corner. Carter's conversion was unsuccessful, and the half ended with the Waratahs leading by 12 points to 11.


2008 Super 14 Final, Match, Second half
In the 46th minute the Crusaders took the lead again by 14 points to 12 via a Dan Carter penalty. The Crusaders looked to have scored their second try in the 56th minute when prop Wyatt Crockett landed on a loose ball in the Waratah's in-goal area, but play was taken back 60 metres after touch judge Cobus Wessels reported that Crusaders lock Brad Thorn had thrown a punch. The try was disallowed and the Crusaders penalised. Thorn was given a yellow card and sent to the sin bin for ten minutes.


2008 Super 14 Final, Match, Second half
Despite having an extra man for the next ten minutes, the Waratahs were unable to score, and were further hampered by the loss of Kurtley Beale to injury. In the 70th minute Carter kicked a drop-goal to take the Crusaders lead to 17–12, and four minutes later kicked a penalty to further extend the lead to 20–12. With only minutes remaining Crusaders winger Scott Hamilton dropped the ball only metres from the Waratahs try-line. The score remained at 20–12, and the Crusaders won their seventh Super rugby title.


2008 Super 14 Final, Match details
Touch judges: Craig Joubert Cobus WesselsTelevision match official: Shaun Veldsman


2008 Super 14 season
The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' home fans at AMI Stadium. The 2008 season was the third of the expansion, which led to the name change to the Super 14. The schedule, which covered 3½ months, featured a total of 94 matches, with each team playing one full round robin against the 13 other teams, two semi-finals and a final. Every team received one bye over the 14 rounds.


2008 Super 14 season, Introduction of Experimental law variations
The 2008 competition is currently the highest level competition to trial any of the International Rugby Board's (IRB) Experimental law variations (ELVs). The laws had been trialled in various competitions in both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. The highest level competition the laws had previously been introduced to was the 2007 Australian Rugby Championship. The introduction of the laws for the 2008 season was approved by the competition's governing body, SANZAR, at a meeting on 4 December 2007.


2008 Super 14 season, Introduction of Experimental law variations
SANZAR decided not to adopt all the ELVs, and decided to adopt the following:


2008 Super 14 season, Finals, Grand final
The final of the 2008 Super 14 season took place on 31 May 2008 at AMI Stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. The match was hosted by the Crusaders who defeated the New South Wales Waratahs by 20 points to 12.


2008 Super 14 season, Finals, Grand final, The match
The Crusaders scored the first points of the game when fly-half Dan Carter kicked a penalty in the fourth minute, giving the Crusaders a 3–0 lead. The Waratahs scored their first points of the match when Kurtley Beale kicked the ball across field, and Waratah's winger Lachlan Turner caught the ball to score a try. The attempted conversion by Beale was unsuccessful, leaving the Waratahs with a 5-3 lead.


2008 Super 14 season, Finals, Grand final, The match
The next score occurred in the 25th minute when Waratahs flanker Phil Waugh intercepted a pass from Dan Carter. Waugh passed to Turner who chipped the ball and then collected to score his second try. Beale's conversion was successful and the Waratahs extended their lead to 12–3. Carter kicked a penalty in the 32nd minute to reduce the Waratahs lead to 12–6. The final score before half time came in the 38th minute when Crusaders No. 8 Mose Tuiali'i scored in the right hand corner. Carter's conversion was unsuccessful, and the half ended with the Waratahs leading by 12 points to 11.


2008 Super 14 season, Finals, Grand final, The match
In the 46th minute the Crusaders took the lead again by 14 points to 12 via a Dan Carter penalty. The Crusaders looked to have scored their second try in the 56th minute when prop Wyatt Crockett landed on a loose ball in the Waratahs in-goal area, but play was taken back 60 metres after touch judge Cobus Wessels reported that Crusaders lock Brad Thorn had thrown a punch. The try was disallowed and the Crusaders penalised. Thorn was given a yellow card and sent to the sin bin for ten minutes.


2008 Super 14 season, Finals, Grand final, The match
Despite having an extra man for the next ten minutes, the Waratahs were unable to score, and were further hampered by the loss of Kurtley Beale to injury. In the 70th minute Carter kicked a drop-goal to take the Crusaders lead to 17–12, and four minutes later kicked a penalty to further extend the lead to 20–12. With only minutes remaining Crusaders winger Scott Hamilton dropped the ball only metres from the Waratahs try-line. The score remained at 20-12, and the Crusaders won their seventh Super rugby title.


2008 Super 14 season, Finals, Grand final, Match details
Touch judges: Craig Joubert Cobus WesselsTelevision match official: Shaun Veldsman


2008 Super Fours
The 2008 Super Fours was the 7th cricket Super Fours season. It took place from May to July and saw 4 teams compete in a 50 over league and a Twenty20 knockout tournament. Sapphires won the 50 over tournament, achieving their third 50 over title, whilst Rubies won the Twenty20 tournament, claiming their first title in the format.


2008 Super Fours, Competition format
In the one day tournament, teams played each other twice in a round-robin format, with the winners of the group winning the tournament. Matches were played using a one day format with 50 overs per side.


2008 Super Fours, Competition format
The group worked on a points system with positions within the divisions being based on the total points. Points were awarded as follows:


2008 Super Fours, Competition format
Win: 15 points. Tie:  6 points. Loss: 0 points. Bonus Points: Up to 5 points available to the winning team.


2008 Super Fours, Competition format
The Twenty20 competition consisted of two semi-finals, with the winners progressing to a Final and the losers playing in a third place play-off.


2008 Super GT Series
The 2008 Autobacs Super GT Series was the sixteenth season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era and the fourth season as the Super GT series. It marked as well as the twenty-sixth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. It is a series for Grand Touring race cars divided into two categories: GT500 and GT300. This was the first season for the new R35 GT-R, replacing the 350Z which had been used for all GT500 Nissan teams from 2004-2007. The season began on March 15 and ended on November 9, 2008 after 9 races.


2008 Super League Grand Final
The 2008 Super League Grand Final was the 11th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XIII season. Held on Saturday 4 October 2008, at Old Trafford, Manchester, the match was between League Leaders St. Helens and defending champions from 2007 Leeds Rhinos.


2008 Super League Grand Final, Match details
The coin to see who kicked off was tossed by 12-year-old, James Baxter who won the opportunity through a competition through the leagues sponsor Engage.


2008 Super League Grand Final, 2009 World Club Challenge
The Rhinos' win in the grand final earned them the right to play against the 2008 NRL season premiers, the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles on 1 March 2009 in the World Club Challenge.


2008 Super League of Belize season
The 2008 season of the Super League of Belize began on October 21, 2007 and will conclude in early 2008. This is its first semiprofessional season, with nine teams.


2008 Super League of Belize season, Results/Fixtures, Week 3
O. Acevedo 28', E. Cruz 37', C. Cawich 58', O. Sandoval 73'. Bye: Belmopan Bandits.


2008 Super League season results
This article details the 2008 Super League season results. From February to October 2008, a total of 162 games were played by twelve teams over 27 regular rounds, in addition to six games played during the play-off series. The season culminated with the Grand Final on 4 October.


2008 Super League season results, Regular season
All teams were required to play each team twice, once home and once away, as well as their Millennium Magic fixture, and four more fixtures decided by their league position at the end of the 2007 season.


2008 Super League season results, Play-offs
The 2008 Super League championship was decided through a play-off system, in which the participants were included according to their league position at the end of 27 regular rounds. The play-off system had no bearing on the minor premiership (otherwise known as the League Leaders' Shield).


2008 Super League season results, Play-offs, Format
Super League XIII followed the top-six play-off system. It was the seventh year in a row the format had been applied, as well as being the final year before the play-offs were expanded in the 2009 season. Places were granted to the top six teams in the Super League XIII table. Following the final round of matches on the weekend of 5–7 September, all six play-off teams were set (in order of finishing place):


2008 Super League season results, Play-offs, Format
Home field advantage was given by league position at the end of regular rounds, with the lower of the two teams playing at the higher team's ground. The only exception to this was the Grand Final, which was played at Old Trafford following tradition. The top-six system followed double elimination rules for the first and second placed team, meaning whichever of the teams lost in the qualifying semi-final had to lose again before being knocked-out of the play-offs entirely.


2008 Super League season results, Play-offs, Details
Elimination play-offs: , ;Qualifying Semifinal: ;Elimination Semifinal: ;Elimination Final: ;Grand Final: .


2008 Super League season results, Play-offs, Details
Note A: Wigan Warriors vs Bradford Bulls was played at Stobart Stadium Halton due to the JJB Stadium being unavailable due to an association football fixture taking place the following day.


2008 Super Tuesday II
Super Tuesday II, 2008 is the name, for 4 March 2008 the day on which the second largest simultaneous number of state presidential primary elections was held for the 2008 presidential election cycle. On this day, Mike Huckabee withdrew from the race when John McCain won enough delegates to claim the Republican nomination for president. It was the second Super Tuesday election of 2008 and took place approximately one month after the first Super Tuesday of this election. The Democratic primaries saw 444 delegates selected on this date, with 265 delegates in the Republican primaries.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Names and prior election cycles
After the front-loading rush that saw twenty-four states hold their caucuses and primaries on Super Tuesday, 2008, only four states -Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont- remained on the traditional March Super Tuesday date. This caused pundits in the states left behind to note that "this year, however, Super Tuesday isn't so super." The 2004 election cycle saw a similar but smaller split, with seven states holding elections in February on Mini-Tuesday, and ten holding contests on Super Tuesday II on the traditional March date.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Delegate allocation, Democratic
Under Democratic Party rules, all delegates are awarded via proportional representation, with a minimum 15% threshold required to receive delegates. A total of 444 delegates were pledged by the results of the March 4th primaries.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Delegate allocation, Republican
The Republican Party does not mandate a proportional representation system for delegate selection, but instead allows each state to determine its selection process. A total of 265 delegates were pledged by the results of the March 4th primaries.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Super Tuesday III
Super Tuesday III was the name for 6 May 2008, the day on which the states of Indiana and North Carolina held primary elections for both the Democratic and Republican nominations. It was a day tied for the fifth-largest simultaneous number of state presidential primary elections to be held in the 2008 presidential election cycle. It was the third Super Tuesday election of 2008 and took place approximately two months after Super Tuesday II, 2008. The Democratic primaries had a total of 218 delegates selected on this date, with 126 delegates chosen in the Republican primaries.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Super Tuesday III, Names and prior election cycles
Pundits have noted that this is the first time that Indiana has garnered widespread attention from presidential primary candidates since Robert F. Kennedy campaigned in the state during the 1968 election. The unexpected relevance of the Indiana Democratic primary has also resulted in much higher than normal voter registration. Likewise, North Carolina Democratic new voter registrations are triple the number reported for the same time period during the 2004 election.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Super Tuesday III, Names and prior election cycles
"Super Tuesday III" was largely considered the "Waterloo" of the Democratic primaries. Obama had been under fire for controversial remarks made by Jeremiah Wright, and his lead in North Carolina polls had been reduced to single digits, so Clinton's double-digit loss in that state was a major disappointment. Further hurting Clinton's campaign was the time-zone differences, as the defeat was reported in prime time, and the news of the narrow victory in Indiana had come too late. MSNBC's Tim Russert was quoted as saying "She did not get the game-changer she wanted tonight."


2008 Super Tuesday II, Super Tuesday III, Names and prior election cycles
Demographics also played a role as North Carolina featured a lot of African-American as well as young voters in college towns, key groups who have favored Obama during the race. Indiana on the other hand had a significant number of blue-collar and rural voters, groups who favoured Clinton however the race was close as votes from nearly 330,000 people who live in Lake County, directly neighboring Chicago, an Obama stronghold were being counted.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Super Tuesday III, Results, Democratic
Under Democratic Party rules, all delegates are awarded via proportional representation, with a minimum 15% threshold required to receive delegates. A total of 218 delegates will be pledged by the results of the May 6th primaries.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Super Tuesday III, Results, Republican
The Republican Party does not mandate a proportional representation system for delegate selection, but instead allows each state to determine its selection process. A total of 126 delegates will be pledged by the results of the May 6th primaries. The Republican primaries on this date were of little importance, as John McCain had already secured enough delegates in prior contests to win the nomination.


2008 Super Tuesday II, Super Tuesday IV
Super Tuesday IV was held on May 20, 2008, consisting of the Democratic Kentucky and Oregon primaries. A total of 125 delegates were seated as a result of these primaries. Hillary Clinton handily won the Kentucky primary and Barack Obama handily won the Oregon primary.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak
The 2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak was a deadly tornado outbreak which affected the Southern United States and the lower Ohio Valley on February 5 and 6, 2008. The event began on Super Tuesday, while 24 states in the United States were holding primary elections and caucuses to select the presidential candidates for the upcoming presidential election. Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, and Tennessee were among the affected regions in which primaries were being held. Some voting locations were forced to close early due to the approaching severe weather.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak
The outbreak generated 87 tornadoes over 15 hours from the afternoon of February 5 until the early morning of February 6. The storm system produced several destructive tornadoes in heavily populated areas, most notably in the Memphis metropolitan area, in Jackson, Tennessee, and the northeastern end of the Nashville metropolitan area.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak
A total of 57 people were killed across four states and 18 counties, with hundreds of others injured. The outbreak, at the time, was the deadliest in the era of modern NEXRAD doppler radar, which was fully implemented in 1997. The event was the second deadliest in February since 1950 behind the February 1971 Mississippi Valley tornado outbreak, which killed 123, the deadliest outbreak in both Tennessee and Kentucky since the 1974 Super Outbreak, and was at the time the deadliest tornado outbreak in the US overall since the 1985 United States–Canada tornado outbreak which killed 76 people. This record would not be surpassed until the 2011 Super Outbreak which killed 324 people. Damage from tornadoes was estimated at over $500 million (2008 USD).


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak
The weather system which produced the tornadoes caused significant straight-line wind damage, hail as large as softballs – 4.5 inches (11 cm) in diameter – major flooding, significant freezing rain, and heavy snow across many areas of eastern North America. The total damage from the entire weather system reached $1.2 billion.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
A series of strong low pressure systems formed across the southern Great Plains on February 4, contributing to record warmth on February 4 and 5 in the southern Plains and lower Mississippi River Valley. High temperatures across many areas reached the 70s°F (21–26 °C), and in Alabama temperatures reached the low 80s°F (27 °C) with dew points in the middle 60s° (17–20 °C). Dewpoints in the mid 60s°F were recorded as far north as Memphis. A strong cold front trailing the low-pressure area approached the region from the west.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
As the surface low progressed northeast, a strong jet streak was positioned over the warm sector, with winds moving East which was perpendicular to the direction of the surface winds, which were out at the southeast. This sharp change in winds resulted in much wind shear and wind profiles favoring rotating supercells capable of producing significant tornadoes. The strong jet streak also provided tons of lift, favoring supercells to form in the open warm sector. instability across the outbreak area. CAPE values, a measurement of the level of tropospheric instability, was well over 1000 J/kg, and Storm Relative Helicity, a measurement of the potential for rotating winds, reached over 200 m2/s².


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
On February 5 at 6:39 am CST (1239 UTC), the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a high risk of severe storms for most of Arkansas, the first in February since 1998. At 10:16 am CST (1616 UTC), the high risk area was extended farther northeast to include western Kentucky, northwestern Mississippi, the Missouri Bootheel, West Tennessee, and Southern Illinois.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
A moderate risk of severe weather was issued for northwestern Alabama, the rest of Arkansas, the rest of southern Illinois, southern Indiana, most of the rest of Kentucky, northern Louisiana, central Mississippi, parts of southeastern Missouri, southwestern Ohio, eastern Oklahoma, middle Tennessee and northeastern Texas. A total of fifteen watches were issued by the SPC during the outbreak, including thirteen tornado watches (two of which were PDS watches) and two severe thunderstorm watches.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
Early on the morning of February 5, a squall line developed across eastern Texas northward into Missouri and moved east towards the high risk area. Ahead of the squall line, the cap took longer than expected to break, but when it finally did in the late afternoon hours, numerous supercell thunderstorms quickly formed across Arkansas and southern Missouri. The first tornadoes touched down around 3:30 pm CST (2130 UTC).


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
A cap is a layer of relatively warm air aloft (usually several thousand feet above the ground) which suppresses or delays the development of thunderstorms; the cap often prevents or delays thunderstorm development even in the presence of extreme instability. However, if the cap is removed or weakened, then explosive thunderstorm development can occur.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
Some of the most powerful tornado-producing supercells were situated across the Memphis and Jackson areas, as well as central Arkansas (one producing a tornado that tracked 122 miles (196 km) and lasted about two hours) between 5:00 and 7:30 pm CST (2300 to 0130 UTC) while numerous other tornadoes were reported across northern Mississippi northwest of Tupelo, Mississippi, early in the evening.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
As the evening progressed, one of these supercells traveled across Middle Tennessee including the Nashville metropolitan area and south-central Kentucky, where several deadly tornadoes were reported during the evening hours between 7:30 pm and 11:00 pm CST (0130 to 0500 UTC)Meanwhile, the squall line that developed from near Dallas to Kansas City moved eastward throughout the late evening and overnight hours causing numerous reports of damaging wind along with many spin-up tornadoes from Louisiana to Ohio and Indiana. It then moved through the southeast U.S. during the early morning hours. Additional strong thunderstorms developed ahead of the front across the southeast during the overnight and early morning hours. A record (at the time) of five tornado emergency declarations were issued on February 5; four for Tennessee, and one in Alabama.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Meteorological synopsis
On February 6, a slight risk of severe weather was issued for much of the eastern United States from Pennsylvania to the Florida Panhandle as the squall line raced eastward ahead of the cold front. After several additional tornadoes touched down in Alabama during the early morning hours just before dawn, the primary severe weather threat became damaging wind across the Mid-Atlantic States. No additional tornadoes were reported during the late morning and afternoon as the cold front exited into the Atlantic Ocean, although wind damage was reported across eastern Kentucky, eastern Pennsylvania and most of Georgia. Farther north, snow and freezing rain, at times heavy, continued from Iowa to Quebec until February 7 as the center of the system moved slowly out of the area.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
The first long-lived supercell, which spawned the tornado with the longest continuous track of any single tornado to occur during this outbreak, developed around 4:50 p.m. CST (2250 UTC) southeast of Centerville in Yell County, Arkansas. The tornado touched down to the southwest of New Neely, causing minor damage to two structures and downing trees at EF0 to EF1 strength. The tornado tracked into Pope County, rapidly intensifying to EF3 strength as it slammed into Lucky Landing, a marina at Lake Atkins where multiple vehicles, boats, and mobile homes were destroyed, and one woman was killed.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
Continuing northeast, the tornado struck the southern and eastern outskirts of Atkins, killing three people. 65 homes were heavily damaged or destroyed, and 39 others were damaged to a lesser degree in the Atkins area. Several vehicles were blown off of Interstate 40, and six mobile homes were destroyed as well, with five others damaged. Northeast of Atkins, the tornado toppled metal truss towers, destroyed chicken houses, and heavily damaged a large church and gym.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
In the Happy Bend area, another fatality occurred as a man abandoned his mobile home and sought shelter in a large metal shipping container, which was tossed hundreds of yards into a wooded area. The tornado continued on and crossed into Conway County at EF3 intensity, passing near the town of Cleveland. 36 homes and mobile homes were destroyed, six sustained major damage, and eight sustained minor damage along this segment of the path. Several chicken houses were completely destroyed, killing 80,000 chickens, and an elderly couple was killed when their mobile home was swept completely away.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
The tornado intensified to EF4 strength as it entered Van Buren County and tore through the south edge of Clinton, killing three people in the vicinity. One of these deaths occurred at a boat manufacturing plant in town which was destroyed. The plant was completely leveled to the ground, with its metal beam frame severely mangled. Homes in this area were leveled and swept from their foundations, vehicles were wrapped around trees and rendered nearly unrecognizable, a dentists office was obliterated, and trees were debarked. A church and several businesses were damaged as well.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
62 homes and mobile homes were destroyed, 30 were severely damaged, and 31 sustained minor damage. The tornado maintained EF4 intensity as it continued into Stone County, slamming into the town of Mountain View. The local hospital sustained heavy roof and wall damage, and several doctors offices were destroyed, along with a paint shop, a body shop, and a car parts store. A car dealership was completely flattened, with vehicles being tossed from the sales lot and across the highway. One vehicle was lofted a considerable distance through the air and over a building before being dropped into a ravine.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
Surveyors observed a utility pole in this area that was pulled up and jammed back into the ground with wires still attached. The town's fire station was heavily damaged, and one fatality occurred when a house was swept from its foundation. 38 homes and mobile homes were destroyed, 15 sustained major damage, and 15 sustained minor damage in the Mountain View area. The tornado weakened slightly to high-end EF3 strength as it crossed into Izard County and impacted the rural community of Zion, killing two people, destroying 43 homes and mobile homes, severely damaging 14, and lightly damaging 36 more.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
Hundreds of cattle were killed in this area, and a Jeep was stripped down to its frame and tires and found wrapped around the stump of a large tree that was snapped. An unanchored home in the area was swept clean from its foundation as well, leaving only the slab behind. Maintaining EF3 intensity, the tornado then struck the town of Highland in Sharp County, resulting in severe damage. At least 40 businesses along U.S. Route 412 in Highland were damaged or destroyed, including a strip mall, a restaurant, a church, and a car dealership.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
The local fire station was destroyed along with much of the equipment inside, and multiple vehicles were overturned along the highway. 40 homes and mobile homes were destroyed, eight sustained major damage, and 19 sustained minor damage in the Highland area. Highland High School and two apartment buildings sustained minor damage as well. To the northeast of Highland, the tornado rapidly weakened and dissipated.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Atkins–Clinton–Mountain View–Highland, Arkansas
An aerial survey later determined that the damage across the seven counties was caused by one continuous tornado, with a track estimated at 122 miles (196 km) in length. This was the longest single tornado track recorded in Arkansas since detailed record keeping began in 1950. In all, 13 people were killed and 140 were injured. At least 200 homes and businesses were destroyed along the tornado's path. Damage from this tornado was estimated at nearly $120 million across the seven counties.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Southaven, Mississippi/Memphis, Tennessee
At 5:32 p.m. CST (2332 UTC), a supercell thunderstorm produced a multiple-vortex tornado in Southaven, Mississippi. The tornado first struck Southaven High School, where 30 windows were broken, minor roof damage occurred, and damage was rated EF0. In the nearby Carriage Hill subdivision, several homes sustained minor damage as well. The tornado rapidly intensified to EF2 strength as it crossed the intersection of Stateline Road and Airways Boulevard, destroying three warehouse buildings. One of the buildings destroyed was the Cooper Lighting Plant, and a gas station in this area was damaged as well. Numerous trees and power poles were also downed in Southaven.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Southaven, Mississippi/Memphis, Tennessee
The tornado maintained EF2 intensity as it quickly tracked across the Mississippi – Tennessee state line and into southeastern portions of Memphis, where WREG tower cameras broadcast live footage of the tornado moving through the southeastern parts of Memphis, producing multiple bright blue power flashes along the way. By this point, the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Emergency (the first of five to be issued during the outbreak) for most of the Memphis metropolitan area. The tornado produced an extensive swath of damage as it moved through residential and commercial areas.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Southaven, Mississippi/Memphis, Tennessee
Considerable damage was reported at Memphis International Airport, where a hangar lost its roof, the FedEx freight terminal's fire station suffered roof damage, airstair trucks were thrown 100 yards (91 m), and aircraft were moved around, including a Boeing 737 that was moved one foot. FedEx service was disrupted due to flight delays and closed roads, all because of the tornado damage in surrounding areas. The airport weather station's reporting equipment recorded a wind gust of 73 knots (84 mph, 135 km/h).


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Southaven, Mississippi/Memphis, Tennessee
In the Clarke Road area, tractor trailers were tossed around, a power substation was severely damaged, and several warehouse structures sustained heavy damage. This included a DSC warehouse that was destroyed, killing three people inside. Numerous windows were shattered at the Willow Lake Business Park, and utility poles and trees were snapped in the area. Multiple homes along Maple Tree Drive and Pinbranch Court were damaged, five of which sustained major damage. The Hardy Bottling Company facility was also damaged, which released 120,000 pounds (54,500 kg) of anhydrous ammonia into the atmosphere, although no public health impacts were reported.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Southaven, Mississippi/Memphis, Tennessee
Continuing northeast, the tornado weakened to EF1 strength and struck the Hickory Ridge Mall, resulting in total collapse of a large wall and much of the roof at the Sears department store. Damage surveyors noted very poor construction at this location, and six people in the mall were injured. Cars and semi-trailers near the mall were flipped and damaged as well. A Taco Bell and a few other businesses were damaged along Winchester Road before the tornado dissipated. Numerous trees and power poles were snapped along much of the tornado's path through Southaven and Memphis, and electricity supply to about 65,000 customers was briefly cut.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Southaven, Mississippi/Memphis, Tennessee
The National Weather Service office in Memphis rated the tornado as an EF2. Three people were killed and 13 others were injured. Shelby County Election Commission administrator James Johnson stated the weather did not interfere with Super Tuesday primary voting.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Jackson, Tennessee tornado family
Farther to the northeast in Fayette County, Tennessee, another powerful tornado touched down near the rural community of Yum Yum and quickly reached EF3 intensity. This tornado was spawned by the same supercell that had affected Memphis about an hour earlier. Near the beginning of the path, a shed was obliterated and a pickup truck parked inside was thrown 40 feet and mangled, killing a man inside the vehicle. Several other vehicles were tossed, and significant damage to large trees was observed before the tornado crossed into Haywood County.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Jackson, Tennessee tornado family
Weakening to EF2 strength, the tornado struck the town of Dancyville, destroying a house, severely damaging another house and a church, and uprooting numerous large trees. The tornado then struck the rural community of Hillville, where two mobile homes were completely destroyed, a frame home was heavily damaged, and a convenience store sustained roof damage. Numerous large trees in this area were snapped, and an outbuilding was flattened. Several other homes along this segment of the path sustained minor damage. Regaining EF3 strength, the tornado crossed into Madison County, striking the Huntersville community.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Jackson, Tennessee tornado family
Numerous homes were damaged or destroyed in Huntersville, and two people were killed. A church in town sustained major damage, and a nearby church bus was tossed several hundred feet and flipped upside down. The tornado then exited Huntersville and headed towards the city of Jackson. Several cars and at least 13 tractor trailers were blown off of Interstate 40 by the tornado in this area. One car was tossed 75 yards into a farm field. A rest area along the interstate was severely damaged before the tornado began to weaken and lifted as it approached U.S. Route 412, dissipating just before it would have entered densely populated areas of western and northern Jackson.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Jackson, Tennessee tornado family
Shortly after the initial tornado dissipated, a new circulation rapidly developed to the east of the old one. This new circulation produced a tornado that touched down at the Union University campus in Jackson, almost immediately intensifying into a violent EF4 and causing tremendous damage. Several large, brick, two-story dormitory buildings sustained major structural damage, two of which completely collapsed. 80% of the dormitory buildings on campus were damaged or destroyed, and hundreds of vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the parking lots around campus. Twelve students at the university were trapped in damaged buildings but all were eventually rescued.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Jackson, Tennessee tornado family
Due to the damage, the university was closed until February 18. Past Union University, the tornado weakened slightly and maintained EF3 strength along the remainder of the path. It tracked across U.S. Route 45, heavily damaging several banks, businesses, a hospital, and several doctors offices. The tornado then moved through the northern part of Jackson, inflicting significant damage to many subdivisions and businesses. The Chapel Creek, Indian Hills, and Wyndhurst subdivisions were all struck by the tornado. Numerous homes were damaged in this area, some of which sustained loss of roofs and exterior walls.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Jackson, Tennessee tornado family
Additional damage was noted at Northside High School, at the Jackson Oaks Senior Living Complex, and in the Walnut Trace subdivision as well. Continuing northeast, the tornado caused major damage to multiple additional homes as it crossed near the intersection of Christmasville Road and Ashport Road. The Madison County Fire Station #11 was destroyed in this area as well, with the station's fire engine and pumper, along with its water and brush trucks all being damaged. Beyond this point, the tornado weakened and dissipated. 70 structures were destroyed in Jackson, with over 500 more damaged.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Jackson, Tennessee tornado family
Despite causing EF4 damage after dark in a densely populated area, the tornado did not cause any deaths in Jackson, though 51 people were injured, and the initial EF3 tornado caused three fatalities and 14 injuries. The second of the two tornadoes was the third violent tornado to hit Jackson in 10 years. Two others, both rated F4, had devastated the community on January 17, 1999 and May 4, 2003. Over 60 people in the city of Jackson were treated for injuries as a result of the severe weather, 50 of whom were released immediately. Estimates indicate that the tornadoes caused about $47 million worth of damages in Madison County, with $40 million of that total occurring at Union University alone.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
Just after 9:00 p.m. CST (0300 UTC), a supercell that had spawned tornadoes over northern Mississippi as well as a deadly EF4 in Hardin County, Tennessee, moved to the northeast over Nashville. Fortunately, no tornadoes were reported there and no significant damage was reported in Nashville or Davidson County, though funnel clouds were sighted during the storm's passage. At the time the supercell moved over Nashville, a National Hockey League game between the Nashville Predators and the Carolina Hurricanes, which was nationally televised on Versus, was being played at the Sommet Center.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
With just over nine minutes left in the third period, Predators head coach Barry Trotz was told that the game may have to be stopped. Although the game continued to completion, at the game's end fans were not allowed to leave the arena until the storm had passed. National Weather Service Meteorologist Bobby Boyd theorized that cold air downbursts impinged on the development of a strong, low-level circulation as the storm moved through the Nashville area, forcing the area of rotation to remain aloft as it crossed over Davidson County and downtown Nashville.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
After the supercell moved through Nashville and the environment became favorable again, a tornado touched down to the southwest of Castalian Springs in Sumner County, Tennessee, just after 10:00 p.m. CST (0400 UTC). This was the beginning of a devastating, long-track EF3 tornado that would go on to kill 22 people and become the deadliest of the outbreak. At the beginning of the path, damage was relatively minor and limited to snapped trees and damaged roofs. However, the tornado rapidly intensified to EF3 strength as it tore directly through Castalian Springs, destroying numerous homes and businesses.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
The town's post office was completely leveled, mobile homes were obliterated, and several block-foundation homes were leveled or swept away. The 19th century Wynnewood Inn, a national historical landmark and stagecoach stop, suffered major damage to its second floor and grounds during the storm. 11-month old Castalian Springs resident Kyson Stowell survived being thrown from his family's home and carried through the air by the tornado as the structure was completely destroyed. Kyson was found unharmed in an open field, nearly 500 feet away from where he originated. Kyson's mother, Kerri Stowell, was killed in the tornado. A total of 85 homes were destroyed along this portion of the tornado's path. Seven fatalities were confirmed in Castalian Springs, and 14 other people were injured.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
The tornado then tracked into Trousdale County and passed through rural areas to the northwest of Hartsville, weakening slightly to high-end EF2 strength. Frame homes were damaged or destroyed, vehicles were tossed and damaged, numerous trees were snapped and denuded, and mobile homes were obliterated with debris and insulation strewn long distances downwind. Ten homes were destroyed, and 23 homes had major damage along this segment of the path. As a result of the tornado, a major fire occurred as a natural gas plant was ripped apart by the tornado in the southwestern portion of the county.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
The area was evacuated and no one was injured at the plant. Two people were killed at a home along U.S. Route 231, and five other people were injured in the county. Crossing into Macon County, the tornado regained EF3 intensity as it struck the western and northern sections of Lafayette, resulting in widespread, major destruction in the area. Numerous homes and several churches were destroyed in Lafayette, with several leveled to the ground. An auto sales business in town sustained heavy damage as well.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
Surveyors observed major damage to a large, expensive brick home that was built unanchored on a very weak, unreinforced cinder block foundation. The house shifted off the foundation during the tornado, causing walls to buckle and collapse. 170 homes were destroyed, and 9 homes had major damage in the Lafayette area. 13 people were killed in and around town, and 44 others were injured. President George W. Bush toured the Macon County destruction on February 8 and promised relief to individuals. The logging industry in Macon County was hit hard, with about a million dollars worth of trees destroyed.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
Debris from Lafayette was found as far north as Sano, Kentucky, in Adair County, approximately 70 miles (113 km) to the northeast. Sixteen thousand TVA electricity customers in Macon and Trousdale Counties lost power, some of whom did not have their service restored for a week. Macon County schools were closed until February 19. In total, roughly 260 houses in the three Tennessee counties were destroyed, and damage amounts were estimated at $78 million in Macon County alone.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
The tornado continued across the state boundary into Monroe County, Kentucky as an EF3, where two frame homes and two mobile homes near Gamaliel were destroyed, and several other structures suffered extensive damage. Thirteen people from an adjacent trailer park took shelter in the basement of one of the frame homes that was destroyed, and were trapped by debris for up to 30 minutes before being rescued. Past Gamaliel, the tornado struck a subdivision and damaged several homes at that location before moving through rural areas towards Tompkinsville, snapping and uprooting numerous large trees along the way.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
The tornado maintained EF3 strength as it clipped the north edge of Tompkinsville, where a large wood frame warehouse was destroyed, a metal frame industrial building was twisted off of its foundation, and a large, well-built brick home was left with only interior walls remaining. A three car detached garage was completely destroyed as well. Continuing northeast past Tompkinsville, the tornado began to weaken, and eventually lifted as it crossed into Cumberland County. The tornado caused no injuries or fatalities in Kentucky.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Castalian Springs–Lafayette, Tennessee/Tompkinsville, Kentucky
Extensive damage surveys by the National Weather Service office in Nashville confirmed that all 22 deaths along the path (which was revised downward from 24 due to double-counting) were caused by a single long-track EF3 tornado. The tornado path was 50.32 miles (80.98 km) long and up to 880 yards (800 m) wide at times. The devastation was described by Governor Phil Bredesen as "It looks like the Lord took a Brillo pad and scrubbed the ground" while surveying by helicopter. This tornado was the deadliest single tornado to strike Middle Tennessee in over 75 years, and the deadliest single US tornado since the Evansville Tornado of November 2005 (which killed 24 people).


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Moulton–Decatur, Alabama
At approximately 1:00 a.m. CST (0700 UTC), the broken squall line that had affected Oklahoma and Missouri entered the state of Alabama. Individual supercell storms began to develop ahead of the squall line along the Alabama–Mississippi border due to the strengthening of the upper-level jet stream. A supercell that developed over Starkville, Mississippi, and tracked over Lamar, Marion and Fayette Counties in Alabama spawned a tornado in Lawrence County, Alabama, at 3:02 a.m. CST (0902 UTC). The tornado touched down south of Moulton near the William B. Bankhead National Forest.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Moulton–Decatur, Alabama
Many houses were damaged or destroyed, and a church was leveled. Three fatalities, all from a single family, were reported north of Aldridge Grove. A large, brick, two story home was completely leveled to the ground at one location, and a truck was thrown more than 100 yards into a field. Fence posts anchored in concrete were ripped out of the ground and thrown up to 100 feet away in different directions. Numerous large trees were snapped, uprooted, and denuded along the path as well.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Confirmed tornadoes, Moulton–Decatur, Alabama
In addition to the other three fatalities, an elderly woman was also killed in the destruction of her mobile home, and 23 others were injured. The tornado was initially classified as an EF3, although it was upgraded to EF4 in later analysis. The hardest hit communities were the rural communities of Wren, Speake, Pin Hook and Five Points. The tornado moved into Morgan County and threatened the Decatur area, leading the NWS in Huntsville to issue a tornado emergency (the fifth for the outbreak) for Morgan County and southern Limestone County. The tornado lifted off the ground before reaching Decatur. The same supercell moved over the Huntsville Metro area, though no tornadoes were reported.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Non-tornadic events
Numerous reports of damaging winds were associated with the passage of the cold front. Wind gusts from Arkansas to Indiana exceeded 50 mph (80 km/h), bringing down numerous trees and power lines, and causing widespread power outages. A 67 mph (108 km/h) wind gust was recorded during the passage of a squall line at Little Rock National Airport. The highest recorded wind gust associated with the passage of the squall line was 82 mph (131 km/h) in Terre Haute, Indiana. Hail as large as softballs (4.5 inches (11 cm) in diameter) was reported in several communities. In Canada, unseasonably early thunderstorms brought bouts of heavy rainfall to parts of southern Ontario late on February 4.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Non-tornadic events, Flooding
Heavy rains in association with thunderstorms on February 4 to February 6, combined with the melting of snow, caused flooding across parts of Illinois, New York, Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. Among the areas hardest hit by the flooding rivers and streams were the Miami Valley, areas along the Blanchard River in Findlay and parts of northern Indiana between Indianapolis and north of Fort Wayne along the Tippecanoe, St. Marys and Wabash Rivers. Several streets in Fort Wayne were under water, and flooding also occurred between Lafayette and Terre Haute.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Non-tornadic events, Winter storm
The same low pressure systems that caused the tornado outbreak also spawned a significant snowstorm from the Central Plains to the western Great Lakes where winter storm warnings were issued. Between 10 and 15 inches (25–38 cm) of snow fell from eastern Iowa to southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, with local amounts ranging from 18 to 21 inches (45–53 cm) in southeastern Wisconsin. In Michigan, up to 14 inches (35 cm) of snow fell north of Grand Rapids.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Non-tornadic events, Winter storm
Environment Canada also issued freezing rain and winter storm warnings for Southern Ontario, where some areas north of Lake Erie received close to 1 inch (25 mm) of freezing rain. In Toronto, two waves of moderate to heavy snow accompanied by thunder and lightning, along with ice pellets, brought up to 14 inches (35 cm) of accumulated winter precipitation on February 6 and 7. Other areas from Windsor to Ottawa, as well as southwestern Nova Scotia, received from 4 to 20 inches (10–50 cm) of snow.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Non-tornadic events, Winter storm
Over 1,000 flight cancellations were reported at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, and numerous flight cancellations also occurred at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. In Milwaukee, whiteout conditions and 13 inches (33 cm) of snow briefly shut down the General Mitchell International Airport. Near Madison, Wisconsin, about 1,000 vehicles were stranded on Interstate 90 due to the snow. Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle declared a state of emergency for the area and activated the Wisconsin National Guard. On February 6, numerous schools, colleges, government buildings, churches, businesses, and shopping malls were forced to close throughout southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois due to the inclement weather. The winter storm was responsible for at least four deaths: one each in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Quebec.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Aftermath
On February 7 a federal disaster declaration was made by President George W. Bush for 11 counties in Arkansas and five counties in Tennessee. Sixteen additional counties in Tennessee requested federal aid, and on February 12, Tennessee Governor Bredesen announced that eight counties in Tennessee became eligible. President Bush also visited Tennessee to tour the devastated areas on February 8.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Aftermath
The American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the United Way and other charitable groups also quickly mobilized volunteers to assist survivors in the aftermath across the regions affected. In the three hardest hit Middle Tennessee counties alone, the Red Cross sent out over 100 volunteers to deliver meals and supplies. Emergency assistance was also offered by the Tennessee Department of Human Services for low income victims in the counties affected by the tornadoes.


2008 Super Tuesday tornado outbreak, Aftermath
In addition, the Nashville Predators announced that for their game on February 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, half the ticket sales revenue would be donated to the American Red Cross to help with their efforts, and that fans could make additional donations to Red Cross volunteers at the arena's main entrances. The National Football League's Tennessee Titans along with the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management of Nashville organized a donation drive during the weekend of February 9 at LP Field.


2008 Superbike World Championship
The 2008 Superbike World Championship was the twenty-first season of the Superbike World Championship. Corona Extra ceased to be the championship's title sponsor, as it had been since 1998. The electronics  manufacturer HANNspree took over as the title sponsor in 2008 and this arrangement remained in place until 2010, with the championship officially known as the "HANNspree SBK Superbike World Championship".


2008 Superbike World Championship
The Superbike World Championship returned to the United States on 1 June 2008, for the 2008 6th round of the Superbike World Championship. The round took place at the Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, Utah. This was the first time SBK had raced in the United States since the 2004 round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The Superbike World Championship shared the weekend with the AMA Superbike Championship and its support classes. However to avoid direct comparisons between World Superbike and AMA Superbike, and because of sponsorship issues the two championships raced on different configurations of the circuit. World Superbikes used the 3.048 miles (4.905 km) Outer Track, while AMA Superbike and its support classes used the 4.5 miles (7.2 km) Main Track.


2008 Superbike World Championship
The provisional championship calendar was made up of 15 rounds but the Indonesian round in Sentul International Circuit was removed from the final calendar.


2008 Superbike World Championship
Australian rider Troy Bayliss won his third Superbike World Championship riding the factory supported Ducati 1098. He secured the title with his 50th race win at the second race at Magny-Cours.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
The 2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was the twelfth running of the Australian 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. It was the 52nd race tracing its lineage back to the 1960 Armstrong 500 held at Phillip Island.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
The race, which was the tenth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series, held from 9–12 October at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000
Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup driving a Ford BF Falcon for TeamVodafone, won the race for the third year in succession, the first 'three-peat' of Bathurst 1000 wins since 1984 when it was achieved by Lowndes' mentor, Peter Brock and present day Jack Daniel's Racing team principal, Larry Perkins for the Holden Dealer Team.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Entry List
Twenty-nine cars were entered into the event – 16 Holden Commodores and 13 Ford Falcons. At the time it was the lowest field size since the race moved to Bathurst in 1963. Seven drivers made their debut in 2008 – Chris Pither, Dale Wood, Boris Said, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Marc Hynes, Michael Patrizi and Karl Reindler. The three non-Antipodean drivers (Said, Giovanardi and Hynes) would be making their only appearances in the race. Kayne Scott, Adam Macrow and Steven Ellery made their last starts in 2008, whilst Paul Radisich and Paul Weel were entered for the final time but did not make the start of the race.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Entry List, Driver changes
The following driver changes were made following the 2008 L&H 500:


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Entry List, Driver changes
Alex Davison joined the Glenfords Racing team alongside regular driver Fabian Coulthard, replacing John McIntyre who substituted for Davison at the L&H 500.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Entry List, Driver changes
Karl Reindler replaced Grant Denyer at Ford Rising Stars Racing. Denyer suffered a spinal injury while competing in the NSW Monster Truck Championships at the Dapto Showgrounds and was sidelined for the rest of the season.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Practice
Free practice began on Thursday 9 October when three sessions were held. The first session, (in which the top 15 placegetters from the 2007 V8Supercar Championship Series are not allowed to take part), was topped by Warren Luff in the second Jim Beam Racing Falcon with a 2:10.7158 ahead of Tony D'Alberto in the Rod Nash Racing Commodore and Alex Davison in the Glenfords Racing Falcon.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Practice
Garth Tander topped the second session, recording a 2:09.3700 in the Holden Racing Team Commodore ahead of Craig Lowndes in the Team Vodafone Falcon and Greg Murphy in the Sprint Gas Racing Commodore. Jason Bargwanna continued D'Alberto's form from the first session to be fourth fastest in a session marred by a crash for Jack Perkins who backed the Jack Daniel's Racing Commodore into the wall across the top of the Mountain, putting the car out of action for the day.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Practice
A second red flag emerged in the longest third session, for the Sprint Gas Racing Commodore shared by Mark Noske and Dale Wood. After the resumption Jamie Whincup recorded the fastest time of the day, a 2:07.5975 in the Team Vodafone Falcon, to be two hundredths quicker than Greg Murphy (Sprint Gas Racing Commodore).


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Practice
Mark Winterbottom was third fastest for Ford Performance Racing ahead of Rick Kelly (HSV Dealer Team Commodore), Russell Ingall (Supercheap Auto Racing), Steve Owen (Jim Beam Racing), Paul Dumbrell (HSV Dealer Team), Lee Holdsworth (Garry Rogers Motorsport), Shane van Gisbergen (Stone Brothers Racing) with Garth Tander completing the top ten fastest cars.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Practice
In the first practice session on Friday morning a major accident occurred at Sulman Park when Chris Pither struck a stationary Paul Weel. Weel had to be cut from the wreckage, but neither driver was seriously hurt. Both cars were withdrawn suffering from extensive damage. With both cars belonging to single car teams, Paul Weel Racing and Team Kiwi Racing appeared to be eliminated from the meeting. However the Team Kiwi Falcon was repaired and did in fact start in Sunday's race.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Practice
Garth Tander topped the morning's practice sessions with a 2:06.9922, with Jamie Whincup recording a 2:07.1371 in the second Friday session. Combined times saw Craig Lowndes third fastest ahead of James Courtney, Jason Richards, Steve Owen, Greg Murphy, Will Davison, Steven Richards all under 2:08 with Mark Winterbottom completing the fastest ten drivers.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Practice
In Saturday morning practice Jason Richards recorded the fastest lap of the weekend, a 2:06.9076. Paul Radisich had a major accident at McPhillamy Park Corner when a stuck throttle pushed the HSV Dealer Team Commodore into the wall. Radisich broke his right ankle in the accident. The car sustained heavy damage and was subsequently withdrawn. Later in the day it was announced that David Reynolds would step out of his drive in the second HSV Dealer Team Commodore in order to allow Rick Kelly to start the race.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Qualifying
Mark Winterbottom took provisional pole position during qualifying on 10 October, snatching it in the final lap of leg two to secure the tenth and final Top 10 Shootout position with a 2:07.1920 lap. Jason Richards had held top spot for the final ten minutes of the session, finishing second fastest. Jamie Whincup was third fastest ahead of James Courtney. Garth Tander was fifth fastest in the Holden Racing Team Commodore ahead of arms-length teammate Rick Kelly.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Qualifying
Will Davison and Paul Dumbrell were next with Fabian Coulthard climbing into the top ten towards the end of the session in the Paul Cruickshank Racing Falcon. Tenth fastest and first Shootout position was claimed by Russell Ingall, with Max Wilson spinning at Murray's Corner on the last lap chasing a top ten position.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Qualifying
A power steering leak took Lee Holdsworth out of qualifying by pitching him into the wall at the Dipper, leaving him in 14th, while Fabrizio Giovanardi damaged the second Triple Eight Race Engineering Falcon, bringing out red flags during leg one of qualifying.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Qualifying
After the withdrawal of the damaged Kelly/Radisich car, the Wilson/Jones entry was promoted into the Top 10 Shootout.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Top 10 Shootout
The Top 10 Shootout was held on Saturday 11 October 2008. Max Wilson and Fabian Coulthard were rapidly consigned to the bottom spots, handicapped by a lack of fresh tyres for the Shootout. Paul Dumbrell was quick jumping into a high 2:07 lap. Will Davison was untidy on his lap. Garth Tander was very quick, recording what become pole position, a 2:07.2963. James Courtney was quick, but half a second behind Tander. Jamie Whincup's car appeared unsettled and Jason Richards had a big moment at Reid Park, losing him two tenths of a second that he never recovered. Mark Winterbottom was ahead of Tander at the second sector split but was slower down the hill, finishing second fastest, 0.12s behind Tander.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
From pole position Garth Tander stalled allowing Steven Richards to lead early. Later Tander was also assigned a ten-second penalty for jumping the start as well. The Penalty was served at the car's first pitstop. Into Griffins Bend on the opening lap Craig Lowndes and Greg Murphy touched, giving the Holden slight damage which caused Murphy to pit on lap four. James Courtney raced through to dominate the opening stint. Craig Lowndes gave chase with Will Davison settling in to chase with Max Wilson and Russell Ingall leading the Holden charge while Steven Richards and Rick Kelly (starting Paul Dumbrell's Commodore) slid backwards.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
Starting with Jack Perkins on lap 15 cars started to appear in the pits with a failed left rear tyre. Delaminations were to strike the entire field throughout the day, with the cars of Will Davison, Todd Kelly and Lee Holdsworth worst affected of the front runners. Kayne Scott was the first retirement on lap eight, the hastily repaired Team Kiwi Racing Falcon was four-five seconds behind the pace and effectively unraceable. The second retirement was on 40 when Andrew Jones spun the Brad Jones Racing Commodore into the wall at Griffin's Bend. Jones limped the car back to the pits without bothering the safety car. By this stage Rick Kelly was out of contention, with the same sticking throttle that caused the #15 car to crash on Saturday starting to blight the #16 car.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
A slowly deflating tyre (originally diagnosed as a damaged anti-roll bar) slowed David Besnard's stint in James Courtney's car allowing Jamie Whincup to assert dominance over the field in the second stint. The first safety car occurred on lap 73, after Todd Kelly spun his Jack Daniel's Racing Commodore across the Chase dumped sandtrap debris across the most delicate corner of the circuit. Marshals worked to clean the corner and get the race quickly back under way. The third safety car was called about 15 laps later when Michael Patrizi spun the Ford Rising Stars Falcon at Murray's Corner.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
Just after the restart Jonathan Webb put the second Stone Brothers Racing Falcon into the sandtrap at McPhillamy Park after striking the wall exiting the previous corner, becoming the race's third retirement. Lowndes pitted for Whincup's second stint at this point. With a safety car having s recently occurred Whincup was buried, emerging back into the field in 17th position. Will Davison moved into the lead at this point that he would hold until lap 98 when he pitted. Greg Murphy led for a single lap before pitting for Jason Richards, handing the lead to Max Wilson. Wilson lead until the next safety car on lap 106 when he pitted for Brad Jones and Jamie Whincup resumed the lead.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
By this stage Mark Skaife had removed the lead Holden Racing Team Commodore from contention, wiping the car's nose across the Forrests Elbow wall. A safety car on lap 128 caused the majority of the field to pit, putting David Besnard back into the lead until his final stop for James Courtney on lap 137.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
Two rapid safety cars occurred shortly afterwards, first after Lee Holdsworth's Commodore stopped in the Cutting, then at the restart a touch between Craig Baird, who had just been unsettled by another car passing him at Griffin's Bend, and Warren Luff in the second Jim Beam Racing Falcon, put Baird into the wall. Luff was given a drive-through penalty for his part in the incident. Russell Ingall also dropped out at roughly this point with power steering failure.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
At the lap 147 restart Lowndes led from Steven Richards and Greg Murphy. Tucked in behind were Max Wilson and James Courtney ahead of Tony D'Alberto, Fabian Coulthard, Warren Luff (about to pit for his penalty), Jason Bright and Luke Youlden. Courtney, on fresh tyres and cut through the pack and on lap 153 ducked under Max Wilson at Forrests Elbow for fourth place. Murphy, while faster than Richards was unable to get by, allowing Lowndes to build a comfortable buffer. On lap 158 Murphy finally moved into second position at Hell Corner and set off after Lowndes.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
Two laps later, Richards, fading badly on rear tyres was unable to stop Courtney move into third place. The gaps stabilised over the final laps and Lowndes took a two-second victory, earning himself and Jamie Whincup their third consecutive victory, a feat not managed since Peter Brock and Larry Perkins took their third consecutive win in the 1984 James Hardie 1000.


2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Race
Behind Murphy and Courtney, Steven Richards hung onto fourth position ahead of Max Wilson. Tony D'Alberto spun into the Griffins Bend wall on the second last lap, becoming the races final retirement. Will Davison climbed back into sixth position after a late race tyre delamination had removed him lead battle. Luke Youlden completed a good team result for Ford Performance Racing in seventh ahead of Jack Perkins and Jason Bright. Fabian Coulthard dropped to tenth after having to make a pitstop for fuel with two laps to go. Warren Luff was the final car to complete full race distance in eleventh.