2008 TM Master Cup season
2008 TM Master Cup season | |
# of Rounds | 19 |
Ovals | 13 |
Road Courses | 6 |
Driver's Champion | Alexis Rainsford |
Owner's Champion | JC Racing |
Season Opener | Round of Daytona |
Season Finale | Round of Decatur |
Championship Overview |
The 2008 TM Master Cup Series season championship was won by Alexis Rainsford driving a Calton-Morel for JC Racing, becoming the first woman to win it.
Notes[edit | edit source]
The schedule expanded from 14 to 19 rounds, and would include a European tour, a trend that has continued to this day.
This season featured a promotion and relegation system between the lower-performing drivers in the Master Cup Series, and the top finishers in the TM Junior Series. After the Round of Chicago, the top 48 cars in the points were guaranteed to attempt to qualify for the remainder of the season. The remaining drivers were relegated to the Junior Series, with a Junior Series race being held every weekend for the remainder of the season. New teams would also be initially assigned to the Junior Series upon approval.
The winner of the Junior Series race would be promoted back to the Master Cup Series and advance to the qualifying race for that race weekend. For the Karjala Grand Prix, three promotions were granted; two for the first and second place finishers, and a third for either the polesitter; or, if the polesitter finished in the top two, the third place finisher was promoted.
This is the last season of Master Cup racing to date with full-course cautions at road courses.
Michelin replaced Goodyear as official tire supplier for the series, an arrangement that would last for only this season before teams would be given multiple suppliers to select from in 2009.
Promotional Video[edit | edit source]
Schedule[edit | edit source]
- The blue boxes represent a road/street course race.
Team Chart[edit | edit source]
Listings for races entered do not include cars that raced in the Junior Series on a given weekend, unless they transferred into the Master Cup race.
Points System[edit | edit source]
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th | 21st |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 89 | 85 | 83 | 81 | 80 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 73 | 72 | 67 | 66 | 65 | 64 | 63 | 62 | 61 | 60 | 59 | 58 | 55 |
22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | 28th | 29th | 30th | 31st | 32nd | 33rd | 34th | 35th | 36th | 37th | 38th | 39th | 40th | 41st | 42nd |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
54 | 53 | 52 | 51 | 50 | 49 | 48 | 47 | 46 | 43 | 42 | 41 | 40 | 39 | 38 | 37 | 36 | 35 | 34 | 33 | 32 |
- 1 point goes to the race's polesitter.
- 1 point goes to the driver(s) who lead a lap during the race.
- 3 points goes to the driver who leads the most laps in the race.