Stewart began the 2008 season with a 6th-place start in the Daytona 500. During this race, he was only able to come up with a 3rd-place finish after being passed by Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch on the last lap. The finish of this race was somewhat like a repeat of the previous year's Daytona 500, in which Stewart's close friend Kevin Harvick passed Mark Martin to win it.