Entering the race, only Hendrick Motorsports teammates Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon remained in contention for the Drivers' Championship, with Johnson holding a 73-point margin over Martin in second. Martin Truex Jr. started from pole position by setting the fastest lap in the qualifying session, although he was passed by Kurt Busch by the end of the first lap. Fifty-six laps later, Johnson became the leader of the race. Many Chase for the Sprint Cup participants, including Gordon and Martin ran in the top ten for most of the race. Johnson maintained the first position to lead the most laps of 238, and to win his seventh race of the season. There were four cautions and nine lead changes among four different drivers during the course of the race.
The event saw Johnson claim his seventh race victory of the 2009 season, and the forty-seventh of his career. The result kept Johnson in the lead of the Drivers' Championship, one-hundred and eight points ahead of Martin and one-hundred and sixty nine in front of Gordon. Chevrolet maintained their lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, fifty-eight ahead of Toyota, ninety-five in front of Ford and one-hundred and eight ahead of Dodge. The race attracted 5.17 million television viewers.
At the previous race at Texas Motor Speedway, the Dickies 500,[12] the gap between Johnson and his teammate Martin was reduced by 111 points to 73 points.[13] Johnson came 38th after becoming involved in a three-car accident three laps into the event while Martin finished fourth.[14] For his part, Johnson remained confident about his chances of winning the title, "We still have a nice lead and we'll take it from here... We're still in a great position and we'll go to Phoenix and race."[15] He deemed his 73-point advantage to be "very, very healthy" and noted that Martin could be affected by problems at Phoenix.[16] Martin said he would not change his strategy of attempting to secure victory in his bid to win his first championship, adding, "We aren't in control of anything else that happens. I've said all along that you can't make predictions, and I still say that it's not over."[14] He added that he concentrated on the race at Phoenix and not on scoring points.[17]
Two practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—both on Saturday. A practice session scheduled for Friday morning was cancelled because of rain. The first session lasted 45 minutes, and the second and final session lasted 60 minutes.[3]
Forty-six drivers were entered in the qualifier on Friday evening;[3][18] according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, forty-three were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times.[3] A majority of drivers recorded their fastest laps during their second timed lap.[19]Martin Truex Jr. clinched his third pole position of the season and the fourth of his career at his first attempt to set a time, with a lap of 26.643 seconds.[19][20] He was joined on the grid's front row by Kurt Busch. Johnson qualified third, Kahne took fourth after he had held pole position earlier in the session, and Hamlin started fifth.[19] Biffle, Kyle Busch, Stewart, Casey Mears and Martin completed the top ten positions. The three drivers that failed to qualify were Regan Smith, Kevin Conway and Brandon Ash.[21] After the qualifier Truex said, "(Today) we were pretty good in practice. This is a weird track where you go out in practice, then expect to pick up a half-second somehow (in qualifying). We did. It's strange, but it felt good."[2]
In the first practice session, Sam Hornish Jr. was fastest with a lap of 26.889 seconds, finishing ahead of Kahne in second, and Kyle Busch in third. Biffle was fourth fastest, and Hamlin placed fifth. Montoya, Johnson, Martin, Stewart and Gordon rounded out the top ten fastest drivers in the session. Of the other drivers in the chase, Vickers was fifteenth fastest, while Newman placed seventeenth.[22] Later that day, Johnson was fastest in the second and final practice session with a time of 27.201 seconds, ahead of Martin in second, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in third. Truex was fourth quickest, and Kurt Busch took fifth. Jeff Burton managed sixth. Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano and Kahne followed in the top ten. Other chase drivers included Montoya in seventeenth and Edwards in twenty-third.[23] Kahne scraped the turn two wall and sustained minor damage to the right-hand quarter of his car.[3]
The race began at 3:15p.m. EST and was televised in the United States on ESPN.[1] Commentary was provided by play-by-play caller Jerry Punch, and both Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree provided analysis.[3] Approximately 90,000 spectators attended the event.[25] Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny. Phoenix International Raceway chaplin Ken Bowers began pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation. Former J Records recording artist Tyrese Gibson performed the national anthem, and Senator John McCain commanded the drivers to start their engines. No driver had to move to rear of the grid at the start of the race.[26]
Truex retained his pole position lead into the first lap. On the same lap, Kurt Busch passed Truex to become the new race leader. One lap later, Martin, who started tenth, fell to eleventh. On the 4th lap, Hornish had moved up to seventh position after passing Kyle Busch and Gordon. Two laps later, Montoya moved into the sixteenth position, as Martin passed Stewart for tenth on lap 7. By the 9th lap, Kurt Busch had a one-second lead over Truex One lap later, Kurt Busch increased his lead to 1.5 seconds. On lap 13, Martin passed Kyle Busch to claim ninth. Two laps later, Martin moved into eighth.[26]
Gordon who began the race in fourteenth, had progressed eight positions to sixth by lap 22. Three laps later, Truex had reduced Kurt Busch's lead to one second, as Martin moved into seventh on lap 28. One lap later, Kurt Busch extended his lead over Truex to 1.6 seconds, as Gordon moved into fifth position.[26] On lap 34, Johnson passed Truex for second and began closing up to Kurt Busch; Martin passed Gordon to claim fifth on lap 39.[27] Four laps later, Johnson closed to half a second from Kurt Busch. Twelve laps later, Earnhardt dropped to twentieth position.[26] On lap 54, Johnson passed Kurt Busch to claim the lead as slower traffic impeded Busch.[27] Martin moved to fourth four laps later.[26]
By lap 60, Johnson built up a 1.5 second lead over Kurt Busch, while Hamlin moved into the third position. Green flag pit stops took place from lap 65 to 73; Kurt Busch reclaimed the lead at the end of the cycle.[26] On lap 90, Johnson passed Kurt Busch to take over the lead position by using Reed Sorenson for drafting purposes.[27] Hamlin took over fifth position on the following lap. On the 102nd lap, Martin and Gordon moved into third and fourth respectively. Four laps later, Montoya moved into fourth. Having started on pole position, Truex clinched sixth position on lap 107. On lap 115, the pace car moved on track because debris was spotted on the track. During the caution, most of the leaders made pit stops.[26]
Johnson maintained his lead on the lap 120 restart,[6] followed by Martin and Gordon. Also, the second caution was prompted when Michael Waltrip damaged his car on that restart, Brad Keselowski was hit from behind and David Ragan spun sideways. None of the leaders chose to make pit stops, as the clean-up crew came on track to clear debris and fluids.[26] Johnson held the lead at the lap 128 restart.[6] Gordon accelerated slower than the leaders and dropped to sixth position by the next lap. On lap 129, Kyle Busch and Gordon made contact, but both managed to continue, without damaging their cars. By the next lap, Hamlin passed Martin for second position. On lap 134, Johnson had a 1.5 second lead, as Clint Bowyer moved into the fifth position. By the 138th lap, Johnson's lead was increased to two seconds.[26]
Jimmie Johnson won the race after leading the most laps, and maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship
Kurt Busch and Montoya moved into fourth and ninth positions respectively on lap 141. By the 150th lap, Johnson had built up a 2.7 second lead over Hamlin. On lap 162, Johnson's lead of 3.4 seconds was reduced to nothing when debris was spotted on the track, causing a caution. During the caution, some of the leaders elected to make pit stops.[26] Johnson remained the leader on the restart on lap 169,[6] ahead of Bowyer and Hamlin.[26] Two laps later, a multi-car collision occurred on the narrow front straightway as Earnhardt lost control of his car while driving on the inside of Ambrose,[25][28] and collected Logano, Scott Speed, Hornish, Bobby Labonte, Kenseth, Stewart, Vickers and Keselowski. The damaged cars headed to the pit road during the caution as crews cleaned up debris.[26]
Johnson maintained his lead at the lap 179 restart.[6] On the same lap, Earnhardt headed for his garage because of an oil leak. Three laps later, Vickers and Labonte retired from the race, and Gordon dropped to tenth position. By the 186th lap, Johnson rebuilt his lead to 2.3 seconds, as Bowyer passed Gordon to claim third. Five laps later, Martin and Gordon moved into sixth and ninth positions respectively. Johnson's lead over Kurt Busch was three seconds by lap 196. Four laps later, Edwards moved up to eighteenth position, while Montoya moved to eighth, one lap later. By lap 203, Johnson maintained a 3.4 second lead, while Burton was passed by Martin for fifth position five laps later. Johnson's lead was increased to 4.3 seconds by the 215th lap. On lap 219, Hamlin moved into the third position, and one lap later, Martin moved up another place to fourth. On lap 222, Johnson increased his lead over Kurt Busch to almost five seconds. Six laps later, Earnhardt rejoined the race.[26]
Green flag pit stops began on lap 240; Johnson made a pit stop on lap 242, giving the lead to Kenseth. After pit stops, Johnson regained the first position. By lap 277, the drivers reported their cars becoming loose as track temperatures began to drop. Twelve laps later, Burton passed Hamlin for the second position. On lap 296, Gordon passed Ambrose to claim ninth, while Truex moved into the fifth position. By lap 302, Johnson maintained a 1.8 second lead over Burton. Two laps later, David Reutimann moved back into the top ten after passing Ambrose, while Kurt Busch moved up to sixth on lap 310.[26] Johnson maintained his lead to secure his seventh race victory of the 2009 season, the best win record of any driver over the course of the season,[25] and the 47th of his career.[29] Burton finished a season-high second, ahead of Hamlin in third, Martin in fourth, and Truex in fifth. Kurt Busch, Bowyer, Montoya, Gordon and Reutimann rounded out the top ten finishers.[28] There were nine lead changes among four different drivers during the race. Johnson led four times for a total of 238 laps, more than any other driver.[6]
Post-race
"I'm excited, and it's a great position to be in. But anything could go wrong like last week did."
Johnson appeared in victory lane to celebrate his seventh win of the season and received $267,001 in race winnings.[6] Afterward, he said, "I guess it could have been a statement we were sending. There was a lot of pressure. All week long, we wondered if we could step up like we did today. I'm very proud how we rose to the occasion.", he continued, "When I go home tonight, I'm going to be (mentally) driving laps, what I think I need to do in qualifying trim so I can put my best effort in on Friday. Same thing for race practice on Saturday, and go racing Sunday. Texas was such a good lesson. And I hope that the points we lost in Texas isn't what keeps us from winning this championship."[30]
Burton, who finished second, was happy with his performance, " [New crew chief] Todd Berrier has come in and done a great job, the team's done a great job. We had one hiccough early on pit road but the rest of them we picked out our spots every single time, and that's what it takes; it takes a team effort."[31] In the subsequent post-race press conference, Hamlin said, "Anytime that Jimmie is down is not usually because of performance, it's usually because of an incident like last week. There was no doubt in my mind they were going to come this week and make a statement. Obviously leading all the laps pretty much and winning the race sends a statement out there that he is the best, that they're not going to be denied this year."[30] Gordon commented, "We started off so good. It just seems every weekend we start off great and I don't know what it is. If we knew what it was, we'd do it."[32]
The race result left Johnson maintaining the lead in the Drivers' Championship with 6,492 points.[33] After the race, Martin who finished fourth, was less optimistic about his championship chances, "We've still got to go to Homestead and run like this again because we've still got that threat behind us, Jeff Gordon, especially."[34] Gordon maintained third with 6,323 points but he would be mathematically ineligible to claim the championship when the season-ending Ford 400 commenced one week later.[32] He was forty-two points ahead of Kurt Busch and one-hundred and sixteen in front of Stewart.[33] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained the lead with 256 points. Toyota remained second with 198 points. Ford followed with 161 points, six ahead of Dodge in fourth.[11] 5.17 million people watched the race on television.[5] The race took two hours, forty-nine minutes and twenty-six seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 1.033 seconds.[35]
Note: Only the top twelve positions are included for the driver standings. These drivers qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Related Research Articles
The 2009 Ford 400 was the thirty-sixth and final stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as well as the tenth and final race of the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on November 22, 2009, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, in Homestead, Florida, before a crowd of 70,000 people. The 267-lap race was won by Denny Hamlin of the Joe Gibbs Racing team after starting from thirty-eighth position. Richard Childress Racing driver Jeff Burton finished second and his teammate Kevin Harvick was third.
The 2009 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. With a distance of 500.8 miles (806.0 km), it was held on April 26, 2009 at the 2.66 miles (4.28 km) Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Fox Sports broadcast the race starting at 1 PM EDT, with MRN and Sirius XM Radio carrying the radio broadcast over the air and on satellite respectively. The race had nine cautions, 25 different leaders, and 57 lead changes, the most lead changes of the season up until that point.
The 2009 Dickies 500 was the 34th stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the eighth in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on November 8, 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway, in Fort Worth, Texas, before a crowd of 167,000. Kurt Busch of the Penske Racing team won the 334-lap race starting from third position. Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second and Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth was third.
The 2009 Sylvania 300 was the twenty-seventh stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the first in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on September 20, 2009, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, before a crowd of 101,000 people. The 300-lap race was won by Mark Martin of the Hendrick Motorsports team after starting from fourteenth position. Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya was in third place.
The 2009 AAA 400 was the twenty-eighth stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the second in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on September 27, 2009, at Dover International Speedway, in Dover, Delaware before a crowd of 110,000 people. The 400-lap race was won by Jimmie Johnson of the Hendrick Motorsports team after he started from pole position. His teammate Mark Martin finished second and Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth was third.
The 2009 Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods was the 29th of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the third in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on October 4, 2009, in Kansas City, Kansas, at Kansas Speedway, before a crowd of 100,000 spectators. Stewart-Haas Racing driver and co-owner Tony Stewart won the 267-lap race, starting from the fifth position. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports finished in second, with Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle in third.
The 2010 Ford 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on November 21, 2010 at Homestead Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The 267 lap race was the thirty-sixth in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as well as the final race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. The race was won by Carl Edwards for the Roush Fenway Racing team. Jimmie Johnson finished second, and Kevin Harvick clinched third.
The 2010 AAA 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on September 26, 2010, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. The 400 lap race was the twenty-eighth in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as well as the second race in the ten-race Chase for the Sprint Cup, which ends the season. The race was won by Jimmie Johnson, of the Hendrick Motorsports team. Jeff Burton finished second, and Joey Logano, who started nineteenth, clinched third.
The 2010 Pepsi Max 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on October 10, 2010, at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California. Contested over 200 laps, it was the 30th race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the fourth race in the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. The race was won by Tony Stewart of the Stewart-Haas Racing team, while Clint Bowyer finished second, and Jimmie Johnson clinched third.
The 2010 Bank of America 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on October 16, 2010, at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. Contested over 334 laps, it was the thirty-first race during the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and the fifth race in the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. The race was won by Jamie McMurray, for the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team. Kyle Busch finished second, and Jimmie Johnson, who started tenth, clinched third.
The 2010 AMP Energy Juice 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on October 31, 2010, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Contested over 188 laps, it was the thirty-third race during the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and the seventh race in the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. The race was won by Clint Bowyer for the Richard Childress Racing team. Bowyer's teammate, Kevin Harvick, finished in second, while Juan Pablo Montoya clinched third.
The 2010 AAA Texas 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on November 7, 2010, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps, it was the thirty-fourth race during the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and the eighth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. The race was won by Denny Hamlin of the Joe Gibbs Racing team. Matt Kenseth finished second, and Mark Martin clinched third.
The 2010 Kobalt Tools 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on November 14, 2010, at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps, it was the thirty-fifth, and the ninth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup during the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. The race was won by Carl Edwards, for the Roush Fenway Racing team. Ryan Newman finished second, and Joey Logano clinched third.
The 2011 Subway Fresh Fit 500 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on February 27, 2011 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona. Contested over 312 laps, it was the second race of the 2011 season and was won by Jeff Gordon for Hendrick Motorsports. Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing finished in second, while Gordon's teammate, Jimmie Johnson, finished third.
The 2011 Kobalt Tools 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was held on March 6, 2011 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Clark County, Nevada. Contested over 267 laps, it was the third race of the 2011 season. Carl Edwards, driving for Roush Fenway Racing, won the race. Tony Stewart finished second and Juan Pablo Montoya finished third.
The 2012 Aaron's 499 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on May 6, 2012 at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Contested over 194 laps, it was the tenth race of the 2012 season. Brad Keselowski of Penske Racing took his second win of the season, while Kyle Busch finished second and Matt Kenseth finished third.
The 2012 FedEx 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 3, 2012 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware. Contested over 400 laps, it was the thirteenth race of the 2012 season. Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports took his second win of the season, while Kevin Harvick finished second and Matt Kenseth finished third.
The 2013 FedEx 400 benefiting Autism Speaks was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on June 2, 2013, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, United States. Contested over 400 laps on the 1–mile (1.6 km) oval, it was the thirteenth race of the 2013 Sprint Cup Series championship. Tony Stewart won the race, his first win of the season, snapping a 30–race winless streak, while Juan Pablo Montoya finished second. Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.
The 2013 Camping World RV Sales 301 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held on July 14, 2013, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, United States. Contested over 302 laps, it was the nineteenth race of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Brian Vickers of Michael Waltrip Racing won the race, his third career and final Sprint Cup win, while Kyle Busch finished second. Jeff Burton, Brad Keselowski, and Aric Almirola rounded out the top five.
The 2009 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was the 17th stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on June 28, 2009, in Loudon, New Hampshire, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 101,000 people attended the race. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Joey Logano won the rain-shortened 273-lap race starting from the 24th position in his first career win. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was second, with Penske Racing's Kurt Busch third.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
