2009 Samsung 500

2009 Samsung 500

Race details[1][2][3]
Race 7 of 36 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Simple line diagram of Texas Motor Speedway track layout
Date	April 5, 2009
Official name	Samsung 500
Location	Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance	334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds up to 25.1 miles per hour (40.4 km/h)[4]
Average speed	146.372 miles per hour (235.563 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip Racing
Time	28.344
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	105
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds
Nielsen Ratings	4.7/11 (Final) 4.2/10 (Overnight) (7.4 million)[5]

The 2009 Samsung 500 was the seventh stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on April 5, 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas before a crowd of 176,300 people. The 334-lap race was won by Jeff Gordon of the Hendrick Motorsports team after starting from second position. His teammate Jimmie Johnson finished second and Greg Biffle came in third.

David Reutimann won the pole position, and maintained his lead going into the first corner to begin the race, but Gordon took over the lead before the first lap was over. Afterward, Reutimann took back the lead, holding it until Matt Kenseth passed him on lap 47. Gordon led after the final pit stops. In the final laps, Johnson was gaining on Gordon, but Gordon maintained his position to win. There were six cautions and twenty-eight lead changes among thirteen different drivers during the race.

The race was Gordon's first win of the 2009 season, and the eighty-second of his career. The result kept Gordon in the lead of the Drivers' Championship, one-hundred and sixty-two ahead of Johnson, and one-hundred and eighty ahead of Kurt Busch. Chevrolet increased its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, ten points ahead of Ford, who bumped Toyota to third place, with twenty-nine races remaining in the season remaining. The race attracted 7.4 million television viewers.

Report

Background

Texas Motor Speedway, were the race was held.

Texas Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races, the others being Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.^[6] The standard track at Texas Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long.^[7] The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, and both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch have a five degree banking.^[7]

Before the race, Jeff Gordon led the Drivers' Championship with 959 points, followed by Clint Bowyer with 870. Kurt Busch was third with 827 points, Jimmie Johnson was fourth with 817 and Denny Hamlin was fifth with 811 points. Kurt's younger brother Kyle Busch, along with Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top ten.^[8] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 39 points, five points ahead of their rival Toyota. Ford, with 32 points, was five points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third place.^[9] Edwards was the race's defending champion.^[10]

Practice and qualifying

David Reutimann won pole position with the fastest time, 28.344.

Three practice sessions were before the Sunday race — one on Friday, and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, while the second session lasted 45 minutes. The third and final practice session lasted 60 minutes.^[3] During the first practice session, Mark Martin was fastest, placing ahead of David Reutimann in second and Kurt Busch in third. Greg Biffle was scored fourth, and Johnson placed fifth. Jeff Gordon, Edwards, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., David Stremme and David Ragan rounded out the top ten fastest drivers in the session.^[11]

Although forty-eight drivers were entered in the qualifier;^[12] according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, only forty-three could race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times.^[3] Reutimann clinched his second pole position in the Sprint Cup Series, with a time of 28.344. He was joined on the grid's front row by Jeff Gordon. Matt Kenseth qualified third, Ragan took fourth, and Paul Menard started fifth. Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Johnson and Joey Logano rounded out the top ten qualifiers. The five drivers who failed to qualify were Joe Nemechek, Scott Speed, Jeremy Mayfield, Todd Bodine and Scott Riggs.^[13] After the qualifier Reutimann said, "We had a great car all day, right off the truck. This pole reminds me of how much things have changed for me in the past few years. I didn't make the field here two years ago, during a bad time in my racing career."^[2]

On Saturday morning, Reuitmann was fastest in the second practice session, ahead of Johnson in second, and Hamlin in third. Edwards was fourth quickest, and Jeff Gordon took fifth. Stewart, Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and Jeff Burton rounded out the top ten.^[14] Later that day, Johnson paced the final practice session, with Hamlin and Kyle Busch followed in second and third respectively. Jamie McMurray was fourth fastest, ahead of David Gilliland and Burton. Martin placed seventh, Edwards eighth, Juan Pablo Montoya ninth, and Martin Truex, Jr. tenth.^[15]

Race

Television coverage for the race, the seventh of a total of thirty-six in the 2009 season, began at 1:30 p.m. EDT live in the United States on Fox. Roger Marsh of Texas Alliance Raceway Ministries began pre-race ceremonies with the invocation. Pianist Lewis Warren, Jr. performed the national anthem, and Contest Winner Mark Fredde commanded the drivers to start their engines. No driver had to move to the rear of the grid at the start of the race.^[16]

The race began at 2:17 p.m. Jeff Gordon passed Reuitmann almost immediately by the end of the first lap. Three laps later, Kurt Busch collided with Robby Gordon, with the latter sustaining minor damage and both drivers managed to continue. On lap 8, Reutimann took back the lead from Jeff Gordon. One lap later, Jeff Gordon dropped a further position when he was passed by Kenseth. By lap 20, Reuitmann had a lead of about 1.6 seconds over Kenseth. Kurt Busch, who began the race in twenty-sixth, had moved up seven positions to nineteenth by lap 24. On lap 29, Stewart claimed fifth from Menard.^[16]

By lap 30, Earnhardt had moved up eight positions to twelfth. Ten laps later, Reutimann had maintained a lead of 1.7 seconds over Kenseth. On lap 42, Marcos Ambrose moved into seventh. Five laps later, Kenseth claimed the lead off Reutimann who was blocked by Casey Mears. On lap 51, green flag pit stops began, as Kenseth made a pit stop handling the lead to Stewart. On lap 54, Kyle Busch became the new race leader after Stewart came into pit road. Kyle Busch made a pit stop one lap later, handing the lead back to Kenseth. By lap 60, Kenseth had built up his lead over Reutimann by over two seconds. Eight laps later, Stewart passed Reutimann for second.^[16]

On lap 79, Biffle passed Reutimann for third. Seven laps later, Stewart claimed the lead from Kenseth. During the 97th lap, debris was spotted on the track, prompting the first caution of the race. During the caution, all of the drivers on the lead lap made pit stops. Kenseth reclaimed the lead and maintained it at the restart. On the 109th lap, Kyle Busch's car suffered a cut left front tire from contact with John Andretti, forcing Kyle Busch to come to pit road. Seven laps later, Biffle passed Kenseth for the lead, while Jeff Gordon passed Reuitmann for fourth thirteen laps later. By the 135th lap, Biffle had built a lead over Kenseth to three seconds.^[16]

Green flag pit stops began on the 152nd lap; Kenseth made his pit stop on the same lap. Johnson and Biffle made a pit stop the next lap, handing the lead to Jeff Gordon. After pit stops, Biffle reclaimed the first position. On lap 157, Elliott Sadler spun out, causing the second caution. None of the leaders elected to pit under the caution. The race restarted on lap 162 with Biffle in the lead, ahead of Kenseth and Jeff Gordon. By the 190th lap, Biffle's lead was three seconds.^[16]

Another round of green flag pit stops began on lap 203 when Truex made a pit stop; Kenseth was the first of the leaders to pit the following lap. On lap 208, Jeff Gordon became the new race leader after Biffle came into pit road. After pit stops, Biffle reclaimed the top position. On lap 220, the third caution was given as Ambrose's car suffered an engine failure. Jeff Gordon and Martin stayed out, while some of the leaders came to pit road.^[16]

Jeff Gordon won the race and maintained his lead in the points standings.

Jeff Gordon led the field back up to speed on the restart. On lap 226, Sam Hornish, Jr. spun and Labonte collided with the wall. prompting the fourth caution; During the caution, Johnson, Earnhardt and Hamlin made pit stops. Jeff Gordon stayed out of pit road and the led the field to restart on lap 237. Four laps later, Logano collided with the wall, but escaped with minor damage. On lap 247, Edwards moved into sixth. Four laps later, a fifth caution came out when Robby Gordon's car suffered an engine failure. All of the leaders elected to pit under caution, giving the lead to Earnhardt The race restarted on lap 259. On lap 260, Jeff Gordon moved back into the lead, while Earnhardt fell back to the seventh position. Three laps later, Edwards passed Brian Vickers to move into ninth.^[16]

On lap 290, Earnhardt Jr was forced onto pit road after colliding with the wall at turn two. One lap later, Ragan drove to pit road because of overheating issues. On the 294th lap, Edwards reclaimed the lead off Gordon, while Ragan drove to the garage, three laps later. On lap 298, Stewart moved into second after passing Jeff Gordon. Four laps later, a sixth and final caution came out, after Stremme collided with the wall and spun going into turn 3. Jeff Gordon led on the restart. On lap 309, Johnson passed Stewart for the second position, while Jeff Gordon built up a 1.4 second lead four laps later. On the 314th lap, Biffle moved into the fourth position after passing Johnson. By lap 323, Jeff Gordon had increased his lead to 1.7 seconds over Johnson. Jeff Gordon maintained the lead to win his first race of the 2009 season. Johnson finished second, ahead of Biffle in third, Stewart in fourth, and Kenseth in fifth. Martin, Montoya, Kurt Busch, Burton and Edwards rounded out the top ten finishers.^[16]

Post-race

""I knew we were going to get one eventually, We had some missed opportunities last season, but that keeps you driving hard and pushing forward."

Jeff Gordon, speaking after the race.^[17]

Jeff Gordon appeared in victory lane to celebrate his first win of the 2009 season in front of 176,300 who attended the race.^[18] He also earned $541,874 in race winnings.^[19] Gordon was delighted with his victory: "Incredible team effort. This whole year has been amazing. What a great car. I've never had a car like this at Texas. We finally had one and put it in position."^[20] Johnson was happy with his second-place result, saying, "It was nice to get our car up front and get some clean air on it. We had to work really hard all day long to keep the car right. I'm very proud of the team."^[21] Third-place finisher Biffle was candid with his performance: "We worked our way all the way back to fourth, third -- 15 more laps, would've passed [runner-up Jimmie Johnson] and then a little while longer we could've gotten [Gordon]. But, I just ran out of time, lost track position and weren't able to capitalize on it."^[22]

The race results kept Jeff Gordon in the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 1154 points. Johnson, who finished behind Gordon, moved to second on 992, eighteen points ahead of Kurt Busch and twenty-five ahead of Bowyer.^[23] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet increased their points total to 48, while Ford advanced to second with 38 and Toyota was bumped to third with 37.^[9] 7.4 million people watched the race on television.^[5] The race took three hours, twenty-five minutes and twenty-two seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 0.378 seconds.^[18]

Results

Qualifying

Qualifying results

Grid	Car	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	00	David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	28.344	190.516
2	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.392	190.194
3	17	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.428	189.954
4	6	David Ragan	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.431	189.934
5	98	Paul Menard	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	28.435	189.907
6	9	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	28.436	189.000
7	14	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	28.450	189.907
8	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.507	189.427
9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.508	189.421
10	20	Joey Logano	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.531	189.268
11	47	Marcos Ambrose	JTG Daugherty Racing	Toyota	28.538	189.221
12	77	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Team Penske	Dodge	28.539	189.215
13	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.545	189.175
14	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.548	189.155
15	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.553	189.122
16	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	28.593	188.857
17	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.597	188.831
18	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Racing Team	Toyota	28.605	188.778
19	33	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.606	188.772
20	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.610	188.745
21	39	Ryan Newman	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	28.628	188.626
22	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	28.641	188.541
23	5	Mark Martin	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.645	188.515
24	96	Bobby Labonte	Hall of Fame Racing	Ford	28.652	188.469
25	44	A.J. Allmendinger	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge	28.678	188.298
26	34	John Andretti	Front Row Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.679	188.291
27	09	Mike Bliss	Phoenix Racing	Dodge	28.722	188.009
28	2	Kurt Busch	Penske Championship Racing	Dodge	28.731	187.950
29	7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports	Toyota	28.739	187.898
30	171	David Gilliland	TRG Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.749	187.833
31	1	Martin Truex, Jr.	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	28.772	187.682
32	12	David Stremme	Penske Racing	Dodge	28.801	187.493
33	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	28.802	187.487
34	55	Michael Waltrip	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	28.830	187.305
35	07	Casey Mears	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	28.834	187.279
36	26	Jamie McMurray	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	28.840	187.240
37	21	Bill Elliott	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	28.871	187.039
38	43	Reed Sorenson	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge	28.885	186.948
39	113	Max Papis	Germain Racing	Toyota	28.955	186.496
40	25	Brad Keselowski	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	28.977	186.355
41	8	Aric Almirola	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	29.008	186.156
42	19	Elliott Sadler	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge	29.606	182.395
43	66	Dave Blaney	Prism Motorsports	Toyota	29.015	186.111
Failed to qualify
44	187	Joe Nemechek	NEMCO Motorsports	Toyota	29.027	186.034
45	82	Scott Speed	Red Bull Racing Team	Toyota	29.065	185.790
46	41	Jeremy Mayfield	Mayfield Motorsports	Toyota	29.135	185.344
47	64	Todd Bodine	Gunselman Motorsports	Toyota	29.261	184.546
48	36	Scott Riggs	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Toyota	29.352	183.974
Source:[13]

Race results

Race results

Pos	Grid	Car	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps Run	Points
1	2	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	195^2
2	9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	175^1
3	14	16	Greg Biffle	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	334	170^1
4	7	14	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	334	165^1
5	3	17	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	334	160^1
6	23	5	Mark Martin	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	155^1
7	16	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	334	146
8	28	2	Kurt Busch	Penske Championship Racing	Dodge	334	147^1
9	15	31	Jeff Burton	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	334	138
10	13	99	Carl Edwards	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	334	139^1
11	1	00	David Reuitmann	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	334	135^1
12	22	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	127
13	5	98	Paul Menard	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	334	129^1
14	32	12	David Stremme	Phoenix Racing	Dodge	334	121
15	21	39	Ryan Newman	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	334	118
16	18	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull Racing Team	Toyota	334	120^1
17	12	77	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Team Penske	Dodge	334	112
18	8	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	333	114^1
19	6	9	Kasey Kahne	Evernham Motorsports	Dodge	333	106
20	20	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	333	108^1
21	35	07	Casey Mears	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	333	100
22	19	33	Clint Bowyer	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	333	97
23	40	25	Brad Keselowski	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	332	94
24	34	55	Michael Waltrip	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	332	91
25	31	1	Martin Truex, Jr.	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	332	88
26	26	34	John Andretti	Front Row Motorsports	Chevrolet	332	85
27	17	29	Kevin Harvick	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	331	72
28	37	21	Bill Elliott	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	331	79
29	30	171	David Gilliland	TRG Motorsports	Chevrolet	330	76
30	10	20	Joey Logano	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	330	73
31	33	78	Regan Smith	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	330	70
32	42	19	Elliott Sadler	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge	329	67
33	41	8	Aric Almirola	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	328	64
34	25	44	A.J. Allmendinger	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge	328	61
35	39	113	Max Papis	Germain Racing	Toyota	326	58
36	38	43	Reed Sorenson	Richard Petty Motorsports	Dodge	315	55
37	4	6	David Ragan	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	293	52^1
38	36	26	Jamie McMurray	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	255	49
39	29	7	Robby Gordon	Robby Gordon Motorsports	Toyota	249	46
40	24	96	Bobby Labonte	Hall of Fame Racing	Ford	229	43
41	11	47	Marcos Ambrose	JTG Daugherty Racing	Toyota	216	40
42	27	09	Mike Bliss	Phoenix Racing	Dodge	76	37
43	43	66	Dave Blaney	Prism Motorsports	Toyota	48	34
Source:[1][19]
^1 Includes five bonus points for leading a lap
^2 Includes ten bonus points for leading the most laps

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos +/– Driver Points 1 Jeff Gordon 1154 2 2 Jimmie Johnson 992 (−162) 3 Kurt Busch 974 (−180) 4 2 Clint Bowyer 967 (−187) 5 2 Tony Stewart 963 (−191) Source:[23]

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 48 2 1 Ford 38 (−10) 3 1 Toyota 37 (−11) 4 Dodge 31 (−17) Source:[9] Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.

References

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2. "NASCAR: Reutimann captures pole for Sprint Cup race in Texas". Autoweek. Crain Communications, Inc. April 2, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
3. "The Race: Samsung 500". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
4. "2009 Samsung 500 weather information". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Archived from the original on June 22, 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
5. "2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup TV Ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
6. "Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on November 11, 2010. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
7. "Track Facts". Texas Motor Speedway. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
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9. "Manufacturers' Championship Classification". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
10. "2008 Samsung 500". Racing-Reference. Fox Sports Digital. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
11. "Practice One Speeds". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 20, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
12. "Qualifying Order". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
13. "Race Lineup". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
14. "Practice Two Speeds". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 7, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
15. "Practice Three Speeds". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 7, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
16. "Lap by Lap: Texas". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. April 6, 2009. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
17. Graves, Gary (April 6, 2009). "Gordon drives away at Texas, snaps winless streak at 47". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
18. "2009 Samsung 500". Racing-Reference. Fox Sports Digital. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
19. "2009 Official Race Results: Samsung 500". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on July 7, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
20. Hawkins, Stephen (April 6, 2009). "Gordon snaps winless streak with victory at Texas". U-T San Diego. MLIM Holdings. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
21. Sporting News Wire Service (April 6, 2009). "Gordon gets first victory at Texas to end winless skid". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 8, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
22. Rodman, Dave (April 6, 2009). "Biffle, Martin, Montoya gain momentum, ground at TMS". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
23. "Points Standings". NASCAR. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on March 2, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2014.