Each Sprint Cup race in the 2009 season will have a maximum field of 43 cars. The first 35 Owner Points (score of the respective owners of a racing car) of 2008 will have a guaranteed starting place in the first five races in 2009. If a driver changes from a team to a new team within the first 35 of the owner points, he no longer has a guaranteed starting place, unless it is also in the top 35 of the owner points. However, if a previous champion is not in the top 35 and does not manage to qualify for the race, he can fall back on a so-called Past Champion Provisional , which guarantees him a starting place. However, since the 2007 season, the Past Champion Provisionals are limited to a number of six races per season. Outside the top 35 there will be three former champions this year: Kurt Busch , Bill Elliott and Dale Jarrett , all of whom have a fixed starting position for six races.
Teams that are not in the top 35 Owner Points and also have no Past Champion Provisional must find out their starting place. If, for example, 47 cars wanted to qualify for a race and none of them used a Past Champion Provisional, then twelve cars would fight for eight remaining starting places. Of these twelve, the eight fastest then qualify for the race. From the sixth race of the season, the Owner Points from the previous year will no longer be used, but those from the previous race.
Eight caution phases in 78 laps made for one of the “wildest races ever” ( Carl Edwards ). After just a few laps, four of the 28 cars were eliminated from the race. At the ten-minute break after 25 laps, runner-up Carl Edwards led the field in a Roush-Ford. Dale Earnhardt junior , who dominated first place for a long time, collided with Bobby Labonte in the seventh caution phase . At the end of the race, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon (Hendrick), Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin (Gibbs) and Jamie McMurray (Ford) dominated the field. At the beginning of the last lap, McMurray was leading by a few car lengths. However, Kevin Harvick overtook him with a bump draft from Denny Hamlin on the back straight. Shortly thereafter, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson triggered the final caution period.
The first race of the season took place on February 15th at Daytona International Speedway . Over 88 of the first 124 laps, the race was clearly dominated by Kyle Busch . A collision between Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt junior triggered the only “Big One” of the race. The positions were reallocated and after the race was stopped (lap 152) due to rain, Matt Kenseth was at the top of the final ranking.
The second race of the season took place on February 22nd at the Auto Club Speedway . In a duel with Jeff Gordon , Matt Kenseth secured his second win of the season and is thus the fourth driver to win the race the following weekend after the Daytona 500.
Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville, Virginia
After adverse weather conditions, no qualification runs could be carried out in Martinsville in 2009, so the race started in the order of the championship status. Jeff Gordon started the race from first place and led to the competition caution on lap 40; a little later he regained the lead from Scott Speed, who did not pit during the caution period. After several caution phases Denny Hamlin was able to take over the lead from Jeff Gordon shortly before lap 200.
In the further course of the race with a total of 12 caution phases, Jimmie Johnson was able to fight his way to the top and take the lead during a pit stop. However, Hamlin returned to first position after a daring restart. With 16 laps to go, Johnson attempted an attack on the lead and hit Hamlin's rear end. Both drivers came straight through Turn 2 and were just able to keep ahead of Tony Stewart. Johnson took the lead and was able to pull away far enough not to be attacked until the end of the race. Johnson achieved victory with a daring maneuver, with Hamlin and Gordon doing most of the leadership work.
The race in Phoenix was determined by a pit-stop strategy and the optimal adaptation of the cars to changing track conditions. Mark Martin started the race from pole and dominated the first phase, which was still under sunlight. With the road cooling down in the twilight, Kurt Busch was able to maintain the lead for many laps. In the final phase, then under floodlights, Dale Earnhardt Jr. came to the top through a different pit strategy than the leading cars, but had to admit defeat to Mark Martin, who was able to optimally adapt his car to the cooler track conditions.
Pablo Montoya opened one of the most eventful races of the season. Already in the 8th lap there was a pile-up (The Big One) , which is typical for the Superspeedways , after Jeff Gordon was pushed out of the lane by Matt Kenseth. More than 15 drivers were affected.
In the further course of the race Michael Waltrip and Kurt Busch were able to bring their escaping cars back under control at over 250 km / h without touching the boundary walls. Towards the end of the race the aggressiveness in the field increased significantly, Kyle Busch almost caused another 'Big One' through aggressive blocking at the front. However, this only happened nine laps before the end, when in the dense field Montoya could no longer control his car after several light contacts with opponents.
The race ended with a duel between Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards. Keselowski was able to Edwards by Bumpdrafting push to the top, to pass on the home straight of the last lap while trying Edwards but was blocked. Edwards flung through it, was hit by the following Ryan Newman and catapulted against the perimeter fence; his car stopped before the finish line. While Keselowski won, the uninjured Edwards covered the last few meters of the race on foot.
Mark Martin won the race in Darlington, which was marked by a new record of yellow light phases (17) for this circuit. Martin was able to establish himself at the top for the last 50 laps and in numerous restarts he was able to maintain his position - especially against Jimmie Johnson.
Sprint All-Star Race XXV - Concord, North Carolina
In the qualifying race for the All-Star-Race, which in 2009 consisted of 2 racing phases of 20 laps each, separated by a competition caution , Sam Hornish and Jamie McMurray were able to qualify first and second for the main competition. Joey Logano was chosen by the fans and was also allowed to start in the main race.
The All Star Race, which as always does not provide any points for the championship, but pays out over 1 million USD to the winner, was held in 4 phases in 2009. Phase 1 consisted of 50 laps with a mandatory tire change on lap 25, followed by further racing phases with 20, 20 and 10 laps. The individual phases were separated by a competition caution (with interruptions of several minutes before the last phase).
Jimmy Johnson led after the first section, Kyle Bush took over the lead after the competition caution and was able to maintain it until the end of phase two. 8 of the 21 qualified teams decide not to use the yellow light phase for a pit stop. Phase 3 is interrupted by a yellow phase caused by contact with the wall, Jeff Grodon can take the lead in the first change of leadership under green and maintain it until the last duty interruption.
In the last 10 laps there are 3 yellow light phases, Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman cannot finish the race after a collision. Tony Stewart fights his way past Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth to victory.