The 2009 Pepsi 500 was the thirtieth race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and also served as the fourth race in the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup. It took place on October 11, 2009, at Auto Club Speedway in the American community of Fontana, California.

2009 Pepsi 500
Race details
Race 30 of 36 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Auto Club Speedway
Auto Club Speedway
Date October 11, 2009 (2009-10-11)
Location Auto Club Speedway Fontana, California
Course Permanent racing facility
2.0 mi (3.23 km)
Distance 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures up to 69.8 °F (21.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1]
Average speed 143.908 miles per hour (231.597 km/h)
Attendance 70,000[2]
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Time 39.158
Most laps led
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports
Laps 126
Winner
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree

Summary

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Jimmie Johnson would defeat his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon by slightly more than 1.6 seconds after a grueling three hours and twenty-eight minutes of racing.[2]

Kyle Busch suffered through three different illnesses during this race; including a non-H1N1 form of the flu. After driving for 62 laps, he felt weak and went into the pits in order for David Gilliland to perform the substitute duty for him. David Gilliland finished the race in 28th place but Busch received the points for it.[3] Mike Bliss walked away as the last-place finisher after encountering engine problems on lap 11.[2]

The Big One struck with six laps to go after Dale Earnhardt Jr. was turned around and collected 8 other cars (including all 4 Richard Petty Motorsports cars). This led to a red flag of almost 22 minutes.

The gambling pundits handpicked Jimmie Johnson to be the winner of the race; with Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth being wild cards. Just before the race, Johnson had an average finish of 6th place in his 13 prior races at Auto Club Speedway and finished worse than tenth place only twice.[4]

Results

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Finish Start Car Driver Make Pts/bns Laps Status Winnings
1 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 195/10 250 Running 302,801
2 10 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 175/5 250 Running 211,426
3 4 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 170/5 250 Running 195,773
4 9 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 165/5 250 Running 136,625
5 20 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 160/5 250 Running 143,248
6 11 99 Carl Edwards Ford 150/0 250 Running 158,356
7 31 6 David Ragan Ford 146/0 250 Running 117,500
8 24 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 147/5 250 Running 121,925
9 8 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 138/0 250 Running 113,950
10 7 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 134/0 250 Running 142,828
11 16 07 Casey Mears Chevrolet 130/0 250 Running 121,525
12 22 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 127/0 250 Running 120,810

References

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  1. ^ "Weather information for the 2009 Pepsi 500".
  2. ^ a b c Results of the 2009 Pepsi 500 at Racing Reference
  3. ^ Kyle's Busch Illness During the Race Archived 2014-07-26 at the Wayback Machine at Driver Averages
  4. ^ Gambling pundit information at The Spread