page_title: 2009 Samsung 500
section_title: Practice and qualifying
hierarchical_section_title: 2009 Samsung 500 / Practice and qualifying
caption_attribution_description: David Reutimann posing with a fan at the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series event at Mexico City
context_page_description: 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.
context_section_description: 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. 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.
  Forty-eight drivers were entered in the qualifier on Friday afternoon; 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. 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. 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."
  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. 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.
caption: David Reutimann won pole position with the fastest time, 28.344.
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