2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (Start Your Engines!)

Category:Start Your Engines!
The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 61st season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 38th modern-era Cup series season.
2009 was the first season without NASCAR legends Dale Jarrett (since 1983) and Kyle Petty (since 1978) after they both retired following the 2008 season.
==Teams and drivers==
===Complete schedule===
*-factory team
Manufacturer	Team 	No.	Race driver 	Crew chief 	Model
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt Childress Racing * 	1 	Martin Truex Jr. 	Kevin Manion 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt Childress Racing * 	3 	Kevin Harvick 	Scott Miller 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt Childress Racing * 	8 	Dale Earnhardt Jr. 	Tony Eury Jr. 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt Childress Racing * 	30 	Clint Bowyer 	Todd Berrier 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt Childress Racing * 	31 	Jeff Burton 	Shane Wilson 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Earnhardt Childress Racing * 	48 	Jimmie Johnson 	Chad Knaus 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Front Row Motorsports 	34 	Tony Raines 	Steve Lane 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports * 	5 	Jerry Nadeau 	Alan Gustafson 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports * 	25 	Ricky Hendrick 	Steve Letarte 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports * 	35 	Casey Atwood 	 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Hendrick Motorsports * 	50 	Mark Martin 	 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	PPI Motorsports 	32 	Boston Reid (R) 	 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	Stewart-Haas Racing * 	14 	Tony Stewart 	Greg Zipadelli 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Stewart-Haas Racing * 	39 	Ryan Newman 	Tony Gibson 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	TRG Motorsports 	71 	Mike Wallace 	Slugger Labbe 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	TRG Motorsports 	71 	David Gilliland 	Slugger Labbe 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	TRG Motorsports 	71 	Andy Lally 	Slugger Labbe 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	TRG Motorsports 	71 	Mike Bliss 	Slugger Labbe 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Dodge 	AK Racing 	7 	Alan Kulwicki 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Bill Davis Racing 	22 	Jeff Gordon 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Bill Davis Racing 	23 	Bobby Labonte 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Bill Davis Racing 	24 	Scott Wimmer 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	40 	David Stremme 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	41 	Reed Sorenson 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Chip Ganassi Racing 	42 	Juan Pablo Montoya 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	DGB-Medallion Racing 	09 	A.J. Allmendinger (R)	 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	Gillett Evernham Motorsports 	9 	Kasey Kahne 	Kenny Francis 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Gillett Evernham Motorsports 	19 	Casey Elliott 	Ernie Elliott 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Kelman Racing 	86 	Ryan Kelman 	Scott Searle 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Moroso-Rudd Racing 	82 	Rob Moroso 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Moroso-Rudd Racing 	83 	Brendan Gaughan 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing * 	60 	Chloe Johnson 	Jed Luke 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing * 	69 	Jenny Smith 	Barry Baker 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing * 	80 	Tim Richmond 	Charlie Davis 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing * 	85 	Belle Armstrong 	Scott Smith 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Penske Championship Racing 	2 	Kurt Busch 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Penske Championship Racing 	12 	Sam Hornish Jr. 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Penske Championship Racing 	77 	Blaise Alexander 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	43 	John Andretti 	Mike Shiplett 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	44 	Chad McCumbee (R) 	Sammy Johns 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Petty Enterprises 	45 	Adam Petty 	Kevin Buskirk 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Robby Gordon Motorsports 	170	Robby Gordon 	Kirk Almquist 	2009 Charger
Ford 	Hall of Fame Racing 	96 	Jason Leffler 	Larry Carter 	2008 Fusion
Ford 	Roush Racing * 	6 	David Ragan 	Jimmy Fennig 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Roush Racing * 	16 	Greg Biffle 	Greg Erwin 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Roush Racing * 	26 	Jamie McMurray 	Donnie Wingo 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Roush Racing * 	66 	Matt Kenseth 	Drew Blickensderfer	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Roush Racing * 	99 	Carl Edwards 	Bob Osborne 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Steele Racing with Brett Favre	15 	Tim Steele 	 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Steele Racing with Brett Favre	90 	Davey Allison 	 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Yates Racing * 	08 	Paul Menard 	 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Yates Racing * 	28 	Clifford Allison 	Todd Parrott 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Yates Racing * 	38 	David Gilliland 	Ben Leslie 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Yates Racing * 	88 	Jeremy Mayfield 	Larry Carter 	2009 Fusion
Ford 	Wood Brothers 	21 	Bill Elliott 	David Hyder 	2009 Fusion
Pontiac 	Kennedy Racing 	03 	Melvin Kennedy 	Mark Cutter 	2008 Grand Prix
Pontiac 	Kennedy Racing 	04 	Louise Kennedy 	 	2008 Grand Prix
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing * 	11 	Denny Hamlin 	Mike Ford 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing * 	18 	Kyle Busch 	Steve Addington 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing * 	20 	Joey Logano (R) 	Darian Grubb 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	JTG Daugherty Racing 	47 	Marcos Ambrose 	Frank Kerr 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	Michael Waltrip Racing * 	01 	David Reutimann 	Rodney Childers 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	Michael Waltrip Racing * 	55 	Michael Waltrip 	Bootie Barker 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	NEMCO Motorsports 	87 	Joe Nemechek 	Phillipe Lopez 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Prism Motorsports 	66 	Terry Labonte 	Bill Henderson 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Prism Motorsports 	66 	Michael McDowell 	Bill Henderson 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Red Bull Racing Team 	182	Scott Speed (R) 	Jimmy Elledge 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	Red Bull Racing Team 	183	Brian Vickers 	Ryan Pemberton 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	Tommy Baldwin Racing 	36 	Scott Riggs 	Tommy Baldwin Jr. 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Tommy Baldwin Racing 	36 	Mike Skinner 	Tommy Baldwin Jr. 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Tommy Baldwin Racing 	36 	Patrick Carpentier 	Tommy Baldwin Jr. 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Tommy Baldwin Racing 	36 	Brian Simo 	Tommy Baldwin Jr. 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Tommy Baldwin Racing 	36 	Michael McDowell 	Tommy Baldwin Jr. 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Tommy Baldwin Racing 	36 	Robert Richardson Jr.	Tommy Baldwin Jr. 	2008 Camry
=== Limited schedule ===
Manufacturer	Team 	No.	Race driver 	Crew chief 	Car model
Chevrolet 	Furniture Row Racing 	78 	Regan Smith 	Jay Guy 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	TRG Motorsports 	07 	David Gilliland 	 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	TRG Motorsports 	07 	Mike Skinner 	 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	TRG Motorsports 	07 	Kevin Conway 	 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	Norm Benning Racing 	57 	Norm Benning 	Mark Tutor 	2009 Impala SS
Chevrolet 	Morgan-McClure Motorsports 	4 	Eric McClure 	 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Chevrolet 	R3 Motorsports 	123	Mike Skinner 	 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
Dodge 	Ash Motorsports 	02 	Brandon Ash 	Kenneth Wood 	2007 Charger
Dodge 	BlackJack Racing 	51 	Kelly Bires 	Ryan Bergenty 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	BlackJack Racing 	51 	David Starr 	Ryan Bergenty 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	BlackJack Racing 	51 	Dexter Bean 	Ryan Bergenty 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	Boys Will Be Boys Racing Co.	06 	Trevor Boys 	Iain Moncrieff 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	Boys Will Be Boys Racing Co.	06 	David Starr 	Iain Moncrieff 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	Carl Long Racing 	46 	Carl Long 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Carl Long Racing 	46 	Dennis Setzer 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Cope/Keller Racing 	75 	Derrike Cope 	Rich Markle 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	H&S Motorsports 	73 	Mike Garvey 	Buddy Sisco 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	H&S Motorsports 	73 	Tony Raines 	Buddy Sisco 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	H&S Motorsports 	73 	Josh Wise 	Buddy Sisco 	2008 Charger
Dodge 	Pacific Coast Racing 	70 	Ace Johnson 	 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Robby Gordon Motorsports 	04 	P.J. Jones 	Bob Gordon 	2009 Charger
Dodge 	Robby Gordon Motorsports 	04 	David Gilliland 	Bob Gordon 	2009 Charger
Ford 	Carter/Simo Racing 	108	Boris Said 	Frank Stoddard 	2008 Fusion
Toyota 	Carter/Simo Racing 	108	Terry Labonte 	Tony Furr 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Joe Gibbs Racing 	02 	David Gilliland 	Wally Brown 	2009 Camry
Toyota 	Germain Racing 	13 	Max Papis (R) 	Bootie Barker 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Germain Racing 	135	Todd Bodine 	Bootie Barker 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Gunselman Motorsports 	64 	Geoff Bodine 	Doug Richert 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Gunselman Motorsports 	64 	Todd Bodine 	Doug Richert 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Gunselman Motorsports 	64 	Mike Wallace 	Doug Richert 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Gunselman Motorsports 	64 	Derrike Cope 	Doug Richert 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Kirk Shelmerdine Racing 	27 	Kirk Shelmerdine	 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Kirk Shelmerdine Racing 	27 	Tom Hubert 	 	2008 Camry
Toyota 	Kirk Shelmerdine Racing 	27 	Ted Christopher 	 	2008 Camry
Chevrolet
Dodge	Front Row Motorsports 	137	Tony Raines 	Scott Eggleston	2008 Monte Carlo SS
2008 Charger
Chevrolet
Dodge	Front Row Motorsports 	137	Chris Cook 	 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
2008 Charger
Chevrolet
Dodge	Front Row Motorsports 	137	Tony Ave 	 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
2008 Charger
Chevrolet
Dodge	Front Row Motorsports 	137	Kevin Hamlin 	Peter Sospenzo 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
2008 Charger
Chevrolet
Dodge	Front Row Motorsports 	137	Travis Kvapil 	Peter Sospenzo 	2008 Monte Carlo SS
2008 Charger
==Technical changes==
The big change from 2008 was Chevrolet introducing the Impala SS into competition, replacing the Monte Carlo SS, which had been discontinued after 2007; three full-time teams and several part-time teams still used the Monte Carlo SS, due to believing it to be more aero-friendly or lacking the funds to obtain a new Impala SS. Otherwise, Ford, Dodge, and Toyota made no major changes.
==Major news stories==
===Economic effects===
====Mergers, contractions, alliances, and shutdowns====
The economic crisis of 2008 caused problems even before the 2009 season began. While gas (and diesel) prices came down to nearly $2.00 per gallon, corporate America was reluctant to shell out millions of dollars to sponsor teams due to the volatility of the stock market. As a result, Richard Childress Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to form Earnhardt Childress Racing, a merger that was considered logical due to Dale Earnhardt having raced for Childress for most of his career, as well as being good friends with Childress. They fielded the No. 1, No. 8, and No. 48 from DEI and No. 3, No. 30, and No. 31 from RCR, and shut down the DEI No. 01, No. 14, and No. 17 teams as well as RCR's No. 07 teams, as the 01 team had been inherited from MB2 Motorsports, and the 17 team was the last remnant of DarWal, Inc. In addition, Front Row Motorsports had ECR support for their No. 34 car, to be driven by Tony Raines. Due to Dodge cutting financial support for all teams except Pacific Coast Racing, every Dodge team effectively became a satellite of PCR.
The crisis also caused multiple teams to fold, most notably Cale Yarborough Motorsports, McDuffie Racing, and Orr Motorsports.
====Reduction in manufacturer support====
Following General Motors' bankruptcy, GM cut all financial support in the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, and considerably reduced financial support in the Sprint Cup Series. Similarly, the Chrysler bankruptcy led to several Dodge Sprint Cup teams, including Petty Enterprises, losing their manufacturer support. Dodge claimed that "funding is on hold." As mentioned above, Pacific Coast Racing did receive support from Dodge due to being its top factory team, and PCR, as the owner and operator of a licensed Mopar dealership, supported all Dodge teams in 2009, giving Sheldon Johnson Jr. the nickname "Lee Iacocca Jr.", and turning all other Dodge teams into de facto satellites of PCR; Ray Evernham and Richard Petty stated in individual interviews that, had they not had this support, both would have switched to Ford. Toyota gave a small reduction in funding before the season, but did not made any mid-season cuts. Rumors floated that Toyota may leave the Camping World Truck Series or Nationwide Series; the automaker denied these reports. Ford, the healthiest of all the automakers, continues funding at pre-crisis levels. From the 2005 season it had been rumored that Honda will join the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series, and the rumor gets stronger entering the 2009 season, as Dodge claimed its funding on hold. This was denied by the manufacturer. Honda eventually joined NASCAR in 2015. Kennedy Racing, which was the last holdout for Pontiac in the Sprint Cup Series, didn't have to worry about having their funding cut, as they hadn't received factory support from Pontiac since GM had pulled them in 2003 to focus on Chevrolet, and were a self-made team who built "homebrew" cars in a similar manner to how PCR would cobble together Dodge Miradas in the mid-1980s.
=== Town-hall meeting ===
On Tuesday, May 26, 2009, NASCAR held a town-hall meeting closed to the public and media with its drivers and owners to discuss a range of topics. Major topics discussed included the new aero war that had broken out between Dodge and Toyota, sponsorship, testing, the reduction in TV ratings and attendance, and competition in general. All attendees considered the meeting a success.
== Schedule ==
No.	Race title 	Track 	Date 	TV
1 	Toyota/Save Mart 350 	Infineon Raceway, Sonoma 	January 25 	Fox
 	Budweiser Shootout 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 7 	CBS
 	Gatorade Duels 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 12 	CBS
2 	Daytona 500 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	February 15 	CBS
3 	Subway 400 	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham 	February 22 	Fox
4 	Shelby 427 	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas 	March 1 	Fox
5 	Kobalt Tools 500 	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton 	March 8 	Fox
6 	San Jose 500 	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy 	March 15 	Fox
7 	Food City 500 	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol 	March 22 	Fox
8 	Goody's Fast Relief 500 	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway 	March 29 	Fox
9 	Samsung 500 	Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth 	April 5 	Fox
10 	Diet Coke 500 	Coca-Cola Superspeedway, Denver 	April 12 	Fox
11 	TranSouth Financial 400 	Darlington Raceway, Darlington 	April 19 	Fox
12 	Aaron's 499 	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln 	April 26 	Fox
13 	Crown Royal Presents The Russell Friedman 400	Richmond International Raceway, Richmond 	May 2 	Fox
14 	Auto Club 500 	Auto Club Speedway, Fontana 	May 9 	Fox
 	Sprint Showdown 	Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord 	May 16 	Speed
 	NASCAR All-Star Race XXV 	Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord 	May 16 	Speed
15 	Coca-Cola 600 	Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord 	May 25 	CBS
16 	Helluva Good 400 	Dover International Speedway, Dover 	May 31 	Fox
17 	Pabst Blue Ribbon 400 	The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis 	June 7 	TBS
18 	Dodge Journey 400 	Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth 	June 14 	TBS
19 	Budweiser 400 	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside 	June 21 	TBS
20 	Lenox Industrial Tools 301 	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon 	June 28 	TBS
21 	Coke Zero Firecracker 400 	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach	July 4 	CBS
22 	LifeLock.com 400 	Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet 	July 11 	TBS
23 	Music City USA 420 	Music City Motorplex, Nashville 	July 19 	TBS
24 	Allstate 400 at the Brickyard 	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway 	July 26 	ABC
25 	Sunoco American Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond 	August 3 	ESPN
26 	Helluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen 	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen 	August 10 	ESPN
27 	Carfax 400 	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn 	August 16 	ESPN
28 	Sharpie 500 	Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol 	August 24 	ESPN
29 	Southern 500 presented by GoDaddy.com 	Darlington Raceway, Darlington 	September 6 	ESPN
30 	Chevy Rock & Roll 400 	Richmond International Speedway, Richmond 	September 12	ABC
31 	Tyson Holly Farms 400 	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro 	September 20	ESPN
32 	AAA 400 	Dover International Speedway, Dover 	September 27	ESPN
33 	Price Chopper 400 	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City 	October 4 	ESPN
34 	Pep Boys Auto 500 	Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton 	October 10 	ABC
35 	NASCAR Banking 500 only from Bank of America 	Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord 	October 17 	ABC
36 	TUMS Fast Relief 500 	Martinsville Speedway, Ridgeway 	October 25 	ESPN
37 	AMP Energy 500 	Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln 	November 1 	ABC
38 	ACDelco 400 	Rockingham Speedway, Rockingham 	November 8 	ESPN
39 	Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 	Phoenix International Speedway, Avondale 	November 15 	ESPN
40 	Ford 400 	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead 	November 22 	ABC
41 	iPhone 500 	San Jose Motorplex, Gilroy 	November 29 	ABC
42 	Sprite 500 	Coca-Cola Superspeedway, Denver 	December 6 	ESPN
43 	Los Angeles Times 500 	Ontario Motor Speedway, Ontario 	December 13 	ABC
== Television ==
=== USA ===
In their third year of the current NASCAR television agreement, Fox carried the Bud Shootout, the Daytona 500 and the first 13 races through Dover's June race. Fox-owned Speed Channel aired the Gatorade Duels and Sprint All Star Race XXV. TNT then picked up the next six races starting at Pocono including the summer race at Daytona, the Coke Zero 400 with its "wide open format" coverage and ending at Chicago. The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard started ESPN/ABC's coverage, including the entire Chase for the Sprint Cup on ABC.
New to Fox telecasts was 3-D CGI animated adventures of "Digger", the network's gopher cam mascot and his friends, Annie, Marbles, Grandpa and rival Lumpy Wheels (named after former Lowe's Motor Speedway chief Humpy Wheeler). According to Digger's backstory, created by Fox Sports chairman David Hill, Digger lives underground at Talladega Superspeedway. The characters were also used in segues into and out of commercial breaks. However, Digger later became a harbor of criticism, as well as what most have cited as a cause of a deeper ratings decline than in years past, adding to already lower-than-normal ratings.
The annual changes at ABC/ESPN continue. Mike Massaro became a third host of NASCAR Now on ESPN2; Vince Welch replaced Massaro on pit road and Marty Reid did selected Nationwide Series events as well.
No changes were made to the CBS or TBS broadcasts.
On radio, Sirius XM Radio carried all races in the series. Terrestrial radio rights were handled as follows:
* Motor Racing Network carried races at tracks owned by their corporate sibling, International Speedway Corporation as well as the races at Dover and Pocono and the All-Star Race at Lowe's;
* Speedway Motorsports, Inc.-owned Performance Racing Network carried events from those SMI tracks, and jointly produced the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network.
=== Other North American channels ===
In Canada, TSN and TSN 2 covered the 2009 season.
=== International ===
In Australia, Fox Sports showed all of the Sprint Cup races live across their networks. Network Ten also showed Qualifying, Final Practice (Happy Hour), a 1-hour highlights package and selected races live on its new digital sports multichannel, ONE.
In Portugal, all races this season were telecast on SportTv 3, while in Sweden, Viasat Motor televised the races. In nearby Finland, Urheilu+Kanava telecasted the season's events, and in Great Britain and Ireland, the whole season was again telecasted on Sky Sports, in Spain Teledeporte televised six races of the season live.
In Latin America all the races were broadcast on Speed Latin America (Fox Latin American Channels). They did not telecast practices or qualifying.
== Cars Used in 2009 ==
WORK-IN-PROGRESS