The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the 61st season of professional stock car racing in the United States, the 38th modern-era Cup series, and the last Cup season of the 21st century's first decade, the 2000s. The season included 36 races and two exhibition races with the regular season beginning with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway and ending with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The final ten races were known as 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup. Rick Hendrick won the Owners' Championship, while Jimmie Johnson won the Drivers' Championship with a fifth-place finish at the final race of the season. Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship with 248 points.
Teams and drivers Complete schedule Because of the merger of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. with Chip Ganassi Racing, the No. 01 and No. 15 teams closed after the 2008 season. However, the owners' points from the No. 15 were transferred to the No. 34, while points from either the No. 01 or No. 41 was transferred to the No. 07, with the No. 33 car, owned by Richard Childress, receiving the other. (NASCAR allows for a transfer if the original owner maintains some stake in the team to which points are transferred.) 2009 also saw the demise of Petty Enterprises, which merged with Gillette Evernham Motorsports. The new company would be called Richard Petty Motorsports, forming a 4 car team with Kasey Kahne in the No. 9, Elliott Sadler in the No. 19, Reed Sorenson driving the famed No. 43, and A. J. Allmendinger driving the No. 44. Also Bill Davis Racing was bought by Triad Racing, however the No. 22 was bought by Penske Racing with Bill Davis holding minority interest. The No. 22's points were transferred to the No. 77, thus guaranteeing that car a spot in the Daytona 500 should all other transfers occur. There were 41 full-time teams in 2009. ManufacturerTeamRace driverCrew chief Chevrolet Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 1 Martin Truex Jr. Kevin Manion 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Brian Pattie Front Row Motorsports 34 John Andretti Steve Lane Tony Raines Hendrick Motorsports 5 Mark Martin Alan Gustafson 24 Jeff Gordon Steve Letarte 48 Jimmie Johnson Chad Knaus 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Tony Eury Jr. Richard Childress Racing 07 Casey Mears Gil Martin 29 Kevin Harvick Todd Berrier 31 Jeff Burton Scott Miller 33 Clint Bowyer Shane Wilson Stewart–Haas Racing 14 Tony Stewart Darian Grubb 39 Ryan Newman Tony Gibson TRG Motorsports 71 Mike Wallace Slugger Labbe David Gilliland Andy Lally Bobby Labonte Mike Bliss Phoenix Racing 09 Brad Keselowski Marc Reno Ron Fellows David Gilliland David Stremme Dodge Sterling Marlin Mike Bliss Aric Almirola Penske Championship Racing 2 Kurt Busch Pat Tryson 12 David Stremme Roy McCauley Brad Keselowski 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Travis Geisler Ford Roush Fenway Racing 6 David Ragan Jimmy Fennig 16 Greg Biffle Greg Erwin 17 Matt Kenseth Drew Blickensderfer 26 Jamie McMurray Donnie Wingo 99 Carl Edwards Bob Osbourne Yates / Hall of Fame Racing 96 Bobby Labonte Todd Parrott Ben Leslie Erik Darnell 98 Paul Menard Larry Carter Toyota Joe Gibbs Racing 11 Denny Hamlin Mike Ford 18 Kyle Busch Steve Addington 20 Joey Logano (R) Greg Zipadelli JTG Daugherty Racing 47 Marcos Ambrose Frank Kerr Michael Waltrip Racing 00 David Reutimann Rodney Childers 55 Michael Waltrip Bootie BarkerGene Nead Patrick Carpentier NEMCO Motorsports87 Joe Nemechek Phillipe Lopez Scott Speed (R)At Darlington (Race #11) and Sonoma (Race #16), Speed, who was scheduled to drive the No. 82 for Red Bull Racing Team failed to qualify his No. 82, so Nemechek who made the field, gave up his ride for Speed run both races, driving the No. 87 instead. Prism Motorsports 66 Terry Labonte Bill Henderson Dave Blaney Michael McDowell Red Bull Racing Team 82 Scott Speed (R) Jimmy Elledge 83 Brian Vickers Ryan Pemberton Robby Gordon Motorsports 7 Robby Gordon Kirk Almquist David Gilliland Tommy Baldwin Racing 36 Scott Riggs Tommy Baldwin Jr. Mike Skinner Patrick Carpentier Brian Simo Michael McDowell Robert Richardson Jr. DodgeFord Richard Petty Motorsports 9 Kasey Kahne Kenny Francis 19 Elliott Sadler Kevin Buskirk 43 Reed Sorenson Mike Shiplett 44 A. J. Allmendinger Sammy Johns
Limited schedule ManufacturerTeamRace driverCrew chiefRound(s)Chevrolet Furniture Row Racing 78 Regan Smith Jay Guy Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 8 Aric Almirola Doug Randolph TRG Motorsports 70 David Gilliland Mike Skinner Kevin Conway Hendrick Motorsports 25 Brad Keselowski Lance McGrew Norm Benning Racing 57 Norm Benning Mark Tutor Morgan-McClure Motorsports 4 Eric McClure Scott Wimmer R3 Motorsports 23 Mike Skinner Dodge Ash Motorsports 02 Brandon Ash Kenneth Wood BlackJack Racing51 Kelly Bires Ryan Bergenty David Starr Dexter Bean (R)Boys Will BeBoys Racing Co.06 Trevor BoysIain Moncrieff David Starr Carl Long Racing 46 Carl Long Dennis Setzer Cope/Keller Racing 75 Derrike Cope Rich Markle H&S Motorsports 73 Mike GarveyBuddy Sisco Tony Raines Josh WiseFordYates / Hall of Fame Racing28Travis KvapilBen LeslieWood Brothers Racing 21 Bill Elliott David Hyder David Gilliland Carter/Simo Racing 08 Boris Said Frank Stoddard Toyota Terry Labonte Tony Furr Joe Gibbs Racing 02 David Gilliland Wally Brown Germain Racing 13 Max Papis (R) Bootie Barker 35 Todd BodineGunselman Motorsports 64 Geoff Bodine Doug Richert Todd Bodine Mike Wallace Derrike CopeKirk Shelmerdine Racing 27 Kirk Shelmerdine Tom Hubert Ted Christopher Robby Gordon Motorsports 04 P. J. Jones Bob Gordon David GillilandMayfield Motorsports 41 Jeremy Mayfield Tony Furr J. J. Yeley ChevroletDodgeFront Row Motorsports 37 Tony Raines Scott Eggleston Chris Cook Tony Ave Kevin Hamlin Peter Sospenzo Travis Kvapil
Notes
Major news stories
Economic effects
Mergers, contractions, and alliances The 2008 financial crisis 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, Chip Ganassi Racing merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. to form Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. They fielded the No. 1 and No. 8 from DEI and No. 42 from Ganassi, and shut down the DEI No. 01 and No. 15 teams as well as Ganassi's No. 40 and No. 41 teams, as the No. 40 was a full-time team in 2008 until July, when it was closed for a lack of sponsorship. The No. 42 team will run under the Chevrolet banner under the merger as it changes from Dodge. In addition, Front Row Motorsports has EGR support for their No. 34 car, to be driven by John Andretti. On January 19, Petty Enterprises merged with Gillett Evernham Motorsports for the merger with Petty's famous No. 43 joining the newly renamed Richard Petty Motorsports. On December 22, 2008, Bill Davis Racing was sold to California businessman Mike Held and BDR vice president Marty Gaunt, and was renamed Triad Racing Development. Hall of Fame Racing announced an alliance with Yates Racing on January 13, 2009, and named Bobby Labonte as the new driver of the No. 96 team as they move from Toyota to Ford. The first in-season casualty was the No. 28 team of Travis Kvapil owned by Yates Racing, ceasing operations following the Food City 500 on March 22. On April 7, the second casualty of the season was the famous No. 8, which folded because of a lack of sponsorship, leaving Aric Almirola without a ride. On September 10, it was announced that Yates Racing and RPM would merge, closing the No. 44 and No. 96 teams as a result for the 2010 season and the No. 9, No. 19 and No. 43 teams will switch to Ford.
The elimination of testing On November 14, 2008, NASCAR announced, as another cost-cutting measure, that teams will no longer be allowed to test on NASCAR-sanctioned tracks in all three major series. Traditionally, they had had preseason tests at Daytona and Las Vegas, along with as many as four additional in-season sessions at tracks, but all teams also use unsanctioned tracks (such as Rockingham Speedway) for their tests. The testing ban covers all tracks used on NASCAR's three national series, plus tracks that host events in the Camping World East and West circuits. This radically reduces the number of tracks that can be used for testing, with Rockingham being one of the few major tracks still available. This meant that the annual "Pre-Season Thunder" testing events, which covered all three major touring series at Daytona was cancelled for 2009. However, a fan fest remained in place with the thunder provided by the Richard Petty Driving Experience for fans to ride in a special two-seat stock car. However, Goodyear will still conduct tire tests, such as at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A total of seven tests were conducted at Indianapolis following the 2008 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard tire debacle.
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 Richard Petty Motorsports, losing their manufacturer support; as stated earlier, RPM will merge with Yates and have the No. 9, No. 19 and No. 43 cars switch to Ford for the 2010 season. Dodge claims that "funding is on hold." Toyota gave a small reduction in funding before the season, but has not made any mid-season cuts. Rumors have floated that Toyota may leave the Camping World Truck Series or Nationwide Series; the automaker has denied these reports. Ford, the healthiest of all the automakers, continues funding at pre-crisis levels. From the 2005 season it has 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.
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 Jeremy Mayfield substance abuse suspension controversy, along with double-file restarts, the controversial Car of Tomorrow, sponsorship, testing, the reduction in TV ratings and attendance, and competition in general. All attendees considered the meeting a success.
Double-file restarts Before the start of the season, NASCAR changed restart rules regarding the final moments of all races in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series. Previously, when the race was inside the final ten laps, all cars/trucks on the lead lap were in a single-file restart in that window. As of the 2009 season, the window changed to the final 20 laps. The "lucky dog"/"free pass" rule will still be eliminated in the last ten laps of a race.