The 2009 Ford 400 was the thirty-sixth and final stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as well as the tenth and final race of the season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on November 22, 2009, at Homestead–Miami Speedway, in Homestead, Florida, before a crowd of 70,000 people. The 267-lap race was won by Denny Hamlin of the Joe Gibbs Racing team after starting from thirty-eighth position. Richard Childress Racing driver Jeff Burton finished second and his teammate Kevin Harvick was third.
Going into the race only Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin remained in contention to win the Drivers' Championship, with Johnson leading Martin by 108 points. Johnson won the pole position by setting the fastest lap in qualifying, and he maintained his lead on the first lap of the race. Many Chase for the Sprint Cup participants, including Johnson, Kurt Busch and Mark Martin, were in the top ten for most of the race, although some encountered problems in the closing laps. Kyle Busch was leading the race with forty-six laps remaining, giving the lead to Hamlin on lap 223 who maintained it to win the race. There were seven cautions in the race, as well as eighteen lead changes among ten different drivers.
The race was Hamlin's fourth win in the 2009 season, and the eighth of his career. Johnson became the first driver to win four consecutive Drivers' Championships and was 141 points ahead of Mark Martin. Johnson's team owner Jeff Gordon won the Owners' Championship. Chevrolet won the Manufacturers' Championship with 262 points, fifty-five points ahead of Toyota and ninety-eight ahead of Ford. The race attracted 5.60 million television viewers.
Background
The Ford 400 was the 36th and final race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the last of the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on November 22, 2009, in Homestead, Florida, at Homestead–Miami Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. The race was held on the standard track at Homestead–Miami Speedway; a four-turn oval track that is long. The track's turns are banked from 18 to 20 degrees, and both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch are banked at three degrees.
Before the final race of the season, Jimmie Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 6,492 points; Mark Martin was second with 6,384 points, 92 points behind Johnson. A maximum of 195 points were available for the final race. Johnson could win the title if he finished 25th or higher, while Martin had to win the race and for Johnson to place 30th. Behind Johnson and Martin in the Drivers' Championship, Jeff Gordon was third with 6,323, and Kurt Busch was fourth with 6,281 points. Gordon would be mathematically eliminated from winning the championship when the race commenced. Chevrolet had already secured the Manufacturer's Championship, and entered the race on 256 points, 58 points ahead of Toyota on 198 points, with a maximum of nine points available at the Ford 400. Carl Edwards was the race's defending champion.
In the title battle, Johnson had achieved seven wins, fifteen top-five finishes, and twenty-three top ten placings over the course of the season; he was vying to become the first driver to win four consecutive Cup Series championships while his teammate Martin would be the oldest driver to claim the title. Johnson commented on his mindset: "I am out of emotion, There is no emotion. It's all business. It's about showing up tomorrow, putting in the best lap I can, driving the car as hard as can I on Saturday, making sure the car is set up right, and doing my job on Sunday. I am not allowing my mind to slip any." Martin said he had an unchanged mindset for each race in 2009 and was unworried about his championship prospects: "I'm sure that we could wind up fourth in the points, which is something no one has even considered. But I'm not thinking about that. I'm neither worried about that or Jimmie."
A total of 48 cars were entered for the event with two changes of driver. David Stremme, who had been replaced Brad Keselowski as the driver Penske Championship Racing's No. 12 entry, signed to race the No. 9 Phoenix Racing car for the Ford 400. Matt Crafton drove the No. 7 Robby Gordon Motorsports vehicle during practice and qualifying in place of Robby Gordon, who was racing in the 2009 Baja 1000 (part of the SCORE International Off-Road Championship) in his attempt to win the Trophy Truck Division and overall championship titles.
Practice and qualifying
Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday, and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, and the second 45 minutes. The final session lasted 60 minutes. In the first practice session, Kurt Busch was fastest with a lap of 31.136 seconds, placing ahead of Juan Pablo Montoya in second and Clint Bowyer in third. Ryan Newman took fourth position and Joey Logano placed fifth. Tony Stewart, Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and David Reutimann rounded out the top ten fastest drivers in the session. Montoya lost control of his car exiting the fourth turn, and spun down the frontstretch but avoided sustaining damage to his vehicle.
A total of forty-eight drivers were entered in the qualifier on Friday afternoon; due 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. Johnson clinched his fourth pole position of the season, with a time of 31.049 seconds that was recorded due to his qualifying late and track conditions improving. He was joined on the grid's front row by Scott Speed, his joint-highest qualifying starting position of his career. Marcos Ambrose qualified third and held second until Speed set his fastest lap. Martin took fourth when the circuit temperature was at its warmest and held the pole until Johnson's lap. Stewart started fifth. Harvick, Newman, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliott and Bowyer completed the top ten fastest qualifiers. Kurt Busch, one of the drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, qualified twelfth, while Jeff Gordon set the twentieth fastest time. Terry Labonte in 43rd used a Champion's Provisional to qualify for the race. The five drivers who failed to qualify were Joe Nemechek, Dave Blaney, Mike Skinner, Max Papis and Stremme. Reed Sorenson, Skinner and Stremme lost control of their cars during qualifying, and Crafton's engine failed at the conclusion of his second timed lap. After the qualifier Johnson said, "I had a talk with myself to do what I could today and don't freak out if it's not as good as what Mark [Martin] ran. I kept my emotions in check and drove the car with the right touch and feel, and that comes from being relaxed, so it went well."
On Saturday morning, Martin was fastest with a time of 32.109 seconds in the second practice session, ahead of Denny Hamlin in second, and Johnson in third. Newman was fourth quickest, and Kyle Busch took fifth. Jeff Burton managed sixth. Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. followed in the top ten. Of the other drivers in the Chase, Jeff Gordon finished with the seventeenth fastest time, while Stewart set the twenty-fourth fastest time. Erik Darnell damaged his car's right-hand side against the barrier. Burton paced the final practice session with a 32.582 seconds lap, with Harvick and Martin second and third respectively. Truex was fourth fastest, ahead of Newman and Logano. Johnson was scored seventh, Casey Mears eighth, Brad Keselowski ninth and Hamlin tenth. The other Chase drivers, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch were scored fifteenth and eleventh respectively.
Qualifying results Grid Driver Team Manufacturer 148 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.049 173.319 282 Scott Speed Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 31.269 172.695 347 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 31.272 172.678 45 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.331 172.353 514 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 31.351 172.243 629 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.369 172.145 739 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 31.389 172.035 816 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.391 172.024 921 Bill Elliott Wood Brothers Racing Ford 31.421 171.860 1033 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.425 171.838 1126 Jamie McMurray Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.425 171.838 122 Kurt Busch Penske Championship Racing Dodge 31.433 171.794 1344 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 31.441 171.750 141 Martin Truex Jr. Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 31.460 171.646 1507 Casey Mears Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.463 171.630 1678 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 31.473 171.576 1702 David Gilliland Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.494 171.461 1836 Michael McDowell Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota 31.499 171.434 1971 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 31.506 171.396 2024 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.517 171.336 2119 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge 31.518 171.331 2200 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 31.528 171.276 2342 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 31.549 171.162 2499 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.580 170.994 259 Kasey Kahne Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge 31.585 170.967 2631 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31.585 170.967 2712 Brad Keselowski Penske Championship Racing Dodge 31.613 170.816 2837 Travis Kvapil Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 31.615 170.805 2977 Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Championship Racing Dodge 31.617 170.794 3018 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.644 170.648 3196 Erik Darnell Hall of Fame Racing Ford 31.666 170.530 3288 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 31.680 170.454 3383 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 31.688 170.411 3417 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.694 170.379 3520 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.714 170.272 3698 Paul Menard Robert Yates Racing Ford 31.715 170.266 377 Matt Crafton Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 31.787 169.881 3811 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 31.818 169.715 3955 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 31.886 169.353 4034 John Andretti Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 31.901 169.274 416 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 31.939 169.072 4243 Reed Sorenson Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge 31.952 169.003 4308 Terry Labonte Carter Simo Racing Toyota 4487 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 31.633 170.708 4566 Dave Blaney Prism Motorsports Toyota 31.964 168.940 4670 Mike Skinner TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 32.017 168.660 4713 Max Papis Germain Racing Toyota 32.042 168.529 4809 David Stremme Phoenix Racing Chevrolet – –
Race
The race, the last in the 2009 season, began at 3:15 pm Eastern Daylight Time and was televised live in the United States on ABC. Commentary was provided by Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree and Jerry Punch. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were partly cloudy with the air temperature . Fidel Gomez, assistant pastor of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Actress Anika Noni Rose performed the national anthem, and actor Mike Rowe commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Robby Gordon had to move to the back of the grid because of him changing his engine.