The 2009 Sylvania 300 was the twenty-seventh stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the first in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on September 20, 2009, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, before a crowd of 101,000 people. The 300-lap race was won by Mark Martin of the Hendrick Motorsports team after starting from fourteenth position. Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya was in third place.
Martin was leading the Drivers' Championship heading into the race because of a redistribution of the points-scoring system that saw him receive an additional forty points for achieving four race victories in the preceding 26 events. Montoya, who initially held the pole position by recording the fastest lap time in qualifying, was immediately passed by Tony Stewart. One lap later, Montoya reclaimed the lead. Chase for the Sprint Cup participants Hamlin and Kurt Busch were in the top ten for most of the race. Martin became the leader of the race, after the leaders made their pit stops. Martin retained the first position to win the race, his fifth of the 2009 season. There were eleven cautions and twenty lead changes among ten different drivers during the race.
The race was Martin's fifth win of the season, as well as the 40th and final win of his Cup career. After the race, Martin maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship, thirty-five points ahead of Hamlin, who advanced to second, and equal on points with Johnson. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, thirty-nine points ahead of Toyota and eighty-one ahead of Dodge, with nine races of the season remaining. The race attracted 5.04 million television viewers.
Background
The 2009 Sylvania 300 was the twenty-seventh of thirty-six scheduled stock car races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the first in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on September 20, 2009, in Loudon, New Hampshire, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. The standard track at New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a four-turn oval track, long. The track's turns are banked at two to seven degrees, while the front stretch, the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at one degree.
Before the race, twelve drivers gained qualification to the Chase for the Sprint Cup; each of them had no fewer than 5,000 points and those who won races over the course of the season received an additional ten points. This was done through a redistribution of the points system. Mark Martin led the Drivers' Championship with 5,040 points by virtue of his four victories in the preceding 26 races, followed by Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson who were tied for second place on 5,030 points. Denny Hamlin, was 5,020 points, was tied with Kasey Kahne, with Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers all level with 5,010 points. Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle rounded out the top twelve with 5,000 points each. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 190 points, thirty-six points ahead of their rival Toyota in second. Dodge and Ford were tied on points in the battle for third place. Biffle was the race's defending champion.
Johnson had qualified for all six previous Chase for the Sprint Cups and spoke of his expectations, "I think we've got our best chance for a really exciting Chase. We're really running well. I feel really good at the races in the Chase." Martin commented on his prospects, "I feel like a whole new person — a huge weight is off my shoulders. To make this thing is the icing and now we get to go race for the cake." Montoya was the first non-American driver to advance to the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and said he felt he was under no pressure to be in it, adding, "If I win the Cup, cool. That's it. That's not a big deal for me. I don't get any special treatment or anything. I wouldn't mind getting some but I don't."
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. During the first practice session, Montoya was fastest with a lap of 28.749 seconds, placing ahead of Kevin Harvick in second and Clint Bowyer in third. Stewart took fourth position, and Martin placed fifth. Kurt Busch, A. J. Allmendinger, Kyle Busch, Johnson and Hamlin rounded out the top ten fastest drivers in the session.
A total of forty-five 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. On his second timed lap, Montoya clinched his second pole position of the season and of his career, with a track-record lap of 28.545 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Stewart. Kurt Busch qualified third and Hamlin took fourth after holding pole position for most of the season. Edwards started fifth. David Stremme was the fastest driver who was unable to advance for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in sixth. Martin Truex Jr., Bobby Labonte and Kyle Busch completed the top nine qualifiers. Jeff Gordon, one of the drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, qualified tenth, while Kahne set the eleventh-fastest time. The two drivers who failed to qualify for the race were Derrike Cope and Dexter Bean. After the qualifier Montoya said, "You know how these races go, "If it was a 10-lap shootout, I'll say, 'Hey, we're looking good.' But it's like 200 laps, 300 laps or something, or 400, I don't even know. It's a bunch of laps. As long as I lead the last one I don't care."
On Saturday morning, Montoya was fastest in the second practice session with a 29.269 seconds lap, ahead of Truex in second, and Martin in third. Stremme was fourth quickest, and Johnson took fifth. Hamlin managed sixth. Kurt Busch, Biffle, Labonte and Kahne followed in the top ten. Of the other drivers in the Chase, Stewart was eighteenth-fastest, while Edwards ended with twenty-third-fastest time. Later that day, Montoya paced the final practice session with a time of 29.214 seconds, ahead of Truex in second and Kurt Busch in third. Martin was fourth-fastest, ahead of Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hamlin was seventh-fastest, Jeff Gordon eighth-, Harvick ninth- and Stewart tenth-fastest. Other Chase drivers included Kahne in fourteenth and Biffle in twentieth.
Qualifying results Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer 142 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.545 133.431 214 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas RacingChevrolet 28.728 132.581 32 Kurt Busch Penske Championship Racing Dodge 28.728 132.581 411 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.848 132.038 599 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.852 132.012 612 David Stremme Penske Racing Dodge 28.867 131.943 71 Martin Truex Jr.Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 28.887 131.852 871 Bobby Labonte TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 28.888 131.847 918 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.892 131.829 1024 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.901 131.788 119 Kasey Kahne Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge 28.907 131.760 1229 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.915 131.724 1300 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 28.962 131.510 145 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.994 131.365 1566 Dave Blaney Prism Motorsports Toyota 28.997 131.352 1648 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.023 131.234 1733 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.023 131.234 1839 Ryan Newman Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 29.024 131.229 1907 Casey Mears Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.055 131.089 2087 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 29.057 131.080 2155 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Motorsports Toyota 29.062 131.058 2216 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.068 131.031 2388 Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 29.071 131.017 2477 Sam Hornish Jr.Team Penske Dodge 29.073 131.008 2543 Reed Sorenson Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge 29.094 130.914 2686 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 29.153 130.649 2782 Scott Speed Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 29.153 130.649 287 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota 29.156 130.635 2926 Jamie McMurray Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.160 130.617 3064 Mike Wallace Gunselman Motorsports Toyota 29.161 130.613 3147 Marcos Ambrose JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 29.165 130.595 3231 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29.192 130.474 3320 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 29.197 130.452 3444 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge 29.204 130.421 3519 Elliott Sadler Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge 29.230 130.305 3637 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Dodge 29.321 129.900 3796 Erik Darnell Hall of Fame Racing Ford 29.321 129.789 3817 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.383 129.686 3909 Aric Almirola Phoenix Racing Dodge 29.450 129.331 4098 Paul Menard Robert Yates Racing Ford 29.513 129.055 4134 John Andretti Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 29.562 128.841 426 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 29.925 127.278 4336 Michael McDowell Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota 29.461 129.283Failed to qualify 4475 Derrike Cope Cope/Keller Racing Dodge 29.978 127.053 4551 Dexter Bean BlackJack Racing Dodge 30.027 126.846Sources:
Race The race commenced at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time and was televised live in the United States on ESPN. Commentary was provided by play-by-play announcer Jerry Punch, with analysis by Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny with the air temperature around . Bishop Michael Cote began pre-race ceremonies with the invocation. Universal Music Group Nashville recording artist Josh Turner performed the national anthem, and Tim Leach, Vice President of Sales, Service and Logistics for Sylvania, gave the command for drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Tony Raines had to move to the back of the grid because of him changing his engine.
Stewart accelerated faster than Montoya off the line, getting ahead of him going into the first turn. One lap later, Montoya reclaimed the lead by passing Stewart in turn one. Stremme moved into fourth on lap three, while Hamlin passed Stewart for the second position. Vickers, who began the race in twenty-sixth, had moved up seven positions to nineteenth by lap five. By the sixth lap, Montoya had increased his lead over Stewart to 1.4 seconds. Five laps later, Jeff Gordon moved into sixth position, while Edwards passed Labonte for eighth. By lap 15, Montoya had a 2.3-second lead over Stewart. Seven laps later, Stewart had reduced Montoya's lead to 1.1 seconds.
On lap 24, Dave Blaney took his car to the garage because of an electrical problem. Seven laps later, Truex lost three positions after running seventh. On lap 37, Stewart reclaimed the lead from Montoya. On the 39th lap, Michael McDowell drove to the garage because of brake problems. During the 43rd lap, Jeff Gordon passed Hamlin for fourth position. After starting the race in twenty-third, Earnhardt moved up into fifteenth position by lap 46. Four laps later, Stremme dropped to sixth position, after being passed by Edwards and Johnson. On lap 51, Jeff Gordon passed Hamlin for the fourth position, while Mike Wallace took his car to the garage because of brake problems. By lap 56, Harvick and Labonte were running in nineteenth and twentieth, while Stewart's lead was 1.7 seconds by lap 63.