Denny Hamlin scored the uneventful win while Tony Stewart and Juan Montoya butted heads during the middle part of the race. The two stubborn drivers created the only drama of the night as they banged fenders and put each other in the wall.
Qualifying
Point leader Jimmie Johnson put his Hendrick Chevy on the pole. Rookie Scott Speed surprised many by putting his RedBull Toyota on the outside of the front row. This was a great qualifying effort by Speed.
Another Toyota, this one driven by Marcos Ambrose, started on the inside of row number two. The only remaining Chase contender, Mark Martin, qualified fourth. Tony Stewart rounded out the top five at the green.
Drop Of The Green
Jimmie Johnson got the early lead and lead the first lap. Now instead of finishing 25th or better to clinch he only needed to finish 27th or better. Every little bit of insurance helps and Jimmie did a nice job claiming these bonus points.
Jimmie lead the first ten laps until Marcos Ambrose took over the top spot. Ambrose held the lead for four laps but then he had a tire problem and had to pit handing the lead back to Johnson.
Tony Stewart took over from Johnson and continued to lead as we stayed green all the way through the first round of green flag pit stops.
Storylines
On lap 117 Juan Montoya and Tony Stewart let their tempers boil over. Montoya gave Stewart a shove when Stewart slid up in front of him. Stewart clearly didn't like the shove and turned down into Montoya when Montoya was passing Stewart on the back straight. This contact cut Montoya's tire and sent him up into the outside wall.
On lap 156 Montoya got his revenge as he nailed Stewart in the back in turn four and spun Stewart down into the inside wall. Montoya got a two lap penalty for "aggressive driving" and both Chase drivers ended up with bad days.
This is what you get when two stubborn drivers with tempers get together on the race track.
Chasing The Checkers
As the closing laps of the 2009 season approached Denny Hamlin had a 3 second lead over Jeff Borton and Kurt Busch. Jimmie Johnson was safely installed in sixth place and solidly in his Championship position.
There was no drama at all left in the 2009 season and this season ended with a fizzle instead of a bang.
Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson on his incredible fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship in a row. His dominant run is amazing, but I sure hope that we see another driver at the top in 2010.
Top Ten
- Denny Hamlin
- Jeff Burton
- Kevin Harvick
- Kurt Busch
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jeff Gordon
- Carl Edwards
- Kyle Busch
- Martin Truex Jr.
- A.J. Allmendinger
The Points
Jimmie Johnson stayed out of trouble and got the job done. As Jimmie himself said "No one has ever... Ever!" won four NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships in a row.
The top twelve are now:
- Jimmie Johnson
- Mark Martin -141
- Jeff Gordon -179
- Kurt Busch -206
- Denny Hamlin -317
- Tony Stewart -343
- Greg Biffle -360
- Juan Montoya -400
- Ryan Newman -477
- Kasey Kahne -524
- Carl Edwards -534
- Brian Vickers -723
