Jimmie Johnson Takes Chase Lead With Dominating Performance In California

The 2009 Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway had a new October date and cooler temperatures. However the result was the same as Jimmie Johnson picked up the win for the third year in a row. This win moved Johnson past Mark Martin in the points to give him the lead for the first time in the 2009 Chase. This one had a bunch of interesting stories from the national anthem through the finish.

Qualifying

Auto Club Speedway in California saw four Chasers qualify in the top five spots. Denny Hamlin started on the pole in his Joe Gibbs Toyota. Greg Biffle qualified second for Roush-Fenway Racing. Jimmie Johnson and Juan Montoya made up row number two and non-Chaser Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five.

David Reutimann posted the second fastest time in qualifying. However Reutimann's Toyota failed post-qualifying inspection. Apparently he had too much pressure in the shocks and was forced to start 42nd instead of the front row.

Drop Of The Green

Denny Hamlin decided to start on the outside of the front row and took the lead through turns one and two. Hamlin was able to get away a little while the rest of the leaders battled behind him.

Hamlin lead the first ten laps but Jimmie Johnson ran him down and completed the pass for the lead on lap eleven. Johnson maintained the lead until lap 27 when Juan Pablo Montoya ran him down and took his turn at the point. Montoya lead the rest of the early going.

Storylines

The 2009 Pepsi 500 got a rocky sendoff as Jesse McCartney messed up the words to the National Anthem. Really, if you know that you're going to be singing in front of millions of people you should double-check the words.

Kyle Busch had the flu and was not feeling up to 500 miles at Auto Club Speedway. He had struck a deal with David Gilliland who pitted his car after seven laps so he would be available to relieve Kyle Busch. The first caution flag didn't fly until lap 59.

Kyle Busch was in 23rd position when the yellow flag flew. After the driver change Gilliland was still on the lead lap in 27th.

Chasing The Checkers

The green flag flew with 60 laps to go. Denny Hamlin was the leader and chose the outside line ahead of Juan Montoya, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin.

Denny Hamlin got a goot jump on the start but Jimmie Johnson was pushing Montoya hard on the bottom line. Hamlin tried to jump down and close the door but Montoya was already there. Hamlin spun down across the track and hit the inside wall ending his chances to win. Hamlin himself called it simply a "bad mistake."

At that point nobody was left to compete with Johnson who cruised to the easy win.

Top Ten

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Juan Montoya
4. Mark Martin
5. Tony Stewart
6. Carl Edwards
7. David Ragan
8. Kurt Busch
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Kevin Harvick

The Points

Johnson's second race win of the 2009 Chase allowed him to pull ahead of Mark Martin in the Chase. This is the closest Chase battle in history as the top five are separated by just 105 points.

The top twelve are now:

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Mark Martin -12
3. Juan Montoya -58
4. Tony Stewart -84
5. Jeff Gordon -105
6. Kurt Busch -121
7. Greg Biffle -188
8. Carl Edwards -192
9. Denny Hamlin -219
10. Ryan Newman -223
11. Kasey Kahne -306
12. Brian Vickers -351