David Reutimann Picks Up First Career Win In Rainy 2009 Coca-Cola 600

The 2009 Coca-Cola 600 was run in short spurts in between the raindrops. David Reutimann's team made a great call to leave him out under caution. That caution turned into the final red flag and Reutimann scored his first Sprint Cup Series win without leaded a single green flag lap.

Qualifying

There were four Chevrolets in the top five qualifying spots. Ryan Newman topped qualifying in his U.S. Army Chevy. The sole non-bowtie in the top five was Kyle Busch's second place effort for Toyota.

Hendrick Motorsports Chevy's swept the rest of the top five as 3rd through 5th were Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson.

Drop Of The Green

Rain on Sunday night caused the start to be delayed until Noon on Monday. The rain washed all of the rubber from the track and cars that were setup for a night race wouldn't likely perform the same in the daylight.

Ryan Newman jumped out to lead lap but Kyle Busch wasted no time in getting the lead from Newman. Kyle stayed out front all the way to the competition caution on lap 40. Drivers were patient and stayed pretty much single-file during the early going.

Storylines

Weather dominated the storylines of the 2009 Coca-Cola 600. It was a very long weekend for teams, drivers and fans as the rain kept interrupting the event.

First, rain pushed the start of the event from Sunday evening back to Noon on Monday. The race went green on time on Monday but that wasn't the end of the rain's effect on the event.

1. A caution flew for rain on lap 7
2. Because of the rain NASCAR threw a competition caution on lap 40
3. A caution for rain returned on lap 71
4. The race went red on lap 73
5. While already under caution for the Memorial Day tribute the race was red flagged for rain on lap 177
6. Rains returned and the race was under caution on lap 221
7. The race went red for the final time on lap 227

This never-ending battle with the weather was a real test for fans. Congratulations to those who were able to hang in there and see all of the available racing. Better luck next year.

Chasing The Checkers

David Reutimann stayed out during the final caution to gamble on the weather. He was out front when NASCAR threw the final red flag and, after more than two hours of red flag, claimed his first career win and Michael Waltrip's first win as a car owner.

Top Ten

1. David Reutimann
2. Ryan Newman
3. Robby Gordon
4. Carl Edwards
5. Brian Vickers
6. Kyle Busch
7. Kasey Kahne
8. Juan Montoya
9. Joey Logano
10. Matt Kenseth

The Points

The top five drivers remained the same as Jeff Gordon extended his lead slightly over Tony Stewart. Those two now have separated themselves slightly from the rest of the top twelve.

The top twelve are now:

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Tony Stewart -44
3. Kurt Busch -124
4. Jimmie Johnson -128
5. Denny Hamlin -147
6. Kyle Busch -182
7. Ryan Newman -184
8. Jeff Burton -250
9. Matt Kenseth -262
10. Greg Biffle -274
11. Carl Edwards -291
12. Mark Martin -294