Qualifying
Qualifying was rained out so the starting lineup was set by car owner points.
Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon qualified on the front row while Jimmie Johnson Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.
Tony Stewart crashed in practice and switched to a backup car so he had to start in the back. This moved the entire inside row up so Jimmie Johnson started on the inside of the front row.
Drop Of The Green
Jeff Gordon jumped to the lead in turn one and stretched out a ten carlength lead on lap one. The caution flew on lap two and Jimmie Johnson took over the lead on the ensuing restart.
Johnson got away from the pack and lead the early going as Gordon slipped back through the field.
Storylines
Pocono got to christen NASCAR's new restart rule change. Under the new format, the race leader has the option to restart on the inside or outside lane. Early in the race we saw Jimmie Johnson opt for the outside lane on the restart. The second-place driver will then restart next to the leader.
Regardless of where the leader starts, drivers in odd number positions will restart on the inside lane, while drivers in even number positions will restart on the outside. All restarts will use the same format regardless of the number of laps remaining in the race.
This rule change didn't have a large effect on the 2009 Pocono 500 but has the potential to greatly increase the quality of the racing going forward.
Chasing The Checkers
With 42 laps to go rain slowed the action for a bit. Jeff Gordon was in the lead but had not pitted when the rest of the leaders did.
When the green flag flew Tony Stewart was out front over Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne. Fuel mileage looked to be a factor as well as the threat of more rain.
Drivers started to come to pit road under green with fifteen laps to go. Stewart was staying out, stretching his fuel mileage to the max. He was lifting halfway down the front straight and coasting into the corners.
Johnson and Edwards were bearing down from behind but he had enough fuel and made it to the checkers. Johnson ran out of gas in the final turn and fell from second to seventh at the stripe.
Top Ten
- Tony Stewart
- Carl Edwards
- David Reutimann
- Jeff Gordon
- Ryan Newman
- Marcos Ambrose
- Jimmie Johnson
- Juan Montoya
- Jeff Burton
- Sam Hornish Jr.
The Points
Point leader Tony Stewart's Pocono win helped him stretch his lead over Jeff Gordon. Another strong run by David Reutimann launched him up two positions and Reutimann now holds down a Chase spot.
The top twelve are now:
- Tony Stewart
- Jeff Gordon -71
- Jimmie Johnson -103
- Ryan Newman -203
- Kurt Busch -224
- Carl Edwards -281
- Greg Biffle -290
- Matt Kenseth -298
- Kyle Busch -312
- Jeff Burton -318
- David Reutimann -342
- Denny Hamlin -364
