2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500


The 2009 Subway Fresh Fit 500 was the eighth stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on April 18, 2009 at Phoenix International Speedway in Avondale, Arizona.

Report

Background

is one of five short tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Richmond International Raceway, Dover International Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, and Martinsville Speedway. The standard track at Phoenix International Raceway is a four-turn short track oval that is long. The track's turns were banked at 11 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, was banked at three degrees. The back stretch, which has a dogleg shape instead of a straight, has 9 degrees of banking. The racetrack has seats for 76,800 spectators.
Before the race, Jeff Gordon led the Drivers' Championship with 1,154 points, followed by Jimmie Johnson in second on 992 points. Kurt Busch was in third on 974 points, Clint Bowyer was fourth with 967 points, and Tony Stewart was fifth on 963 points. Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne rounded out the top ten. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 48 points, ten points ahead of their rival Ford in second. Toyota, with 37 points, was six points ahead of Dodge in the battle for third. Johnson was the race's defending champion.

Qualifying

Martin took the pole at Phoenix with a speed of 133.814 mph, 0.018 seconds in front of second place, Kyle Busch. Kurt Busch took third place 0.23 seconds of the leader and Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers rounded out the top five.

Race

recording artists Kate & Kacey sang the national anthem for this race and future talk show host Michael Strahan delivered the command to start engines 5 minutes after the anthem was sung.
Mark Martin started from the pole and dominated the first one hundred laps of the race, relinquishing the lead only under caution. At this point, the front runners were Martin, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, and Tony Stewart. Those four were consistently in the top five for the first two hundred laps. On lap 167, the caution came out for Robby Gordon's wreck and several cars stayed out. By lap 267, all cars that have stayed out have pitted except Dale Earnhardt, Jr. On lap 300, Earnhardt made slight contact with Casey Mears and hit the wall. Ryan Newman, during this caution, accidentally stayed out of the pits because of having radio problems. He was the only car that didn't pit. On the restart, Martin blew by Newman and cruised to his first win since August 2005.

Effect on Points

This race didn't have a noticeable effect on points. Mark Martin, the winner of the race, jumped five spots to thirteenth in the standings. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., after wrecking late in the race dropped three spots. Also dropping three spots is Matt Kenseth, who at best had a mediocre race.

Results

PosCarDriverTeamMake
15Mark MartinHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
214Tony StewartStewart Haas RacingChevrolet
32Kurt BuschPenske RacingDodge
448Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
516Greg BiffleRoush RacingFord
611Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota
71Martin Truex, Jr.Earnhardt Ganassi RacingChevrolet
800David ReutimannMichael Waltrip RacingToyota
977Sam Hornish, Jr.Penske RacingDodge
1099Carl EdwardsRoush RacingFord
1126Jamie McMurrayRoush RacingFord
1243Reed SorensonRichard Petty MotorsportsDodge
139Kasey KahneRichard Petty MotorsportsDodge
1447Marcos AmbroseJTG Daugherty RacingToyota
1531Jeff BurtonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
1639Ryan NewmanStewart Haas RacingChevrolet
1718Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota
1812David StremmePenske RacingDodge
1983Brian VickersRed Bull RacingToyota
2007Casey MearsRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
2120Joey LoganoJoe Gibbs RacingToyota
226David RaganRoush RacingFord
2398Paul MenardRobert Yates RacingFord
2442Juan Pablo MontoyaEarnhardt Ganassi MotorsportsChevrolet
2524Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
2633Clint BowyerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
2717Matt KensethRoush RacingFord
2878Regan SmithFurniture Row RacingChevrolet
2996Bobby LabonteHall of Fame RacingToyota
3029Kevin HarvickRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
3188Dale Earnhardt, Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
3219Elliott SadlerRichard Petty MotorsportsDodge
3371David GillilandTRG MotorsportsChevrolet
3482Scott SpeedRed Bull RacingToyota
3544A. J. AllmendingerRichard Petty MotorsportsDodge
3636Scott RiggsTommy Baldwin RacingToyota
3755Michael WaltripMichael Waltrip RacingToyota
3834John AndrettiFront Row MotorsportsChevrolet
397Robby GordonRobby Gordon MotorsportsToyota
4009Sterling MarlinPhoenix RacingDodge
4187Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsToyota
4266Dave BlaneyPrism MotorsportsToyota
4373Tony RainesH&S RacingDodge