The 2009 Shelby 427 was the third race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on March 1, 2009 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The race was won by Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing.
The race was broadcast on Fox, with radio coverage by PRN (terrestrial) and Sirius XM Radio (satellite).
The race title reflects the title sponsor, Carroll Shelby International, which has its home base at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the Shelby Cobra 427, which is made in Nevada. The race had previously been 400.5 miles (644.5 km) in length, but had an extra 27 miles (43 km) added into the race, making for an additional 18 laps. The race would return to 400.5 miles the following year and has ran at the same scheduled distance since.
Entry list
Qualifying
Kyle Busch won the pole for the Shelby 427 with a new track record of 185.995 mph. The remainder of the top 10 were Kyle's brother Kurt Busch (185.707 mph), Jimmie Johnson (185.688 mph), David Reutimann (185.624 mph), Marcos Ambrose (185.459 mph), Ryan Newman (185.395 mph), Kasey Kahne (185.382 mph), Mark Martin (185.312 mph), Kevin Harvick (185.280 mph), and Tony Stewart (185.217 mph).
Full qualifying results
Pre-race
The Las Vegas Motor Speedway chaplain, Joe Freiburger gave the invocation. Jersey Boys performed the national anthem and Carroll Shelby gave the command to start engines.
Race recap
David Reutimann, Kyle Busch, Marcos Ambrose, Scott Speed and Brian Vickers were sent to the back of the field because of engine changes.
Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green flag. Johnson led the first lap; Brad Keselowski hit the wall out of turn 4 causing a flat tire and the first caution of the day. Matt Kenseth reported engine trouble, came onto pit road where his crew fixed the problem, but Kenseth was penalized for exiting too fast on pit road. Kenseth served the penalty of restarting from the tail end of the field.
The race restarted on lap 6 with Johnson, Kurt Busch, Harvick, Newman and Stremme in the Top 5. Kenseth's engine blew on the front stretch on lap 7 while Todd Bodine spun out of turn 2 after slight contact from behind by Hamlin, bringing out the second caution of the day. Keselowski got the lucky dog free pass.
The race restarted on lap 11 with no position changes in the Top 5. Johnson continued to lead laps. Brad Keselowski drove his car to the garage on lap 36. Within 50 laps of the race, McMurray gained nineteen positions, Jeff Gordon and Reutimann gained sixteen, Biffle gained fifteen, and Vickers gained fourteen. Green flag pit stops ensued on lap 48. Earnhardt Jr. served a pass through penalty for exiting too fast on pit road. Regan Smith and Casey Mears also served pass through penalties for entering too fast on pit road. Edwards and Kyle Busch each led two laps and Logano led a lap during the green flag pit stops.
Caution would come out on lap 60 for debris on the track. Newman won the lucky dog free pass. Kahne, Waltrip, Hamlin and others entered pit road during the caution. John Andretti, David Gilliland, Scott Speed, Clint Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Regan Smith, Todd Bodine, A.J. Allmendinger, Robby Gordon, Martin Truex Jr. and Elliott Sadler were a lap down when the caution flag was waved.
The race restarted on lap 65 with Johnson, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Harvick and Biffle in the top five. McMurray, running in 13th, was hit from behind by Logano and slid out of turn 2, but maintained control. McMurray dropped to 26th as a result. On Lap 74, Regan Smith came onto pit road for engine troubles, bringing out the fourth caution of the day. Clint Bowyer got the free pass. During the round of pit stops, Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch gained six positions, Jeff Gordon and Hamlin gained five, Harvick, Stewart, and Montoya gained four, and Mark Martin gained two. Kurt Busch lost four spots, and Johnson, taking four tires, lost nine.
The race restarted on lap 83 with Harvick, Stewart, Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Martin, Kurt Busch, Burton, Montoya, Hamlin and Johnson in the top ten. In two laps, Biffle took the lead from Harvick. On Lap 90, Gordon took second place from Harvick. Brad Keselowski returned to the track 57 laps down in the 42nd position. On Lap 95, Edwards made contact with Stremme's left rear quarter panel, sending Stremme spinning out of turn 2, and bringing out the fifth caution of the race. Earnhardt Jr. got the free pass. Harvick lost two spots, Burton gained three, Almirola gained fourteen, and Bowyer gained eight during the round of pit stops. Biffle and Martin stayed on the track.
The race restarted on lap 100 with Biffle, Martin, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch and Johnson in the top five. Upon restarting, Bowyer and Montoya made contact entering turn 1, but no caution flew. Montoya entered pit road and exited in the 27th position. On Lap 122, Mark Martin, running in 4th, blew his engine, bringing out the sixth caution. Martin Truex Jr. got the free pass. During the pit stop round, Johnson and McMurray gained two spots, and Biffle and Stewart lost two. Kasey Kahne stayed out to lead a lap before entering pit road.
Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Biffle, McMurray, Burton, Stewart, Harvick, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Sam Hornish Jr. were in the top ten during the restart on lap 131. The seventh caution came out on lap 138 when Reed Sorenson lost control exiting turn 2 and hit the outside wall of the backstretch; Robby Gordon got the lucky dog free pass. Hornish Jr. entered pit road from the 10th position. The field restarted on lap 143 with Johnson as the leader. Almirola hit the outside wall in turn 3 then slowed on the backstretch where Kasey Kahne tried to avoid hitting Almirola's car. Kahne slid off the track, making slight contact with Almirola. Paul Menard, Bobby Labonte and Robby Gordon, from the end of the lead lap, made pit stops.
The race restarted on lap 149 with Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Biffle, Stewart and Kyle Busch in the top five. Gordon took the lead away from Johnson in two laps. On lap 160, Jeff Gordon led his 20,000th lap in the Cup Series. On lap 164, Michael Waltrip, running in the 20th position, lost control in turn 4, hitting the outside wall. This brought out the eighth caution. David Gilliland got the free pass. During the round of pitstops, Burton gained seven spots, Labonte gained twelve, Vickers gained thirteen, and Truex Jr. gained fourteen. Biffle lost two spots, and Jeff Gordon and Johnson both lost five.
The race restarted on lap 169 with Burton, Labonte, Vickers, Truex Jr., Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Stewart and Edwards in the top ten. One lap later, Hamlin, running in 13th, lost control between turns 3 and 4, sliding across the outside wall, bringing out the tenth caution. John Andretti got the free pass. The field restarted on lap 175 with Burton in the lead. Johnson took second from Labonte on lap 187.
The eleventh caution came on lap 220, when Jeff Gordon missed the entrance to pit road and blew his left front tire. Edwards beat Labonte off pit road for the second position, but Edwards' crew missed placing a lug nut, forcing him back into the pits. Burton maintained the lead off pit road. David Gilliland got the free pass for the second time. The field restarted on lap 228 with Burton, Labonte, Kyle Busch, Vickers and Reutimann in the top five. Busch, the pole winner, took the lead from Burton in less than one lap.
The twelfth caution came for debris on lap 259. Sam Hornish Jr. got the free pass. Bowyer stayed on the track as the field entered pit road. Burton gained five spots, Jeff Gordon gained seven, Kyle Busch lost two, and Labonte and Vickers both lost four. Labonte and Johnson nearly collided as Labonte was leaving his pit box and Johnson was entering his.
The race restarted on lap 264 with Bowyer, Burton, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Reutimann, Edwards, Labonte, Vickers, Kahne and McMurray in the top ten. In two laps, Kyle Busch was in third behind Bowyer and Burton. On lap 267, Busch took second from Burton out of turn 2. In the next lap, Busch took the lead from Bowyer out of turn 2. Caution came for the thirteenth time on lap 269 after Menard, racing between Ambrose and Logano, lost control and hit the outside wall out of turn 4. Harvick got the free pass. From the end of the lead lap, Earnhardt Jr., Robby Gordon, Hornish Jr. and Gilliland made pitstops.
The field restarted on lap 278 with Kyle Busch, Burton, Bowyer, Reutimann, Jeff Gordon, Edwards, Labonte, Vickers, McMurray and Jimmie Johnson in the top ten. Caution came a lap later when Johnson, running in 10th, lost control in turn 2 and hit the outside wall, damaging his front right and back right end. The race restarted on lap 282 with Kyle Busch as the leader. With two to go, Bowyer passed teammate Burton for second as Edwards's engine blew. Edwards managed to keep his car away the field, avoiding a caution. Kyle Busch, who started from the back from pole position, took the checkered flag for the first time in the season.
Clint Bowyer finished second, ahead of Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton. David Reutimann was in fourth, his first career top 5 finish in the Cup series. Bobby Labonte, in fifth, had the highest-finishing Ford. Jamie McMurray finished in 9th after starting the race in 38th. Kasey Kahne had the best Dodge finish in 11th. Rookies Joey Logano and Scott Speed finished in 13th and 21st respectively. Jimmie Johnson, leading the most laps (92), finished in 24th. Stewart Haas Motorsports drivers Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart finished in 25th and 26th respectively. Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth finished in 43rd, behind teammate David Ragan because of engine problems.
Race results
Post race notes
- Jeff Gordon surpassed 20,000 career laps led during the middle of the race, surpassing Rusty Wallace.
Point standings
Jeff Burton moved from 31st to 18th in the standings. Kyle Busch and Bobby Labonte gained twelve spots from the 18th position and the 22nd position respectively. Kasey Kahne moved from 23rd to 13th. Brian Vickers, from 26th in the standings, was in 17th after the race. David Reutimann and David Gilliland both gained seven spots from the 12th and 44th in the standings respectively. Jaime McMurray and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gained six spots from 28th and 35th respectively. Gaining five pointings, Kevin Harvick was in 11th, Joey Logano in 32nd, Regan Smith in 35th, and Scott Speed in 36th. Clint Bowyer was in second behind Jeff Gordon from the 6th position in the standings.
David Ragan lost sixteen spots from the eighth position to 24th. Reed Sorenson dropped to 25th from the 14th position. Martin Truex, Jr. lost nine positions from 17th in the standings. A.J. Allmendinger went from 13th to 21st in the standings. Casey Mears and Mark Martin lost seven spots from the 20th and 27th position respectively. Losing five positions in the standings, Michael Waltrip was in 12th from 7th, Juan Pablo Montoya in 15th from 10th, Elliott Salder in 16th from 11th, and John Andretti was in 30th from 25th. Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart both lost four positions from the 3rd and 4th position respectively. Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth dropped to 3rd from 1st in the standings.
References
