2009 AAA 400

The race commenced at 2:17 p.m. and was televised live in the United States on ESPN.^[22] Commentary was provided by Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett, and Andy Petree.^[2] Around the start of the race, weather conditions were cloudy with the air temperature 71 °F (22 °C); a moderate chance of rain was forecast. Pastor Dan Schafer began pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation. Country music group and Show Dog-Universal Music recording artists Trailer Choir performed the national anthem, and Sergeant Major John Jones of the Pennsylvania National Guard gave the command for drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Bowyer, Sadler and Tony Raines all had to move to the rear of the grid because of them changing their engines.^[22] NASCAR announced that a competition caution would take place on lap 25 to allow teams to check tire wear as a result of rain falling on the circuit overnight that removed most of the rubber laid down,^[23] meaning drivers would make mandatory pit stops.^[22] This also meant that teams would not be permitted to refuel their vehicles.^[24]

Johnson maintained his pole position lead into the first corner. One lap later, Newman passed Montoya for the second position. After starting the race in twelfth, Martin had lost four positions to run eighteenth by lap four. By the tenth lap, Johnson had built up a 1.2 second lead over Newman. Bowyer, who began the race at the rear of the grid, had moved up thirteen positions to twenty-ninth by lap 15. Two laps later, Raines drove to his garage. On lap 18, Kurt Busch passed Vickers for ninth, as Kahne claimed fourth position from Biffle, two laps later.^[22] On lap 27, the competition caution came out. Many competitors chose to have two tires installed to their cars during their pit stops.^[25] During the caution, all of the leaders made pit stops; Gilliland became the new leader on lap 28. After pit stops, Newman claimed the first position and held it at the restart.^[22]

On lap 31, a multi-car collision occurred in turn three as Logano slowed to avoid colliding with Bobby Labonte and Stewart hit Logano's rear-end, causing Logano to go down into the infield grass before going back up the circuit. Logano was then struck by Reed Sorenson and went into the turn three barrier, causing Logano to barrel roll sideways multiple times before resting sideways on the apron and then falling back onto its wheels.^[23] Logano was unharmed,^[23] and he exited his vehicle and boarded an ambulance. He was treated and then released from the infield care center.^[26] Stewart's car sustained damage to the right-front and right-rear quarters to his car.^[27] The accident, which collected also Truex and Robby Gordon, prompted the second caution.^[25] On the following lap,^[28] the red flag was shown to allow race officials to clear the track of debris.^[22] The race was restarted 23 minutes and 38 seconds later under caution.^[28] Newman maintained his lead at the restart,^[1] followed by Kurt Busch and Menard. Three laps later, Montoya and Gordon passed Menard for fifth and sixth respectively. On lap 43, Jeff Burton fell to ninth after being passed by Hamlin and Martin. Four laps later, Martin passed Hamlin for the thirteenth position.^[22]

By lap 50, Johnson passed Reutimann to move back into the top ten. On lap 58, Kurt Busch passed Newman to claim the lead. Three laps later, Jeff Gordon claimed fifth position off Kahne, while Menard was passed by Johnson for eighth. On lap 63, Montoya moved into the third position after passing Biffle, while Gilliland went to his garage to retire from the race. Two laps later, Kyle Busch claimed seventh position off Kahne, as Montoya passed Newman for second on lap 66. On lap 67, Gordon and Biffle passed Newman for third and fourth positions. Four laps later, Johnson claimed seventh from Kahne. On lap 80, Reutimann ran out of fuel, forcing him to make a pit stop.^[22]

On lap 83, Biffle was passed by Johnson for the fourth position.^[22] One lap later, the right-front tire on Michael Waltrip's car failed and he collided with the two barrier, causing the third caution.^[28] All of the leaders elected to make pit stops.^[22] Kurt Busch remained the leader at the restart on the 90th lap,^[1] ahead of Biffle and Kyle Busch. Kyle Busch passed Biffle for third position four laps later,^[29] while McMurray was passed by Kahne for ninth on lap 96. Three laps later, Biffle dropped to sixth after being passed by Jeff Gordon, as Montoya passed Kyle Busch for the third position on lap 113. Sixteen laps later, Kahne passed Jeff Gordon for sixth, while Stewart moved into the eighteenth position on lap 137. On the 147th lap, Kurt Busch was blocked by Labonte, allowing Johnson to claim the lead. By the 150th lap, Kyle Busch dropped three positions to sixth after being passed by Martin, Kahne and Jeff Gordon.^[22]

Green flag pit stops began on lap 152, when Hornish made a pit stop.^[22] Twelve laps later, the fourth caution came out.^[1] During the caution, which was caused by liquid on the track, all of the leaders made pit stops.^[22] Kurt Busch reclaimed the lead for the lap 169 restart.^[1] Stewart moved into the eleventh position on lap 170. Six laps later, Johnson reclaimed the lead off Kurt Busch. By the 183rd lap, Johnson opened out a 1.6 second lead over Kurt Busch. Twenty-four laps later, Kyle Busch collided with the wall in turns three and turn four, prompting the fifth caution. All of the leaders chose to make pit stops during the caution.^[22] The race resumed on lap 212,^[1] with Johnson leading from Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch.^[22]

By the 223rd lap, Johnson had a lead of 1.6 seconds. Twenty-seven laps later, Sorenson rejoined the race track. On lap 252, Stewart passed Allmendinger for the ninth position. Seven laps later, Stewart moved into eighth after passing Newman, and passed Bowyer for seventh on the 262nd lap.^[22] On lap 273,^[1] Johnson's lead of 3.5 seconds was reduced to nothing when the pace car moved on track. During the caution, which was caused by David Stremme making contact with the wall at turn four, all of the leaders made pit stops.^[22] Johnson remained the leader at the restart on lap 278.^[24] On lap 286, Kahne was passed by Newman for ninth. By lap 290, Johnson built up a lead of two seconds. Seventeen laps later, Martin passed Kenseth for the fourth position. Johnson's lead had increased to 2.2 seconds by lap 319. Five laps later, debris was spotted on the track and the seventh caution was prompted. All of the leaders elected to make pit stops during the caution.^[22]

Johnson maintained his lead at the restart, followed by Martin and Kenseth. One lap later, Montoya moved into the second position, as Martin fell to fifth. On lap 336, Martin moved into fourth after passing Kurt Busch, and passed Kenseth for third two laps later.^[22] On lap 342,^[1] the eighth caution came out when Regan Smith spun off the fourth turn,^[24] collecting Stremme, Truex and Sadler.^[22] As light began to fade,^[24] Johnson kept the lead at the lap 348 restart.^[1] One lap later, Kenseth moved into the second position, as Stewart and Gordon moved into fourth and tenth respectively. Gordon passed Newman for ninth on the 349th lap, before falling to eleventh position after contact with Newman one lap later. Stewart was passed by Martin for the fourth position on lap 354, as Johnson had built a 2.2 second lead by lap 357. One lap later, Jeff Gordon moved into the ninth position after passing Newman.^[22]

On the 368th lap, Hornish, spun on the backstraightaway, prompting the ninth and final caution of the race. During the caution, some of the leaders made pit stops. Johnson maintained the lead on lap 373. Four laps later, Newman passed Mears for eighth, as Edwards was passed by Stewart for twelfth. On the 383rd lap, Kahne, Allemndinger and Stewart passed Newman for seventh, eighth and ninth respectively. On the following lap, Kenseth was overtaken by Martin for the second position. On the 391st lap, Kahne was passed by Allmendinger for the second position. Two laps later, Johnson's lead had increased to 2.2 seconds and held it to win the race.^[22] Martin finished second, ahead of Kenseth in third, Montoya fourth, and Kurt Busch fifth. Gordon, Allmendinger, Kahne, Stewart and Newman rounded out the top ten finishers. There were six lead changes among four different drivers over the course of the race. Johnson led three times for a total of 271 laps, more than any other driver.^[1]

Johnson appeared in victory lane to celebrate his fourth victory of the season in front of 110,000 people who attended the race, earning $276,076 in race winnings.^[1] Afterward, he said, "I woke up (on Sunday) morning very optimistic. By about lap two or three I knew we had a very balanced car and we'd be competitive all day long, get a solid finish.", he continued, "I see guys get so worried about what other people think, what other people say and spend a lot of time in those areas. That's not what works for me. (I) don't watch television; don't watch or read any of the trade papers or magazines. Just ignore, ignore, ignore and focus on my world and what's going on with my race car. That's what I'll do through the rest of the Chase."^[31]

Martin, who finished second, was candid about the result, "We did really well to finish second. I just don't think we were in [Johnson's] league today."^[32] In the post-race press conference, Kenseth said of his result, "We didn't qualify very good, but we were really happy with our car. When the race started, I didn't think we were quite as good as we were yesterday (in practice), but we were able to have really good pit stops."^[33] Hamlin had struggled with a poor-handling vehicle and expressed his team's disappointment with his result due to the lack of speed in his car, saying; "We definitely came out here thinking we could win the race just like any other weekend, but as soon as the green flag fell, I knew we were in trouble."^[34] Logano, who was involved in the biggest accident of the race, "The biggest thing was, I was fine the whole time, [but] I'm not really sure what happened. The spotter was clearing me low. When I got down there, they checked up going into the corner and I got tagged from behind."^[35] Stewart commented on his collision with Logano, "I've never felt sicker in my life than when we hit Joey like that. We hit him a ton. I didn't see it coming. That was the worst part."^[27]

The race result kept Martin in the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 5,400 points. Johnson, who won the race, stood in second, ten points behind Martin, and sixty-five ahead of Montoya. Kurt Busch moved into fourth position with 5,325 points. Stewart with fifth, Hamlin sixth, and Newman, Jeff Gordon, Biffle and Vickers followed in the top-ten positions. The final two positions available in the Chase for the Sprint Cup were occupied by Edwards in eleventh and Kahne in twelfth.^[36] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained their lead with 208. Toyota remained second with 163. Ford followed with 123 points, one point ahead of Dodge in fourth.^[9] 5.08 million people watched the race on television.^[5] The race took three hours, twenty-two minutes and eleven seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 1.970 seconds.^[1]