The 2009 Aaron's 312 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama on April 25, 2009. The race was the 18th iteration of the event and the 8th race of the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series. Ryan Newman won the pole while Kyle Busch led the most laps. But it would be David Ragan who made a last lap pass against Newman and beat him by .030 seconds to score his first career Nationwide Series victory.[2] But the race was most notable when Matt Kenseth flipped during the race.

2009 Aaron's 312
Race details[1]
Map of Speedway
Map of Speedway
Date April 25, 2009 (2009-04-25)
Official name 2009 Aaron's 312
Location Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course Tri-oval
2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance 120 laps, 319 mi (513.381 km)
Scheduled Distance 117 laps, 311.2 mi (500.83 km)
Weather Sunny
Average speed 149.004 mph (239.799 km/h)
Attendance 70,000
Pole position
Driver Kevin Harvick Inc.
Time 51.518
Most laps led
Driver Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 31
Winner
No. 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Jerry Punch, Andy Petree, Dale Jarrett

Background

edit
 
Talladega Superspeedway, the race track where the race was held.

The track, Talladega Superspeedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway.[3] The standard track at the speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.66 miles (4.28 km) long.[4] The track's turns are banked at thirty-three degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 16.5 degrees. The back stretch has a two-degree banking.[4] Talladega Superspeedway can seat up to 143,231 people.[5]

Entry List

edit
  • (R) denotes rookie driver
# Driver Team Make
0 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet
01 Danny O'Quinn Jr. JD Motorsports Chevrolet
1 Mike Bliss Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
04 Mark Green JD Motorsports Chevrolet
05 Jeff Green Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet
5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsports Chevrolet
6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford
07 David Green SK Motorsports Toyota
09 John Wes Townley (R) RAB Racing Ford
10 David Reutimann Braun Racing Toyota
11 Scott Lagasse Jr. (R) CJM Racing Toyota
12 Justin Allgaier (R) Penske Racing Dodge
15 Michael Annett (R) Germain Racing Toyota
16 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford
18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet
24 Eric McClure Rensi-Hamilton Racing Ford
26 Brian Keselowski Whitney Motorsports Dodge
27 Jason Keller Baker Curb Racing Ford
28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
29 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
31 Kerry Earnhardt Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet
32 Brian Vickers Braun Racing Toyota
33 Ryan Newman Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet
34 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet
38 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota
40 Scott Wimmer Key Motorsports Chevrolet
42 Kenny Hendrick Smith-Ganassi Racing Dodge
47 Michael McDowell (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota
49 Kertus Davis Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet
52 Donnie Neuenberger Means Racing Chevrolet
60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford
61 Brandon Whitt Specialty Racing Ford
62 Brendan Gaughan (R) Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet
66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet
70 Shelby Howard ML Motorsports Chevrolet
75 Bobby Gerhart Bob Schacht Racing Chevrolet
81 D. J. Kennington MacDonald Motorsports Dodge
83 Johnny Borneman III Borneman Racing Ford
84 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet
88 Brad Keselowski JR Motorsports Chevrolet
89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet
90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet
91 Justin Hobgood MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet
99 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
Official Entry list

Qualifying

edit

Ryan Newman won the pole for the race with a time of 51.518 and a speed of 185.877. The biggest surprise from qualifying was when ARCA series legend Bobby Gerhardt qualified in 5th driving for Bob Schacht.[6]

Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 33 Ryan Newman Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 51.518 185.877
2 32 Brian Vickers Braun Racing Toyota 51.614 185.531
3 16 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 51.681 185.291
4 38 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota 51.705 185.205
5 75 Bobby Gerhart Bob Schacht Racing Chevrolet 51.722 185.144
6 60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 51.788 184.908
7 29 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 51.880 184.580
8 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. (R) CJM Racing Toyota 51.880 184.580
9 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 51.893 184.534
10 88 Brad Keselowski JR Motorsports Chevrolet 51.914 184.459
11 81 D. J. Kennington MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 51.915 184.455
12 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsprots Chevrolet 51.932 184.395
13 99 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 52.006 184.133
14 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 52.014 184.104
15 42 Kenny Hendrick Smith-Ganassi Racing Dodge 52.059 183.945
16 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 52.067 183.917
17 26 Brian Keselowski Whitney Motorsports Dodge 52.110 183.765
18 62 Brendan Gaughan (R) Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet 52.161 183.585
19 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 52.180 183.519
20 31 Kerry Earnhardt Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 52.208 183.420
21 27 Jason Keller Baker Curb Racing Ford 52.214 183.399
22 15 Michael Annett (R) Germain Racing Toyota 52.216 183.392
23 34 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 52.255 183.255
24 10 David Reutimann Braun Racing Toyota 52.273 183.192
25 0 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 52.345 182.940
26 70 Shelby Howard ML Motorsports Chevrolet 52.348 182.930
27 49 Kertus Davis Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 52.348 182.930
28 12 Justin Allgaier (R) Penske Racing Dodge 52.401 182.745
29 04 Mark Green JD Motorsports Chevrolet 52.408 182.720
30 28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 52.413 182.703
31 09 John Wes Townley (R) RAB Racing Ford 52.421 182.675
32 83 Johnny Borneman III Borneman Racing Ford 52.491 182.431
33 52 Donnie Neuenberger Means Racing Chevrolet 52.506 182.379
34 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 52.538 182.268
35 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet 52.617 181.994
36 24 Eric McClure Rensi-Hamilton Racing Ford 52.688 181.749
37 07 David Green SK Motorsports Toyota 52.688 181.749
38 01 Danny O'Quinn Jr. JD Motorsports Chevrolet 52.722 181.632
39 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 52.776 181.446
40 1 Mike Bliss Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 52.816 181.309
41 47 Michael McDowell (R)* JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 53.079 180.410
42 61 Brandon Whitt* Specialty Racing Ford 53.107 180.315
43 05 Jeff Green** Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet 52.941 180.881
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes
44 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 52.590 182.088
45 91 Justin Hobgood MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 52.772 181.460
46 40 Scott Wimmer Key Motorsports Chevrolet 52.981 180.744
47 84 Mike Harmon Mike Harmon Racing Chevrolet 54.138 176.881
Official Starting grid

* - Made the field via owners points.

** - Made the field via past champions provisional.

Race

edit

Outside pole sitter Brian Vickers took the lead from pole sitter Ryan Newman and Vickers led the first lap. On lap 2, rookie Scott Lagasse Jr. took the lead from Vickers. On lap 4, Dale Earnhardt Jr. attempted to take the lead from Lagasse and led that lap but could not get in front of him. On lap 7, Carl Edwards took the lead from Lagasse. On lap 17, another rookie in Justin Allgaier took the lead but was immeadietly passed by Michael Waltrip and Waltrip took the lead. On lap 18, Carl Edwards retook the lead from Waltrip. On lap 24, Joey Logano took the lead from Edwards. On lap 25, Ryan Newman took the lead from Logano. On lap 29, Carl Edwards took the lead back. Soon by lap 32, it began to be a lead changing frenzy for the next 5 laps. Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead on lap 32, Ryan Newman took the lead on lap 33, Kyle Busch took the lead on lap 34, Carl Edwards took the lead on lap 35, and Brian Vickers took the lead on lap 36 but was passed by Michael Waltrip on the same lap and Waltrip led lap 36 before he was passed by both Steve Wallace and Michael McDowell and both Wallace and McDowell battled for the lead on lap 37. But McDowell left the inside open for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Junior passed McDowell and Junior would pass Wallace and take the lead. On lap 39, green flag pitstops began. On the next lap, Dale Earnhardt Jr. went to pit handing the lead to Brad Keselowski. Unfortunately, for Junior, he missed his pit box and had to come back the next lap to pit. Keselowski pitted on lap 41 giving the lead to Morgan Shepherd. Shepherd pitted on lap 43 giving the lead to David Ragan. Ragan did not lead a lap and went to pit which gave the lead to Matt Kenseth after everything had cycled through. On lap 47, Kyle Busch took the lead. On lap 48, Clint Bowyer took the lead from Busch. Busch would take it back on lap 50. On lap 51, Brian Vickers took the lead from Busch. On lap 52, Kyle Busch took the lead back from Vickers. On lap 54, the first caution would fly for a three car accident down the backstretch. It started when Joey Logano was pushing the lapped car of Michael Waltrip when Logano hit Waltrip at the wrong angle turning Waltrip around. Waltrip spun down and collected Clint Bowyer and the two hit the inside wall on the backstretch.

Final laps

edit

Kyle Busch won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 59. With 43 laps to go on lap 75, Brad Keselowski took the lead with help from his car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. With 31 laps to go, the 2nd caution would fly for debris. At the same time, Danny O'Quinn Jr's engine blew. Brad Keselowski won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 25 laps to go. With 24 to go, Kyle Busch took the lead from Keselowski. With 23 to go, the third caution would fly when Brandon Whitt crashed in turn 2. The race restarted with 19 laps to go. With 18 to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Busch. With 17 to go, Jason Leffler and Brian Vickers attempted to take the lead from Junior but failed. With 15 to go, Matt Kenseth took the lead. With 14 to go, Ryan Newman took the lead from Kenseth. With 13 to go, the 4th caution would fly for it being the biggest crash of the day. It started when David Ragan bumped Matt Kenseth too hard down the backstretch and it caused Kenseth's car to go right and into Kyle Busch. Kenseth overcorrected back to the left and cranked it back to the right so hard it spun at an over 100-degree angle and ended up tipping over and started tumbling down the backstretch into turn 3. The car tumbled 3 times before the car landed on its roof on the inside of turn 3 and started scraping on its roof down the banking before it hit the infield grass which brought his car back onto all four wheels on fire. Kenseth was able to climb out of car unharmed in a matter of seconds after the accident.[7] The race would restart with 9 laps to go with Newman leading. With 8 to go, the 5th caution would fly when Steve Wallace blew a right front tire and hit the outside wall in turn 2. The race would restart with 5 laps to go with Newman continuing to lead. Newman was looking for his first Nationwide Series win since 2005 and his first at Talladega win in his first start at Talladega in the Nationwide Series. But with 3 laps to go, the 6th and final caution would fly for a 3 car crash down the backstretch. It started when Kyle Busch bumped Justin Allgaier at the wrong angle and turned Allgaier down into Bobby Gerhart and both Allgaier and Gerhart crashed into the inside wall. The wreck would set up three attempts of a green-white-checkered. On the restart, Newman stayed in front with Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushing him. On the last lap, Brad Keselowski tried to get something going with the outside line but fell back. Out of turn 4, Junior attempted to pass Newman on the outside but Newman came up into Junior and both cars made contact which opened the bottom lane for Tony Raines and Raines tried to take the lead. Newman blocked Raines and David Ragan came up to the outside of Newman with a push from Joey Logano. The two dragged race to the finish line through the tri-oval. Ragan beat Newman to the line by .030 seconds to take home the win and Newman would finish in 2nd. The win would be Ragan's first win of his Nationwide Series career. Joey Logano, Tony Raines, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top 5 while Jason Leffler, Jason Keller, Scott Lagasse Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top 10.[8]

Race results

edit
Pos Car Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Run Laps Led Status Points
1 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 120 1 running 190
2 33 Ryan Newman Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 120 21 running 175
3 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 120 1 running 170
4 34 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet 120 0 running 160
5 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. JR Motorsports Chevrolet 120 8 running 160
6 38 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota 120 0 running 150
7 27 Jason Keller Baker Curb Racing Ford 120 0 running 146
8 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. (R) CJM Racing Toyota 120 4 running 147
9 88 Brad Keselowski JR Motorsports Chevrolet 120 19 running 143
10 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 120 31 running 144
11 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 120 0 running 130
12 31 Kerry Earnhardt Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 120 0 running 127
13 60 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing Ford 120 20 running 129
14 26 Brian Keselowski Whitney Motorsports Dodge 120 1 running 126
15 47 Michael McDowell (R) JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 120 0 running 118
16 23 Robert Richardson Jr. R3 Motorsports Chevrolet 120 0 running 115
17 28 Kenny Wallace Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 120 0 running 112
18 09 John Wes Townley (R) RAB Racing Ford 120 0 running 109
19 81 D. J. Kennington MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 120 0 running 106
20 32 Brian Vickers Braun Racing Toyota 120 2 running 108
21 15 Michael Annett (R) Germain Racing Toyota 120 0 running 100
22 49 Kertus Davis Jay Robinson Racing Toyota 120 0 running 97
23 89 Morgan Shepherd Faith Motorsports Chevrolet 120 3 running 99
24 07 David Green SK Motorsports Toyota 120 0 running 91
25 24 Eric McClure Rensi-Hamilton Racing Ford 120 0 running 88
26 83 Johnny Borneman III Borneman Racing Ford 120 0 running 85
27 70 Shelby Howard ML Motorsports Chevrolet 120 0 running 82
28 52 Donnie Neuenberger Means Racing Chevrolet 119 0 running 79
29 10 David Reutimann Braun Racing Toyota 118 0 running 76
30 61 Brandon Whitt Specialty Racing Ford 118 0 running 73
31 29 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 117 2 running 75
32 12 Justin Allgaier (R) Penske Racing Dodge 114 0 crash 67
33 75 Bobby Gerhart Bob Schacht Racing Chevrolet 114 0 crash 64
34 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet 109 0 suspension 61
35 16 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 104 4 crash 63
36 05 Jeff Green Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet 104 0 running 55
37 01 Danny O'Quinn Jr. JD Motorsports Chevrolet 86 0 engine 52
38 62 Brendan Gaughan Rusty Wallace Racing Chevrolet 73 0 overheating 49
39 0 Mike Wallace JD Motorsports Chevrolet 58 1 engine 51
40 99 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 52 2 crash 48
41 1 Mike Bliss Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 41 0 overheating 40
42 42 Kenny Hendrick Smith-Ganassi Racing Dodge 19 0 overheating 37
43 04 Mark Green JD Motorsports Chevrolet 2 0 vibration 34
Official Race results

References

edit
  1. ^ "2009 Aaron's 312". Retrieved April 25, 2009.
  2. ^ "Ragan finally gets win with late pass". Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  3. ^ "NASCAR Race Tracks". NASCAR. Archived from the original on February 7, 2011. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "NASCAR Tracks — The Talladega Superspeedway". Talladega Superspeedway. Archived from the original on August 27, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  5. ^ "Talladega". NASCAR. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  6. ^ "NASCAR: Ryan Newman Takes Pole For Nationwide Race At Talladega". Retrieved April 23, 2009.
  7. ^ "Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2009 Aaron's 312 at Talladega". Retrieved April 26, 2009.
  8. ^ "David Ragan wins Aaron's 312 Nationwide Series race at Talladega". Retrieved April 25, 2009.


Previous race:
2009 Bashas' Supermarkets 200
NASCAR Nationwide Series
2009 season
Next race:
2009 Lipton Tea 250