2009 Dickies 500
The 2009 Dickies 500 was the 34th stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the eighth in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on November 8, 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway, in Fort Worth, Texas, before a crowd of 167,000. Kurt Busch of the Penske Racing team won the 334-lap race starting from third position. Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second and Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth was third.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 34 of 36 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
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The 2009 Dickies 500 program cover, with artwork by Sam Bass. "Ghost Riders!" | |||
| Date | November 8, 2009 | ||
| Location | Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 334 laps, 501 mi (806.281 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 71.6 °F (22.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.90 miles per hour (14.32 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 147.137 miles per hour (236.794 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 28.255 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Laps | 232 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 2 | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ABC | ||
| Announcers | Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree | ||
| Nielsen Ratings |
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Going into the event, Jimmie Johnson was leading his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin in the Drivers' Championship by 184 points. Jeff Gordon won the pole position with the quickest recorded lap time in the qualifying session, although he was almost immediately passed by Kasey Kahne at the start of the race. Many Chase for the Sprint Cup participants, including Johnson and Carl Edwards encountered problems during the race. Kyle Busch was leading the race with three laps remaining but ran out of fuel, giving the lead, and the victory, to Kurt Busch. There were a total of eight cautions during the race and thirteen lead changes among four different drivers during the course of the race.
The race saw Kurt Busch achieve his second win of the 2009 season, his first at Texas Motor Speedway, and the 20th of his career. The result advanced Busch from sixth to fourth in the Drivers' Championship, 171 points behind the leader Johnson and seven ahead of third-placed Tony Stewart. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, fifty-five ahead of Toyota, eighty-nine ahead of Ford, and ninety-six in front of Dodge. The race attracted 5.82 million television viewers.