AAA 400 Race Report from Dover
STEWART-HAAS RACING
AAA 400 Race Report
Date: Sept. 27, 2009
Event: AAA 400 (Round 28 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Dover (Del.) International Speedway (1-mile concrete oval)
Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
SHR Finish: Tony Stewart (Started 22nd, Finished 9th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)
Ryan Newman (Started 3rd, Finished 10th / Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Burger King Chevrolet Impala SS, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent at Dover (Del.) International Speedway by finishing ninth in Sunday’s AAA 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. It was Stewart’s 19th top-10 finish of 2009 and his 14th top-10 in 22 career Sprint Cup starts at Dover.
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, finished 10th. The result was Newman’s 14th top-10 of the season and his 10th top-10 in 16 career Sprint Cup starts at the 1-mile concrete oval.
The last time both SHR drivers finished in the top-10 was July 11 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., where Stewart finished fourth and Newman sixth.
Jimmie Johnson beat his Hendrick Motorsport teammate Mark Martin by 1.970 seconds to win the AAA 400 and score the 44th victory of his Sprint Cup career, his fourth of the season and his fifth at Dover. The win put Johnson in a tie with Bill Elliott for 14th on the all-time Sprint Cup victory list.
Finishing third was Matt Kenseth, while Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five. Jeff Gordon, A.J. Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne, Stewart and Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were nine caution periods for 38 laps, with 11 drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.
Both SHR drivers are represented in this year’s Chase for the Championship. Stewart moved from sixth to fifth and is 106 points behind Chase leader Martin. Newman remained seventh, 110 markers out of first.
With eight races remaining before a champion is crowned following the season-finale Nov. 22 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the top-12 drivers competing for the title rank as follows:
1. Mark Martin (5,400 points) +/- 0
2. Jimmie Johnson (5,390 points, -10) +/- 0
3. Juan Pablo Montoya (5,335 points, -65) +1
4. Kurt Busch (5,325 points, -75) +1
5. Tony Stewart (5,294 points, -106) +1
6. Denny Hamlin (5,292 points, -108) -3
7. Ryan Newman (5,290 points, -110) +/- 0
8. Jeff Gordon (5,278 points, -122) +2
9. Greg Biffle (5,262 points, -138) +/- 0
10. Brian Vickers (5,249 points, -151) -2
11. Carl Edwards (5,247 points, -153) +/- 0
12. Kasey Kahne (5,211 points, -189) +/- 0
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule – the third race of the 10-race Chase for the Championship – is the Oct. 4 Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. The race begins at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 1 p.m.
