Pep Boys Auto 500 Race Report from Atlanta
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Pep Boys Auto 500 Race Report
Date: Sept. 6, 2009
Event: Pep Boys Auto 500 (Round 25 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Atlanta Motor Speedway (1.54-mile oval)
Winner: Kasey Kahne of Richard Petty Motorsports (Dodge)
SHR Finish: Ryan Newman (Started 23rd, Finished 9th / Running, completed 325 of 325 laps)
Tony Stewart (Started 12th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 325 of 325 laps)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS, led the two-car Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) contingent at Atlanta Motor Speedway by finishing ninth in Sunday night’s Pep Boys Auto 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. It was Newman’s 11th top-10 finish of 2009.
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala SS for SHR, finished 11th.
Stewart remains atop the championship point standings, and his 11th-place finish expanded his lead to 237 points over second-place Jeff Gordon. Stewart was the first driver to secure a spot in the 12-driver Chase for the Championship, as his sizeable advantage allowed him to clinch a Chase berth two races ago at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
Newman, meanwhile, dropped two spots to ninth in the standings despite posting a solid effort at Atlanta. He’s now 556 points out of first and 81 points ahead of 13th-place Brian Vickers. Only one race remains before the field is set for the final, 10-race Chase for the Championship.
The top-four drivers in points – Stewart, Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin – have all clinched spots in the Chase.
Kasey Kahne beat Kevin Harvick by 1.766 seconds to win the Pep Boys Auto 500. It was his 11th career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his second at Atlanta.
Finishing third after 500 miles around the 1.54-mile oval was Juan Pablo Montoya, while David Reutimann and Mark Martin rounded out the top-five. Hamlin, Vickers, Gordon, Newman and Greg Biffle comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were nine caution periods for 42 laps, with six drivers failing to finish the 325-lap race.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Sept. 12 Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.