2009 Coca-Cola 600

The 2009 Coca-Cola 600 was the twelfth stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the fiftieth iteration of the event. It was held on May 25, 2009, at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina after being postponed on May 24 because of inclement weather. Scheduled for 400 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) quad-oval, the race was won by David Reutimann of Michael Waltrip Racing after being shortened to 227 laps because of poor weather conditions. Ryan Newman finished second ahead of Robby Gordon, Carl Edwards, and Brian Vickers, who completed the first five positions.

2009 Coca-Cola 600

Race details
Race 12 of 36 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2009 Coca-Cola 600 program cover, with artwork from Sam Bass. "Gold Rush!"
Date	May 25, 2009 (2009-05-25)
Location	Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance	227 laps, 340.5 mi (547.981 km)
Scheduled Distance	400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds approaching 15.9 miles per hour (25.6 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Ryan Newman	Stewart-Haas Racing
Time	28.651
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	173
Winner
No. 00	David Reutimann	Michael Waltrip Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

Lowe's Motor Speedway, where the race was held.

Fox Sports televised the event in the United States, while the race was broadcast on radio by Performance Racing Network (over-the-air) and Sirius XM Radio (satellite)

The logo for the 2009 Coca-Cola 600, celebrating the 50th running of the event.

On the day of the race, 1.33 inches of precipitation were recorded around the speedway; a significant amount of rain for the Charlotte area for the month of May.

Background

Lowe's Motor Speedway, now called Charlotte Motor Speedway, is one of ten intermediate tracks to hold NASCAR races; the others are Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead-Miami Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. The standard track at Lowe's Motor Speedway is a four-turn, 1.5-mile (2.4 km)-long, quad-oval track. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees; both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch (opposite the front) have a five-degree banking.

The Coca-Cola 600 was conceived by race car driver Curtis Turner who built the Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was first held in 1960 in an attempt by NASCAR to stage a Memorial Day weekend race to compete with the open-wheel Indianapolis 500; the two races were held together on the same day starting from 1974. The race is the longest (in terms of distance) on the NASCAR calendar and is considered by several drivers as one of the sport's most important races alongside the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and the Southern 500. The event was known as the World 600 until 1984 when The Coca-Cola Company purchased the naming rights to the race and renamed it the Coca-Cola World 600 in 1985. It has been called the Coca-Cola 600 every year since 1986 except for 2002 when the name changed to Coca-Cola Racing Family 600.

Entry list

Car #	Driver	Hometown	Make	Sponsor	Owner	Team
00	David Reutimann	Zephyrhills, FL	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	Michael Waltrip
1	Martin Truex Jr	Mayetta, NJ	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / NWTF	Teresa Earnhardt
2	Kurt Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Dodge	Miller Lite "Taste Protector"	Walter Czarnecki
5	Mark Martin	Batesville, AR	Chevrolet	Carquest / Kellogg's	Mary Hendrick
06	David Starr	Houston, TX	Dodge	Roni Deutch Tax Center	Theresa Boys
6	David Ragan	Unadilla, GA	Ford	UPS	John Henry
07	Casey Mears	Bakersfield, CA	Chevrolet	Jack Daniel's	Richard Childress
7	Robby Gordon	Bellflower, CA	Toyota	Jim Beam / Operation Homefront	Robby Gordon
09	Mike Bliss	Milwaukie, OR	Dodge	Phoenix Racing	James Finch
9	Kasey Kahne	Enumclaw, WA	Dodge	Budweiser	George Gillett Jr
11	Denny Hamlin	Chesterfield, VA	Toyota	FedEx Express	J D Gibbs
12	David Stremme	South Bend, IN	Dodge	Penske Racing	Roger Penske
13	Max Papis	Como, Italy	Toyota	GEICO	Bob Germain
14	Tony Stewart	Rushville, IN	Chevrolet	Office Depot / Old Spice	Margaret Haas
16	Greg Biffle	Vancouver, WA	Ford	American Red Cross / 3M	Jack Roush
17	Matt Kenseth	Cambridge, WI	Ford	R+L Carriers	John Henry
18	Kyle Busch	Las Vegas, NV	Toyota	M&M's	Joe Gibbs
19	Elliott Sadler	Emporia, VA	Dodge	Best Buy	George Gillett Jr
20	Joey Logano	Middleton, CT	Toyota	The Home Depot	Joe Gibbs
21	Bill Elliott	Dawsonville, GA	Ford	Motorcraft	Glen Wood
24	Jeff Gordon	Vallejo, CA	Chevrolet	DuPont	Rick Hendrick
26	Jamie McMurray	Joplin, MO	Ford	Irwin Vise-Grip	Geoff Smith
29	Kevin Harvick	Bakersfield, CA	Chevrolet	Shell / Pennzoil	Richard Childress
31	Jeff Burton	South Boston, VA	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	Richard Childress
33	Clint Bowyer	Emporia, KS	Chevrolet	Cheerios / Hamburger Helper	Bobby Ginn III
34	Tony Raines	LaPorte, IN	Chevrolet	Taco Bell	Teresa Earnhardt
36	Scott Riggs	Bahama, NC	Toyota	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Tommy Baldwin
39	Ryan Newman	South Bend, IN	Chevrolet	U.S. Army	Tony Stewart
41	JJ Yeley	Phoenix, AZ	Toyota	SmallSponsor.com	Jeremy Mayfield
42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Bogota, Colombia	Chevrolet	Target	Teresa Earnhardt
43	Reed Sorenson	Peachtree City, GA	Dodge	U.S. Air Force	Richard Petty
44	AJ Allmendinger	Los Gatos, CA	Dodge	Hunt Brothers Pizza	George Gillett Jr
47	Marcos Ambrose	Launceston, Tasmania	Toyota	Kingsford / Clorox	Rob Kauffman
48	Jimmie Johnson	El Cajon, CA	Chevrolet	Lowe's	Jeff Gordon
55	Michael Waltrip	Owensboro, KY	Toyota	NAPA	Michael Waltrip
64	Todd Bodine	Chemung, NY	Toyota	Gunselman Motorsports	Larry Gunselman
66	Dave Blaney	Hartford, OH	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	Phil Parsons
71	David Gilliland	Riverside, CA	Chevrolet	CompUSA	Kevin Buckler
73	Mike Garvey	McDonough, GA	Dodge	Quality Concrete	Barry Haefele
77	Sam Hornish Jr	Defiance, OH	Dodge	Mobil 1	Bill Davis
82	Scott Speed	Manteca, CA	Toyota	Red Bull	Dietrich Mateschitz
83	Brian Vickers	Thomasville, NC	Toyota	Red Bull	Dietrich Mateschitz
87	Joe Nemechek	Lakeland, FL	Toyota	G.P.'s Enterprises	Andrea Nemechek
88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Kannapolis, NC	Chevrolet	National Guard / Amp Energy	Rick Hendrick
96	Bobby Labonte	Corpus Christi, TX	Ford	Ask.com	Jeffrey Moorad
98	Paul Menard	Eau Claire, WI	Ford	Johns Manville / Menards	Max Jones
99	Carl Edwards	Columbia, MO	Ford	Aflac	Jack Roush

Qualifying

Pos.	Car #	Driver	Make	SPD Q	Time	BHND
1	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	188.475	28.651	0.000
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	188.258	28.684	00.033
3	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	188.193	28.694	00.043
4	5	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	188.166	28.698	00.047
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	187.820	28.751	00.100
6	9	Kasey Kahne	Dodge	187.493	28.801	00.150
7	09	Mike Bliss	Dodge	187.422	28.812	00.161
8	83	Brian Vickers	Toyota	187.396	28.816	00.165
9	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	187.188	28.848	00.197
10	21	Bill Elliott	Ford	187.169	28.851	00.200
11	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	187.162	28.852	00.201
12	1	Martin Truex Jr	Chevrolet	186.916	28.890	00.239
13	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	186.864	28.898	00.247
14	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	186.832	28.903	00.252
15	19	Elliott Sadler	Dodge	186.825	28.904	00.253
16	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	186.735	28.918	00.267
17	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	186.599	28.939	00.288
18	82	Scott Speed	Toyota	186.574	28.943	00.292
19	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	186.548	28.947	00.296
20	96	Bobby Labonte	Ford	186.477	28.958	00.307
21	00	David Reutimann	Toyota	186.368	28.975	00.324
22	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	186.233	28.996	00.345
23	47	Marcos Ambrose	Toyota	186.220	28.998	00.347
24	33	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	186.181	29.004	00.353
25	66	Dave Blaney	Toyota	186.014	29.030	00.379
26	77	Sam Hornish Jr	Dodge	185.970	29.037	00.386
27	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr	Chevrolet	185.829	29.059	00.408
28	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	185.778	29.067	00.416
29	71	David Gilliland	Chevrolet	185.707	29.078	00.427
30	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	185.605	29.094	00.443
31	98	Paul Menard	Ford	185.592	29.096	00.445
32	13	Max Papis	Toyota	185.433	29.121	00.470
33	26	Jamie McMurray	Ford	185.319	29.139	00.488
34	6	David Ragan	Ford	185.173	29.162	00.511
35	12	David Stremme	Dodge	185.096	29.174	00.523
36	07	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	184.704	29.236	00.585
37	7	Robby Gordon	Toyota	184.590	29.254	00.603
38	44	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	184.338	29.294	00.643
39	55	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	183.949	29.356	00.705
40	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	183.281	29.463	00.812
41	34	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	183.175	29.480	00.829
42	43	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	183.156	29.483	00.832
43	36	Scott Riggs	Toyota	184.432	29.279	00.628
Failed to qualify
44	41	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	184.093	29.333
45	73	Mike Garvey	Dodge	182.457	29.596
46	64	Todd Bodine	Toyota	182.426	29.601
47	06	David Starr	Dodge	179.081	30.154

Pre-race festivities

Air Force Tops in Blue sang the national anthem. Bobby Allison, the race's grand marshal, gave the command to start engines. (It was not televised on Monday, instead, it was preempted by commercials.)

Race recap

Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch started on the front row followed by Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin in the second one, and Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne in the third. Newman decided to start the race from the outside, switching positions with Busch.

At 12:12 pm EDT, the green flag waved marking the start of the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600. After lap 1, Newman led the first lap with Busch in 2nd and Martin in 3rd. Two laps later, Busch took the lead from Newman while out of turn 4. On lap 7, the first caution flag was waved for light rain. Before the caution, Brian Vickers was in 5th after starting in 8th and Denny Hamlin was in that position after starting 13th. Dale Earnhardt Jr., starting in 27th, was in 31st. Eleven drivers entered pit road. Among them were Earnhardt Jr.; Kevin Harvick; Michael Waltrip; Greg Biffle; and Matt Kenseth.

When the restarted on lap 12, Busch had the lead followed by Newman, Martin, Kahne, and Vickers behind him. Shortly after, Harvick and Sam Hornish Jr. made contact on the backstretch. On lap 17, Harvick made contact with the outside wall entering turn 1, causing damage to his car and bringing out a caution. Busch reported an electrical problem with his car.

On lap 19, the race restarted with Busch, Newman, Martin, Kahne, and Gordon in the Top 5. By lap 35, Busch had opened a 2-second lead over Martin, who was 2nd. Tony Stewart, starting in 28th, was now in 15th. During pit stops on lap 42 after a competition caution, Johnson had the lead off pit road and gained 16 positions, followed by Busch and Martin. Newman had to come back to pit road for a lugnut replacement and Mike Bliss drove his car to the garage.

The race restarted on lap 45 with Johnson, Busch, Martin, Kurt Busch, and Denny Hamlin rounding out the Top 5. On lap 51, Ky. Busch took the lead away from Johnson with Martin still in 2nd. By lap 55, Johnson, with a loose car, had fallen to the 6th place. Rain returned by lap 71, resulting in yet another caution. After pit stops that followed, Carl Edwards gained 10 positions, Jamie McMurray gained 16, Reutimann gained 7, and Martin Truex Jr. gained 13. Vickers lost 6. Martin's crew lost a tire from their pit, resulting in a penalty for him. Robby Gordon stayed out and led a lap. Waltrip and Scott Riggs also stayed out. Approximately 55 minutes after the start of the race, the red flag was waved on lap 74 for rain. R. Gordon, Waltrip, Riggs, KY. Busch, Edwards, Reutimann, McMurray, Joey Logano, Kahne, and Juan Pablo Montoya made up the Top 10 at that time.

This red flag period lasted 54 minutes before caution laps resumed. R. Gordon, Waltrip, and Riggs made pit stops under the caution. Each of the three had a led at least a lap. The restart on lap 79 with Ky. Busch, Edwards, Reutimann, McMurray, and Logano in the Top 5. Martin served a penalty from the last pit stop and dropped to 37th place. By lap 87, Ky. Busch opened a two-second lead over second place Reutimann. On lap 93, McMurray dropped from fourth to 10th and Reutimann fell two spots from 2nd after making contact with the outside wall of Turn 4. Meanwhile, Earnhardt Jr. continued to fight an ill-handling car and on lap 111 Ky. Busch, who was leading, put him a lap down. On lap 120, Vickers took the lead from Ky. Busch. As of lap 122, Joe Nemechek, Waltrip, Harvick, and Max Papis, running 38th through 41st respectively, were a lap down. Green flag pit stops began at that point. On lap 129, Montoya took second from KY. Busch. Logano led lap 131. Reutimann and David Gilliland were deemed too fast on pit road and served penalties. Meanwhile, Dave Blaney led two laps under green flag pit stops. Blaney's stop on lap 134 ended the cycle and Ky. Busch regained the lead, followed by Vickers, Montoya, Kahne, and Johnson. Vickers took the lead on lap 146, and by lap 161, he had opened a 2.2-second lead over Montoya.

Historic moment of silence

On lap 163, race officials threw the red flag, and ordered the cars to shut down the engines on the front stretch for a moment of silence in honor of those who died in the service of America's military. This moment took place at 3:00 pm EDT; the time was chosen because it coincides with that traditionally set aside by American tradition on Memorial Day. Members of pit crews and fans stood in observance, while drivers quietly reflected in their cars. Although this moment was not originally planned — and indeed would not have occurred if the race had not been postponed the day before — it reportedly met with praise from drivers, crews and fans.

Pit stops and resumption of race

During the pit stops, Edwards gained six spots, Jeff Gordon gained twelve spots, Montoya lost three positions, and Vickers lost nine spots. The rain came and delayed the waving of the green flag. On lap 177, the red flag was waved for rain for the second time in the race three hours and eight minutes since the start. Kyle Busch, Kahne, Johnson, Edwards, Montoya, Logano, Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, and Vickers are in the top ten when the red flag waved.

The field restarted on lap 180 at 3:42 pm. EDT. Twenty-six cars were on the lead lap as they took the green flag. On lap 182, Logano took fifth from Montoya and Johnson took second from Kahne. Seven laps later, Montoya, running in 7th, reported his car has tightened up. Kurt Busch, running in 15th, entered pit road for a two-tire change on lap 193 because of vibrations. Kurt Busch re-entered the race in 38th, one lap down. On lap 208, seven laps after halfway, Kyle Busch had a 2.4-second lead over Kasey Kahne. Kyle's brother, Kurt, advanced four spots from 38th since the pitstop for vibrations. On lap 213, Kenseth, running in 7th, reported his car has tightened up.

Eight laps later, rain hit the track again and forced another yellow flag for rain. On the ensuing stops, Edwards gained two spots, Vickers five spots, and Labonte seven spots. Johnson lost four spots. Reutimann, Newman, and Robby Gordon stayed on the track.

On lap 227, the third red flag of the race was waved with Reutimann, Newman, Robby Gordon, Edwards, Vickers, Kyle Busch, Kahne, Montoya, Logano, and Kenseth in the top ten. Hours later the race was called official giving Reutimann his first Cup series win in 76 starts. Newman, the polesitter, finished in second in his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. Robby Gordon finished third, his first top 5 finish since the 2007 Watkins Glen race Carl Edwards had the highest finishing Ford in fourth place. Kyle Busch had led the most laps (173), finished sixth. Kasey Kahne, the defending winner, had the highest finishing Dodge in seventh. Rookie Joey Logano finished ninth. Bill Elliott, in his 800 career start, finished 15th. Marcos Ambrose, the last driver on the lead lap, came in 26th.

Firsts

David Reutimann won his first race in the Sprint Cup Series. It was also the first win for Michael Waltrip Racing in the Sprint Cup Series and the first for Michael Waltrip as an owner. This was the first win for a car with the number 00 in Sprint Cup history and the first win for Toyota at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Cup series. Also, due to the rainout, this marked the first time the actual race was held on Memorial Day. Also, this was the first Sprint Cup race at Charlotte to be held during the day since 2001.

Results

Fin	St	#	Driver	Sponsor	Make	Team	Laps	Led	Status	Pts	Winnings
1	21	00	David Reutimann	Aaron's Dream Machine	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing	227	5	running	190	403998
2	1	39	Ryan Newman	U.S. Army	Chevy	Stewart-Haas Racing	227	2	running	175	326754
3	37	7	Robby Gordon	Jim Beam, Operation Homefront	Toyota	Robby Gordon Motorsports	227	1	running	120	208985
4	19	99	Carl Edwards	Aflac	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	227	0	running	160	207531
5	8	83	Brian Vickers	Red Bull	Toyota	Red Bull Racing Team	227	33	running	160	177898
6	2	18	Kyle Busch	M&M's	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	227	173	running	160	200198
7	6	9	Kasey Kahne	Budweiser	Dodge	Richard Petty Motorsports	227	0	running	146	159998
8	9	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Target	Chevy	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	227	0	running	142	151773
9	14	20	Joey Logano	Home Depot	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	227	1	running	143	163351
10	30	17	Matt Kenseth	R & L Carriers	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	227	0	running	134	160965
11	13	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing	227	0	running	130	122655
12	20	96	Bobby Labonte	Ask.com	Ford	Hall of Fame Racing	227	0	running	127	135829
13	5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe's	Chevy	Hendrick Motorsports	227	6	running	129	158751
14	3	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont	Chevy	Hendrick Motorsports	227	0	running	121	145951
15	10	21	Bill Elliott	Motorcraft	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing	227	0	running	118	106000
16	26	77	Sam Hornish Jr.	Mobil 1	Dodge	Penske Racing	227	0	running	115	121610
17	4	5	Mark Martin	Carquest, Kellogg's	Chevy	Hendrick Motorsports	227	0	running	112	111785
18	18	82	Scott Speed	Red Bull	Toyota	Red Bull Racing Team	227	0	running	109	116648
19	28	14	Tony Stewart	Office Depot, Old Spice	Chevy	Stewart-Haas Racing	227	0	running	106	109973
20	16	16	Greg Biffle	3M, Red Cross	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	227	0	running	103	116175
21	33	26	Jamie McMurray	Irwin Vise-Grip	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	227	0	running	100	105050
22	35	12	David Stremme	Penske Racing	Dodge	Penske Racing	227	0	running	97	128615
23	12	1	Martin Truex Jr.	Bass Pro Shops, National Wild Turkey Federation	Chevy	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	227	0	running	94	131140
24	34	6	David Ragan	UPS	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing	227	0	running	91	102325
25	40	31	Jeff Burton	Caterpillar	Chevy	Richard Childress Racing	227	0	running	88	137731
26	23	47	Marcos Ambrose	Kingsford, Clorox	Toyota	JTG Daugherty Racing	227	0	running	85	104898
27	29	71	David Gilliland	CompUSA	Chevy	TRG Motorsports	226	0	running	82	89200
28	25	66	Dave Blaney	Aaron's Dream Machine	Toyota	Prism Motorsports	226	2	running	84	91175
29	31	98	Paul Menard	Johns Manville, Menards	Ford	Yates Racing	226	0	running	76	121956
30	39	55	Michael Waltrip	NAPA Auto Parts	Toyota	Michael Waltrip Racing	226	1	running	78	99925
31	15	19	Elliott Sadler	Best Buy	Dodge	Richard Petty Motorsports	226	0	running	70	98775
32	38	44	A.J. Allmendinger	Hunt Brothers Pizza	Dodge	Richard Petty Motorsports	226	0	running	67	88150
33	36	07	Casey Mears	Jack Daniel's	Chevy	Richard Childress Racing	226	0	running	64	106975
34	17	2	Kurt Busch	Miller Lite Taste Protector	Dodge	Penske Racing	226	0	running	61	106900
35	42	43	Reed Sorenson	U.S. Air Force	Dodge	Richard Petty Motorsports	226	0	running	58	125101
36	24	33	Clint Bowyer	Cheerios, Hamburger Helper	Chevy	Richard Childress Racing	226	0	running	55	95625
37	11	87	Joe Nemechek	G.P.'s Enterprises Inc.	Toyota	NEMCO Motorsports	226	0	running	52	87400
38	43	36	Scott Riggs	Cooter's Backyard Bar & Grill	Toyota	Tommy Baldwin Racing	225	3	running	54	87285
39	41	34	Tony Raines	Taco Bell	Chevy	Front Row Motorsports	225	0	running	46	95175
40	27	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	National Guard, AMP Energy	Chevy	Hendrick Motorsports	225	0	running	43	105065
41	22	29	Kevin Harvick	Shell, Pennzoil	Chevy	Richard Childress Racing	224	0	running	40	124283
42	32	13	Max Papis	GEICO	Toyota	Germain Racing	219	0	running	37	86850
43	7	09	Mike Bliss	Phoenix Racing	Dodge	Phoenix Racing	42	0	vibration	34	87817
Failed to qualify
44		41	J.J. Yeley	SmallSponsor.com	Toyota	Mayfield Motorsports
45		73	Mike Garvey	Quality Concrete	Dodge	H&S Motorsports
46		64	Todd Bodine	Gunselman Mortorsports	Toyota	Gunselman Mortorsports
47		06	David Starr	Roni Deutch Tax Center	Dodge	Boys Will Be Boys Racing