Backstretch Motorsports

SONOMA, Calif.—How strange was it for Kasey Kahne to win a road-course race?

The driver of the No. 9 Richard Petty Motorsports Dodge had to ask his crew chief for directions to victory lane after taking the checkered flag in a green-white-checkered finish in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.

Kahne held off road-course ace Tony Stewart through a succession of four late-race double-file restarts, the final time after Scott Speed’s spin on Lap 108 caused the seventh caution of the day. After starting from the rear because of an engine change, Marcos Ambrose chased the top two finishers to the line to claim third place, matching the best result of his Sprint Cup Series career.

“Awesome—not too bad for a dirt-tracker from Washington!” Kenny Francis, Kahne’s crew chief, radioed after his driver crossed the stripe on Lap 113, three laps beyond the scheduled distance at the 1.99-mile road course.

“Unreal,” replied Kahne, who gave owner Richard Petty his first victory since John Andretti in 1999. “Gosh, we had to hold him (Stewart) off for a while. We won a road-course race! Oh, my God, I can’t believe this.”

Jimmie Johnson recovered from a pit-road speeding penalty to finish fourth. Denny Hamlin, who led 33 laps—second only to Kahne’s 37—came home fifth. Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon and Elliott Sadler completed the top 10.

The victory was Kahne’s first of the season and the 10th of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. Before Sunday’s race, his highest finish on a road course was 14th at Watkins Glen.

“It was crazy,” Kahne said, after following Francis’ directions to victory lane. “Stewart’s as good as they get out there, and I had to restart beside him about four times. Cautions kept coming out, and we were having to hold him off. He was giving me tons of room … which is normal Stewart. The guy’s an awesome racer.”

After Kahne took the lead from Speed on a restart on Lap 80, he stayed out front the rest of the way. Stewart’s attempts to pressure Kahne into a mistake failed to produce the desired result.

Another race, another top-five finish for Tony Stewart and the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet team.

The Columbus, Ind. native finished second in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350k NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., to score his fourth runner-up and eighth top-five finish of 2009.

“We had a great day with our Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy,” said Stewart, who is in his first year as a driver/owner with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). “I’m happy with it compared to where we were yesterday in both the race practices. We were a little disappointed and discouraged when we left the racetrack. But man, it just makes me so proud of Darian Grubb (crew chief) and Jeff Meendering, our car chief. Man, they worked so hard yesterday. I stayed here until the garage closed with them, and everybody in every department of the race car had to make changes. We basically tore everything apart and we changed about six major things between yesterday and today.”

Ambrose, who suffered a blown engine in Saturday morning’s practice session, got to the front through a combination of pit strategy and talent.

“It was just a great recovery for our team,” said the Australian driver, who duplicated last year’s third-place finish at Watkins Glen, where he also started at the back of the field. “We kept the car fairly straight. Up there, when you’re in that rare air with those drivers, you don’t want to slip up when you’re around them—when you’ve got the chance to run well.

“We would have liked to have won the race, and I feel like I disadvantaged (us) Saturday, blowing up that motor, but it feels like a win.”

Notes: Stewart expanded his lead in the Cup standings to 84 points over second-place Gordon. … Montoya moved up two spots into 12th, the last position eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Kahne also gained two places to 13th and trails Montoya by three points. … Jeff Burton finished 34th and dropped from 12th to 15th. … Stewart finished second for a season-high fourth time. … A late-race accident dropped Dale Earnhardt Jr. to 26th at the finish.

NASCAR Race Number 16
Unofficial Race Results for the Toyota Save Mart 350 - Sunday, June 21, 2009
Infineon Raceway - Sonoma, CA - 1.99 Mile Road
Total Race Length - 113 Laps - 224.87 Miles - Purse: $5,635,918

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps Rating
1 5 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 113 195 10 $345,071 Running 2 37 132.4
2 4 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet 113 175 5 $211,096 Running 2 11 128.1
3 3 47 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie / Kingsford / Clorox Toyota 113 165 $175,496 Running 113.6
4 11 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 113 160 $175,274 Running 101.1
5 24 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 113 160 5 $128,325 Running 2 33 119.2
6 17 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 113 150 $142,896 Running 107.6
7 20 44 A J Allmendinger Best Buy Dodge 113 146 $98,700 Running 88.7
8 26 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet 113 142 $103,900 Running 85.2
9 13 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 113 138 $131,149 Running 85.4
10 8 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Tools Dodge 113 134 $100,425 Running 83.3
11 38 55 Patrick Carpentier NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 113 130 $96,800 Running 71.1
12 33 13 Max Papis # GEICO Toyota 113 127 $85,400 Running 75.4
13 34 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 113 124 $136,054 Running 87.2
14 23 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Vice-Grip Ford 113 121 $95,050 Running 77.0
15 27 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 113 123 5 $100,000 Running 1 1 96.5
16 1 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 113 120 5 $119,621 Running 1 16 92.6
17 7 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation Chevrolet 113 112 $112,902 Running 86.3
18 10 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 113 109 $126,663 Running 84.4
19 12 20 Joey Logano # The Home Depot Toyota 113 106 $126,699 Running 86.2
20 25 96 Bobby Labonte Ask.com Ford 113 103 $112,052 Running 61.6
21 30 98 Paul Menard Johns Manville /Menards Ford 113 100 $112,429 Running 52.9
22 2 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s / Transformers Toyota 113 102 5 $126,546 Running 1 10 90.4
23 21 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 113 94 $95,600 Running 53.0
24 9 08 Boris Said Ford 113 91 $76,100 Running 87.3
25 6 1 Martin Truex Jr. GE reveal Chevrolet 113 88 $114,913 Running 53.6
26 35 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Amp Energy / National Guard / Mtn Dew Chevrolet 113 85 $93,050 Running 61.2
27 29 09 Ron Fellows Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet 113 82 $77,700 Running 58.3
28 15 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Post-it Ford 113 79 $93,525 Running 53.9
29 16 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 113 76 $114,818 Running 59.8
30 41 34 John Andretti Taco Bell Chevrolet 113 73 $86,175 Running 40.2
31 42 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 113 70 $99,621 Running 35.5
32 32 71 David Gilliland Adobe Road Winery Chevrolet 113 67 $75,855 Running 35.2
33 40 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 113 64 $82,195 Running 59.9
34 36 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 113 61 $120,484 Running 45.7
35 14 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST / Kellogg’s Chevrolet 113 58 $80,995 Running 51.8
36 22 7 Robby Gordon Menards / Jim Beam Toyota 113 60 5 $92,193 Running 1 3 64.3
37 31 87 Scott Speed # Nemco Motorsports Toyota 112 57 5 $72,750 Running 1 2 32.6
38 18 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 106 49 $91,943 Running 52.3
39 39 12 David Stremme No. 12 Penske Dodge 101 46 $105,563 Overheati 35.7
40 28 43 Reed Sorenson Valvoline Dodge 99 43 $110,274 Running 36.5
41 43 02 Brandon Ash Efusjon Energy Club Dodge 94 40 $72,225 Accident 28.0
42 19 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 3 37 $72,130 Rear End 26.9
43 37 04 P J Jones Jim Beam / Menards Toyota 2 0 $72,490 Power 27.8
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 93,500, Kasey Kahne won the Toyota/Save Mart 350, his 10th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win. Prior to the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for reasons indicated: No. 47 (engine change), No. 71 (backup car), No. 87 (driver change).
Failed to Qualify: (4) 82 Scott Speed #, 27 Tom Hubert, 37 Chris Cook, 36 Brian Simo.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 10 Mins, 00 Secs. Average Speed: 71.012 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.748 Seconds
Caution Flags: 7 for 20 laps: Laps: 22-24 (#31 spin Turn 11 [13]); 54-56 (Debris [44]); 77-79 (#96 spin Turn 2 [02]); 84-87 (#71, 77 accident Turn 11 [18]); 91-93 (#2 accident Turn 8 [17]); 98-99 (Debris [77]); 110-111 (#87 spin Turn 7 [77]).
Lead Changes: 10 among 8 drivers: B. Vickers 1-16; Kyle Busch 17-26; T. Stewart 27-29; K. Kahne 30-32; D. Hamlin 33-36; Kurt Busch 37; D. Hamlin 38-66; T. Stewart 67-74; R. Gordon 75-77; S. Speed 78-79; K. Kahne 80-113.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) T. Stewart 2,364;(2) J. Gordon 2,280;(3) J. Johnson 2,207;(4) Kurt Busch 2,084;(5) C. Edwards 2,051;(6) R. Newman 2,046;(7) D. Hamlin 2,009;(8) G. Biffle 1,992;(9) Kyle Busch 1,962;(10) M. Kenseth 1,957;(11) M. Martin 1,926;(12) J. Montoya 1,917.
Coors Light Pole Award : Brian Vickers, #83 (93.678 mph) DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9 EA Sports Move of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Kasey Kahne, #9 (91.086 mph, Lap 89) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : Kasey Kahne, #9
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Marcos Ambrose, #47 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9 (.174 sec )
O’Reilly People, Service and Performance Award : Denny Hamlin, #11 Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Max Papis, #13
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Kasey Kahne, #9 Tissot Pit Road Precision Award : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42
WIX Lap Leader : Kasey Kahne, #9 (37 Laps)
Next Race: Jun. 28, 2009 - New Hampshire Motor Speedway