Backstretch Motorsports

Hampton, GA) Kasey Kahne’s shoot-out style blast to Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Victory Lane in last night’s Pep Boys Auto 500 was nothing short of perfect. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver was working his No. 9 Budweiser Dodge to it’s limits in set up, favoring the short run., getting all it had on new tires and exploiting the long run theme that hampered both runner-up Kevin Harvick and third place finisher Juan Pablo Montoya.

Kahne, who figured he had a faster car on short runs, took the lead when the race was restarted with 11 laps to go and , with a helpful push from David Reutimann, simply ran away from the field, finishing a full 1.7 seconds ahead of the rest.

The win is the 2nd for the Enumclaw, Wa native in the ‘09 NASCAR Sprint Cup campaign and his 2nd at Atlanta.

The first foray of racing under the lights at the storied AMS facility was a night of superb racing for the better than 100,000 gathered.

They got the show they paid for: hard racing, side-by-side and bumper-to-bumper action throughout the field

But for the other competitors on the track, in many cases it became a nightmare of inconsistency in handling on the track’s aging, rough surface. The Goodyear tires were giving up after only a handful of laps and it looked like the drivers were negotiating dreaded black ice on a wintertime highway overpass.

“It was really crazy. There were a lot of things going on.” said said mutiple Atlanta winner Jeff Gordon. “I can’t even keep up with all the different things that happened. There were times I thought we had the car to beat then I thought we were going to go a lap down. We were trying to keep up with the changing conditions whether it was track, tires or whatever it was. Man, we were all over the place and never could seem to find any consistency. It was a good fight, a good top-10 and it was good to lead some laps.”

The night of fighting track and tires took toll on the Chase bubble-sitting contenders as well.

Matt Kenseth during the race has dropped as low as 31st in the running order was seeming on the way to a “better luck next year” scenario as Kyle Busch was finding his way to leading the event and finding plenty of top 5 time.

In what many would have called a remarkable recovery, Kenseth was not happy with a 12th.

“I don’t feel real good about it.” said the Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 pilot. “We were pretty optimistic in practice
yesterday and we started the race way off. I ran into the wall, which isn’t their fault, it’s my fault, and that hurt us. But (the CoT) it’s just so inconsistent and hard to drive. I don’t know. We just can’t really seem to figure out how to get these cars to go fast.”

Busch’s car suffered the ill-handling chimera that vexed nearly every corival on the track. He finished one race click behind the ever-consistent Kenseth.

The JGR No. 18 becomes slightly more of outsider by a scant, but all-important 37 markers away from the top 12, dropping to 14th in the standings.

Brian Vickers, whose crew-heroic pit road repair of a broken axle kept the Red Bull No. 83 on the lead lap and provided a 7th place opportunity at race’s end.

“We actually called a teammate in from the 82 — Charlie Brock who was involved with that before — and Mark Bieberich (car chief) and Dave Woodhead (rear changer).” said Ryan Pemberton, crew chief on the No. 83 Toyota Camry. “They all knew exactly what to do and how to do it. I can’t say enough about the guys that were involved with fixing it.

“I’m not saying we have a ‘play’ for that, but we have a ‘play’ for that.” Pemberton continued, explaining the smoothness of the operation. “The guys that fixed it without losing a lap are the same guys that worked together with me a few years back and the same thing happened and we didn’t lose a lap then. When it happened, I was like, ‘Okay guys, you know what to do.’ It went flawlessly. It was really a cool thing to watch.”

NASCAR Race Number 25
Unofficial Race Results for the Pep Boys Auto 500 - Sunday, September 6, 2009
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 325 Laps - 500.5 Miles - Purse: $6,282,099

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 2 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 325 190 5 131.1 $363,073 Running 6 60
2 18 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 325 175 5 116.5 $248,328 Running 6 66
3 22 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 325 170 5 114.7 $207,348 Running 2 31
4 28 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 325 160 95.5 $168,098 Running
5 7 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST / Kellogg’s Chevrolet 325 155 109.5 $131,175 Running
6 10 11 Denny Hamlin Farm Bureau Toyota 325 155 5 121.1 $138,875 Running 3 23
7 8 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 325 151 5 100.1 $139,348 Running 1 2
8 4 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 325 147 5 110.4 $148,926 Running 2 30
9 23 39 Ryan Newman U.S. Army Chevrolet 325 143 5 80.7 $135,479 Running 1 1
10 26 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Red Cross Ford 325 139 5 70.5 $123,675 Running 1 1
11 12 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet 325 130 89.5 $118,823 Running
12 15 17 Matt Kenseth R & L Carriers Ford 325 132 5 81.0 $144,665 Running 1 1
13 5 18 Kyle Busch Pedigree Toyota 325 129 5 98.4 $147,598 Running 3 24
14 9 12 David Stremme No. 12 Penske Dodge 325 121 83.2 $132,565 Running
15 41 98 Paul Menard Johns Manville / Menards Ford 325 118 65.6 $129,881 Running
16 29 7 Robby Gordon Polaris Off Road Vehicles Toyota 325 115 72.1 $116,935 Running
17 31 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard / AMP Energy Drink Chevrolet 325 112 85.0 $111,025 Running
18 25 71 Bobby Labonte TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet 325 109 69.4 $95,725 Running
19 17 21 David Gilliland Motorcraft Ford 325 106 66.5 $91,850 Running
20 35 44 A J Allmendinger Hunt Brothers Pizza Dodge 325 103 58.0 $100,850 Running
21 21 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Tools Dodge 325 100 49.8 $101,300 Running
22 34 20 Joey Logano # The Home Depot Toyota 324 97 68.9 $138,026 Running
23 11 47 Marcos Ambrose Clorox/Kingsford/Bush’s Best Baked Beans Toyota 324 94 56.8 $107,223 Running
24 32 82 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 324 91 49.5 $102,973 Running
25 33 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 324 88 44.8 $105,600 Running
26 1 1 Martin Truex Jr. Guitar Hero 5 Chevrolet 324 95 10 96.6 $153,490 Running 3 68
27 13 43 Reed Sorenson Air Force Dodge 324 82 66.8 $126,251 Running
28 27 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 323 79 48.6 $96,150 Running
29 20 33 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 323 76 47.3 $93,125 Running
30 42 96 Erik Darnell Academy Sports + Outdoors Ford 323 73 39.9 $113,104 Running
31 40 34 John Andretti Taco Bell Chevrolet 323 70 36.4 $93,825 Running
32 19 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 323 72 5 44.5 $92,750 Running 1 1
33 16 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 322 64 61.0 $93,425 Running
34 24 31 Jeff Burton Cat Financial Chevrolet 322 61 54.2 $131,131 Running
35 30 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 320 58 42.7 $102,910 Running
36 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / KOBALT Tools Chevrolet 303 60 5 91.2 $140,351 Running 2 17
37 14 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Cancer Center Ford 302 52 70.6 $132,706 Running
38 6 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 244 49 73.9 $101,725 Accident
39 43 08 Terry Labonte Carter/Simo Racing Toyota 148 46 32.6 $83,600 Electrical
40 39 13 Max Papis # GEICO Toyota 100 43 28.1 $83,475 Accident
41 38 09 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Dodge 38 40 25.9 $83,325 Electrical
42 36 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 25 37 25.8 $83,235 Brakes
43 37 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 19 34 25.9 $83,588 Electrical
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 111,300, Kasey Kahne won the Pep Boys Auto 500, his 11th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. No cars dropped to the rear of the field to start the race.
Failed to Qualify: (3) 78 Regan Smith, 36 Patrick Carpentier, 37 Tony Raines.
Time of Race: 3 Hrs, 44 Mins, 03 Secs. Average Speed: 134.033 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.766 Seconds
Caution Flags: 9 for 42 laps: Laps: 37-41 (#77 spun turn 4 [17]); 61-64 (#77 spun frontstretch [82]); 83-86 (Oil on track [33]); 105-108 (#13 accident turn 2 [7]); 132-135 (Debris [19]); 202-207 (#48 spun turn 2 [16]); 247-252 (#2, 43 accident turn 4 [39]); 270-273 (#20 accident turn 4 [14]); 310-314 (#33 spun frontstretch [18]).
Lead Changes: 31 among 13 drivers: M. Truex Jr. 1-38; K. Kahne 39-41; M. Truex Jr. 42-61; Kyle Busch 62-71; J. Johnson 72-83; M. Kenseth 84; Kyle Busch 85-95; M. Truex Jr. 96-105; M. Waltrip 106; Kyle Busch 107-109; D. Hamlin 110-127; J. Johnson 128-132; J. Gordon 133-135; D. Hamlin 136-138; J. Gordon 139-165; D. Hamlin 166-167; K. Harvick 168-188; B. Vickers 189-190; K. Harvick 191-202; R. Newman 203; K. Harvick 204-207; K. Kahne 208-227; K. Harvick 228-229; K. Kahne 230; K. Harvick 231-247; G. Biffle 248; K. Kahne 249-269; J. Montoya 270; K. Kahne 271-274; J. Montoya 275-304; K. Harvick 305-314; K. Kahne 315-325.
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) T. Stewart 3,694;(2) J. Gordon 3,457;(3) J. Johnson 3,404;(4) D. Hamlin 3,296;(5) C. Edwards 3,162;(6) K. Kahne 3,153;(7) Kurt Busch 3,152;(8) J. Montoya 3,145;(9) R. Newman 3,138;(10) M. Martin 3,126;(11) G. Biffle 3,125;(12) M. Kenseth 3,077.
Coors Light Pole Award : Martin Truex Jr, #1 184.149 mph DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9 crew chief Kenny Francis
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9 EA Sports Move of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Martin Truex Jr, #1 181.568 mph, Lap 2 Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Kasey Kahne, #9
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : David Reutimann, #00 0.307 seconds
O’Reilly Auto Parts People, Service and Performance : Denny Hamlin, #11 428.262 sec Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Joey Logano, #20
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Kasey Kahne, #9 Tissot Pit Road Precision : AJ Allmendinger, #44 378.165 seconds
WIX Filters Lap Leader : Martin Truex Jr, #1 68 Laps
Next Race: Sep. 12, 2009 - Richmond International Raceway