| Race details[1][2][3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 28 of 36 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
 The 2009 AAA 400 program cover, with artwork by Sam Bass. "Monster Mash!" | |||
| Date | September 27, 2009 | ||
| Location | Dover International Speedway, Dover, Delaware | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.0 mi (1.609 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 75.2 °F (24.0 °C); wind speeds up to 11.1 miles per hour (17.9 km/h)[4] | ||
| Average speed | 118.704 miles per hour (191.036 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 22.878 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 271 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree | ||
| Nielsen Ratings |
| ||
The 2009 AAA 400 was the twenty-eighth stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the second in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on September 27, 2009, at Dover International Speedway, in Dover, Delaware before a crowd of 110,000 people. The 400-lap race was won by Jimmie Johnson of the Hendrick Motorsports team after he started from pole position. His teammate Mark Martin finished second and Roush Fenway Racing driver Matt Kenseth was third.
Martin was the pre-race Drivers' Championship leader with a 35-point margin over Johnson and Denny Hamlin in second. Johnson won the pole position with the fastest overall lap time in the qualifying session and maintained his lead on the first lap to begin the race. After a competition caution to allow for tire checks on lap 25, Ryan Newman became the leader of the race. Chase for the Sprint Cup participants Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon were in the top ten for most of the race. Johnson reclaimed the lead, after passing Kurt Busch on the 176th lap. Johnson maintained the first position to lead the most laps of 271, and to win his fourth race of the season. There were nine cautions and six lead changes among four different drivers during the course of the race.
The race victory was Johnson's fourth of the 2009 season, as well as the forty-fourth of his career. The result kept Martin in the lead in the Drivers' Championship, ten points ahead of Johnson, and sixty-five in front of Juan Pablo Montoya. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, forty-five ahead of Toyota and seventy-five in front of Ford, who bumped Dodge, with one-hundred and twenty-two points, to fourth place. The race attracted 5.08 million television viewers.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
RR500was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "The Race: AAA 400". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ^ "Defending champion Johnson wins pole at Dover". USA Today. Gannett Company. September 25, 2009. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ^ "Weather Information for Dover, Delaware". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ^ "2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup TV Ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved January 14, 2015.