| Race details[1][2][3][4][5] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 27 of 36 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
 Layout of New Hampshire Motor Speedway | |||
| Date | September 20, 2009 | ||
| Location | New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.058 mi (1.702 km) | ||
| Distance | 300 laps, 317.4 mi (510.805 km) | ||
| Weather | Mild with temperatures approaching 72 °F (22 °C); wind speeds up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 100.753 miles per hour (162.146 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | ||
| Time | 28.545 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Juan Pablo Montoya | Earnhardt Ganassi Racing | |
| Laps | 105 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Mark Martin | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree | ||
| Nielsen Ratings |
| ||
The 2009 Sylvania 300 was the twenty-seventh stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the first in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on September 20, 2009, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire, before a crowd of 101,000 people. The 300-lap race was won by Mark Martin of the Hendrick Motorsports team after starting from fourteenth position. Denny Hamlin of Joe Gibbs Racing finished second and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya was in third place.
Martin was leading the Drivers' Championship heading into the race because of a redistribution of the points-scoring system that saw him receive an additional forty points for achieving four race victories in the preceding 26 events. Montoya, who initially held the pole position by recording the fastest lap time in qualifying, was immediately passed by Tony Stewart. One lap later, Montoya reclaimed the lead. Chase for the Sprint Cup participants Hamlin and Kurt Busch were in the top ten for most of the race. Martin became the leader of the race, after the leaders made their pit stops. Martin retained the first position to win the race, his fifth of the 2009 season. There were eleven cautions and twenty lead changes among ten different drivers during the race.
The race was Martin's fifth win of the season, as well as the 40th and final win of his Cup career. After the race, Martin maintained his lead in the Drivers' Championship, thirty-five points ahead of Hamlin, who advanced to second, and equal on points with Johnson. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, thirty-nine points ahead of Toyota and eighty-one ahead of Dodge, with nine races of the season remaining. The race attracted 5.04 million television viewers.
- ^ "2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
- ^ Courchsene, Shawn (September 19, 2009). "Montoya Sets Record, Earns Pole". Hartford Courant. Tribune Publishing. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- ^ "The Race: Sylvania 300". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- ^ "Sylvania 300". Fox Sports. MSN. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ^ "Weather Information for Loudon, New Hampshire". Old Farmer's Almanac. Yankee Publishing. Archived from the original on January 3, 2015. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
- ^ "2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup TV Ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on December 18, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2015.