The 2009 Food City 500

Food City 500

The Food City 500 is a 500 lap race NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race held on the track at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This is one of two NASCAR races held at Bristol, the other being the Irwin Tools Night Race, and is considered one of NASCAR's best races...

was the fifth race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was the 61st season of professional stock car racing in the United States, which began at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, with the 2009 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, a race for the top six teams of the four brands in the 2008...

. This 500 lap, 266.5 miles (428.9 km) race took place on March 22 of that year at the 0.533 mile (0.85777822 km) Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961...

 in Bristol, Tennessee

Bristol, Tennessee

Bristol is a city in Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 26,702 at the 2010 census. It is the twin city of Bristol, Virginia, which lies directly across the state line between Tennessee and Virginia. The boundaries of both cities run parallel to each other along State...

, and was telecast on Fox

NASCAR on Fox

NASCAR on Fox is the Emmy-winning branding used for Fox Sports's broadcasts of NASCAR races airing on the Fox network since 2001. The production has been in high-definition since 2005.-Background:...

 beginning at 1:30 PM US EDT

North American Eastern Time Zone

The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

, with radio broadcasting being handled by Performance Racing Network

Performance Racing Network

The Performance Racing Network is a radio network controlled by Speedway Motorsports, Inc..Performance Racing Network broadcasts all NASCAR-sanctioned Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series events held at Speedway Motorsports-controlled tracks which include Atlanta, Bristol, Infineon, Las Vegas,...

 (terrestrial) and Sirius XM Radio (satellite) beginning at 1 PM US EDT. This race was the last to utilize the 2008 season

2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

The 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season began on February 9, 2008 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout, followed by pole qualifying on Sunday, February 10, 2008 for the 50th Daytona 500 on February 17...

 Top 35 in owners points rule. Beginning with the next race, the Goody's Cool Orange 500, each week's current standings will be used to determine automatic qualifiers for each week's race.

Qualifying

Mark Martin

Mark Martin

Mark Martin may refer to:* Mark Martin , American racecar driver* Mark Martin , American cartoonist* Mark Martin , American judge* Mark Martin , British murderer...

 won his second pole in a row. He will start alongside Ryan Newman

Ryan Newman

Ryan Joseph Newman is a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He drives the #39 United States Army/Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for Stewart Haas Racing under crew chief Tony Gibson. Newman graduated from Purdue University in 2001 with a B.S. in vehicle structure engineering...

 and teammate Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver. He currently drives the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports....

 in third.

Pre-Race Notes

• Michael Waltrip
  Michael Waltrip
  Michael Curtis Waltrip is a semi-former professional race car driver, co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing, and a published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASCAR champion and racing commentator Darrell Waltrip. Waltrip is a two-time winner of the Daytona 500; having won the race in...
  
   smacked the wall in practice and was forced to go to a backup car.
• The car of Kevin Harvick
  Kevin Harvick
  Kevin Michael Harvick is an American stock car auto racing race car driver and car owner currently competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing, driving the No. 29 Budweiser/Jimmy John's/Rheem/Okuma/Realtree Outdoors/Bad Boy Buggies Chevrolet Impala...
  
   was so tight it would not turn at about 100 miles per hour. After inspecting the car, it was determined that the cause was the engine rubbing against the tires, but Harvick will not go to a backup car.
• Bobby Labonte
  Bobby Labonte
  Robert Alan "Bobby" Labonte is an American race car driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the #47 Kroger/Clorox/Kimberly-Clark/Kingsford/Reese Towpower Hitches Toyota Camry for JTG Daugherty Racing. He currently resides in Trinity, North Carolina. He is married to his wife...
  
   and Greg Biffle
  Greg Biffle
  Gregory Jack "Greg" Biffle is a NASCAR driver who drives the #16 3M Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-90s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former announcer Benny Parsons...
  
   both spun off turn 4 at one point in practice, but both cars suffered minor to no damage.

Race

Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch

Kyle Thomas Busch, is an American NASCAR driver and team owner. He currently drives the No. 18 Mars/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series, the No. 18 Z-Line Designs/NOS Energy Drink Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs in the Nationwide Series, and the No...

 led 378 laps en route to his second victory of 2009. JGR teammate Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin

James Dennis Alan "Denny" Hamlin is an American race car driver. Though originally born in Tampa, Florida, Hamlin was raised for most of his life in Chesterfield, Virginia. After racing in go-karts for a number of years, he worked his way up to Late Models by 2004 and signed a development contract...

 finished second, while Hendrick Motorsports

Hendrick Motorsports

Hendrick Motorsports , originally named All Star Racing, is a current American auto racing team created in 1984 by Rick Hendrick. The team currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chevrolet Impalas...

 teammates Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Kenneth Johnson is an American NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race car driver. He currently drives the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports....

 and Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon

Jeffery Michael "Jeff" Gordon is a professional NASCAR driver. He is the driver of the #24 Drive to End Hunger/DuPont/Pepsi Chevrolet Impala. He is a four-time Sprint Cup Series champion and a three-time Daytona 500 winner. He is third on the all-time wins list, with 85 career wins, and has the...

 finished third and fourth, while Kasey Kahne

Kasey Kahne

Kasey Kenneth Kahne is a NASCAR driver. He drives the #5 Farmers Insurance Group Chevrolet Impala for Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series....

rounded up the top 5. Jeff Gordon still leads the points, and got his 4th top-10 and 3rd top-5 of the season.