Originally published on Feb. 27, 2025
By Zane Miller
First round
(8) #39 Ryan Newman v. (1) #14 Tony Stewart
(7) #42 Juan Pablo Montoya v. (2) #24 Jeff Gordon
(6) #2 Kurt Busch v. (3) #48 Jimmie Johnson
(5) #5 Mark Martin v. (4) #11 Denny Hamlin
The playoffs started at Dover once again, which was
alright with Jimmie Johnson as he went on a tear after starting from the pole,
leading 271 of the event’s 400 laps before taking his fifth race win at the Delaware
track. Playoff competitor Kurt Busch actually put up a strong fight with nearly
100 laps led of his own, but was forced to settle for fifth place. Tony Stewart
got the early one-up over his teammate and employee Ryan Newman, grabbing the
ninth spot with Newman just one spot back. Yet another tight battle took place
between veteran Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya, who was making his
postseason debut. Despite the significant gap in experience, Montoya got the
initial edge with a fourth-place run while Gordon trailed in sixth. The lone
blowout of the playoff opener was between Mark Martin and Denny Hamlin, with
Hamlin coming home well off the pace in 23rd while Martin captured
the runner-up spot behind teammate Johnson.
At Kansas Speedway, Stewart handily took care of
business, leading the final 30 laps on the way to the race win while Newman
faltered in 22nd. Also leaving the postseason battle was Busch, who
finished 11th while Johnson maintained a solid ninth-place result. However,
Martin would be unable to close the deal against Hamlin, as the 1989 champion
finished seventh after leading 11 laps early while the #11 claimed a top-five
finish. Montoya staked his claim for a mild upset over Gordon, taking his second
fourth-place finish in a row, but it wasn’t enough as Gordon lived to see
another day thanks to his second-place run.
For the first time in Cup Series history, a playoff
race would be held at Fontana, California’s Auto Club Speedway. Now back in his
home state, Gordon embarked on an all-time classic battle with Montoya to
advance to the semifinals. Montoya looked to be the stronger of the two throughout
the first half as he led 78 laps on the afternoon, but Gordon was just a little
bit better in the second half. When a massive crash set up a three-lap shootout
for the win, Gordon was just one car length ahead of Montoya at the restart.
However, Gordon executed the restart to perfection, hanging on to finish second
to Johnson while Montoya’s promising run ended in a third-place finish. As for
Martin and Hamlin, that series concluded 59 laps from the finish after Hamlin
spun himself off the front bumper of Montoya while making a late block. Hamlin
drilled the inside wall and was unable to continue, as Martin went on to finish
fourth to secure his spot in the semifinal round.
Semifinal
(5) #5 Mark Martin v. (1) #14 Tony Stewart
(3) #48 Jimmie Johnson v. (2) #24 Jeff Gordon
In Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s final race before reverting
back to the “Charlotte Motor Speedway” name, Johnson gave his sponsor a proper
sendoff, taking his sixth race win of the season after passing Gordon for the
lead with 15 laps remaining. Gordon eventually slid back to fourth in the final
running order. Neither Stewart nor Martin had particularly competitive cars,
but Stewart would be able to hold off Martin from 13th as the latter
crossed the start/finish line in 17th.
Johnson would continue his trend of strong late-season
runs at Martinsville, nearly capturing his third straight victory after leading
164 laps. However, he was still able to accomplish the big picture goal of
moving on to the finals with a runner-up finish, while Gordon put together
another top-five effort but was ultimately unable to get the job done. In the
meantime, the battle between Martin and Stewart went all the way down to the
wire, with Martin holding a car length advantage over the #14 on the final.
Stewart took a peek to the inside of Martin, but the lapped car of John
Andretti crashed near the start/finish line. This forced a race-ending caution before
Stewart could make his move, allowing Martin to live to see another race with
an eighth-place finish to Stewart’s ninth.
The battle of the past champions continued at
Talladega, where both drivers looked to have a strong case for victory as they
started the day inside the top-five. In a wild race which saw 60 lead changes
among other events which we’ll get to momentarily, Martin and Stewart swapped
the tentative series lead back and forth. However, with just five laps to go in
the scheduled distance, Stewart’s chances came to an abrupt end. Running down
the backstretch, he was turned into the outside wall by Newman, who then spun
down the track and flipped over before sliding to a halt in the turn three
infield grass and emerging uninjured. While Stewart’s car remained upright, his
race was over in 35th. While Martin continued on, his day also ended in violent
fashion as he flipped over with a pair of laps remaining in a crash involving 12
other cars. Martin was unharmed after undergoing his first Cup Series flip in
20 years, and was credited with a satisfactory 28th-place finish.
Final
(5) #5 Mark Martin v. (3) #48 Jimmie Johnson
For the fifth straight year, the championship finals
got underway at Texas Motor Speedway, but the Fort Worth fans would be
disappointed to see the opener settled in the opening laps. On lap three,
Johnson lost control of his Chevy off of turn two, collecting Sam Hornish Jr.
and slamming into the inside wall. Despite the #48 crew being able to get the
car back on track after many laps of repairs, Martin carried on without
incident for a fourth-place finish as Kurt Busch claimed the race win in the
last Cup race to date with a margin of victory of more than 20 seconds.
Determined to show that the embarrassing incident at
Texas was just a fluke, Johnson stomped the rest of the field at Phoenix. Starting
third, Johnson grabbed the lead for the first time on lap 52 and never looked
back from there, going on to lead all but 22 of the remaining 260 laps. Martin finished
fourth yet again to keep his momentum going as strong as he could going into
the Homestead finale.
With the Cup Series trophy polished and lying in wait
for one of the two Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Johnson staked his claim by
starting from the pole and leading the first handful of laps. Meanwhile,
despite also starting inside the top-five, Martin slowly began sliding through
the running order, even dipping outside the top-10. While Johnson wasn’t able
to hold onto the lead for very long, he was still inside the top-five with a sizable
cushion. As the laps wound down, Martin was sitting in 11th with
Johnson maintaining the same position he had been in throughout the event,
patiently negotiating through lapped traffic. Ultimately, Martin was unable to
make headway in the closing laps, and Johnson grabbed his second career Cup
Series title with a fifth-place finish.
Johnson’s stats for 2009 included seven victories, 16
top-fives and 24 top-10s, clinching the title in the real-life standings as
well.
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