July 6, 2009

Coke Zero 400 Results with avg. finish

The debut of double-file restarts on a restrictor-plate superspeedway was dramatic. For the most part, it added action to the race without significantly altering the results, the same as with the first road course race at Infineon Raceway. Still, with a victory on the line, the drivers found a way to get into trouble.

With a finish eerily similar to Talladega's Aaron's 499, one driver tried to block on the way to the checkered flag and another was not intimidated. Kyle Busch ran a cautious race until the end, but no one can play it safe with the checkered flag in the air. So, he passed Tony Stewart on the white flag lap and tried to make his Toyota as wide as possible on the front stretch. Clipping Stewart's nose and spinning into the wall, he experienced one of the more dramatic crashes his season, but Busch managed to skid past the finish line. The ensuing pileup was impressive, but since most of the contact occurred after the finish line, the results were largely unaffected by the last-lap catastrophe.

Stewart won his second race of the season and now has a six-race streak of finishes seventh or better. He's a place-and-hold driver until further notice.

Jimmie Johnson was second, which was a bit of a surprise given his bad luck on plate tracks recently and the rest of the top five went to drivers who needed strong runs to reverse their fortune as well. Denny Hamlin was third, Carl Edwards finished fourth and Kurt Busch came home fifth.

Marcos Ambrose in sixth and Juan Montoya in ninth were the best dark horses of the weekend, and both of them should be able to carry that momentum on to Chicago next week.

Results with average finish

FinishStartDriverLapsLaps LedStatusAvg. Fin
11Tony Stewart16086Running16.50
23Jimmie Johnson160
Running14.19
36Denny Hamlin16063Running23.75
45Carl Edwards160
Running19.70
54Kurt Busch1601Running17.17
618Marcos Ambrose160
Running11.50
717Brian Vickers160
Running w/ crash damage20.09
810Matt Kenseth1603Running17.90
912Juan Montoya160
Running24.00
1023Elliott Sadler160
Running17.00
1122Jamie McMurray160
Running w/ crash damage25.57
1243Regan Smith160
Running23.50
1331David Ragan160
Running13.83
148Kyle Busch1601Running18.00
1513Kasey Kahne160
Running w/ crash damage17.83
1616Jeff Burton1602Running17.75
1730A J Allmendinger160
Running20.67
189Greg Biffle160
Running22.14
1921Joey Logano160
Running31.00
207Ryan Newman1601Running w/ crash damage20.94
2128Bobby Labonte160
Running22.44
2234Robby Gordon1601Running20.30
2333Paul Menard160
Running23.80
2436Brad Keselowski160
Running w/ crash damage24.00
2524Martin Truex Jr160
Running21.56
2627Kevin Harvick160
Running w/ crash damage15.71
2735John Andretti1601Running27.35
282Jeff Gordon1601Running w/ crash damage15.50
2915Clint Bowyer159
Running w/ crash damage13.38
3042Tony Raines158
Running31.20
3137Scott Speed152
Accident33.00
3225Sam Hornish Jr152
Running27.00
3326Reed Sorenson146
Running w/ crash damage23.38
3420Casey Mears144
Running22.29
3532David Stremme129
Running w/ crash damage24.17
3614David Reutimann127
Running w/ crash damage25.50
3729Michael Waltrip124
Running w/ crash damage20.80
3811Mark Martin79
Running18.14
3919Dale Earnhardt Jr76
Accident15.55
4038David Gilliland76
Accident25.40
4139Joe Nemechek25
Start and Park26.13
4241Patrick Carpentier18
Start and Park28.00
4340Dave Blaney2
Start and Park26.47

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