Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ final race of the season earlier today at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This made for his fourth win of the 2009 season and moved him up three positions in the final standings for a fifth place ranking in the 2009 Sprint Cup Series points championship.

The pole-sitter, Jimmie Johnson, ended up with a fifth place finish, which was more than enough to secure his fourth consecutive championship in the series. Rookie of the Year honors went to Joey Logano who finished 20th in the standings, after winning one race and having seven top-10 finishes.

Top Finishers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400:

 Pos  No  Driver               Make
   1  11  Denny Hamlin         Toyota
   2  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet
   3  29  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet
   4   2  Kurt Busch           Dodge
   5  48  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet
   6  24  Jeff Gordon          Chevrolet
   7  99  Carl Edwards         Ford
   8  18  Kyle Busch           Toyota
   9   1  Martin Truex Jr.     Chevrolet
  10  44  A.J. Allmendinger    Ford

Top Finishing Teams in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship:

 Pos  Driver               Points  Behind
   1  Jimmie Johnson         6652  Leader
   2  Mark Martin            6511    -141
   3  Jeff Gordon            6473    -179
   4  Kurt Busch             6446    -206
   5  Denny Hamlin           6335    -317
   6  Tony Stewart           6309    -343
   7  Greg Biffle            6292    -360
   8  Juan Montoya           6252    -400
   9  Ryan Newman            6175    -477
  10  Kasey Kahne            6128    -524
  11  Carl Edwards           6118    -534
  12  Brian Vickers          5929    -723
        ^Chase for the Sprint Cup^

  13  Kyle Busch             4457   -2195
  14  Matt Kenseth           4389   -2263
  15  Clint Bowyer           4359   -2293

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos

This week’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. The win went to Jamie McMurray, driver of the #26 Irwin Marathon Saw Blades Ford. Coming up short was Kasey Kahne who finished 2nd, Joey Logano who finished 3rd, and Greg Biffle who finished 4th. Rounding out the top-5 was Jeff Burton.

Championship leader Jimmie Johnson finished in 6th, increasing his lead over Mark Martin to 184 points from his previous 118 point advantage. Martin finished the race in 28th, after a multi-car wreck brought out the yellow flag during the green-white-checkered finish, forcing the race to end and the field to freeze in position.

Top Finishers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Amp Energy 500:

Pos  No  Driver               Make
  1  26  Jamie McMurray       Ford
  2   9  Kasey Kahne          Dodge
  3  20  Joey Logano (R)      Toyota
  4  16  Greg Biffle          Ford
  5  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet
  6  48  Jimmie Johnson       Chevrolet
  7  55  Michael Waltrip      Toyota
  8  09  Brad Keselowski      Chevrolet
  9  19  Elliott Sadler       Ford
 10 171  Bobby Labonte        Chevrolet

Top Teams in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship:

Pos  Driver               Points  Behind
  1  Jimmie Johnson         6248  Leader
  2  Mark Martin            6064    -184
  3  Jeff Gordon            6056    -192
  4  Juan Montoya           6009    -239
  5  Tony Stewart           5969    -279
  6  Kurt Busch             5936    -312
  7  Greg Biffle            5908    -340
  8  Ryan Newman            5846    -402
  9  Kasey Kahne            5834    -414
 10  Carl Edwards           5811    -437
 11  Denny Hamlin           5800    -448
 12  Brian Vickers          5692    -556
       ^Chase for the Sprint Cup^
 13  Kyle Busch             4043   -2205
 14  Matt Kenseth           3986   -2262
 15  Clint Bowyer           3932   -2316

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos

After a long and rainy day at Auto Club Speedway (four cautions for rain), Matt Kenseth finally celebrated his victory. This win set him as the only driver to win the first two races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season since Jeff Gordon did so back in 1997. Gordon also had a strong race. After leading several of the laps, he ended up coming in second, right behind Kenseth. Joey Logano, the highest placing rookie, came in 26th – one lap behind the leaders.

The Top-5 Finishers Included:

1. Matt Kenseth (#17 Ford)
2. Jeff Gordon (#24 Chevrolet)
3. Kyle Busch (#18 Toyota)
4. Greg Biffle (#16 Ford)
5. Kurt Busch (#2 Dodge)

For the full results from this race, please see the following page:

2009 Auto Club 500 Results from Auto Club Speedway

Because of the win, Kenseth extended his lead to 81 points ahead of the second place driver in the standings, Jeff Gordon. Gordon, with his strong finish, moved up 10 positions in the points standings since last week’s race in Daytona.

The standings have been updated and are available at:

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings | As of Feb 22, 2009 – California

Matt Kenseth won the “Super Bowl” of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Daytona 500. The 200 lap race had to be cut short due to rain and in the end, the leaders had only completed 152 of the scheduled laps. Just before the race was called official, the field was frozen under a red flag and was never able to be restarted. Once the red hit the track, it only took officials minutes to decide that the race was over.

Kevin Harvick took the second finishing position, with A.J. Allmendinger coming in behind him for a third place finish. Fourth and fifth were reserved for Clint Bowyer and Elliott Sadler respectively. Kyle Busch, who dominated the early portions of the race, was involved in a wreck at lap 123 and was forced to settle with 41st.

Neither rookie in the field had a good first race of the season. Scott Speed finished a lap down from the leaders in the 35th position and Joey Logano took last place (43rd) after suffering from a mid-race collision.

The series will return to Daytona International Speedway on July 4, 2009.

For the full results from this race, please use the following link:

2009 Daytona 500 Results

For the current standings, click here:

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings

Jeff Gordon beat out Tony Stewart for the first Gatorade Duel win of 2009. Gordon’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson finished in the third position. A surprising end to the race by rookie, Joey Logano, saw him finish in fourth.

As for the second Duel of the day, Kyle Busch took the victory with Mark Martin coming in a close second. The only rookie in the field was Scott Speed, who only completed 44 of the 60 laps due to a handling issue.

These two races marked the last NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race until the first points event of the year, the Daytona 500, which is to be held this Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

For the full results from the race, please visit this page:

2009 Gatorade Duels Results

As these races precede the first points race of the season, there is currently no driver standings in this series.