Kurt Busch won today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. This moved him up two championship positions, placing him 4th in the Chase for the Cup with just two races left to complete in 2009.

The other chase contenders weren’t so lucky however, with many of them finishing at the back of the pack. This included Carl Edwards who finished 39th, the current championship leader Jimmie Johnson who finished 38th, Juan Montoya who finished 37th, and Kasey Kahne who finished 33rd.

Though Johnson’s championship position didn’t change, he did lose a large portion of his lead, which fell to just 73 points after going into the race 184 points ahead of the second place contender, Mark Martin.

Top Finishers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500:

Pos  No  Driver               Make
  1   2  Kurt Busch           Dodge
  2  11  Denny Hamlin         Toyota
  3  17  Matt Kenseth         Ford
  4   5  Mark Martin          Chevrolet
  5  29  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet
  6  14  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet
  7  33  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet
  8  16  Greg Biffle          Ford
  9  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet
 10  44  A.J. Allmendinger    Ford

Top Teams in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship:

Pos  Driver               Points  Behind
  1  Jimmie Johnson         6297  Leader
  2  Mark Martin            6224     -73
  3  Jeff Gordon            6185    -112
  4  Kurt Busch             6126    -171
  5  Tony Stewart           6119    -178
  6  Juan Montoya           6061    -236
  7  Greg Biffle            6050    -247
  8  Denny Hamlin           5975    -322
  9  Ryan Newman            5973    -324
 10  Kasey Kahne            5898    -399
 11  Carl Edwards           5857    -440
 12  Brian Vickers          5777    -520
       ^Chase for the Sprint Cup^
 13  Kyle Busch             4183   -2114
 14  Matt Kenseth           4151   -2146
 15  Clint Bowyer           4078   -2219

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

Kurt Busch improved upon his 23rd place finish last week in Las Vegas with a win Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. His Kobalt Tools 500 win moved him up four places in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings into the 3rd position.

Jeff Gordon, who finished the race in second place, increased his championship lead to 43 points ahead of Clint Bowyer. Third through fifth were nabbed by Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Brian Vickers respectively.

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

2009 Kobalt Tools 500 Results

The standings have been updated and are available here:

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings

After a long and caution-filled race, Kyle Busch celebrated his win by grabbing the checkered flag, kissing the start/finish line and doing donuts around the grass in front of the main grandstands. This marked his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

This race also marked the first time that a Sprint Cup driver has won Las Vegas from the pole position since the series first started racing at the track back in 1996. Though it’s still being debated whether or not this counts as a win from the pole, as Busch was sent to the back of the field due to an engine change for the start of the race.

Following the Toyota of Busch were the two Chevrolet’s of Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton. Jeff Gordon, who faced some late troubles by missing the pit entrance and blowing a tire, still managed a strong sixth place finish which moved him to the championship lead. Gordon currently has a 18 point lead over the second place championship contender, Clint Bowyer.

For the full results from the race, please see this link:

2009 Shelby 427 Results from Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The standings have been updated and can be found here:

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings

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.

The first race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was the Budweiser Shootout, held at Daytona International Speedway. Though it wasn’t a points event, it was the first opportunity to see many of this year’s Sprint Cup competitors. The race itself saw several cautions, leaving many of the teams with a DNF. In the end, only 13 of the 28 entered cars had finished the race without incident.

Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag in his Chevrolet Impala SS, with Jamie McMurray (Ford) and Tony Stewart (Chevrolet) finishing in second and third respectively. Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) finished fourth and A.J. Allmendinger (Dodge) ended up with the final Top-5 finishing position. The highest placing driver in a Toyota was Kyle Busch who finished 10th.

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

2009 Budweiser Shootout Results

Since this was a non-points event, there are no standings yet for this series.

For the third time in the past four events, Carl Edwards has come out on top. This time he was victorious at the final race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2008 season – the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This win however wasn’t enough to bring him the championship and he ended up with 2nd place in the final points standings.

Jimmie Johnson finished back in 15th, but it was more than enough to secure his third consecutive Sprint Cup Series title. He finished the season with a 69 point lead ahead of the second place Edwards.

The top finishers from the race included:

1. Carl Edwards (#99 Ford)
2. Kevin Harvick (#29 Chevrolet)
3. Jamie McMurray (#26 Ford)
4. Jeff Gordon (#24 Chevrolet)
5. Clint Bowyer (#07 Chevrolet)

The top ranking drivers of 2008 were:

1. Jimmie Johnson, 6684 points
2. Carl Edwards, 6615 points
3. Greg Biffle, 6467 points
4. Kevin Harvick, 6408 points
5. Clint Bowyer, 6381 points

The full results from the race are available at:

2008 Ford 400 Results from Homestead-Miami Speedway

The final points standings can be found here:

2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final Standings

This weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event at Phoenix International Raceway was dominated by Jimmie Johnson and the #48 Lowe’s team. He grabbed the pole position during the qualifying for the race and from there led the most laps. Later he would go on to win Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil.

The top finishing racers included:

1. Jimmie Johnson (#48 Chevrolet)
2. Kurt Busch (#2 Dodge)
3. Jamie McMurray (#26 Ford)
4. Carl Edwards (#99 Ford)
5. Denny Hamlin (#11 Toyota)

The full results from the race have been posted at:

2008 Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Results from Phoenix International Raceway

The updated standings can be found here:

2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings