California Speedway Race Report
Richard Petty Motorsports results:
- 31st - Reed Sorenson - Rosie's Organic Chicken Dodge - now 29th in points.
- 32nd - Elliott Sadler - Stanley Dodge now 27th in points.
- 33rd - AJ Allmendinger- Dassault Systemes Dodge - now 24th in points.
- 34th - Kasey Kahne - Budweiser Dodge - now 11th in points.
Notes:
- All four RPM cars were involved in a Multi-car wreck with six laps to go.
- Jimmie Johnson defeated Jeff Gordon by 1.603 seconds.
- Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart rounded out the top-five
- Johnson now holds a slim 12 point lead over teammate Mark Martin
- Johnson recorded his fifth victory of 2009 and 45th of his career
- The win was Johnson's fourth at Auto Club Speedway
- The race featured 29 lead changes among nine drivers
- There was eight cautions for 30 laps
- The race lasted just short of 3.5 hours
- Race attendance was estimated at 70,000
- Next race is Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.
NOTES AND QUOTES
REED SORENSON
- Sorenson started 29th and finished 31st.
- Fell one lap down on lap 55
- Lucky dog recipient on lap 85 to regain lead lap status
- Was racing in a top-15 position when caught in wreck with six laps to go
- Snapped a 55 race streak of not recording a DNF (Did not finish) - the longest streak of any Sprint Cup Series driver
SORENSON: "That's just a real frustrating day. We were racing in the top-15, had a shot at maybe even a top-10 and we just got caught up in that big mess. I hate that for my guys. Everyone really worked hard today and we were in position to have a good day-it just didn't turn out that way. We'll keep our heads up and try to do better in Charlotte."
ELLIOTT SADLER
SADLER: "That wasn't the way we were hoping for that race to end. We were racing hard with a couple laps to go and I got pushed from behind by another car right into the No 88. I wish there was something that I could have done differently to change the outcome, but its one of those deals where you don't have a lot of control. I hate it for my guys on the Stanley team-we all had a pretty impressive DNF streak going, but we couldn't get it back out there with only six laps left."
AJ ALLMENDINGER
- Started 13th and finished 33rd
- Suffered radio communication issues throughout the race
- Struggled with a loose car throughout the race
- Went a lap down on lap 158 and received the Lucky Dog on lap 190
- Received a second Lucky Dog on lap 236
- Recorded his first DNF of the 2009 season.
ALLMENDINGER: Eight laps to go and everyone is racing hard. We were racing hard and just were biding our time and then got caught up in that wreck. I'm proud of all my guys. When you're back in the pack you sometimes get caught up in stuff and today was our day. I saw a hole open up and could see the tunnel, see the end of it and then got hit in the right rear. That's all that it took.
"It's just a racing deal. When you run back there, you're going to get caught up in that stuff. We didn't run well today. I'm proud of everybody on our team. I'm not an easiest guy to keep calm when that happens. The guys just kept working hard. It's disappointing that we couldn't go to the finish."
KASEY KAHNE
- Kahne started 26th and finished 34th.
- Raced in the top-15 for the majority of the day
- Racing in the seventh position with 11 laps to go when involved in a wreck
- Received damage to the left and right front of the No. 9 Dodge
- Recorded his second DNF of the season, both have come during the 10-race Chase for the Championship
KAHNE: "I was following the 44, so I can't see anything. He (AJ Allmendinger) turned left to miss the wreck and I hit the wreck. I never heard that there was a wreck, so I hit it. We had a top six or seven car. Kurt (Busch) screwed up and we got in his mess. From there, we got in this wreck. It's disappointing to go out of the race like that when we had a good car."
KENNY FRANCIS (Crew Chief, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger) "Our Budweiser Dodge was pretty good all day. We got our Budweiser Dodge inside the top 10 and thought that we could pass a few more cars on that restart when the 2 car got into us that just caused a chain reaction. We got all tore up, but got the car running pretty good again. We were looking for a good finish when that second wreck happened that finally knocked us out. It was a bummer of a deal to end a pretty good day."
RACE RESULTS
FINISH - DRIVER
1-Jimmie Johnson
2-Jeff Gordon
3-Juan Montoya
4-Mark Martin
5-Tony Stewart
6-Carl Edwards
7-David Ragan
8-Kurt Busch
9-Clint Bowyer
10-Kevin Harvick
11-Casey Mears
12-Sam Hornish Jr.
13-Matt Kenseth
14-Joey Logano *
15-Ryan Newman
16-David Stremme
17-Michael Waltrip
18-David Reutimann
19-John Andretti
20-Greg Biffle
21-Scott Speed *
22-Martin Truex Jr.
23-Marcos Ambrose
24-Kyle Busch
25-Dale Earnhardt Jr.
26-Bobby Labonte
27-Paul Menard
28-Regan Smith
29-Brian Vickers
30-Jeff Burton
31-Reed Sorenson
32-Elliott Sadler
33-A.J. Allmendinger
34-Kasey Kahne
35-Max Papis *
36-Jamie McMurray
37-Denny Hamlin
38-Robby Gordon
39-Joe Nemechek
40-Michael McDowell
41-Dave Blaney
42-David Gilliland
43-Mike Bliss
