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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Chase Field All Shook Up
Mark Martin begins the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup leading the points...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 13, 2009   Richmond, VA
The Chase for the Sprint Cup Class of 2009 poses with the trophy after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock ‘N’ Roll 400 race at Richmond International Raceway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Brian Vickers landed the final Chase spot by a very narrow margin by finishing seventh in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chevy Rock ‘N’ Roll 400 race at Richmond International Raceway. (Photo: Getty Images)

The Chase for the Sprint Cup Class of 2009 is a very, very different class than the ones that came before it, a group filled with surprises from front to back.

And in some ways, who didn’t make the Chase is even more shocking than who did.

• The new points leader, Mark Martin, is competing in his first full season of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing since 2006, and his first since joining the powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports team. Martin’s four-win performance during the 26-race regular season makes him the No. 1 Chase seed, eclipsing teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, who also made it in.

But because Martin also had seven finishes of 30th or worse, he didn’t sew up a Chase spot until Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, where he finished fourth behind Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Gordon in the Chevy Rock ‘N’ Roll 400.

• Stewart-Haas Racing, a first-year team formed from the woebegone Haas CNC Racing squad, put both its drivers into the Chase, with Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman advancing to the big dance. Stewart, with three race victories on the season, will be the second seed in the Chase.

• Joe Gibbs Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Richard Childress Racing combined to put nine cars in the Chase in 2008. This year, the three powerhouses earned just three slots, as RCR was shutout, JGR got Denny Hamlin in and Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards made the Chase for Roush Fenway.

• Richard Petty Motorsports, a team that didn’t even exist as of Jan. 1, 2009, makes the show with Kasey Kahne, two days after announcing it’s merging with Yates Racing and switching to Fords for next year. And the team’s vice president and managing director of competition, Mark McArdle, was fired on Friday after a dust-up at RIR with RPM majority owner George Gillett.

• Kurt Busch earned a Chase slot for the second time since joining Penske Racing, but found out last week he’s losing crew chief Pat Tryson at the end of the season.

• Juan Pablo Montoya becomes the first foreign-born driver to make it into the Chase and the first for team co-owner Chip Ganassi.


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