Cup season starts at Daytona

- Jimmie Johnson will begin his quest for yet another Sprint Cup Series championship on Sunday when the drivers of NASCAR hit the track at the season-opening Daytona 500.

Johnson won his fourth consecutive title last year, clinching the championship with a fifth-place result in the season-ending Ford 400. Mark Martin finished 141 points back of Johnson in the final standings, with Jeff Gordon 179 points behind in third place.

Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Juan Montoya, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, and Brian Vickers made up the rest of last year’s Top 12.

Matt Kenseth and Stewart took the checkered flags at Daytona last season; Kenseth visited victory lane in the 2009 Daytona 500, while Stewart won the Coke Zero 500 at Daytona in July.

Gordon has six career Cup wins at Daytona; he most recently won on the track in the Daytona 500 in 2005. Stewart has two other Daytona wins on his resume (2006 and 2005), while Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at the track in both 2004 and 2001.

Other drivers with Cup wins at Daytona: Kyle Busch, Newman, Kevin Harvick, Biffle, Jeff Burton, and Johnson, who took the checkered flag in the 2006 Daytona 500.

After racing at Daytona the drivers of the Sprint Cup Series will move on to Auto Club Speedway for the Auto Club 500; that race is set for February 21. The first month of the schedule is then rounded out by the Shelby American at Las Vegas on February 28.

Daytona 500
TRACK: Daytona International Speedway LOCATION: Daytona Beach, FL
STYLE: Tri oval LENGTH: 2.5 miles SITE

Daytona 500 Results – 02/15/2009

1 Matt Kenseth $1,536,388.00 Ford
2 Kevin Harvick $1,114,724.00 Chevrolet
3 A.J Allmendinger $786,063.00 Dodge
4 Clint Bowyer $631,913.00 Chevrolet
5 Elliott Sadler $515,013.00 Dodge
6 David Ragan $412,063.00 Ford
7 Michael Waltrip $371,138.00 Toyota
8 Tony Stewart $371,371.00 Chevrolet
9 Reed Sorenson $362,224.00 Dodge
10 Kurt Busch $325,513.00 Dodge
11 Martin Truex J $345,563.00 Chevrolet
12 David Reutimann $316,546.00 Toyota
13 Jeff Gordon $356,824.00 Chevrolet
14 Juan Montoya $299,288.00 Chevrolet
15 Casey Mears $298,838.00 Chevrolet
16 Mark Martin $313,488.00 Chevrolet
17 Marcos Ambrose $295,146.00 Toyota
18 Carl Edwards $326,454.00 Ford
19 John Andretti $287,568.00 Chevrolet
20 Greg Biffle $297,863.00 Ford
21 Regan Smith $287,696.00 Chevrolet
22 Bobby Labonte $308,252.00 Ford
23 Bill Elliott $288,160.00 Ford
24 Terry Labonte $273,963.00 Toyota
25 Scott Riggs $273,513.00 Toyota
26 Denny Hamlin $300,963.00 Toyota
27 Dale Earnhardt $291,063.00 Chevrolet
28 Jeff Burton $317,654.00 Chevrolet
29 Kasey Kahne $313,846.00 Dodge
30 Aric Almirola $311,946.00 Chevrolet
31 Jimmie Johnson $336,149.00 Chevrolet
32 Sam Hornish Jr $287,433.00 Dodge
33 David Stremme $300,763.00 Dodge
34 Robby Gordon $287,158.00 Toyota
35 Scott Speed $268,763.00 Toyota
36 Ryan Newman $295,252.00 Chevrolet
37 Jamie McMurray $274,713.00 Ford
38 Paul Menard $296,229.00 Ford
39 Brian Vickers $305,171.00 Toyota
40 Jeremy Mayfield $265,238.00 Toyota
41 Kyle Busch $349,171.00 Toyota
42 Travis Kvapil $263,963.00 Ford
43 Joey Logano $317,720.00 Toyota

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Filed under: Nascar