Lap-by-Lap: Charlotte
October 18, 2009
02:17 AM EDT
CHECKERED FLAG -- Jimmie Johnson wins the NASCAR Banking 400 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. His lead over second-place Mark Martin is now 90 points. Jeff Gordon, who finished fourth, is 135 points behind.
WHITE FLAG -- Johnson leads Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano.
Lap 329 -- Kenseth clears Kahne and is second.
Lap 328 -- Five to go. Johnson's lead is more than two seconds as Kahne and Kenseth battle for position.
Lap 327 -- Mark Martin has rallied back to 14th but is unofficially 81 points behind Johnson.
Lap 324 -- Ten to go.
Lap 323 -- Jeff Gordon drops to fourth as Kahne and Kenseth go by.
Lap 321 -- LEAD CHANGE: Johnson gets a big run down low and edges Gordon at the stripe.
Lap 319 -- LEAD CHANGE: Gordon grabs the advantage when Johnson bobbles coming off Turn 4.
Lap 318 -- Hendrick teammates run side-by-side but Johnson holds the lead. Kenseth and Kahne are battling for third.
Lap 317 -- GREEN FLAG: Johnson once again brings the field to the green.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Kasey Kahne
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Casey Mears
Lap 312 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 10: Just after Tony Stewart makes a four-wide pass on the backstretch, David Stremme slams the outside wall. Greg Biffle gets tapped by Newman and spins through the grass. Reed Sorenson gets the free pass.
Lap 307 -- GREEN FLAG: Johnson brings the field to the green.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Clint Bowyer
Lap 304 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 9: Now it's Carl Edwards blowing up right as the green dropped. He goes the wrong direction down pit lane, but there's a trail of fluid under the No. 99 Ford. David Ragan gets the free pass.
Lap 303 -- GREEN FLAG: Johnson brings the field to the green.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Clint Bowyer
Lap 299 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 8: David Gilliland gets loose and is hard into the wall. Martin gets the free pass.
Lap 298 -- Jeff Gordon clears Kenseth to retain third.
Lap 295 -- GREEN FLAG: Johnson brings the field to the green.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Clint Bowyer
Lap 292 -- LEAD CHANGE: Johnson beats Kahne by a whisker coming out of the pits.
Lap 291 -- Pit stops for the leaders.
• Kahne says he's getting a little loose.
• Johnson, slight air adjustment for a car a little snug.
• Gordon gambles and goes with two tires, picking up four spots.
Lap 290 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 7: The engine on Max Papis' car expires. David Stremme gets the free pass.
Lap 288 -- Kahne laps Martin, who is currently running 18th.
Lap 287 -- Logano and Kurt Busch go past Jeff Gordon, who is now shown in seventh place.
Lap 280 -- With 54 laps remaining, Kahne's lead over Johnson is 6.5 seconds.
Lap 270 -- The top five: Kahne, Johnson, Kenseth, Bowyer and Jeff Gordon.
Lap 260 -- Kahne's lead over Kenseth is now up to 2.4 seconds.
Lap 250 -- A good stop by Kenseth has him running second, within eight car-lengths of Kahne. Clint Bowyer, who has been running solidly in the top 10 for much of the night, is up to fourth.
Lap 248 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kahne resumes the lead after the green-flag pit stops recycle the field.
Lap 247 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kurt Busch takes over when Kahne hits the pit lane. Stewart and Logano also make their stops.
Lap 246 -- Jeff Gordon is in for service. Robby Gordon is too fast entering pit road.
Lap 245 -- Johnson gives up third place and stops for four tires and fuel.
Lap 244 -- Truex is in and out.
Lap 243 -- Kyle Busch is in for a green-flag stop.
Lap 234 -- 100 laps to go. The top three: Kahne, Kenseth, Johnson.
Lap 228 -- Montoya returns to the pits for service.
Lap 223 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kahne surges past Kenseth for the lead.
Lap 220 -- The top five: Kenseth, Kahne, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch. Kenseth puts Montoya two laps down.
Lap 204 -- Martin is back up to 19th after getting repairs for a hole caused by his contact with Montoya earlier. He had dropped to 24th at one point.
Lap 200 -- Edwards makes an unscheduled stop to check to make sure all the tires are tight. He apparently was suffering from a vibration.
Lap 194 -- GREEN FLAG: Kenseth leads the field to the green.
1. Matt Kenseth
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Kurt Busch
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Kasey Kahne
Lap 193 -- Hamlin makes one slow lap, then brings it back in and heads for the garage area.
Lap 192 -- And Hamlin returns to pit road and the crew pops the hood. They may have dropped a valve, which means the car is running on only seven cylinders.
Lap 190 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kenseth takes the lead off pit road.
Lap 189 -- Everybody pits for fresh rubber.
• With the exception of Kahne, who apparently took fuel only, the rest of the leaders choose the two-tire strategy this time.
Lap 188 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 6: There's a big piece of red metal on the track. It's Montoya's right-rear quarter panel, as evidenced by the big Target logo. David Gilliland gets the free pass.
Lap 178 -- We're halfway, with Gordon, Kenseth and Hamlin the top three.
Lap 171 -- LEAD CHANGE: Gordon drives back to the front. David Stremme scrapes the wall.
Lap 168 -- GREEN FLAG: Hamlin leads the field to the green.
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Jeff Gordon
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Greg Biffle
Lap 167 -- Montoya's crew works feverishly to repair his car, but he's 38th, two laps down.
Lap 166 -- LEAD CHANGE: Hamlin nips Gordon at the exit of pit road.
Lap 165 -- Pits are open and the leaders come in.
• All of the leaders choose to take four tires.
Lap 163 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 5: Montoya's damaged right-front fender finally casues him to lose control and spin out exiting Turn 4. He may have lost two laps to Gordon.
Lap 150 -- The top five: Gordon, Hamlin, Johnson, Kahne, Kenseth.
Lap 136 -- Johnson goes around Biffle for third.
Lap 134 -- Kahne goes around Kenseth for fifth.
Lap 126 -- Montoya has right-side damage after contact by Martin on the restart. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is slowing with transmission issues. After the crew checks it, he heads for the garage area.
Lap 125 -- GREEN FLAG: Jeff Gordon brings the field to the green.
1. Jeff Gordon
2. Greg Biffle
3. Ryan Newman
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Matt Kenseth
Lap 121 -- LEAD CHANGE: Jeff Gordon is the new leader.
Lap 120 -- The leaders head for pit road:
• Montoya complains his car was extremely loose.
• Hamlin gets air pressure adjustment.
• Jeff Gordon, Biffle and Newman make two-tire stops.
Lap 119 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 4: Kyle Busch spins sideways in Turn 4. Robby Gordon gets the free pass.
Lap 112 -- Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann have cracked the top 10. Dave Blaney is standing by in Reutimann's pits in case he needs relief. Apparently he's sick this weekend.
Lap 100 -- Your current top five:
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Kyle Busch
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Juan Montoya
Lap 99 -- LEAD CHANGE: Hamlin chases down Kenseth and returns to the top spot.
Lap 95 -- LEAD CHANGE: Elliott pits, handing the lead back to Kenseth.
Lap 94 -- LEAD CHANGE: Bill Elliott leads as Hamlin pits during green-flag stops.
Lap 93 -- Kyle Busch is in. Michael Waltrip may be penalized for an uncontrolled tire.
Lap 92 -- Kahne and Stewart complete service.
Lap 91 -- Martin in and out. Newman's stop is painfully slow (21 seconds).
Lap 90 -- Edwards and Johnson pit for service. Johnson had been fading on that run. There's a slight problem and Johnson's exit is somewhat delayed.
Lap 89 -- Kenseth is the first of the lead-lap cars to pit under green. His left-side tires had gone the entire distance.
Lap 87 -- Montoya has worked his way into the top five and is pressuring Johnson for fourth.
Lap 80 -- Hamlin is beginning to catch lapped traffic. The rest of the top five: Kenseth, Johnson, Kyle Busch, Martin.
Lap 71 -- LEAD CHANGE: Hamlin runs down Johnson and assumes the lead.
Lap 60 -- Stewart is fighting a loose car and has slipped back to 18th.
Lap 59 -- Mike Bliss brushes the right side of his car against the wall but continues without incident.
Lap 56 -- Hamlin motors past Kenseth for second.
Lap 52 -- LEAD CHANGE: Johnson roars past Kenseth on the backstretch.
Lap 50 -- The top six: Kenseth, Johnson, Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Martin and Mears.
Lap 45 -- LEAD CHANGE: Kenseth clears Johnson and retakes the lead.
Lap 43 -- LEAD CHANGE: Johnson edges Kenseth at the line as they run side-by-side.
Lap 42 -- GREEN FLAG: Kenseth brings the field to the stripe.
1. Matt Kenseth
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Mark Martin
4. Kyle Busch
5. Denny Hamlin
Lap 41 -- LEAD CHANGE: Terry Labonte and Max Papis pit, with Kenseth assuming the lead.
Lap 40 -- LEAD CHANGE: Michael Waltrip pits, handing the lead under caution to Terry Labonte.
Lap 38 -- The rain has almost stopped in Turn 4 but seems to have picked up some in other areas. NASCAR officials have the cars spread out across the track in an effort to keep the asphalt dry.
Lap 35 -- LEAD CHANGE: The pits are open and everyone is taking advantage of the opportunity, except Michael Waltrip stays out and assumes the lead.
• Kenseth takes two tires and moves up seven positions.
• Casey Mears gambles on two tires and picks up track position.
• Brad Keselowski is caught speeding exiting pit road.
Lap 34 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 3: This one's for weather. The rain has returned, although it's very light.
Lap 31 -- The NASCAR spotters in Turns 3 and 4 are reporting slight sprinkles again.
Lap 30 -- Hamlin is up to seventh, 10 spots better than where he started.
Lap 25 -- The top three have pulled away some from the rest of the field. It's Johnson, Martin and Kyle Busch in that order.
Lap 20 -- Joey Logano has worked his way into sixth, while Tony Stewart has faded to 13th.
Lap 13 -- GREEN FLAG: Johnson leads the field to the green.
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Mark Martin
3. Kasey Kahne
4. Ryan Newman
5. Brad Keselowski
Lap 11 -- Kevin Harvick is penalized for excessive speed entering pit road. He'll restart at the tail end of the field.
Lap 9 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 2: Sam Hornish once again turns it around, this time coming out of Turn 4. He continues without further damage. No free pass.
Lap 7 -- LEAD CHANGE: Johnson returns to the top spot.
Lap 6 -- GREEN FLAG: Martin brings the field to the stripe.
1. Mark Martin
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Ryan Newman
4. Kasey Kahne
5. Brad Keselowski
Lap 3 -- YELLOW FLAG NO. 1: Hornish loses it coming out of Turn 2 and spins several times, somehow keeping it off the inside wall. But he has damage to the right rear from scraping the wall before the spin. No free passes.
Lap 1 -- LEAD CHANGE: Martin sticks with Johnson as they go side-by-side, with Martin getting the advantage at the line.
7:50 p.m. -- GREEN FLAG: Johnson brings the field to the green flag and the NASCAR Banking 500 is under way.
7:47 p.m. -- Paul Menard and Bill Elliott are dropping to the back for the start.
7:43 p.m. -- The field is lining up in double-file order and will check their tachs for pit road speed. The speed tonight is 45 mph.
7:40 p.m. -- NASCAR spotters around the track are reporting back to David Hoots about the conditions. Hoots has asked the drivers to run single-file during the parade laps in an effort to help dry any damp spots.
7:34 p.m. -- Brian France, Teresa Earnhardt, Richard Petty and Junior Johnson, representing the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, give the command for drivers to start their engines.
7:33 p.m. -- There is a light drizzle right now but it doesn't appear to have affected the track conditions.
7:27 p.m. -- The North Carolina A&T marching band performs the national anthem.
7:25 p.m. -- Joe Gibbs offers tonight's invocation.
7 p.m. -- NASCAR Countdown is under way on ABC.
6:27 p.m. -- It's cloudy and cold at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It's currently 50 degrees with temperatures dropping into the mid-40s as the race goes on. There is a slight chance for rain all evening. Green for the NASCAR Banking 500 is set for 7:43 p.m. ET.
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