The 2009 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season was the 61st season of professional stock car racing in the United States, which began at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, with the 2009 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona, a race for the top six teams of the four brands in the 2008...

. The 500.8 miles (806 km) race was run at the 2.66 miles (4.3 km) Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega Superspeedway

Talladega Superspeedway is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama, United States. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base just outside the small city of Lincoln. It was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in...

 in Talladega, Alabama

Talladega, Alabama

Talladega is a city in Talladega County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 15,143. The city is the county seat of Talladega County. Talladega is approximately 50 miles east of Birmingham, Alabama....

 on April 26. Fox Sports

NASCAR on Fox

NASCAR on Fox is the Emmy-winning branding used for Fox Sports's broadcasts of NASCAR races airing on the Fox network since 2001. The production has been in high-definition since 2005.-Background:...

 broadcast the race starting at 1 PM US EDT

North American Eastern Time Zone

The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...

, with MRN

Motor Racing Network

The Motor Racing Network is the principal radio broadcasting operation of NASCAR, promoting themselves as "The Voice of NASCAR." It broadcasts coverage of most major NASCAR races at the top three levels of NASCAR at tracks owned by International Speedway Corporation as well as Dover International...

 and Sirius XM Radio carrying the radio broadcast over the air and on satellite respectively.

Recap

In one of the most spectacular (and horrfying) finishes in recent memory, Brad Keselowski

Brad Keselowski

Bradley Robert Keselowski is an American auto racing driver currently competing in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in the Sprint Cup Series and the #22 Discount Tire Company/Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger in the Nationwide Series for Penske Racing...

 won his first Sprint Cup race for team owner James Finch

James Finch

James Finch is a Panama City, Florida-born businessman. He is the owner of Phoenix Construction, a construction company that specializes in airport construction, and the Phoenix Racing team in NASCAR. They field the #1 Chevrolet driven by Landon Cassill and Jamie McMurray in the Nationwide Series...

, who dedicated the win to the late Neil Bonnett

Neil Bonnett

Lawrence Neil Bonnett was a NASCAR driver who compiled 18 victories and 20 poles over his 18-year career. The Alabama native currently ranks 35th in all-time NASCAR Cup victories. He appeared in the 1983 film Stroker Ace and the 1990 film Days of Thunder...

. The finish featured a terrible flip that sent Carl Edwards

Carl Edwards

Carl Michael Edwards, II is a NASCAR driver. He currently drives the #99 Fastenal/Aflac Ford Fusion in the Sprint Cup Series and the #60 Ford in the Nationwide Series for Roush Fenway Racing...

 into the catch fence after bouncing off of the number 39 of Ryan Newman

Ryan Newman

Ryan Joseph Newman is a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He drives the #39 United States Army/Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for Stewart Haas Racing under crew chief Tony Gibson. Newman graduated from Purdue University in 2001 with a B.S. in vehicle structure engineering...

. Edwards finished 24th, the crash caused eight injuries. Also the race had two big wrecks during it. On Lap 111, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton

Jeffrey Brian "Jeff" Burton , also referred to as JB or The Mayor, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver who drives the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet Impala for Richard Childress Racing. Burton is the younger brother of Ward Burton, who is a former Sprint Cup driver...

 got such a run they were about five seconds ahead of the other pack. Newman and Denny Hamlin

Denny Hamlin

James Dennis Alan "Denny" Hamlin is an American race car driver. Though originally born in Tampa, Florida, Hamlin was raised for most of his life in Chesterfield, Virginia. After racing in go-karts for a number of years, he worked his way up to Late Models by 2004 and signed a development contract...

 got a push with eight laps to go, putting Newman in the lead until two laps to go. Finally, Edwards and Keselowski made up ten seconds and took the lead on the final lap, leading up to the finish.

The race lead changed hands 57 times among 25 drivers, the most lead changes of the season.

Top Ten Finishers
Pos.	Car #	Driver	Make	Team
1	09	Brad Keselowski Brad Keselowski Bradley Robert Keselowski is an American auto racing driver currently competing in the #2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger in the Sprint Cup Series and the #22 Discount Tire Company/Ruby Tuesday Dodge Challenger in the Nationwide Series for Penske Racing...	Chevrolet Chevrolet Chevrolet , also known as Chevy , is a brand of vehicle produced by General Motors Company . Founded by Louis Chevrolet and ousted GM founder William C. Durant on November 3, 1911, General Motors acquired Chevrolet in 1918...	Phoenix Racing Phoenix Racing Phoenix Racing is a NASCAR team owned by James Finch. It currently fields the #51 Chevrolet Impala in the Sprint Cup Series driven by Landon Cassill and the #1 Chevrolet Impala in the Nationwide Series driven by Landon Cassill and Jamie McMurray....
2	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. * NOTE: References to "Earnhardt", "he", and "him" refer to the subject of this article, unless otherwise specified. References to his father will include "Sr."...	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports , originally named All Star Racing, is a current American auto racing team created in 1984 by Rick Hendrick. The team currently competes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chevrolet Impalas...
3	39	Ryan Newman Ryan Newman Ryan Joseph Newman is a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He drives the #39 United States Army/Tornados/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for Stewart Haas Racing under crew chief Tony Gibson. Newman graduated from Purdue University in 2001 with a B.S. in vehicle structure engineering...	Chevrolet	Stewart-Haas Racing
4	47	Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose is a championship winning Australian racing car driver. He currently drives the #9 Stanley Black & Decker Ford Fusion for Richard Petty Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series...	Toyota	JTG Daugherty Racing JTG Daugherty Racing JTG Daugherty Racing is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team owned by former advertising executive Tad Geschickter and his wife Jodi, along with current ESPN analyst Brad Daugherty...
5	82	Scott Speed Scott Speed Scott Andrew Speed is an American race car driver. Formerly a driver for the Scuderia Toro Rosso F1 team, he made his Formula One race debut at the 2006 Bahrain Grand Prix; becoming the first American to race in F1 since Michael Andretti in 1993...	Toyota	Red Bull Racing Team
6	2	Kurt Busch Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch is an American NASCAR and NHRA driver. He drives the No. 22 Shell Oil Company/Pennzoil Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and will race on an "opportunity permitting" basis in the Pro Stock division of NHRA...	Dodge Dodge Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....	Penske Racing Penske Racing Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...
7	16	Greg Biffle Greg Biffle Gregory Jack "Greg" Biffle is a NASCAR driver who drives the #16 3M Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. After racing in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-90s, he was recommended to Jack Roush by former announcer Benny Parsons...	Ford Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...	Roush Fenway Racing
8	83	Brian Vickers Brian Vickers Brian Lee Vickers is a American NASCAR driver. He was the 2003 Busch Series champion, and at age 20, became the youngest champion in any of NASCAR's three top-tier series...	Toyota	Red Bull Racing Team
9	20	Joey Logano Joey Logano Joseph Thomas "Joey" Logano , nicknamed "sliced bread" by Randy LaJoie, is an American stock car auto racing race car driver who currently drives the #20 Home Depot Toyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series and the #20 GameStop/Sport Clips Toyota Camry in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs...	Toyota	Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing is a group of NASCAR racing teams owned and operated by former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991, and J. D. Gibbs, his son...
10	31	Jeff Burton Jeff Burton Jeffrey Brian "Jeff" Burton , also referred to as JB or The Mayor, is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver who drives the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet Impala for Richard Childress Racing. Burton is the younger brother of Ward Burton, who is a former Sprint Cup driver...	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing RCR Enterprises, LLC, doing business as Richard Childress Racing, is a NASCAR team based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by former driver Richard Childress...

Aftermath

One person in the crowd was seriously injured, sustaining a broken jaw. The fence was raised by ten feet and was strengthened for the fall race in order from preventing that happening again. In addition, NASCAR implented a rule for the fall race at Talladega in which drivers were not allowed to bump draft in the corners as an attempt to reduce multicar crashes that often took place at that part of the track. The incident to Edwards was similar to Bobby Allison

Bobby Allison

Robert Arthur Allison is a former NASCAR Winston Cup driver and was named one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers. His two sons, Clifford Allison and Davey Allison followed him into racing, and both died within a year of each other....

's crash in 1987 when he blew a tire and then he went flying into the catchfence near the start/finish line causing a lot of damage to the fence in that race and some pieces of the fence were on the track during that race. There was a lot of damage to Allison's car and the part of the track that he hit, respectively. This is why NASCAR requires restrictor plates at Daytona

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, one of the most prestigious races in NASCAR. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races of ARCA, AMA Superbike, Grand-Am and Motocross...

 and Talladega to slow down the cars from these extremely high speeds. Almost a year later, in the 2010 Kobalt Tools 500

2010 Kobalt Tools 500

The 2010 Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Atlanta, Georgia was the fourth race of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and ran 341 laps. The race began at 1 p.m. EST on March 7, 2010 and was televised on Fox and broadcast on PRN radio. The race had 13 different leaders, 33 lead...

 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Motor Speedway

Atlanta Motor Speedway is a track just outside Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles south of Atlanta. It is a quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track...

, Edwards turned around Keselowski and resulted him up in the air and went upside down, until crashing on the sidedoor of his car, in a manner reminiscent of what happened to Edwards. Edwards was ejected from the race shortly afterwards after television replays showed Edwards intentionally crashed into Keselowski, and in a Nationwide Series race later that year, Edwards ignited a multiple-car crash on the final lap by turning Keselowski for the win at Gateway International Raceway

Gateway International Raceway

Gateway Motorsports Park is a race track in Madison, Illinois, USA, just east of St. Louis, Missouri. After being shuttered by former owner Dover Motorsports Inc., on Nov. 3, 2010, it was announced Sept. 8, 2011, that the facility would re-open and host an NHRA Full Throttle Series event Oct. 5-7,...

, resulting in a large fine and points penalty.