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FROM THE TRACK: Jimmie Johnson wins

Photo by Jonathan Coleman

Jimmie Johnson celebrates his win by spinning out in the infield grass after winning the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.

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By Ben McNeely | Media General

Published: October 17, 2009

CONCORD - 12:20 a.m.: That's it for us here from Lowe's Motor Speedway. It's been an exciting and long 50th season at the speedway. Ting-a-ling and see you next May.

12:18 a.m.: Jimmie Johnson said, in the post-race press conference, said his car was "where it needed to be."

"We were trying to get the balance right," he said. "Some guys were running better and were still competitive. In that last stop, we had the car where it needed to be."

12:04 a.m.: Luck wasn't running with some drivers tonight. Sam Hornish Jr. caused the first two caution flags of the race, in lap 4 and lap 11, for losing control of his car. He finished in 40th place.

Carl Edwards lost a valve in his engine and went out at lap 299, finishing 39th.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s troubles continued tonight, when his car experienced transmission trouble and had to go back to the garage, losing 29 laps in the process. He finished 38th.

Rookie driver Matt Papis lost oil pressure, causing the ninth caution flag of the night. He left the race in lap 286 and finished 41st.

And while Mark Martin stayed up near the front for most of the first half of the race, he kept falling further behind Jimmie Johnson and ended up finishing 17th.

11:54 p.m.: This was a big night for Kenseth, Kahne and rookie Joey Logano in the No. 20 Home Depot car. Logano ran strong against Jeff Gordon, a veteran driver and 19 years Logano's senior. Kahne always runs well at Lowe's Motor Speedway. His mother says it is his favorite track. And his third-place finish bumps him up in the point stands from 11th to ninth place.

Some stats on Jimmie Johnson: This is his 46th win in 286 Sprint Cup races and his sixth win this season. He now leads Mark Martin in the cup chase by 90 points.

11:46 p.m.: Matt Kenseth said he was happy with how his car had been running all night.

"It was a confidence booster for me and my team," he said.

Kasey Kahne was less enthusiastic. He said his No. 9 Bud Dodge ran well, but wasn't fast enough at the end. He also said he continues to have problems on restarts, with spinning tires.

"I've always had problems with restarts," Kahne said. "I try not to spin the tires, but I do."

11:37 p.m.: Kenseth and Kahne in the media center for post-race press conference. Will update with details soon.

11:36 p.m.: POINTS UPDATE: Johnson now 90 points up on Hendrick teammate Mark Martin.

11:33 p.m.: Waiting for Jimmie Johnson to come in for post-race press conference.

11:30 p.m.: Matt Kenseth takes second place, Kasey Kahne takes third, with Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano rounding out the top five. Mark Martin ends the race in 17th place.

11:28 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson wins the NASCAR Banking 500.

11:27 p.m. Four laps to go. Johnson has pulled away, with Kenseth and Kahne in second and third respectively. Gordon and Tony Stewart fighting for fourth.

11:24 p.m.: Kasey Kahne in second now, with Matt Kenseth close behind in third. Jeff Gordon drops back to fourth. Kahne and Kenseth are duking it out for second. Five laps to go.

11:23 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson pulls out ahead, with 10 laps to go.

11:20 p.m.: It's getting exciting here. After duking it out for a lap or two with Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon takes the lead. Johnson is in second and Kasey Kahne is in third, close behind.

11:19 p.m.: Forty-one total caution laps in the race so far.

11:14 p.m.: 10th caution flag: Greg Biffle spins out after David Stremme (No. 12) bumps and wall and ricochets off Biffle, sending the No. 16 3M car into the grass. Biffle recovers however and is in the pits to get fresh tires. 20 laps to go in the race.

11:10 p.m.: Restart: Jimmie Johnson rockets ahead of Jeff Gordon. POINTS UPDATE: If the race ended now, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon would be in the top three spots -- all three Hendrick Motorsports teams.

11:07 p.m.: Carl Edwards calls his mishap "a mercy kill," joking about his sponsor, AFLAC and its mascot, the AFLAC duck.

11:03 p.m.: Johnson, Kahne and Gordon in top spots at restart, but caution flag drops again as Carl Edwards (No. 99) began leaking fluid on the restart. He was headed to the garage.

Before caution flag dropped again, Gordon overtakes Kahne for second.

10:59 p.m.: Eighth caution lap: Brandon Ash hits the wall.

10:56 p.m.: Restart after seventh caution. Jimmie Johnson back in the lead. Kahne and Gordon in second and third.

10:51 p.m.: Drivers making pit stop. Kasey Kahne beats Johnson off Pit Road.

10:50 p.m.: Seventh caution flag. Max Papis lost oil pressure.

10:43 p.m.: Denny Hamlin on dropping out of championship race: "That's what sucks about this point system. you can run your tail off for 24 weeks and it just doesn't matter. You're going to base all your performance off of 10 weeks and one bad week, especially the way those other guys are performing ... If you have one bad week, you know, whether because of a drive mistake or a parts failure, you're done."

This is the second week in the row that Hamlin will record a DNF. He wrecked last week at the Pepsi 500 in California and left the race.

10:39 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson overtakes Matt Kenseth to take second place.

10:37 p.m.: Kahne remains in the lead, with Matt Kenseth in second and Jimmie Johnson in third. Mark Martin is in 18th place, trying to catch up.

All the hype leading up to this race was the points horse race between Johnson and Martin. If Martin doesn't catch up in the next 70 laps, he'll drop out of second place. Kahne, who is in 11th place in the point race, looks to move up a couple of spots with Denny Hamlin dropping out of the race with engine trouble.

10:29 p.m.: Kasey Kahne back in the lead, with Matt Kenseth in second.

10:26 p.m.: Green flag pit stops. Mainly tire changes. Kurt Busch in the lead at lap 246. Kasey Kahne will get four new tires.

10:23 p.m.: Kahne still in the lead, with Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson in second and third, respectively. Mark Martin is in 17th place, looking for some new tires once the pits open up again.

10:21 p.m.: Kasey Kahne is holding the lead with 106 laps to go in the race. He's had great recent success at Lowe's Motor Speedway, winning the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 in 2008.

10:14 p.m.: At lap 223, Kasey Kahne is in the lead, with Matt Kenseth in second.

10:11 p.m.: This is a big blow for Denny Hamlin, who was leading the race for at least 51 laps. Looks like his engine dropped a valve. This is the second mishap in as many weeks for Hamlin and the No. 11 crew. He is currently in ninth place in the points race, but is surely to drop after tonight.

10:07 p.m.:Denny Hamlin is out of the race. The No. 11 FedEx Office car is having engine trouble.

10:04 p.m.:Kasey Kahne now in third, behind Kenseth and Johnson.

10:01 p.m.: Kenseth still in the lead at lap 200. Jimmie Johnson in second. Denny Hamlin is in the garage with engine trouble.

10 p.m.: Restart after sixth caution: Matt Kenseth in lead.

9:51 p.m.: Sixth caution flag: The right rear panel flew off Juan Pablo Montoya's car.

9:50 p.m.: HALFWAY STAT UPDATE: There have been 13 official lead changes with seven different leaders. Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson are tied, with three leads each for 51 laps. Jeff Gordon has jumped out in front and has lead for 43 laps. Matt Kenseth has lead three times, for 13 laps. Mark Martin, second behind Johnson in the Sprint Cup points race, has only lead once for three laps.

Update on the cautions: No. 5: for Kyle Busch spin-out, scored for laps 165-169. No. 6: for debris from Juan Pablo Montoya's car, scored for laps 190-194. There have been 27 total caution laps.

9:44 p.m.: Jeff Gordon retakes lead, Matt Kenseth in second, Denny Hamlin in third.

9:42 p.m.: Restart after fifth caution: Hamlin back in lead, with Kenseth overtaking Gordon for second.

9:40 p.m.: Juan Pablo Montoya needed a rear right panel replaced. Montoya reportedly "excited," crew telling him to calm down.

9:33 p.m.: Fifth caution flag: Juan Pablo Montoya spins out in Turn Four. He continued around the track, with his crew chief begging him to stop so he wouldn't damage his right front panel.

9:28 p.m. Dale Jr. is leaving the garage and headed back to the track to rejoin the race. He will enter the race 29 laps out of first.

9:26 p.m.: At Lap 151, Jeff Gordon continues to lead, with Denny Hamlin in second and Jimmie Johnson in third.

9:25 p.m.: Bad luck continues to hound Dale Jr. The No. 88 car is up on the lift and the crew is looking at the transmission. Crew reports the car wouldn't stay in fourth gear. Dale Jr. is out of the car; unknown if he will re-enter the race.

9:20 p.m.: Jeff Gordon is securely in the lead, with Denny Hamlin in second. Gordon's teammate, Jimmie Johnson is in third, with Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle in fourth and fifth, respectively. Dale Jr. is getting the oil replaced in his transmission.

9:16 p.m. It looks like Dale Earnhardt Jr. is off the track at lap 124. He is in the garage right now, replacing a transmission plug.

9:14 p.m.: Jeff Gordon (No. 24) takes the lead for the first time after the restart from the fourth caution flag. Greg Biffle is in second

9:13 p.m.: STATS UPDATE: So far, there have been nine official lead changes in the race, with Jimmie Johnson leading three times for 51 laps. Denny Hamlin has been a surprising factor in the race thus far, leading once for 23 laps. There have been 17 total caution laps, three for spin-outs, one for weather. Sam Hornish Jr. spun out in laps 4 and 11.

9:06 p.m.: Fourth caution flag: Kyle Busch spins out in Turn Four.

9:04 p.m.: Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch round out the top five in fourth and fifth places, respectively.

9:03 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson is in third place, behind Matt Kenseth in second and Denny Hamlin in first.

9:01 p.m.: WEATHER UPDATE: Temperature: 48 degrees. Windchill: 45 degrees. Radar shows rain moving south of the speedway, but more behind it coming out of the southwest.

8:57 p.m. Denny Hamlin now in lead, with Matt Kenseth not far behind. Hamlin is about to lap Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88), who is in the last position.

8:54 p.m.: At Lap 100, Matt Kenseth leads, with Denny Hamlin in second. Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya round out the top five.

8:51 p.m.: Drivers are taking green flag pit stops. Lead changes ensue. Ryan Newman loses 21 seconds due to slow pit crew.

8:47 p.m.: Matt Kenseth overtakes Jimmie Johnson for second place.

8:41 p.m.: Denny Hamlin takes the lead for the first time; Jimmie Johnson in second. Hamlin is the sixth different leader of the night.

8:39 p.m.: After 70 laps, Jimmie Johnson leads, with Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Mark Martin round out the top five

8:30 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson retakes lead from Matt Kenseth on Lap 51.

8:29 p.m.: Matt Kenseth (No. 17) takes the lead for the first time tonight.

8:26 p.m.: Restart, and Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth are fighting for lead.

8:24 p.m.: Lead change under caution: Terry Labonte in the lead, Max Papis, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin and Ryan Newman.

8:18 p.m.: Radar shows a line of showers over the speedway. Drivers are pitting for new tires. Johnson, Martin and K. Busch off pit road first. Brad Keselowski (No. 25) penalized for too fast running off pit road.

8:14 p.m.: Third caution flag of the night, this one called for weather.

8:11 p.m.: After 30 laps, Jimmie Johnson is in first, with Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne and Joey Logano rounding out the top five.

8:03 p.m.: Restart at Lap 13. Jimmie Johnson still in first place.

7:59 p.m.: Second caution flag on Lap 10 for Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 77) after he loses control in Turn Four. This does not bode well for Penske's Mobil 1 team, or for the rest of the race.

7:56 p.m.: Jimmie Johnson takes the lead after the restart. Mark Martin and Kasey Kahne battle for second place.

7:55 p.m.: Restart with Mark Martin in the front spot.

7:53 p.m. Mark Martin takes an early lead and we have our first caution of the night when Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 77) bumps Martin Truex Jr.

The green flag is down and the race has begun. Boogity boogity boogity, let's go racin' boys!

7:50 p.m.: The NWS radar shows a lot of rain coming out of Greenville-Spartanburg and headed this way. Check it out here: http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=gsp&product...

7:45 p.m.: Waiting for the green flag here. The stands around the track look half-full. The grandstand is pretty full, but looking around the speedway, there are big gaps in sections of the stands.

The foreboding rain brings back memories of May, when they postponed the Coca-Cola 600 to Memorial Day after a downpour forced the delay right at race time.

The cars are pacing around the track, with Jimmie Johnson (No. 48) out front, Mark Martin (No. 5) in the second position and Kasey Kahne (No. 9), Matt Kenseth (No. 17) and Tony Stewart (No. 14) rounding out the top five positions.

We are about to get the green flag.

7:35 p.m.: The command has been given by the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. We can hear the roar of the cars in the media center.

Photographer Jonathan Coleman is reporting light rain falling on the front stretch. National Weather Service shows light to moderate rain around the speedway.

7:34 p.m.: Just announced in the media center: Bill Elliott (No. 21) and J.J. Yeley (No. 41) will start at the back of the pack due to transmission changes.

7:30 p.m.: The anthem has played. The fireworks have gone off. We are minutes away from the green flag.

7:25 p.m.: They are wheeling the stage off the track in preparation for the green flag. The Marching Aggies are ready to perform the national anthem.

The sky is barely spitting at the track, but there is a little precipitation falling. Temperature at the track:

7:06 p.m.: Driver introductions have started. Photographer James Nix reports from the grandstand stage that the Northwest Cabarrus cheerleaders did not attend the pre-race ceremonies.

6:59 p.m.:Weather radar has light rain over the track, but there is no rain falling. Radar has light showers coming out of the southwest from South Carolina. We'll see what happens.

6:40 p.m. Pre-race ceremonies are about to begin. The N.C. A&T Marching Aggies just completed their concert and now the drum line is performing its drum-and-dance show in front of the grandstand.

Driver intros will be at 6:55 p.m. Former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs will give the invocation, followed by the national anthem by the Marching Aggies.

Then it will be green flag time.

Here's the starting line-up for the NASCAR Banking 500: http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2009/31/data/lineu...

5:05 p.m.: During pre-race ceremonies, cheerleaders from Northwest Cabarrus High School will be introduced along with cheerleaders from East Mecklenburg, West Mecklenburg, Butler, Hopewell high schools and the Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology.

Speedway Motorsports announced a fund-raising partnership with school systems in Mecklenburg, Cabarrus, Iredell and Rowan counties. Schools were invited to participate in a "fund-racing" program, where a school would receive $10 of every ticket sold to the NASCAR Banking 500.

Cabarrus County Schools and Kannapolis City Schools were invited to participate in the program, along with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Iredell County Schools.

Read the story here: http://www2.independenttribune.com/content/2009/se...

4:55 p.m. At 4 p.m., there wasn't much traffic on U.S. 29 headed south toward the speedway. Traffic mainly was focused on Interstate 85, on Bruton Smith Boulevard and side roads off the highway.

DOT's advice if you are not going to the race: Stay away from the speedway area. Around 10 p.m., Highway Patrol will reverse traffic patterns to get race fans out as quick as possible. Follow signs and officers directing traffic.

4:50 p.m. Fans are milling about, all bundled up against the cold, steady wind. In Turn Four, Christian music artists TobyMac, MercyMe, Fee and Robert Pierre performed while fans climbed high-banked turn to get their picture taken on the track.

Out in the tailgating lots, fans kept warm by playing cornhole and huddling around charcoal grills.

Kim Breeden of Kernersville tailgated with her family, who came down from Ohio. She would go to Daytona and Bristol, but has cut back on their trips this year because of the economy.

"We don't go to Daytona because the tickets are so much more," she said. "We come here because we pay one-third the cost, plus it's close. We can just drive home."

Homecoming is the theme around the speedway, and the sports biggest names are here for picking the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Team owner Richard Childress said "there was no way you could not pick" Dale Earnhardt for the inaugural class.

"Dale was a great race driver; a champion for the sport," Childress said in an interview. "He was an ambassador. He carried the sport to a completely different level -- from Wall Street to the guy in the factory or the lady in the mills."

2:40 p.m. Grand marshals for today's race will be the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame: Richard Petty, Junior Johnson, Teresa Earnhardt (representing Dale Earnhardt Sr.) and Brian France (representing Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr.).

2:20 p.m. The focus has been around Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin for this race. I'll be asking fans and other racing writers who they think will win the NASCAR Banking 500 and the Nextel Cup.

Let me know who you think will win tonight's race and the Sprint Cup below.

1:30 p.m.: Traffic is already backing up on Interstate 85 in Cabarrus and northern Mecklenburg counties, between exits 46 and 58 in both directions.

N.C. DOT recommends using Exit 52 or I-485 to U.S. 39 or N.C. 49 to get to the speedway.

You can check out traffic cams and congestion updates at the DOT Web site here: http://apps.dot.state.nc.us/TIMS/RegionSummary.asp...

The wind is blowing at a steady 10 mph, making conditions out on the track chilly. Everyone is bundled up. The temperature is 52 degrees and will be 49 degrees at race time at 7 p.m.

Noon: Welcome to the Beast of the Southeast! It's a gray autumn day outside, about 50 degrees and it's not going to get much warmer out here.

Speaking of weather, the National Weather Service is calling for scattered light showers throughout the day. It looks like the rain will hold off, unlike back in May, when the rain postponed, then shortened, the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600.

It's Homecoming Week at LMS. NASCAR announced its inaugural class of the Hall of Fame this week -- with Bill France (Senior and Junior), Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson getting the nods. The points race is also exciting, with 12 points only separating the leader, Jimmie Johnson -- looking for a fourth Nextel Cup championship -- and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, veteran driver Mark Martin.

There are a lot of story lines going on here in Concord -- including the lawsuit filed by Speedway Motorsports against Concord and Cabarrus Couty over an incentive deal to keep the speedway in Concord. The economic downturn has hit NASCAR hard, with crew members in the race teams around the area getting laid off and race fans cutting back on their festivities.

And the weather, well, the weather this year hasn't been great for racing. It has either rained or threatened to rain for all the big races at the speedway or the zMax Dragway.

But today, the story will be who will win the NASCAR Banking 500 tonight and who will one step closer to the Nextel Cup trophy.