2009 Sprint Cup season in review

Kasey Kahne driver of the #9 Richard Petty Motor Sports Dodge

What a year, a new owner in Richard Petty, a couple of wins, and a return to Ford’s for a guy who probably isn’t all that happy about any of it. 2010 will mark the third season in a row that there has been an ownership change on Kasey’s #9 team. On top of that every driver contract for the newly merged Yates/Richard Petty Motorsports are up at the end of the year.

Carl Edwards driver of the #99 Roush Fenway Racing Ford

Since I use to work at Roush Fenway Racing, and Carl Edwards was the first NASCAR driver to sign an autograph for my four year old son, it goers without saying I am huge Carl fan. However I have noticed a troubling pattern to his NASCAR career.

Brian Vickers driver of the #83 Red Bull Racing Toyota

One of the best stories of the 2009 season was the rise of Brian Vickers and his #83 Red Bull Racing team. They came out with the goal to win races, and they won one. On top of that they made the chase; however since they fell way short of running well in said chase there is still some work to be done. With that being said the #83 team looks to build upon their successful ’09 campaign and really turn some heads in 2010.

Kyle Busch driver of the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

It is pretty hard to call a NASCAR season that featured 20 wins, and Nationwide Series championship a disappointment, but Kyle Busch’s failure to make the Sprint Cup Chase field makes it so. The fact here is Kyle is one of the most talented drivers in NASCAR today, and when he figures out the points matter, he may go on a title run to rival the current one of Jimmie Johnson.

Matt Kenseth driver of the #17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford

It seems pretty hard to call a Cup season featuring two wins a disappointment, but for Matt Kenseth we can go ahead and do that. Matt won the first two cup races of 2009, only to not return to victory lane the rest of the season, and miss the chase for the first time in his career.

Clint Bowyer driver of the #33 Richard Childress Racing Chevy

Like his Richard Childress racing teammates, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer had a very up and down 2009 Sprint Cup racing season. While he started the season with a 4th place finish in the Daytona 500, and in the first month of the season, a late spring, early summer slump really derailed this team’s chances to make the Chase.

David Reutiman driver of the #00 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota

David Reutimann is one of the best stories in all of NASCAR today. Not only is he a rising star, not so much young at age 39, but he is helping to build Michel Waltrip Racing into a new Cup Super team. No, they are not there yet but all indications seem to point to the fact that they will be soon.

Jeff Burton dirver of the #31 Richard Childress Racing Chevy

Behind Mark Martin, Jeff Burton may be one of the most respected voices in the Sprint Cup series garage. He may also be the driver who probably should have won a Cup title, but as yet to do so. Burton is one of those guys we never hear other drivers say bad things about, and it was kind of painful to see him struggle through the 2009 cup season.

Marcos Ambrose driver of the #47 JTG/Daugherty  Racing Toyota

Marcos Ambrose is a great character, a fine driver, and after a fairly successful full Sprint Cup season, it looks like he is going to be here for awhile. The best thing about Marcos is his constant smile. He always seems to be happy, happy just to be in the best racing series in America, and happy to be running fairly well.

Kevin Harvick driver of the #29 Richard Childress Racing Chevy

Sure, Richard Childress Racing struggled a bit in 2009, and sure Kevin Harvick may not be happy going back in 2010. However we can see a plan developing here, one day Kevin Harvick’s highly successful Truck and Nationwide series will be a part of Stewart-Haas Racing. How soon that plan comes together, depends on sponsorship. For now let us take a look at the 2009 Sprint Cup season of Kevin Harvick.

Joey Logano driver of the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

It is a sad commentary on the state of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series that the first real driver highlight comes to the guy who finished 20th in the final point’s standings. That seems to mean that there are 15 teams, plus all the guys that have to make the race on speed who don’t really belong in the premier North American racing series.

Casey Mears driver of the #07 Ricahrd Childress Racing Chevy

The good news for Casey Mears, and his #07 Richard Childress Racing team, from 2009 his he finished 36 races. He completed 98.4% of the laps run in 3009, but the bad news is his average finish was 19.4. That means Mears spent the 2009 Cup season riding around in the middle of the pack.

Jamie McMurray driver of the #26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford

The first guys in our year in review to win actually win a 2009 race. 2009 was Jamie’s fourth and final year at Roush Fenway racing. After three years with Chip Ganassi, this was his 7th full time year on the Cup series circuit, and he is still trying to find a level of consistency.

Martin Truex Jr. driver of the #1 Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing Chevy

There are lot of ways we can look at the 2009 Cup season of Martin Truex. We could say it was disappointing, we could say he under achieved, however we could also say that his leaving Earnhardt Ganassi Racing is the final fall out from Dale Earnhardt Junior leaving two years ago. In the end Truex is going to have to perform better in 2010 with his #56 Michael Waltrip Racing team, or risk being labeled a Cup bust.

AJ Allmendinger driver of the #44 Richard Petty Motor Sports Dodge

We saw flashes of what kind of a talent AJ Allmendinger is going to be in Sprint Cup racing. While he never got a real shot with Team Red Bull. He is getting one with Richard Petty Motor Sports and the fact that his team finished in the top 35 in points, while the second Team Red Bull car did not seems to suggest that they made the wrong call.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Driver of the #88 Hendrick Motor Sports Chevy

It is kind of sad to say, that Dale Earnhardt Jr. just completed the 2009 season in the worst final drivers points position of his 10 year career. He finished 25th in points and that is six spots worse then his previous worst points finish of 19th in 2005.

Elliott Sadler driver of the #19 Richard Petty Motor Sports Dodge

An angle to the Richard Petty Motor Sports/Yates Racing story that largely has gone under the radar is the act that Elliott Sadler is returning, if not to the team than the building, of a race organization he left during the middle of the 2006 Cup season. That seems kind of weird since, both Sadler and Dale Jarrett left the Yates organization since he was failing to perform, hopefully this merger will fix all that.

David Ragan driver of the #6 UPS Ford

2009 was David Ragan’s third as a full time driver in the Cup series, and this is usually the year that Cup drivers show their full potential. It’s too bad for Ragan, that not only he, but his entire Roush Fenway Racing organization regressed in 2009.

Sam Hornish Jr. driver of the #77 Penske Racing Dodge

On one hand Sam Hornish did well enough in the point that his owner will not have to go out and buy him points, or move points around to keep Sam in a guaranteed starting spot. On the other hand Hornish has shown little promise in stock cars, and the Penske operation has a very hard time expanding from two teams to three.

Reed Sorenson driver of the #43 Richard Petty Motor Sports Dodge

Reed Sorenson had a bad year driving the famed #43 for Richard Petty Motor sports. Not only did he record only one top ten finish, but he had to run a good portion of the season for free, or be fired out of his ride. Since he has to keep his name out there he ran the season for free, hoping to find a better gig for 2010.

David Stremme driver of the #12 Penske Racing Dodge

While the #12 Dodge, owned by Roger Penske will be back in 2010, David Stremme will not be driving it, and if he cannot find a Cup ride with a lower tier team Stremme likely will not be in the Cup series in 2010. It seems a full time return to the Nationwide Series team, or a full time truck ride would be more beneficial to Stremme's career at this point.

Bobby Labonte driver of the #96 Hall of Fame Racing Ford

There seems to be a theme among the bottom five teams in the top 35 in owner’s points heading into, and that is one of uncertainty. From the #96 car in 31st place, back to the #34 in 35th place there are big questions if these team are even going to be around, or if they will run partial 2010 Sprint Cup schedules. NASCAR should be very concerned about this as there is a likely possibility that some of the 2010 races race without full fields.

Michael Waltrip driver of the #55 Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota

There has been a full time Cup driver with the last name of Waltrip in every Cup season since 1975, That will change next year as Michael Waltrip steps out of the #55 Napa Toyota and assumes a more traditional ownership role of his race team, while running a partial schedule in his #55.

Paul Menard driver of the #98 Yates Racing Ford

This is the third installment of our look at the 2009 Sprint Cup season, and this is the third team, we have looked at that seems to have some questions for 2010. We do know that Menard will drive a car sponsored by his Father’s Chain of Stores, Menard’s.

Robby Gordon Driver of the #7 Robby Gordon Motorsports Toyota

Robby Gordon led his self owned #7 team to a 34th finish in the final 2009 Sprint Cup Owner’s Points. However it doesn’t seem like that is going to matter since it does not appear that Robby will run the entire 2010 season. As it stands currently Robby has funding for eight Sprint Cup dates next year, and is still looking for more.

John Andretti Driver of the #34 Front Row Motorsports Chevy

Now that the 2009 Sprint Cup season is over, we can start to evaluate it driver by driver. We will start with those drivers who ended the 2009 campaign in the Top 35 in owner’s points.