2009 Price Chopper 400

The 2009 Price Chopper 400 presented by Kraft Foods was the 29th of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the third in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on October 4, 2009, in Kansas City, Kansas, at Kansas Speedway, before a crowd of 100,000 spectators. Stewart–Haas Racing driver and co-owner Tony Stewart won the 267-lap race, starting from the fifth position. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports finished in second, with Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle in third.

Mark Martin won the 47th pole position of his career by posting the fastest lap in qualifying. He lost the lead to his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. who passed him on lap 12. Earnhardt kept it until his other teammate Jimmie Johnson emerged in the first position after the first round of green flag pit stops took place. Biffle took the lead for the first time on the 72nd lap, and he led six times for a total of 113 laps, more than any other driver. Stewart became the leader through strategy on lap 238 during a phase of pit stops under a caution period by taking only two tires, while Biffle chose to have four tires installed on his car. He held off the closing Gordon in the final laps to secure the victory. There were six cautions and a track-record 26 lead changes amongst 14 different drivers during the course of the event.

It was Stewart's second win at Kansas Speedway, his fourth of the season, and the 37th of his career. The result advanced him from fifth to fourth in the Drivers' Championship, and past his nearest rival, Penske Championship Racing driver Kurt Busch. He was 67 points behind Martin whose lead over his teammate Johnson was reduced to 18 because Martin finished seventh. Because of Stewart's victory, Chevrolet won its 33rd Manufacturers' Championship in NASCAR Cup Competition, as Toyota could not catch its points total with seven races left in the season. The race attracted 5.25 million television viewers.

The 2009 Price Chopper 400 was the twenty-ninth of thirty-six scheduled stock car races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the third in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Sprint Cup. It was held on October 4, 2009, in Kansas City, Kansas, at Kansas Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. The standard track is a four-turn 1.5 mi (2.4 km) long D-shaped oval track. The track's turns are banked at 15 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is 10.4 degrees. The back stretch, opposite to the front, is five degrees.

Before the race, Mark Martin led the Drivers' Championship with 5,400 points, and Jimmie Johnson stood in second with 5,390. Juan Pablo Montoya was third in the Drivers' Championship with 5,335, ten ahead of Kurt Busch and 21 ahead of Tony Stewart in fourth and fifth. Denny Hamlin was two points ahead of Ryan Newman, as Jeff Gordon with 5,278 points, was 16 ahead of Greg Biffle, and 29 in front of Brian Vickers. Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne were eleventh and twelfth with 5,247 and 5,211 points. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet were leading with 208 points, 45 ahead of their rivals Toyota. Ford, with 123 points, were one point ahead of Dodge in the battle for third place. Johnson was the race's defending champion. The Manufacturers' Championship could have been sealed in Kansas in the event the highest-placed Chevrolet driver finished ahead of the highest-placed Toyota competitor.

Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race—one on Friday, and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, while the second session lasted 45 minutes. The third and final session lasted 60 minutes. During the first practice session, Newman was fastest, with a time of 31.080 seconds, placing ahead of Johnson in second and Montoya in third. Clint Bowyer was fourth fastest, and David Ragan placed fifth. Tony Stewart, Martin Truex Jr., A. J. Allmendinger, David Stremme and Brad Keselowski rounded out the session's top ten fastest drivers.

Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify on Friday afternoon; according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, forty-three were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest lap times. Hendrick Motorsports and Chevrolet took the first three places as Martin clinched his seventh pole position of the season, his first at Kansas Speedway, and the 48th of his career, with a time of 30.724 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by his teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. whose best lap was 0.084 seconds slower. Keselowski qualified third, Jamie McMurray took fourth, and Stewart started fifth. Kahne, Joe Nemechek, Bowyer, Gordon and Scott Speed completed the top ten positions. The three drivers who failed to qualify were David Gilliland, Michael McDowell and Kevin Hamlin. Once qualifying concluded, Martin said, "Have any of you ever stepped on a cat's tail? I have accidentally stepped on cat's tail before. They make a noise and go really fast. When I stepped on the gas of that No. 5 car today, it was like stepping on a cat's tail it had so much horsepower."

On Saturday morning, Johnson was fastest in the second practice session by setting a lap of 31.144 seconds, ahead of Hamlin in second, and Kenseth in third. Reutimann was fourth quickest, and Stewart took fifth. Joey Logano managed sixth. Bowyer, Gordon, Kurt Busch and Kahne followed in the top ten. Of the drivers in the Chase, Newman set the 12th fastest time, and Biffle was 15th quickest. Later that day, Johnson paced the final practice session with a lap of 31.217 seconds, with Martin in second, and Kenseth in third. Montoya was fourth quickest, and Bowyer took fifth. Gordon managed sixth, Vickers was seventh fastest, Logano eighth, McMurray ninth, and Edwards tenth. Other Chase drivers included Kahne in 12th and Hamlin in 15th.