The 2009 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was the 17th stock car race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on June 28, 2009, in Loudon, New Hampshire, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 101,000 people attended the race. Joe Gibbs Racing driver Joey Logano won the rain-shortened 273-lap race starting from the 24th position. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports was second, with Penske Racing's Kurt Busch third.
Tony Stewart was awarded the pole position after qualifying was rained out and the starting order was determined by owners' points. He was immediately passed by Gordon at the start of the race. Busch took the first position on lap seven, before Gordon retook it on the 20th lap. Gordon lost the lead to Busch twelve laps later. Jimmie Johnson assumed the lead on lap 50, and maintained it for the following 73 laps. He led another 20 laps for a total of 93 laps, more than any other driver. His teammate Gordon re-assumed the lead following a caution period on the 159th lap and maintained it until Stewart passed him on lap 196. Bobby Labonte led laps 238 to 247 before Ryan Newman became the leader on lap 247. Logano took over first place sixteen laps later when Newman made a pit stop for fuel. The race ended early on the 273rd lap due to earlier rain and Logano was declared the winner. There were 11 cautions and 21 lead changes amongst 14 drivers during the event.
It was Logano's first victory in the Cup Series; at the age of 19 years, 1 month and 4 days, he became the youngest driver in series history to win a race. After the race, Gordon lowered Stewart's advantage in the Drivers' Championship from 84 to 69 points. Johnson, Busch and Edwards rounded out the top five. Chevrolet maintained the Manufacturers' Championship lead with 126 points, 32 ahead of Toyota, 46 in front of Ford, and 52 ahead of Dodge with 19 races to go in the season. The race attracted 5.555 million television viewers.
Background
The 2009 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 was the 17th of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It was held on June 28, 2009, in Loudon, New Hampshire, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, an intermediate track that holds NASCAR races. The New Hampshire Motor Speedway is a four-turn oval track. Its turns are banked at two to seven degrees; both the front stretch (the finish line) and the back stretch are banked at one degree.
Before the race, Tony Stewart led the Drivers' Championship with 2,364 points, followed by Jeff Gordon with 2,280 points. Jimmie Johnson was third with 2,207 points, Kurt Busch was fourth with 2,084 points, and Carl Edwards fifth with 2,051 points. Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, and Juan Pablo Montoya rounded out the top twelve drivers. Chevrolet led the Manufacturers' Championship with 120 points, 35 points ahead of Toyota in second place. Third-placed Ford had 77 points, and was seven points in front of Dodge in the fourth position. Kurt Busch was the race's defending champion.
Ahead of the event, the organizers expanded the track's infield section to make more than 400 percent usable land available. Safety changes increased the track's catch fences near the grandstands to more than high with the installation of wheel fence arch posts. Six strands of ⅝-inch, high-strength cable supported its lower section, and sixteen strands of ⅜-inch cable composed the upper section.
Ted Christopher, a driver who had last started a Cup Series race in the 2006 season, would attempt to qualify for Kirk Shelmerdine Racing. It would be his first time driving the Car of Tomorrow; he had previously competed for the team in three previous races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Christopher said he was looking forward to compete in the event and was asked by team owner Kirk Shelmerdine to undergo a seat fitting, "I went over to see him last weekend when I was [in North Carolina]. He said come over and try the seat in the car. It fit good and he called me on Monday and said they he [sic] had got a sponsor and wanted me to run his car. I'm looking forward to it. I think I've made the race for him every time we've tried to qualify at New Hampshire."