The Big One (NASCAR) - Sprint Cup Series - 2001-2010 - 2009

2009

• Daytona 500: After two pit-stop miscues, on lap 124, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was a lap down and lined up behind Brian Vickers on the "lapped cars" inside column for a restart. The two cars were near the front of the field battling each other to be the first car one lap down, which under the beneficiary rule entitles the driver to advance one lap on the next caution period (although prior to the implementation of double-file restarts in points-paying Sprint Cup races in June 2009, it was not permitted in the final ten laps of the race). Earnhardt dove below Vickers, and Vickers moved over to block. The two cars made contact, and Vickers spun into the pack. At least twelve cars were involved, including Kyle Busch, who had dominated much of the race up to that point. When interviewed, Vickers commented, "To wreck somebody intentionally like that in front of the entire field is really kind of dangerous. That's my biggest problem with it. But, apparently, (Earnhardt, Jr.) wanted a caution pretty bad."

• Aaron's 499:
  • On lap 7, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon were racing side by side and touched in turn three. Gordon got sideways and a large group of cars were turned hard against the outside wall: Casey Mears, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne, Max Papis, Elliott Sadler, Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Scott Riggs, A.J. Allmendinger, David Gilliland, and Bobby Labonte. Martin and Bowyer took the hardest hits (both into the outside wall) of those involved.
  • Then, with nine laps to go, on lap 180, Denny Hamlin tapped Juan Pablo Montoya on the back straightaway, causing Montoya's car to turn against Bobby Labonte, starting another crash colecting Martin Truex, Jr., Robby Gordon, David Stremme, Jeremy Mayfield, Jimmie Johnson, Michael Waltrip, Sam Hornish, Jr., and once again Bobby Labonte. Robby Gordon took the worst hit, as he sped across the apron and smashed the inside wall head-on, caving in the front end of his car.

• Coke Zero 400: On lap 77, Jamie McMurray and David Stremme got together, sending Stremme into Kasey Kahne and collecting 13 cars in all. Then, on the last lap, approaching the checkered flag, Kyle Busch tried to block the advancing Tony Stewart and Stewart ended up tapping Busch, hooking him into the wall. Busch took the worst hit of the crash, as he was lifted airborne when Kahne submarined under the back end of his car. Also involved were Busch's teammate Joey Logano, Jeff Burton, A. J. Allmendinger, Greg Biffle, Robby Gordon and others. The points lost by Busch in this incident, instead of conceding the pass, eventually were enough to cost him a Chase position. Busch walked away from the crash uninjured but contends to this day that Stewart intentionally wrecked him.

• Pepsi 500 (Auto Club): With 6 laps to go, a nine car pileup occurred down the frontstretch going into turn 1 involving Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Marcos Ambrose, Brian Vickers, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton and all four Richard Petty Motorsports cars (Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, A. J. Allmendinger and Reed Sorenson). This wreck led to a red-flag period of almost 22 minutes.

• AMP Energy 500:
  • On lap 184, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart both hit the wall on the backstretch. Newman came down the track and collected Elliot Sadler, Kevin Harvick, and Marcos Ambrose. Newman's car turned around backwards and was lifted off the ground. The car flipped over on its nose and landed partially on top of Harvick's car. Newman's car went sliding up the track in turn three on its hood, before hitting the outside wall and coming back down the track, where it flipped once more before coming to rest on its roof.
  • On lap 190 (a green-white-checker finish caused by the previous crash), Brad Keselowski made contact with Kurt Busch, collecting many other cars. Martin Truex, Jr. smacked the wall and then came down, hitting Juan Pablo Montoya and Mark Martin. Martin got the worst of it as he rolled over one and a half times before landing on his wheels. Other drivers involved included Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon Scott Speed, Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann, and David Ragan.