Richard Childress Racing driver Jeff Burton finished second and his teammate Kevin Harvick was third.

Many Chase for the Sprint Cup participants, including Johnson, Kurt Busch and Mark Martin, were in the top ten for most of the race, although some encountered problems in the closing laps.

[11] Behind Johnson and Martin in the Drivers' Championship, Jeff Gordon was third with 6,323, and Kurt Busch was fourth with 6,281 points.

[15] In the title battle, Johnson had achieved seven wins, fifteen top-five finishes, and twenty-three top ten placings over the course of the season;[10] he was vying to become the first driver to win four consecutive Cup Series championships while his teammate Martin would be the oldest driver to claim the title.

"[16] Martin said he had an unchanged mindset for each race in 2009 and was unworried about his championship prospects: "I'm sure that we could wind up fourth in the points, which is something no one has even considered.

7 Robby Gordon Motorsports vehicle during practice and qualifying in place of Robby Gordon, who was racing in the 2009 Baja 1000 (part of the SCORE International Off-Road Championship) in his attempt to win the Trophy Truck Division and overall championship titles.

Tony Stewart, Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and David Reutimann rounded out the top ten fastest drivers in the session.

[20] Montoya lost control of his car exiting the fourth turn, and spun down the frontstretch but avoided sustaining damage to his vehicle.

[3] Johnson clinched his fourth pole position of the season,[2] with a time of 31.049 seconds that was recorded due to his qualifying late and track conditions improving.

[22] He was joined on the grid's front row by Scott Speed, his joint-highest qualifying starting position of his career.

Harvick, Newman, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliott and Bowyer completed the top ten fastest qualifiers.

[22] Kurt Busch, one of the drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, qualified twelfth, while Jeff Gordon set the twentieth fastest time.

The five drivers who failed to qualify were Joe Nemechek, Dave Blaney, Mike Skinner, Max Papis and Stremme.

[23] Reed Sorenson, Skinner and Stremme lost control of their cars during qualifying, and Crafton's engine failed at the conclusion of his second timed lap.

[22] After the qualifier Johnson said, "I had a talk with myself to do what I could today and don't freak out if it's not as good as what Mark [Martin] ran.

Johnson was scored seventh, Casey Mears eighth, Brad Keselowski ninth and Hamlin tenth.

The other Chase drivers, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch were scored fifteenth and eleventh respectively.

[25] The race, the last in the 2009 season, began at 3:15 pm Eastern Daylight Time and was televised live in the United States on ABC.

Actress Anika Noni Rose performed the national anthem, and actor Mike Rowe commanded the drivers to start their engines.

[27] The five points Johnson received for leading a single lap meant he now had to finish 27th or higher to win the Drivers' Championship.

One lap later, Newman collided with the wall, falling to eleventh place, and escaped with minor damage.

Two laps later, Ambrose spun at turn four but avoided contact with the barriers, causing the first caution of the race, and the pace car came out on track.

Most of the drivers stayed on track during the caution, allowing Harvick to remain the leader on the restart that happened on lap 113.

Kurt Busch regained the lead one lap later, when Waltrip and Andretti made their pit stops.

[27] Hamlin maintained the lead to win his fourth race of the 2009 season, his second in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and the eighth of his career.

[29] Gordon, Edwards, Kyle Busch, Truex and A. J. Allmendinger rounded out the top ten finishers.

Hamlin appeared in victory lane to start celebrating his fourth win of the season in front of 70,000 who attended the race.

"[34] Afterward, Johnson began celebrating his fourth consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship, and was congratulated by Martin.

"[36] Burton, who finished second, commended Johnson's achievements saying, "It's hard to say he's the best when you're out there racing against him, but you have to put him on the list.

"[39] In the Drivers' Championship, Johnson finished first with 6,652 points, one-hundred and forty one ahead of Martin in second.