The 2009 Shelby 427 was the third race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. This long race took place on March 1 of that year at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the namesake Nevada city. The race was won by Kyle Busch.
The race was telecast by Fox with a radio broadcast by Performance Racing Network (terrestrial) and Sirius XM Radio (satellite).
The race title reflects the new title sponsor, Carroll Shelby International, which has its home base at LVMS, and the Shelby Cobra 427, which is made in Nevada. The race had previously been in length, but will as of 2009 have an extra added into the race name which equates to an addition of 18 laps, meaning that the race will now be a 285-lap duration. The race would return to 400.5 miles in 2010 and beyond.
Entry list
Qualifying
Kyle Busch won the pole for the Shelby 427 at a new track record of 185.995 mph. The remainder of the top 10 were Kyle's brother Kurt Busch (185.707 mph), Jimmie Johnson(185.688 mph), David Reutimann (185.624 mph), Marcos Ambrose (185.459 mph), Ryan Newman (185.395 mph), Kasey Kahne (185.382 mph), Mark Martin (185.312 mph), Kevin Harvick (185.280 mph), Tony Stewart (185.217 mph).
Full qualifying results
Pre-race
The Las Vegas Motor Speedway chaplain, Joe Freiburger gave the invocation. Jersey Boys performed the national anthem and Carroll Shelby gave the command to start engines.
Race recap
Toyota cars #00, 18 (polesitter), 47, 82, 83 were sent to the back of the field because of engine changes.
Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson led the field to the green flag. Johnson led the first lap; Brad Keselowski hit the wall out of turn 4 causing a flat tire and the first caution of the day. Matt Kenseth reported engine trouble, came onto pit road where his crew fixed the problem, but Kenseth was too fast exiting pit road. Kenseth was served the penalty of restarting from the tail end of the field.
Restart on lap 6 with Johnson, Ku. Busch, Harvick, Newman, and Stremme in the Top 5. Daytona 500 winner and point leader Kenseth's engine blew on the front stretch on lap 7 while Todd Bodine spun out of turn 2 after a slight contact from behind by Hamlin. Second caution of the day. Keselowski got the luck dog free pass.
Restart on lap 11. No change in positions in the Top 5. As of lap 19, Carl Edwards was in 9th from starting 16th, Montoya was running in 8th from the 23rd starting position, and Kyle Busch was in 30th after starting from the back. Johnson continued to lead laps since the first lap. Brad Keselowski drove his car to the garage on lap 36. Within 50 laps since the start of the race, Jamie McMurray gained 19 positions, Gordon and Reutimann moved up 16 positions, Biffle gained 15 positions, and Vickers gained 14 positions. Green flag pit stops ensued on lap 48. Earnhardt, Jr. was served a pass through penalty for being too fast exiting pit road. Regan Smith and Casey Mears were also served the pass through penalty for entering too fast on pit road. Edwards and Kyle Busch each led two laps and Logano led a lap during the green flag pit stops.
Caution would come out on lap 60 for debris on the track. Newman won the lucky dog free pass. Kahne, Waltrip, Hamlin and others entered pit road during the caution. John Andretti, David Gilliland, Scott Speed, Clint Bowyer, Earnhardt, Jr., Regan Smith, Todd Bodine, A.J. Allmendinger, Robby Gordon, Martin Truex, Jr., and Elliott Sadler were a lap down when the caution flag was waved.
Restart on lap 65 with Johnson, Edwards, Kurt Busch, Harvick and Biffle in the top five. McMurray, running in 13th, was hit from behind by Logano and slid out of turn 2, but maintained control. No caution. McMurray dropped to 26th as a result. Lap 74, Regan Smith came on pit road with engine troubles. Fourth caution of the day. Clint Bowyer got the free pass. During the round of pit stops, Harvick, Stewart, and Montoya gain four positions, Gordon and Hamlin gain five spots, Mark Martin gain two spots, Kurt Busch lost four spots, Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch gained six positions and Johnson, taking four tires, lost nine spots.