2009 Aaron's 499

2009 Aaron's 499

Race details
Race 9 of 36 in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2009 Aaron's 499 program cover
Date	April 26, 2009 (2009-April-26)
Official name	Aaron's 499
Location	Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Weather	Sunny with temperatures reaching up to 82.4 °F (28.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1]
Pole position
Driver	Juan Pablo Montoya	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
Time	50.890
Most laps led
Driver	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	42
Winner
No. 09	Brad Keselowski	Phoenix Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2009 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. With a distance of 500.8 miles (806.0 km), it was held on April 26, 2009 at the 2.66 miles (4.28 km) Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. Fox Sports broadcast the race starting at 1 PM EDT, with MRN and Sirius XM Radio carrying the radio broadcast over the air and on satellite respectively. The race had nine cautions, 25 different leaders, and 57 lead changes, the most lead changes of the season up until that point.

Brad Keselowski, driving for Phoenix Racing, won the race in his fifth career start (third start in 2009) and led his first career Sprint Cup lap, Lap 188 (in fact the only lap he led the entire race), while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second and Ryan Newman finished third. It would prove to be the only Cup Series victory for Phoenix Racing. This was the first time since Casey Mears's win at the 2007 Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte that a driver had won his first career win in a major, and the first win in the Aaron's 499 by a first-time driver since Phil Parsons in 1988. It was also the first time a driver's first ever lap led was to win the race. Keselowski dedicated his win to the late Neil Bonnett.