The 2009 NASCAR Camping World East Series schedule was announced on December 24, 2008. The 23rd season for the series consists of an 11 race schedule at 10 tracks. The series lost three tracks from last year's schedule (Stafford Motor Speedway, Music City Motorplex and Mansfield Motorsports Park) but gains one new track for this season (Tri-County Motor Speedway). The Tennessee State Fairgrounds was initially on the schedule but changes in management of the track at the venue (new management decided to eliminate NASCAR sanction) resulted in the loss of the event.
Contents
- Television
- NASCAR Home Tracks 150 Presented by Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet
- Race Statistics
- NASCAR Camping World Series East Tri County 150
- References
For the fourth year in a row, the regular season will start at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on April 11. The series will make its first appearance at Tri-County Motor Speedway two weeks later on April 25 before heading to Iowa for the series' third appearance at Iowa Speedway. The Iowa race will be a combination East/West race where drivers from both series will compete against each other. Drivers are awarded points based on their finishing position against drivers in their series. (i.e. Highest finishing driver in the East gets first place points and the highest finishing driver in the West gets first place points)
Traditional stops at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Thompson International Speedway, Adirondack International Speedway, and Lime Rock Park fill up the bulk of the summer schedule before the regular season finale at Dover International Speedway on September 25.
The 2009 season Toyota All-Star Showdown takes place January 30, 2010, and will be televised live on Speed Channel.
1 All races will air tape-delayed on Speed Channel on Thursdays at 3pm ET
2 Non-points event. This race airs live on Speed Channel.
Television
NASCAR announced on March 16 the broadcast schedule for the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series race schedule on SPEED.
The races will be aired as a one-hour special each Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
“The NASCAR Camping World Series features the NASCAR stars of tomorrow locked in exciting, wheel-to-wheel competition,” said George Silbermann, NASCAR managing director of racing operations. “This comprehensive schedule allows fans to tune in the same time every week and catch all the action from their favorite track. Our partnership with SPEED provides an exceptional platform to showcase the tremendous talent as they tackle the challenging mixture of short tracks, road courses, and speedways.”
The annual East-West Challenge at Iowa Speedway Sunday, May 17 will air on Thursday, May 28. The last two years, fans have tuned in to watch the best NASCAR Camping World Series drivers from both coasts go head-to-head in addition to competing against one of the top drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In 2007, then-16-year-old Joey Logano outran Kevin Harvick, and last year Brian Ickler held off the challenge from Kasey Kahne. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch has already committed to run this year’s event.
The SPEED coverage will cover all 11 races beginning with the opener at Greenville Pickens Speedway in Greenville, S.C. The opener, scheduled for Saturday, April 11, will air Thursday, April 16. The season will conclude Friday, Sept. 25 at Dover International Speedway and the race will be broadcast Thursday, Oct. 1.
The Toyota All-Star Showdown will air live January 30, 2010, at 10 PM EST.
The NASCAR Camping World Series East race at Music City Motorplex in Nashville, Tenn., originally scheduled for Saturday, July 18, has been cancelled due to changes in track management, and the lack of a suitable replacement for that date. The new Tennessee State Fairgrounds promoters decided to remove the NASCAR sanction for the track.
NASCAR Home Tracks 150 Presented by Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet
Brian Ickler is hoping to use the NASCAR Camping World Series East as a launching pad. Performances like Saturday night at historic Greenville Pickens Speedway certainly don’t hurt his cause, as Ickler led nearly every lap from start to finish in winning the season opening NASCAR Home Tracks 150 presented by Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on April 11.
Ickler recorded his fourth career NASCAR Camping World Series East victory and seventh NASCAR Camping World Series victory overall.
Veteran Jody Lavender scored a career-best second-place finish, while Eddie MacDonald finished third. Josh Richards and Brett Moffitt, both making their first career NASCAR starts, rounded out the top five.
Ickler qualified second behind pole position winner Moffitt. A multi-car accident in Turn 1 on the start of the race caused a lengthy red flag before the end of the first lap. NASCAR decided to reset the lineup of the field with the exception of those cars involved in the accident and do a complete restart of the event. Several cars came into the pits to repair damage and would have to start at the rear of the field since they were considered to have pitted before the initial green flag. On the second attempt at the start, Ickler got the jump on Moffitt and quickly began to pull away from the field.
MacDonald, restarting on the outside of the front row, briefly took the lead by a nose on two restarts. Each time however, Ickler erased the lead and pulled out to a commanding lead. Ickler led four times for 146 laps. In addition, the victory gave Ickler a sercured spot in the postseason NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown - a spot reserved for winners of the NASCAR Camping World Series events in 2009.
Race Statistics
Fastest Qualifier: Brett Moffitt, Time: 20.691 Seconds, Speed: 86.994 mph (140.003 km/h)
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 22 mins, 9 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.951 Seconds
Average race speed: 54.778 mph (88.157 km/h)
Cautions: Laps 11-13; 45-48; 99-103; 106-111; 113-118; 129-132; 135-141; 144-146. 8 for 38 laps.
Lead changes: 6 changes involving 2 drivers
Lap Leaders: Ickler 1-48, MacDonald 49, Ickler 50-111, MacDonald 112, Ickler 113-118, MacDonald 119-120, Ickler 121-150.
Total Laps Lead: Brian Ickler 146, Eddie MacDonald 4
Did not Qualify: None
Top 10 Driver Points: Brian Ickler 190, Jody Lavender 170, Eddie MacDonald 170, Josh Richards 160, Brett Moffitt * 155, Patrick Long 150, Steve Park 146, Matt Kobyluck 142, Alan Tardiff 138, Matt DiBenedetto 134
NASCAR Camping World Series East-Tri-County 150
Matt DiBenedetto took just two starts to find Victory Lane.
The 17-year-old Grass Valley, Calif., driver passed Austin Dillon on a back-and-forth battle following a green-white-checkered finish to Saturday night’s Tri-County 150 to earn his first career NASCAR Camping World Series East victory.
DiBenedetto, a Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, and Dillon, a Richard Childress Racing development driver, swapped the lead six times over the second half of the race. The event was stretched to 165 laps due to a pair of late cautions. DiBenedetto led four times for 75 laps, while Dillon led three times for 15 laps.
On the final restart, Dillon got the jump from the second spot to take the lead. DiBenedetto, however, was able to nose underneath as they came to the white flag and took the lead going into Turn 1 of the final lap.
Rookie Alan Tardiff earned his first Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day and brought home his best finish with a third-place run. Jody Lavender took over the points lead with a fourth-place finish, while Patrick Long rounded out the top five.
Race Statistics
Fastest Qualifier: A.Tardiff *, 86.946 mph (139.926 km/h), 16.562 seconds
Time of Race: 1 hour 8 minutes 43 seconds
Margin of Victory: .340 seconds
Average Speed: 90.833 mph (146.182 km/h)
Lead changes: 8 among 4 drivers
Cautions: 8 for 43 laps
Lap Leaders: A. Tardiff 1-16; M. Kobyluck 17-75; M. DiBenedetto 76-101; A. Dillon 102-113; M. DiBenedetto 114-146; A. Dillon 147; M. DiBenedetto 148-162; A. Dillon 163-164; M. DiBenedetto 165
Laps Lead: Matt DiBenedetto 75, Matt Kobyluck 59, Alan Tardiff * 16, Austin Dillon 15
Standings: 1. J. Lavender, 330; 2. M. DiBenedetto, 324; 3. A. Tardiff, 308; 4. P. Long, 305; 5. E. MacDonald, 297; 6. M. Kobyluck, 281; 7. D. Armstrong, 273; 8. S. Park, 264; 9. D. Delaney, 262; 10. R. Duff, 260
Did not Qualify: None