2009 NASCAR Team Profiles - Hendrick, Roush-Fenway, and Joe Gibbs Lead Teams into 2009

2009 NASCAR Team Profiles. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is the highest level and most popular form of automobile racing in the United States. The NASCAR racing season starts with Dayton in February and runs the better course of the year. Individual NASCAR driver performance has become synonymous with solid team management, ownership, and money rose through sponsors of the racing team. Hendrick Motorsports has become synonymous with winning after having driver Jimmie Johnson with the last three cups (2006, 2007, 2008) along with Jeff Gordon finishing second in Cup point standings in 2007. The other top NASCAR teams are the Carl Edwards led Roush-Fenway Racing, and the Kyle Busch, Jr. led Joe Gibbs Racing.

#1 NASCAR Team Profile - Hendrick Motorsports

Hendrick Motorsports enters the 2009 season celebrating their 25^th anniversary with the strongest end-to-end team in NASCAR. Principally owned by Rick Hendrick with Jeff Gordon and Mary Hendrick owning cars #48 and #5 respectfully, Hendrick Motorsports will be shooting for their fourth overall Cup Series Championship in a row after Jimmie Johnson winning the past three years. In the history of the team, Hendrick's NASCAR drivers have won eight Sprint Cup Championships and 175 Sprint Cup Series Victories.

Hendrick's will field five Sprint Cup Series cars in 2009:

#5 Kellogg's/Carquest Chevy Impala - Mark Martin - Former American Speed Association(ASA) and IROC Series (International Race of Champions) Champion, 4 2^nd Place Cup Finishers.

#24 Dupont/National Guard/Pepsi Chevy Impala - Jeff Gordon - Four Time Cup Champion

#25 GoDaddy.com Chevy Impala - Brad Keselowski - Part Time

#48 Lowe's Chevy Impala - Jimmie Johnson - Three Time Defending Cup Champion

#88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevy Impala - Dale Earnhardt, Jr.- 2^nd Season with Hendrick Motorsports, Two Nationwide Championships

#2 NASCAR Team Profile - Roush-Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing is one of the largest NASCAR racing teams. In early 2007, Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Boston Red Sox, acquired 50% of Roush racing resulting in the current team ownership makeup. Jack Roush continues to run day to day operations with Geoff Smith handling the business aspects of the team. The highlight of the team's performance came with back to back NASCAR Nextel Cup championships in 2003 with Matt Kenseth and 2004 with Kurt Busch. In the 2007 season, Roush-Fenway obtained the team's 100^th victory with Carl Edwards' win at the 2007 Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover International Speedway.

Roush-Fenway Racing will field five Sprint Cup cars in 2009:

#6 United Parcel Service - Ford Fusion - David Ragan- 2007 Busch Series Rookie of the Year, 10 NASCAR Sprint Cup Top Ten Finishes

#16 3M/Dish Network - Ford Fusion - Greg Biffle- 13 Wins, 73 Top Tens

#17 DeWalt - Ford Fusion - Matt Kenseth - 1 Sprint Cup Championship, 17 Wins, 163 Top Tens

#26 Crown Royal/Irwin - Ford Fusion - Jamie McMurray - 2 Wins, 75 Top Tens

#99 Aflac/Subway - Ford Fusion - Carl Edwards - 2^nd in 2008 Sprint Cup, 16 Wins, 84 Top Tens

#3 NASCAR Team Profile - Joe Gibbs Racing

Joe Gibbs Racing has won three NASCAR Sprint Cup Championships since 2000. Owned by Coach Joe Gibbs of the Washington Redskins, the team shifted to Toyota cars in 2008 and will be trying to get their first NASCAR Cup championship in the new model car in 2009! All fans and other teams will be keeping a close eye on the Gibbs team after the incident that occurred in 2008 while testing the power out on the racing cars at Michigan International Speedway when the Gibbs team was caught placing magnets on the underside of the accelerator pedals. This prevented approximately 25 horsepower out from being demonstrated and was perceived to have given the team an unfair advantage during the 2008 racing season.

Joe Gibbs Racing will field three Sprint Cup Series Cars in 2009:

#11 FedEx Toyota Camry- Denny Hamlin - Four Career Cup Wins, 56 Top 10 Finishes

#18M&M's/Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry - Kyle Busch - Eight Cup Wins in 2008

#20 The Home Depot Toyota Camry - Joey Logano - Youngest driver to start a Daytona 500, NASCAR Rookie of the Year Candidate