Officially halfway through the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, we at HardcoreRaceFans.com are going to look back over the last six months and highlight some of the biggest stories of the first half of the year. Heading into Chicago this weekend, the series has seen eleven different winners, three first time winners, eight different pole winners and a host of great racing on the track. There has also been a great deal of drama unfolding off the track that has – and will continue – to gain attention.

The season started off with a bang in Daytona, where Matt Kenseth scored his first Daytona 500 victory when rain cut the prestigious 500-miler short. Rain continued to sour a number of NASCAR weekends, even extending the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 to Monday before ending that race early as well. Once again, Mother Nature has shown up throughout the season wrecking havoc on race weekends much to the chagrin of those behind the wheel, in the garage and mostly those in the stands.

One team that showed up ready to race in 2009 knowing they had an uphill battle ahead of them was Stewart Haas Racing, with drivers Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart. At the end of 2008, Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 20 Home Depot ride he made famous in order to start his own team with the help of Joe Custer and Gene Haas. Many predicted the new endeavor would struggle out of the gate and Ryan Newman’s Speedweeks in Daytona seemed to prove the critics right.

Prior to the season-opening race, Newman and his No. 39 U.S. Army team was forced to overcome an engine failure and two wrecked race cars. With things looking as if they would continue to backslide, few could have expected at the halfway mark of the season that Stewart would be leading the points with two wins (plus the All-Star Race) and Newman would be sitting in seventh.

Also making his debut with a new team was veteran driver Mark Martin. After a few years of running a limited schedule, the 50-year-old decided to run the full season behind the wheel of the Hendrick Motorsports No. 5. Joining the most dominant team on the circuit right now, Martin had high hopes for the season, but remained his humble self. After struggling the first few events, that humility turned to determination and the ‘kid’ turned up the wick.

Martin has three victories so far this year, and judging by his performance and attitude he may not be finished. His slow start to the season, plus an early incident at Daytona last weekend has put Martin 13th in the standings, just outside the Chase cut-off. Yet, with eight races left before the 12-man field is set, Martin will be a serious threat for one of those twelve spots.

Three drivers that have also raised eyebrows throughout the NASCAR community in 2009 have been David Reutimann, Juan Pablo Montoya and Marcos Ambrose.

With things finally coming together at Michael Waltrip Racing, Reutimann has gone from a driver that used to race his way into shows week-in and week-out to a driver that is contending to make the Chase. Using great pit strategy and excellent weather prediction, Reutimann was able to be in the right place at the right time in Charlotte to score his first career victory in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600.

Now in his third season in NASCAR, Montoya is starting to show his strength behind the wheel. With eight top-10s to his name so far in 2009, the Columbian-born driver is steadily becoming a threat for the Chase. A ninth-place finish at Daytona last weekend bumped the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver up to 11th in the standings with eight races before the Chase.

While he is not really knocking on the door of a Chase berth, Australian-native Marcos Ambrose has turned a number of heads as of late in his JTG-Daugherty No. 47. The road course specialist has proven throughout the 2009 season that he is learning to master every aspect of NASCAR racing, not just the tracks where you turn both left and right. Thus far, Ambrose has scored two top-5s and five top-10s – including a 6th in Daytona last week. The Aussie is still working out the kinks, but is currently 18th in points, which is higher than former Chase drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick.

As these three drivers have improved on their previous performances, another host of drivers have struggled mightily in 2009. The entire Richard Childress Racing organization has performed much less than expected heading into the season. With the addition of Casey Mears to the team, Childress and his drivers seemed certain the season would turn out right.

Unfortunately, RCR has no wins as of yet and none of his four cars are in the top-12 in points. After continued struggles, RCR was forced to swap the crews of the No. 29 driven by Kevin Harvick and the No. 07 driven by Casey Mears. Those changes have yet to show any signs of improvement; however Clint Bowyer was able to put a RCR car in victory lane this weekend on the Nationwide side of the garage.

Also having a dismal season up to this point has been Dale Earnhardt Jr. The sport’s most popular driver ruffled the feathers of some competitors and fans after triggering the ‘Big One’ at Daytona in February. Since then, things have only gotten worse for the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet. Continued miscues and mistakes on pit road cost Earnhardt good finishes and it quickly became apparent a change was in order.

Following the race in Charlotte – in which Earnhardt could barely keep up with the back of the pack – team owner Rick Hendrick announced Tony Eury Jr. would be replaced by Lance McGrew as crew chief. Neither Earnhardt Jr. nor Tony Jr. were incredibly pleased with the decision, yet it was clear something needed to be done.

As the season rolled on it also became clear that NASCAR needed to take certain steps to improve racing and put people in the seats. In response to a number of issues, the sanctioning body called all the drivers and team owners to the NASCAR Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C. for a town-hall style meeting. A number of issues were discussed in the closed door meetings, including improving the drivability of the new car, NASCAR’s drug testing policy and double-file restarts.

Two weeks after the meeting, NASCAR debuted the new double-file restart policy in Long Pond, P.A. at the Pocono Raceway. The change made every restart throughout the race like the initial start of the race with lead lap cars doubling up with the lapped cars behind them. Despite a bit of confusion that first weekend prior to the race, every restart went off without a hitch and the new policy has created much more exciting racing for both the fans and the drivers.

One of the biggest issues during that town-hall style meeting focused on NASCAR’s Substance Abuse Policy. This hot-button topic arose after NASCAR announced in Darlington on May 2nd that owner/driver Jeremy Mayfield had failed a NASCAR-mandated drug test and would be indefinitely suspended from the sport. Mayfield rebuked the claim and filed suit against NASCAR. The ongoing courtroom drama continues to produce headlines, as this week a judge granted Mayfield a temporary injunction that will allow him to return to competition. In response, NASCAR has filed yet another counter-suit in an attempt to stop his return. Reports have surfaced that Mayfield used methamphetamines, while the former winner claims the positive test results were from a combination of Claritin-D and Adderall-XR.

This saga has taken the focus off of the racing and it appears both sides are in it for the long haul. This will become not only one of the biggest stories of the first half of the year, but will continue for the remainder of the season.

The tough economy has hit the NASCAR community in a variety of different ways over the last few years, but few could have guessed that General Motors and Dodge would have announced across the board cuts in NASCAR. With the American auto industry struggling to stay afloat, both Chrysler and GM were forced to declare bankruptcy and accept government aid. This precarious situation has forced the manufacturers to cut their support on NASCAR in all three series.

Finally, we cannot forget to mention the passing of legendary NASCAR journalist David Poole, who passed away following the race at Talladega in April – and what a race it was. Blocking the move for the lead by Brad Keselowski, Carl Edwards was sent sliding backwards in the air, making contact with Ryan Newman and launching into the catch-fence in a spectacular crash on the last lap. Fans were injured by the flying debris, yet none of them serious. There have been a number of great stories lines to come from the first half of the 2009 season. These are simply some of the highlights. If the second half of the 2009 season is anything like the first half, pull them belts tight and prepare for some great NASCAR action.

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