2007 Food City 500

Last updated
2007 Food City 500
Race details
Race 5 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
2007 Food City 500 program cover and logo.png
2007 Food City 500 program cover
Date March 25, 2007 (2007-March-25)
Official name Food City 500
Location Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee
Course Permanent racing facility
0.533 mi (0.857 km)
Distance 504 laps, 268.632 mi (432.321 km)
Scheduled Distance 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 82.9 °F (28.3 °C); average wind speed of 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h) [1]
Average speed 81.969 miles per hour (131.916 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Time 15.295
Most laps led
Driver Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 257
Winner
No. 5 Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network Fox Broadcasting Company
Announcers Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds

The 2007 Food City 500 was the fifth race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season, and was run on Sunday, March 25, 2007, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This marked the debut of the Car of Tomorrow.

Contents

Overview

The race was historic as this marked the competitive debut of NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow vehicle template, which was tested on February 28 at this facility, as the test was extended due to an impending rainstorm and three sessions were held in one day, including a nighttime session. Because of the success in those tests, NASCAR considered making the CoT permanent in the 2008 season. Additionally, in all CoT events, two brands will switch models, as Dodge will use the Avenger and Chevrolet will utilize the Impala brand.

The event was the last to be run on the original concrete surface as resurfacing started following the race, using specially designed resurfacers that will lay a new concrete surface for the Sharpie 500 event in August. In addition, the 36-degree turns will be altered to progressive banking.

The race was also the last for the Top 35 teams in the 2006 Owner's points to be "locked in" for the race. Starting with the next race, the Goody's Cool Orange 500, the current standings was used.

Jeff Gordon won the pole. Dale Jarrett, who had used a provisional the past four races, qualified 30th. A. J. Allmendinger and Jeremy Mayfield made their season debuts after failing to qualify for the previous four races (qualifying 43rd and 23rd, respectively).

Failed to qualify

The following drivers failed to qualify:

Kevin Lepage (#37), David Reutimann (#00), Michael Waltrip (#55), Joe Nemechek (#13), Johnny Sauter (#70), and Paul Menard (#15) Withdrew: Chad Chaffin (#34)

Of these drivers, Nemechek (who missed his first race in over five years when he was released by Travis Carter because of a lack of sponsorship in 2002) and possibly Sauter could still end up locked into the top-35 after this race, despite missing this race (both had made the previous four races, but drive for new teams with no previous owner points to fall back on). With the car owner points provision for failing to qualify, however, both the Ginn #13 and the Haas CNC #70 remained in the top 35 in owner points, which meant both teams were awarded exemptions for the next race.

The other teams are guaranteed to be out of the top 35.

The #37 team has now missed four of the first five points races, Reutimann and Menard have missed two races, and Waltrip has missed four straight races.

Race Day

The race, despite the introduction of the CoT, was a typical Bristol affair, with 15 caution flags for 90 laps. Tony Stewart, starting from the fourth position, looked to have the car to beat all day. However, during a caution with 211 laps left, Stewart experienced a fuel pressure malfunction, and would finish 35th. The lead was inherited by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin. Hamlin would hold the lead until with 16 laps to go, Kyle Busch stole the lead from the sophomore in the #5 Kellogg's Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. It appeared as though Kyle would sail off with his first win of 2007, but a spin by rookie David Ragan set up a green-white-checkered finish with Hendrick Motorsports holding the first two spots. Kyle Busch was second, with teammate Jeff Gordon behind him, and the Richard Childress Racing cars of Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick behind them. That would not last long however, as on the restart, Kyle spun the tires, allowing Jeff to inch under him; however, Jeff Burton steered his #31 Chevrolet to the outside of Jeff Gordon and attempted to chase down Kyle. Jeff Burton would clear Gordon just as Kyle Busch took the white flag, and would chase down Kyle during the final lap, narrowly losing by half-a-car length at the start-finish line.

Busch's victory was a historic one in many ways. Not only it being the first victory for the Car of Tomorrow, but it was also the 156th win for Hendrick Motorsports, the 600th victory for Chevrolet in NASCAR, and the 61st victory for the Chevrolet Impala nameplate, the last one coming in 1964 when Wendell Scott became the first African-American to win in NASCAR. The first win for the Impala came in 1959 when Bob Welborn won in Daytona. In a post-race ceremony, former 12-time Bristol winner and current NASCAR on Fox commentator Darrell Waltrip, who dropped the green flag for this race, jack-hammered a piece of the original concrete to begin the reconstruction of the track.

Race results

Source: [2]
POSST#DRIVERCARLAPSMONEYSTATUSLEDPTS
1205  Kyle BuschChevrolet504179400running29190
22931  Jeff BurtonChevrolet504161691running0170
3124  Jeff GordonChevrolet504165586running6170
44029  Kevin HarvickChevrolet504154911running9165
51116  Greg BiffleFord504111900running0155
6966  Jeff GreenChevrolet504124383running0150
7318  Dale Earnhardt, Jr.Chevrolet504131908running0146
81807  Clint BowyerChevrolet50498500running0142
9526  Jamie McMurrayFord504103700running0138
101625  Casey MearsChevrolet504101750running0134
113817  Matt KensethFord504132816running0130
123299  Carl EdwardsFord50496500running0127
133340  David StremmeDodge50489875running0124
141011  Denny HamlinChevrolet504113750running177126
152583  Brian VickersToyota50483500running1123
16648  Jimmie JohnsonChevrolet503138411running0115
171949  Mike BlissDodge503103933running0112
18144  Ward BurtonChevrolet50285525running0109
1929  Kasey KahneDodge501130591running0106
202645  Kyle PettyDodge501103533running0103
212778  Kenny WallaceChevrolet50182525running0100
222843  Bobby LabonteDodge501123011running097
23722  Dave BlaneyToyota501106408running094
241796  Tony RainesChevrolet50194525running091
251201  Regan SmithChevrolet501103297running088
26416  David RaganFord501122350running085
27319  Elliott SadlerDodge500103420running587
281521  Ken SchraderFord500104489running079
29422  Kurt BuschDodge499118483running1081
302114  Sterling MarlinChevrolet49984475running073
31810  Scott RiggsDodge49890675running070
323642  Juan Pablo MontoyaDodge497114700running067
33347  Robby GordonFord49381025running064
342336  Jeremy MayfieldToyota48680025running166
35420  Tony StewartChevrolet479133911running25768
363718  J.J. YeleyChevrolet475107833running960
37131  Martin Truex, Jr.Chevrolet475106220running052
382488  Ricky RuddFord453110858crash049
392212  Ryan NewmanDodge449111850crash046
404384  A.J. AllmendingerToyota41379700running043
413538  David GillilandFord48106864crash040
423044  Dale JarrettToyota4279565crash037
433941  Reed SorensonDodge2186932crash034
Failed to qualify or withdrew
POSNAMENBRSPONSORCAR
44Kevin Lepage37Dodge
45David Reutimann00Toyota
46Michael Waltrip55Toyota
47Joe Nemechek13Chevrolet
48Johnny Sauter70Chevrolet
49Paul Menard15Chevrolet
WDChad Chaffin34Dodge

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References

  1. "Weather History for Bristol, Tennessee on March 25, 2007". The Old Farmer's Almanac. Retrieved 23 March 2014.
  2. "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
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