Budweiser Shootout This non-points race, which involves the previous season's pole winners and past
Clash winners, was held on Saturday, February 10, at
Daytona International Speedway officially kicking off Speedweeks. Two-time series champion
Tony Stewart took the checkered flag, but as he did so,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact with the back bumper of
Elliott Sadler, causing a five-car wreck less than 1000 feet from the start/finish line. One of the biggest headlines for the Shootout was that it would be the first Nextel Cup race to feature
Toyota, and in the draw for starting spots,
Dale Jarrett, a Toyota driver, drew the pole position. However, he slid to the back within four laps of the start, and stayed there for most of the race.
Brian Vickers, the other Toyota driver in the event, started fourth, and though he went back-and-forth through the field, finished eighth.
Daytona 500 Qualifying and Gatorade Duel Qualifying for the front row of the 2007
Daytona 500 took place on February 11. Robert Yates Racing swept the front row with the No. 38 Ford Fusion of David Gilliland winning the pole and the No. 88 of teammate Ricky Rudd finishing second. Rule-breaking tactics, however, swirled around the qualifying. Five teams were slapped with
suspensions, fines and points deductions for illegal modifications. The hardest hit was Michael Waltrip, whose No. 55 team was the most harshly punished, having their race director and crew chief suspended indefinitely, fined 100,000 and the docking of 100 owners and drivers points for a
gelatin-like substance found in the
Inlet manifold during inspections before the qualifying, and in a replacement manifold after qualifying. The substance was revealed by NASCAR, during the announcement of the penalties, to be an unspecified
oxygenate compound that was blended with the fuel, possibly in an attempt to defeat the effect of the
restrictor plate. Waltrip fired said crew chief for the unauthorized change that neither he or anyone else authorized. The No. 17 Matt Kenseth team of Roush Racing and the No. 9 Kasey Kahne team from Evernham Motorsports had their crew chiefs suspended for the first four races, fined 50,000 and had 50 driver and owner points taken away for illegal modifications discovered in post-qualifying inspections. All three teams also had their qualifying times for the pole positions disqualified, and Waltrip's original car was impounded by NASCAR, forcing him to go to a back-up auto for the first qualifying race. Additionally, two other Evernham teams – the No. 10 of
Scott Riggs and the No. 19 of
Elliott Sadler – had their crew chiefs suspended for the first two races of the season, slapped with 25,000 fines and deductions of 25 owner and driver points. Unlike the other three teams, their times were allowed to stand and kept their starting positions for the qualifying doubleheader as those violations were found in pre-qualifying inspections. Another story during Speedweeks was that 1966 Rookie of the Year
James Hylton would attempt to make his first cup race since 1993 in a car prepared by
Richard Childress Racing. Gilliland sat on the pole for the first of the
Gatorade Duel races on February 15, which establishes the starting order for the Super Bowl of NASCAR Racing, while Rudd was on the point for the second race, which both aired on
Speed as part of the new NASCAR TV package.
Top ten results The race The race was hotly contested by many, with many stories abound. From Toyota attempting to emotionally rebound after Michael Waltrip's loss of not only his crew chief and VP of Competition, but also losing 100 driver and owner points. Other stories were Jeff Gordon's disqualification after winning his Gatorade Duel, and Tony Stewart's Speedweeks domination, attempting to win the Bud Shootout, the Duel, and the Daytona 500. The first few laps were incident free except for a spin by road racing veteran Boris Said. The race was dominated by
Tony Stewart and
Kurt Busch. Both combined for a total of 130 of 200 laps. However, with just under a quarter of the laps to go, Tony got loose in Turn 4 while Busch was unable to avoid Stewart and turned him into the wall in a crash that looked like the one that killed
Dale Earnhardt in 2001, exactly six years to that date. From that point on, it was a game of survival of the fastest as defending race winner
Jimmie Johnson, outside polesitter
Ricky Rudd, and fan favorite
Dale Earnhardt Jr. were taken out in incidents throughout the day. A red flag was brought out in a crash involving Jamie McMurray, Rudd, and Junior. At the time of the flag, Mark Martin, who had not won the Great American Race in 22 tries, was in the lead with his ex-teammates behind him. On the restart, everyone attempted to pass Mark on the low line, but he successfully blocked. However, charging up the outside was
Kevin Harvick who came from 8th with half a lap to go to take the lead heading into the fourth turn. However, the Big One would finally occur on the last lap as Kyle Busch hit the apron and spun, causing a chain reaction crash. Despite the incidents, NASCAR officials did not freeze the field and let Harvick and Martin duke it out in the last hundred yards. In one of the closest 500s since the inaugural in 1959, Kevin Harvick passed Mark Martin to the stripe by 0.020 seconds, becoming the 31st different winner of the Great American Race.
Auto Club 500 The
Auto Club 500, NASCAR's second points race of the season, and what many people consider "the first real race of the season" (without the
restrictor plates run at Daytona) was held at
California Speedway on February 25. This race was the first run in Nextel Cup series history with unleaded gasoline, as all three major series began running
Sunoco 260 GT Plus, a 104-octane (R+M/2) unleaded racing fuel, starting with this race.
Jeff Gordon won his first pole of the season.
Matt Kenseth swept the Busch and Cup Series races at Fontana, and
Toyota gained its first top-10 in the Nextel Cup Series.
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 The
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, NASCAR's third race of the season, was held at the newly refurbished
Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 11.
Kasey Kahne won the pole. This would be the final race with the UAW-DaimlerChrysler name; starting in 2008 after Daimler Benz sold off Chrysler, the race would be renamed the UAW-Dodge 400. This race marked the first time since the 1965 Firecracker 400 that the top 10 starters finished outside the top 10.
Kobalt Tools 500 The fourth race of the season, the
Kobalt Tools 500, was held at
Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 18.
Ryan Newman won the pole, his seventh at Atlanta, but started 43rd after blowing an engine in Saturday practice.
Food City 500 The fifth race of the season, the
Food City 500, was held at
Bristol Motor Speedway on March 25. the last before the fabled high banks were repaved with new concrete for the August race under the lights with progressive banking.
Jeff Gordon won the first CoT Pole Position in NASCAR history, but this race was the first race without
Joe Nemechek participating in five years as he failed to qualify on speed as his No. 13
Ginn Racing team missed the show. However,
Jeremy Mayfield (
Bill Davis Racing No. 36) and
A. J. Allmendinger (
Team Red Bull No. 84) both started their first race of the season.
Goody's Cool Orange 500 The
Goody's Cool Orange 500, the sixth race of the season was held at
Martinsville Speedway on April 1, as this race was the second race to feature the Car of Tomorrow and the first of the season to use the 2007 owners' points to lock in the top 35 teams for qualification.
Denny Hamlin won the pole for this race, and
Jimmie Johnson was the race winner.
Samsung 500 The
Samsung 500, the seventh race of the season was held at
Texas Motor Speedway on April 15. Qualifying was cancelled due to a wild tornado outbreak and the field was set by current owners' points, as a result
Jeff Gordon started from the pole. He finished a respectable fourth place, but the race was won on turn 2 of the final lap by
Jeff Burton, who overtook
Matt Kenseth for the lead in a classy finish.
Subway Fresh Fit 500 The eighth race of the season, the
Subway Fresh Fit 500, was held at
Phoenix International Raceway on April 21. This was the third race to feature the Car of Tomorrow, as well as the season's first night race.
Jeff Gordon captured his third pole of the season, tying him for fourth on the all-time poles list with
Darrell Waltrip. Near the end of the race, he pulled away from
Tony Stewart, winning the race and tying
Dale Earnhardt's 76 wins. In the eyes of
his son, Jeff Gordon pulled a class act and drove a "Polish Victory Lap" with the flag of his father's famous No. 3, but fans of "The Intimidator" threw cans and bottles of beer on the track (mainly Earnhardt Jr.'s sponsor Budweiser), and were criticized by the driver of the No. 8 car in the post-race news conference.
Tony Stewart, who was leading when Jeff Gordon passed him following a caution was so irate about the outcome (even going as far to criticize that NASCAR "fixed" races much like
professional wrestling on his satellite radio show later that week) blew off the mandatory appearance at the post-race media session, and was fined 10,000 for doing so.
Aaron's 499 The
Aaron's 499, the ninth race of the season, was held at
Talladega Superspeedway on April 29.
Crown Royal presents the Jim Stewart 400 The tenth race of the season, the
Crown Royal presents the Jim Stewart 400, was scheduled to be held at
Richmond International Raceway on May 5. This was the fourth race to feature the Car of Tomorrow. The race was named after Jim Stewart of
Houma, Louisiana who won an essay contest during the festivities leading up to the Daytona 500 sponsored by
Crown Royal. The contest was so popular, it was repeated for the next four races at the track.
Jeff Gordon captured his third straight pole by .01-second over second-place qualifier
Carl Edwards.
Dale Jarrett failed to qualify and missed his first Nextel Cup Race since the 1994
fall race at
North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Dodge Avenger 500 The
Dodge Avenger 500, NASCAR's eleventh race of the season, was held at
Darlington Raceway on May 13. This was the fifth race to feature the Car of Tomorrow.
Clint Bowyer won his first career pole when he earned the pole position in qualifying. The race marked the 50th anniversary of the first Rebel 300, run on
Confederate Memorial Day weekend. Ironically, like the inaugural Rebel exactly 50 years to the date of the rescheduled date, the 51st running of the "Rebel" was postponed because of rain itself. Unlike 1957, when Darlington Raceway president Bob Colvin was fined for racing on Sunday, a violation of South Carolina
Blue laws at that time, current regulations permit Sunday racing provided (1) the race was scheduled for greater than 250 miles or (2) if the race start was later than 1:30 pm. The 501.367-mile distance made the race legal on Sunday. (The September 1983 Busch Series race at Darlington, held on a Sunday as the Southern 500 was held on Monday, was 250 miles because of the law. All other races at the track have been 200 miles on Friday or Saturday.) Despite radiator problems, Jeff Gordon won his second Rebel, his first since 1996, when it was a 400-mile race. This was also the first daytime race at Darlington since the
Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 in March 2004. }100,000 and crew chief Tony Eury Jr. was suspended until July 4 for illegal bolts on the wing of the Chevy Impala Car of Tomorrow.
NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge The 23rd annual
Nextel Open and All-Star Challenge, the second and final non-points event of the season, was held at
Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 19. in the first rule changes since the "Survivor" theme was eliminated from the event (then known as The Winston) after the 2003 season.
Matt Kenseth earned the pole for the main event, while
Martin Truex Jr. and
Johnny Sauter overtook a fading pole sitter
Carl Edwards to win the Nextel Open, and
Kenny Wallace (a/k/a "Herman the German") voted in by the fans, but it was
Kevin Harvick in the end winning the final quarter over defending champion
Jimmie Johnson and the 1 million first prize.
Coca-Cola 600 The
Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's twelfth Nextel Cup race of the season, was held at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 27. This is the longest race run by the Cup Series (600 miles) and marks the official one-third mark of the season.
Penske Racing South teammates
Ryan Newman and
Kurt Busch led a group of three Dodges to the green flag. One of the main factors of the 600 is not only the physical condition of the drivers, but the legend that Lowe's has of being an ever changing racetrack. The "first phase" of the 600 was wild and crazy, with two cautions involving 21 cars in all. Fox commentator
Darrell Waltrip even said that the race had a higher attrition rate than
Bristol. The first wreck saw five-time Lowe's winner
Jimmie Johnson lose his tire tread and start a multi-car pileup behind him. The second crash was more spectacular. The car of
Tony Raines got loose and turned the car of
Jeff Gordon into the grass. As Gordon came back across the track, the oncoming car of
A. J. Allmendinger hit the right side door, jacking Gordon's car off the ground. Penske's dominance of the day would end in the night with a crash by Kurt Busch and a blown engine from Newman.
Toyota, who had been struggling through the first third of the season, had only led a total of 15 laps. However, not only did both of
Team Red Bull's cars make the race, but
Brian Vickers carried the day for the manufacturer, leading 72 laps before power steering problems hit, but rallied for the marquee's first top five in Nextel Cup competition. Somehow, in the end, the longest race of the season would come down to who could go the longest on gallons of fuel.
Casey Mears, who had not won in 154 previous attempts, snapped his losing streak and joined teammate
Jeff Gordon as well as
Matt Kenseth,
Bobby Labonte and
David Pearson on the list of drivers who earned their first Cup win in the Coke 600. Mears went straight to Victory Lane after running out of fuel after crossing the finish line. The race also saw
Kyle Petty earn his first top 5 since the
MBNA 400 at
Dover in 1997.
Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa The
Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa, the thirteenth race of the season, was held at
Dover International Speedway on June 4.
Ryan Newman won his second consecutive pole. This was the sixth race to feature the Car of Tomorrow, as well as the last race broadcast by
Fox in 2007. The race also served as the halfway mark for the battle for entry into the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup. This race also marked the first time since
Daytona that
Michael Waltrip raced on Sunday, or because of the rainout, a Monday. In a twist of irony, Waltrip's teammate,
David Reutimann, who had out-qualified or bumped his boss from the field many times before, failed to qualify for his second consecutive race.
Martin Truex Jr. won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup race, leading 216 of the 400 laps.
Pocono 500 The
Pocono 500, the fourteenth race of the season, was held at
Pocono Raceway on June 10.
Ryan Newman earned his third consecutive
Budweiser Pole Award. In a delayed and postponed at lap 106 race,
Jeff Gordon won his third Pocono 500.
Citizens Bank 400 The
Citizens Bank 400, the fifteenth race of the season, was held at
Michigan International Speedway on June 17.
J. J. Yeley won his first career pole, and
Carl Edwards won his first race in 52 races. The race also saw
Michael Waltrip, who has had a bad year since the Daytona qualifying fiasco, finish tenth in his No. 55
Toyota.
Toyota/Save Mart 350 The
Toyota/Save Mart 350, NASCAR's sixteenth race of the season was held at
Infineon Raceway on June 24. This was the seventh race to feature the Car of Tomorrow, and the first road course race of 2007. For the first time in two years,
Jamie McMurray won the pole position. Much of the race was dominated by road course expert
Robby Gordon, whose self-owned No. 7 Ford dominated the field, leading 48 laps. Robby hoped to win his first race since 2003 (also on a road course). However, through all the twists and turns, fuel mileage came into play after
Joe Nemechek spun. Gordon's hopes were dashed when he was forced to make a pit stop for fuel. After his stop, the lead was given to McMurray, who had not won since 2002. However, McMurray would be chased by former-F1 driver
Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya passed McMurray (who was later forced to pit for a splash of fuel) with a few laps remaining and held off
Daytona 500 winner
Kevin Harvick to become the first Colombian born driver (and the third not to have been born in the USA) to win in a NASCAR Cup Series event. The win was even bigger for Montoya's car owner,
Chip Ganassi who had struggled in previous years but would finally taste victory for the first time since 2002. }100,000 and had their crew chiefs (
Chad Knaus for Johnson and
Steve Letarte for Jeff Gordon) suspended for six races (until August 15) and placed on probation until the end of the 2007 calendar year.
Lenox Industrial Tools 300 The
Lenox Industrial Tools 300, the seventeenth race of the season and the eighth to feature the Car of Tomorrow, was held at
New Hampshire International Speedway on July 1.
Dave Blaney won the pole, his second career pole and the first for
Toyota in Nextel Cup. }25,000 and placed their respective crew chiefs on probation until Sep 19, after the next New Hampshire race.
Pepsi 400 The Pepsi 400, NASCAR's eighteenth Nextel Cup race of the season, was held at Daytona International Speedway on July 7. The race officially marked the halfway point of the season. Coverage on TNT featured limited interruptions in a "wide open" production. In addition, this race was the last time the race was called the Pepsi 400, ending a 21-year sponsorship.
Coca-Cola will gradually take over pouring rights at all
ISC-owned tracks starting with the Daytona Speedweeks events in February 2008, and as a result, the race will be renamed the
Coke Zero 400. The biggest news to come out of this race was qualifying.
Boris Said in the No. 60 Ford was the fastest, but a rainstorm stopped the process, and under NASCAR rules, all cars must make a qualifying attempt before it is made official. Six other cars not in the top 35 in owners' points were following Said, but Jeff Gordon would be on the pole as time trials were rained out, and the field was set by the NASCAR rulebook based on owner points. Said would end up not even making the race because of this. The race itself featured many twists and turns.
Tony Stewart,
Denny Hamlin, and
Dale Earnhardt Jr., some of the race favorites, were taken out early in a wreck. Eventually,
Jamie McMurray, suffering a 166 race winless slump (since October 2002 at
Lowe's Motor Speedway), overcame a black flag penalty in the race and broke through to record his second career victory by only .005 seconds over
Kyle Busch, becoming tied for the second-closest finish in NASCAR history, the closest coming in 2003 when
Ricky Craven edged
Kurt Busch at
Darlington Raceway by .002 seconds.
USG Sheetrock 400 The
USG Sheetrock 400, NASCAR's nineteenth race of the season was held at
Chicagoland Speedway on July 15.
Casey Mears won the pole. Of note,
John Andretti, subbing for
Kyle Petty who is currently in the TNT booth, qualified a surprise 9th, and
Michael Waltrip made his fourth race of the season.
Tony Stewart, who was in the midst of a 20-race winless streak and an altercation with teammate
Denny Hamlin at Daytona, fended off challenges from
Matt Kenseth and
Jimmie Johnson to grab his first victory of the season. Additionally, on September 25, Chicagoland Speedway officials announced that starting in 2008, the event would become a Saturday night race.
Allstate 400 at the Brickyard The
Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, the twentieth Nextel Cup race of the season was held at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 29. It was the first Nextel Cup race to be broadcast by
ESPN since the 2000 NASCAR season when they carried the
NAPA 500 from Atlanta. Additionally, this was the first time the Indianapolis event is scheduled for cable; the previous thirteen runnings of the race were broadcast on network television, either on ABC or NBC.
Petty Enterprises driver and owner
Kyle Petty made his 800th career NNCS start at the Brickyard. For the second consecutive year, rain washed out the Friday practice sessions, so there was one practice session and qualifying on Saturday, with
Reed Sorenson claiming his first career pole. In addition, Toyota scored another top ten, with driver
Dave Blaney finishing ninth, the best Toyota result since
Brian Vickers finished fifth during the
Coca-Cola 600. }25,000 and both the driver and team owner Joe Gibbs were docked 25 points for violating NASCAR regulations regarding obscenities during a race broadcast.
Pennsylvania 500 The
Pennsylvania 500, the twenty-first NNCS race of the season, was held at Pocono Raceway on August 5.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his first pole since 2002.
Robby Gordon was taken out of the race by NASCAR officials after an incident in the
Busch Series race in Montréal that led to his disqualification, and was replaced in the No. 7 car by
P. J. Jones. The race was won by
Kurt Busch, dominating by leading all but 25 of the 200 laps.
Centurion Boats at The Glen The twenty-second race of the season, the
Centurion Boats at The Glen, was held at
Watkins Glen International on August 12. This was the ninth race to feature the Car of Tomorrow, and was the second and final road course race of the season. In the race, Jeff Gordon, who had been given the pole position due to the cancellation of qualifying due to rain, led the most laps, but Tony Stewart, who was in the lead when he spun out heading into turn one on Lap 45 of the 90-lap event, capitalized on the same error by Jeff Gordon with two laps remaining and wins his third race out of the last four. With his win, Stewart scored his 4th Watkins Glen victory, putting him in a tie with Jeff Gordon as the all-time NASCAR winner at the historical racetrack. In 2009 however, Stewart would pass Gordon as the all-time winner when he went on to win his 5th Watkins Glen race. As of 2020, that record still stands. Also with his win in that race,
Tony Stewart scored his 6th career road course win, putting him in a 4-way tie for 2nd in all-time road course wins with
Bobby Allison,
Rusty Wallace, &
Ricky Rudd. As of 2020 however, Tony Stewart is now in 2nd place with 8 road course wins, as Jeff Gordon currently holds the all-time record with 9 wins. The race though was marred by an incident started by Martin Truex Jr. when he tapped Juan Pablo Montoya which chain reacted into Kevin Harvick and sent both Montoya and Harvick into a spin and a subsequent multi-car pileup which caused a red flag. Both Montoya and Harvick then got out of their cars and had a shoving match ending when Jeff Burton and officials separated the two drivers. Even though it was clear that Montoya was not at fault, Harvick blamed his accident on Montoya and threatened to "kick his ass." For that comment and his part in the feud, Kevin Harvick was put on indefinite probation by NASCAR because he violated the warning NASCAR gave him after intentionally crashing
Scott Pruett at Montreal the previous week and later winning.
3M Performance 400 The
3M Performance 400, the twenty-third race of the season was scheduled to be held at Michigan International Speedway on August 19. The race sponsor moved from the June race to the August race in 2007.
Jeff Gordon earned his sixth pole of the season, edging out
Greg Biffle in the last qualifying attempt of the day.
Sharpie 500 The twenty-fourth race of the season, the
Sharpie 500, was held at the repaved
Bristol Motor Speedway on August 25. This was the tenth race to feature the Car of Tomorrow. In addition, this race was run on a reconfigured track where the infamous 36-degree high banks have been replaced by "progressively banked" turns between 24 and 30 degrees.
Kasey Kahne won the pole. Carl Edwards won the race and held off Kahne, who led 305 laps, while Edwards led 182 laps, giving Ford their first CoT victory.
Sharp AQUOS 500 The twenty-fifth race of the season, the
Sharp AQUOS 500, was held at California Speedway on September 2.
Kurt Busch won the pole. His brother,
Kyle Busch, dominated the race for 97 of 250 laps. However, it was his teammate,
El Cajon native
Jimmie Johnson, who won the race.
Chevy Rock & Roll 400 The twenty-sixth and final race of the "regular" season, the
Chevy Rock & Roll 400, was held at Richmond International Raceway on September 8. This was the eleventh race to feature the Car of Tomorrow.
Jimmie Johnson won the pole and the race. It was his sixth victory of the year, which meant that he starts the Chase at the top of the points.
Bobby Labonte made his 500th career start. ==Chase for the Nextel Cup==