2007 Daytona 500

The 2007 Daytona 500 was the first race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season, taking place on February 18, 2007 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Kevin Harvick won the race by .02 second over Mark Martin in the closest finish since the first race at Daytona International Speedway when it took three days to declare Lee Petty the winner in 1959. Jeff Burton finished third, the first survivor of the massive wreck (commonly known as "The Big One").

Pole Qualifying

As is the custom, qualifying for the race is unique.

The qualifying only places the fastest two cars in the front row for the race the following week. The rest of the field (based on the 2006 owners' points top 35 teams, "not" drivers) is already locked in, then followed by two convert|150|mi|km|sing=on races called the Gatorade Duel. From those, the top two cars not locked in by either owners points or the front row positions automatically qualify, then the next four fastest cars based on the pole qualifying speed, followed by the past champions' provisional, used by Dale Jarrett, who was the most recent past champion. Had Jarrett locked into a spot during the first Duel race, Bill Elliott would have made the field.

When all was said and done, Robert Yates Racing swept the top two positions, with David Gilliland driving the #38 M&Ms Ford Fusion to the pole at convert|186.320|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on, with his teammate, Ricky Rudd in the #88 Snickers Fusion alongside a mere 0.185 seconds behind.

Tony Stewart, driving the Home Depot #20 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS for Joe Gibbs Racing, won the first Duel race, while Jeff Gordon drove the Hendrick Motorsports DuPont Chevrolet to the checker flag in the nightcap. Elliott wasn't the only past Daytona 500 champion to miss the race, as 35 other cars attempted to battle for those seven spots. Ward Burton (who won in 2002) and Derrike Cope (the 1990 winner) did not qualify from their respective races.

Qualifying Scandal

The week that led up to the annual "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing" saw widespread rules infractions that affected five teams - the #17 Roush Fenway Racing DeWalt Tools Ford Fusion team of Matt Kenseth, the three Evernham Motorsports Dodge Charger teams of Kasey Kahne (#9 UAW/Dodge), Scott Riggs (#10 Valvoline) and Elliott Sadler (#19 UAW/Dodge) - during the Pole Qualifying on February 11. But, a sixth team - the #55 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry from Michael Waltrip Racing driven by the teams' owner - suffered the most severe punishment handed out by the motorsports sanctioning body since 2000, as it was docked 100 driver and owner points, causing it to leave Daytona with negative owner and championship points (-27 points). In addition, Jeff Gordon was penalized with the loss of his starting position after the #24 DuPont Chevrolet failed a post-race inspection because of an improper spoiler height. His starting position was changed from fourth to 42nd. There were no other penalties assessed against himself or the team and he is still listed as the winner of the second duel race.

The Pre-Race

Kelly Clarkson, the first winner of "American Idol" and spokesperson for the 2007 edition of "NASCAR Day", performed in the pre-race "Salute to America" concert, with her set consisting of "Since U Been Gone", "One Minute" (from her upcoming album) and "Miss Independent". Big and Rich sang the National Anthem, while Academy Award winning actor Nicolas Cage served as the grand marshall of the event, giving the command to have the drivers start their engines in a low key manner. Baseball ironman and 2007 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame Cal Ripken, Jr. drove the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 pace car for the pre-race laps, and Phil Parsons, the brother of Benny Parsons, who had died of complications from lung cancer prior to the season, was given the honor of dropping the green flag for the race.

Results

Cars that completed the final lap, despite being involved in the last-lap wreck, were scored as running. The race went 202 laps/505 miles due to the green-white-checker finish rule. [ [http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/1/data/results_official.html NASCAR.com: 2007 Daytona 500 Race Results] ]

Time of Race: 3 hours, 22 minutes, 54 seconds.
Average Speed: convert|149.335|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on.
Margin of Victory: 0.020 seconds.
Lead Changes: 13 among nine drivers.
Cautions: 6 for 26 laps.
Attendance: 185,000 (not including infield, where the actual total would be boosted to 250,000.)

Key

* Led one lap
** Led most laps
† Rookie of the Year Candidate

Failed to qualify

The following 18 drivers did not make the Daytona 500: Mike Bliss, Jeremy Mayfield, Paul Menard, Kenny Wallace, Kevin Lepage, Derrike Cope, Stanton Barrett, Regan Smith, Bill Elliott, Frank Kimmel, Brandon Whitt, James Hylton, Eric McClure, Kirk Shelmerdine, Ward Burton, Brian Vickers, Mike Skinner, and A.J. Allmendinger.

Race Recap

To the Back

Before the green flag the following drivers dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #00 - David Reutimann (transmission change), #18 - J.J. Yeley (transmission change), #41 - Reed Sorenson (transmission change).

Cautions

Controversy over finish

Because of an incident between Casey Mears and Dale Jarrett at the 2003 Sylvania 300 in New Hampshire International Speedway, NASCAR has ordered the "freezing of the field" whenever a caution flag is thrown. Such a flag did not fly after the last-lap crash. There is some disputed visual evidence that suggests that, if the caution had flown strictly according to NASCAR rules, Martin may have won. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/columns/story?seriesId=2&columnist=blount_terry&id=2770638 ESPN.com: Harvick barely takes checkered at drama-filled Daytona] ]

The issue was especially passionate because Martin was in his 23rd Daytona 500 start; he has never won. Such a win, arguably, would have been as popular with fans as Dale Earnhardt's 1998 victory (in his 20th start) or Darrell Waltrip's 1989 triumph (in his 17th). With Martin no longer competing for the season-long NEXTEL Cup championship due to a reduction in his schedule, the Daytona 500 is one of the few honors he can still win as a driver (the #01 team is racing for the owners (team) championship, with Regan Smith driving the other 14 races). To add further irony, Martin and his family have chosen to live full-time in the Daytona Beach area, whereas most drivers live in the Lake Norman area north of Charlotte, North Carolina.

However, it should be noted in some races, NASCAR has permitted the cars to run to the finish in case of more "minor" spins on the last lap. However many speculate that this crash was far too large and too dangerous not to throw the yellow and give Martin the win. However, Kevin Harvick fans were happy that NASCAR did not throw the yellow.

Trivia

* The win was symbolic for Richard Childress Racing. The number 29 car was originally the fabled number 3 driven by Dale Earnhardt, who was killed six years to the exact day in a crash during the final lap of the 2001 race, won by Michael Waltrip in a car that Earnhardt owned. His son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished second in that race, also in a car owned by his father. The car's longtime sponsor, GM Goodwrench, was replaced by Shell Oil at the start of the 2007 season.

* NASCAR fuel supplier Sunoco was outraged by the size of the Shell logos on the car and uniform that the car design and uniform were banned shortly afterwards. This race was also the last to run on leaded fuel as beginning with the Auto Club 500, the Sunoco fuel was changed to an unleaded blend.

* It was the first NASCAR Nextel Cup race to utilise the new 17¾-gallon fuel cell. Previously, NASCAR had used a 22-gallon fuel cell.

* It was the first Daytona 500 to finish in prime-time television, with the race finishing at 7:12 p.m. EST. The last 30 minutes of coverage (7 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.) finished eighth for the week ending February 18 in the Nielsen ratings.

* It was the closest finish in the Daytona 500 since the inaugural race in 1959, which took three days to determine the winner.

* Harvick's win came from the 34th position, the deepest a Daytona 500 winner has come from.

* The 2007 race was the last to use the 1986 specification cars (NASCAR standardised roof heights at the present height in 1986). Starting with the 2008 race, NASCAR will use the next-generation car, known as the Car of Tomorrow.

* The race was televised in 99 countries.

References