2007 Kobalt Tools 500

The 2007 Kobalt Tools 500, the fourth race of the 2007 NEXTEL Cup Season, was held Sunday, March 18, 2007 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. The race was won by Jimmie Johnson, his second consecutive win in the Nextel Cup.

Lineup

This is the starting lineup for the race.

*Tie broken by owner points
**Ryan Newman will start 43rd after blowing an engine in practice. Jimmie Johnson will start from the pole.
†-Made the race on owner points
‡-Rookie of the Year Candidate

"NOTE: Robby Gordon had sponsorship from Motorola for this race. At first, the decals were ordered removed from the car by NASCAR, as per Nextel's exclusivity rights (even though Nextel uses Motorola equipment exclusively), [http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/03/16/rgordon.motorola.sponsor/index.html] , however, the decision was modified to allow Gordon to carry an advertisement for Motorola's digital audio players, which allowed Motorola to evade any ban." [http://www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm#news7]

Top ten results

Did Not Qualify

The following drivers failed to qualify for the race:

Scott Wimmer (#33), Ward Burton (#4), John Andretti (#37), Michael Waltrip (#55), Kenny Wallace (#78), Kevin Lepage (#34), Jeremy Mayfield (#36), and A.J. Allmendinger (#84) (Allmendinger lost his engine in qualifying). Ward Burton, Waltip, and Wallace have missed 3 of the first four races, John Andretti has missed 2 of the 3 races he has attempted, and Mayfield and Allmendinger have not made any of the races.

The race

Jimmie Johnson passed Tony Stewart with two laps to go to win his second straight NEXTEL Cup Series event. Johnson vaulted to fourth in the Cup standings, trailing only Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, and Jeff Burton in that order.
[http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/results/4ams2007results.htm Race results and point leaders]