2007 Pep Boys Auto 500

The 2007 Pep Boys Auto 500, the 33rd race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season and the seventh race that makes up the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup ran Sunday, October 28, 2007 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta.

To commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of one of the most exciting finishes to a NASCAR Cup season, a driver who made his Cup debut in the 1992 race, then known as the Hooters 500, Jeff Gordon was the Grand Marshall, and the driver who drove his last race in that same event, Richard Petty, waved the green flag to start the race. In that race, which was held in November, Alan Kulwicki drove his self-owned #7 Hooters Ford Thunderbird to his lone Winston Cup championship to edge hometown favorite Bill Elliott from nearby Dawsonville by ten points, even though Elliott won the race.

Pre-Race News

*Jeremy Mayfield will be replacing Jeff Green driving the #66 Chevrolet for Haas CNC Racing starting immediately this weekend and also starting next season. [ [http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/10/22/jmayfield.sriggs.jgreen.jsauter.changes/index.html NASCAR.COM - Mayfield replaces Green behind wheel of No. 66 - Oct 22, 2007 ] ]
*Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson will be substituting in the #36 Toyota for Bill Davis Racing vacated by Mayfield until the end of the season with Skinner running the Atlanta race. [ [http://www.nascar.com/2007/news/headlines/cup/10/22/mskinner.jbenson.bdr/index.html NASCAR.COM - Skinner, Benson to share driving No. 36 for BDR - Oct 22, 2007 ] ]
* #08-Burney Lamar will be attempting to make his first ever Cup start.

Qualifying

With a lap of 28.807 seconds at a speed of 192.453 mph, Greg Biffle won his first pole of the year. Former teammate Kurt Busch will start alongside him. Dale Jarrett, in his final fall Atlanta race, had a season best third place starting spot. Spring race winner Jimmie Johnson will start sixth. points leader Jeff Gordon will start eighth, and defending winner Tony Stewart will start 13th.

Failed to Qualify: #00-David Reutimann, #4-Ward Burton, #06-Sam Hornish Jr., #08-Burney Lamar, #36-Mike Skinner

Notes

#21-Bill Elliott was forced to use his third, of his allotted 6, past champions provisional to make the field.
#22-Dave Blaney had a suspension failure during his qualifying lap and did not post a speed.

Results

Top Ten Results: "(NOTE: Chase drivers are in bold italics.)"

Post-Race Notes

*Jimmie Johnson's eight victory of '07, combined with a 7th place finish for Gordon, has compacted the points difference between the two down to nine points heading into Texas.
*In the battle for the top-35 in owners points, due to the engine failure of the #22 car, the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing #21 gains ground, but is still 82 points out.

Notes and references