2007 Aaron's 499
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season | |||
 2007 Aaron's 499 program cover | |||
| Date | April 29, 2007 | ||
| Official name | Aaron's 499 | ||
| Location | Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km) | ||
| Distance | 192 laps, 510.72 mi (821.924 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 82 °F (28 °C); average wind speeds of 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 154.167 miles per hour (248.108 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 49.857 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 71 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds | ||
The 2007 Aaron's 499 was the ninth race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Season, and was run on April 29, 2007, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama. This race was the second of the four restrictor plate races on the NASCAR schedule.
Jeff Gordon won this race to pass Dale Earnhardt on the all-time NASCAR list at 77 wins. After he crossed the checkered flag, some spectators threw bottles, cans, and even toilet paper at the #24 car he drove for Hendrick Motorsports. As a result of this incident, in spite of warnings before the race by NASCAR and organizers, a total of 14 people were arrested, and Talladega management revoked their ticket-buying privileges. However, a loophole was later discovered through which these banned fans could buy tickets from third-party ticket brokers, such as StubHub. The race's other top finishers included Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, David Gilliland, and Jamie McMurray in that order.
The race ended with an aborted green-white-checkered finish. Several cars were involved, including Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, McMurray, and Gilliland. Harvick and McMurray were later fined $25,000 and placed on probation for their actions during this accident.[2] The finish had been triggered by an engine failure in the #00 car driven by David Reutimann.
Entry list
[edit]Qualifying
[edit]In qualifying, both Jeff Gordon and David Gilliland would tie for having the same time. The pole was given to Jeff Gordon, who had more owners points.
| Pos[5][6] | Car # | Driver | Make | Team | Speed | Time | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | 192.069 | 49.857 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 38 | David Gilliland (R) | Ford | Robert Yates Racing | 192.069 | 49.857 | 0.000 |
| 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chevrolet | Joe Gibbs Racing | 191.551 | 49.992 | -0.135 |
| 4 | 14 | Sterling Marlin | Chevrolet | Ginn Racing | 191.023 | 50.130 | -0.273 |
| 5 | 88 | Ricky Rudd | Ford | Robert Yates Racing | 190.924 | 50.156 | -0.299 |
| 6 | 78 | Kenny Wallace | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Racing | 190.909 | 50.160 | -0.303 |
| 7 | 25 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | 190.787 | 50.192 | -0.335 |
| 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | 190.757 | 50.200 | -0.343 |
| 9 | 10 | Scott Riggs | Dodge | Evernham Motorsports | 190.465 | 50.277 | -0.420 |
| 10 | 6 | David Ragan (R) | Ford | Roush Racing | 190.393 | 50.296 | -0.439 |
| 11 | 60 | Boris Said | Ford | No Fear Racing | 190.393 | 50.296 | -0.439 |
| 12 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Roush Racing | 190.306 | 50.319 | -0.462 |
| 13 | 5 | Kyle Busch | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports | 190.234 | 50.338 | -0.481 |
| 14 | 00 | David Reutimann (R) | Toyota | Michael Waltrip Racing | 190.204 | 50.346 | -0.489 |
| 15 | 4 | Ward Burton | Chevrolet | Morgan McClure Motorsport | 190.177 | 50.353 | -0.496 |
| 16 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Roush Racing | 190.162 | 50.357 | -0.500 |
| 17 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Roush Racing | 190.151 | 50.360 | -0.503 |
| 18 | 36 | Jeremy Mayfield | Toyota | Bill Davis Racing | 190.098 | 50.374 | -0.517 |
| 19 | 15 | Paul Menard (R) | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt Inc. | 190.079 | 50.379 | -0.522 |
| 20 | 40 | David Stremme | Dodge | Chip Ganassi Racing | 189.974 | 50.407 | -0.550 |
| 21 | 70 | Johnny Sauter | Chevrolet | Haas CNC Racing | 189.940 | 50.416 | -0.559 |
| 22 | 01 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt Inc. | 189.785 | 50.457 | -0.600 |
| 23 | 45 | Kyle Petty | Dodge | Petty Enterprises | 189.714 | 50.476 | -0.619 |
| 24 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya (R) | Dodge | Chip Ganassi Racing | 189.665 | 50.489 | -0.632 |
| 25 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Roush Racing | 189.639 | 50.496 | -0.639 |
| 26 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Penske Racing | 189.635 | 50.497 | -0.640 |
| 27 | 96 | Tony Raines | Chevrolet | Hall of Fame Racing | 189.598 | 50.507 | -0.650 |
| 28 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Dodge | Penske Racing | 189.429 | 50.552 | -0.695 |
| 29 | 41 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | Chip Ganassi Racing | 189.223 | 50.607 | -0.750 |
| 30 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Evernham Motorsports | 188.935 | 50.684 | -0.827 |
| 31 | 18 | JJ Yeley | Chevrolet | Joe Gibbs Racing | 188.872 | 50.701 | -0.844 |
| 32 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Joe Gibbs Racing | 188.675 | 50.754 | -0.897 |
| 33 | 13 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | Ginn Racing | 188.493 | 50.803 | -0.946 |
| 34 | 66 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | Haas CNC Racing | 188.448 | 50.815 | -0.958 |
| 35 | 43 | Bobby Labonte | Dodge | Petty Enterprises | 188.422 | 50.822 | -0.965 |
| 36 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt Inc. | 188.389 | 50.831 | -0.974 |
| 37 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt Inc. | 188.370 | 50.836 | -0.979 |
| 38 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Ford | Robby Gordon Motorsport | 188.304 | 50.854 | -0.997 |
| 39 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | Evernham Motorsports | 187.313 | 51.123 | -1.266 |
| 40 | 07 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | 187.101 | 51.181 | -1.324 |
| 41 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | 186.882 | 51.241 | -1.384 |
| 42 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing | 186.579 | 51.324 | -1.467 |
| 43 | 44 | Dale Jarrett | Toyota | Michael Waltrip Racing | 51.581 | ||
| Failed to qualify | |||||||
| 44 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | Michael Waltrip Racing | 50.388 | ||
| 45 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull Racing | 50.406 | ||
| 46 | 22 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | Bill Davis Racing | 50.526 | ||
| 47 | 84 | A.J. Allmendinger (R) | Toyota | Red Bull Racing | 50.527 | ||
| 48 | 21 | Ken Schrader | Ford | Wood Brothers Racing | 50.636 | ||
| 49 | 09 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | Phoenix Racing | 50.667 | ||
| 50 | 34 | Kevin Lepage | Dodge | Front Row Motorsprots | 50.834 | ||
| 51 | 37 | John Andretti | Dodge | Front Row Motorsprots | 50.860 | ||
| 52 | 49 | Mike Bliss | Dodge | BAM Racing | 50.942 | ||
Race recap
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Race results
[edit]W (*) denotes Rookie of the Year candidate.
| Fin[7] | St | # | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevy | 192 | 71 | running | 195 | $355,511 |
| 2 | 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevy | 192 | 12 | running | 175 | $251,736 |
| 3 | 26 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | 192 | 7 | running | 170 | $212,483 |
| 4 | 2 | 38 | David Gilliland (R) | Ford | 192 | 0 | running | 160 | $182,689 |
| 5 | 25 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | 192 | 2 | running | 160 | $134,675 |
| 6 | 41 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevy | 192 | 0 | running | 150 | $164,536 |
| 7 | 36 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevy | 192 | 2 | running | 151 | $149,233 |
| 8 | 20 | 40 | David Stremme | Dodge | 192 | 1 | running | 147 | $106,025 |
| 9 | 28 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Dodge | 192 | 0 | running | 138 | $133,450 |
| 10 | 37 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevy | 192 | 0 | running | 134 | $126,495 |
| 11 | 9 | 10 | Scott Riggs | Dodge | 192 | 0 | running | 130 | $107,050 |
| 12 | 30 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | 192 | 5 | running | 132 | $138,891 |
| 13 | 34 | 66 | Jeff Green | Chevy | 192 | 3 | running | 129 | $120,933 |
| 14 | 17 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | 192 | 3 | running | 126 | $137,641 |
| 15 | 39 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | 192 | 1 | running | 123 | $110,770 |
| 16 | 4 | 14 | Sterling Marlin | Chevy | 192 | 16 | running | 120 | $107,983 |
| 17 | 10 | 6 | David Ragan (R) | Ford | 192 | 2 | running | 117 | $127,100 |
| 18 | 23 | 45 | Kyle Petty | Dodge | 192 | 0 | running | 109 | $103,083 |
| 19 | 31 | 18 | J.J. Yeley | Chevy | 192 | 0 | running | 106 | $116,033 |
| 20 | 35 | 43 | Bobby Labonte | Dodge | 192 | 0 | running | 103 | $127,111 |
| 21 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chevy | 192 | 48 | running | 105 | $102,550 |
| 22 | 27 | 96 | Tony Raines | Chevy | 192 | 0 | running | 97 | $96,425 |
| 23 | 18 | 36 | Jeremy Mayfield | Toyota | 192 | 0 | running | 94 | $83,075 |
| 24 | 22 | 01 | Regan Smith | Chevy | 192 | 1 | running | 96 | $104,258 |
| 25 | 29 | 41 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | 192 | 0 | running | 88 | $101,947 |
| 26 | 6 | 78 | Kenny Wallace | Chevy | 192 | 2 | running | 90 | $83,325 |
| 27 | 11 | 60 | Boris Said | Ford | 191 | 1 | running | 87 | $80,775 |
| 28 | 32 | 20 | Tony Stewart | Chevy | 190 | 7 | crash | 84 | $127,761 |
| 29 | 12 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 190 | 1 | crash | 81 | $97,025 |
| 30 | 21 | 70 | Johnny Sauter | Chevy | 190 | 0 | crash | 73 | $79,325 |
| 31 | 24 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya (R) | Dodge | 187 | 0 | running | 70 | $115,750 |
| 32 | 14 | 00 | David Reutimann (R) | Toyota | 184 | 0 | engine | 67 | $78,525 |
| 33 | 5 | 88 | Ricky Rudd | Ford | 155 | 0 | running | 64 | $110,458 |
| 34 | 42 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevy | 151 | 2 | running | 66 | $118,266 |
| 35 | 40 | 07 | Clint Bowyer | Chevy | 147 | 0 | running | 58 | $86,125 |
| 36 | 15 | 4 | Ward Burton | Chevy | 144 | 0 | engine | 55 | $78,725 |
| 37 | 13 | 5 | Kyle Busch | Chevy | 130 | 0 | crash | 52 | $95,800 |
| 38 | 33 | 13 | Joe Nemechek | Chevy | 130 | 0 | crash | 49 | $77,450 |
| 39 | 7 | 25 | Casey Mears | Chevy | 124 | 5 | crash | 51 | $85,250 |
| 40 | 43 | 44 | Dale Jarrett | Toyota | 38 | 0 | engine | 43 | $77,000 |
| 41 | 38 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Ford | 33 | 0 | engine | 40 | $76,800 |
| 42 | 16 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | 27 | 0 | engine | 37 | $84,630 |
| 43 | 19 | 15 | Paul Menard (R) | Chevy | 22 | 0 | engine | 34 | $76,737 |
| Failed to qualify | |||||||||
| 44 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | ||||||
| 45 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | ||||||
| 46 | 22 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | ||||||
| 47 | 84 | A.J. Allmendinger (R) | Toyota | ||||||
| 48 | 21 | Ken Schrader | Ford | ||||||
| 49 | 09 | Mike Wallace | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 50 | 34 | Kevin Lepage | Dodge | ||||||
| 51 | 37 | John Andretti | Dodge | ||||||
| 52 | 49 | Mike Bliss | Dodge | ||||||
Notes
[edit]- As mentioned, this was Gordon's 77th career win, which earned him sixth place all-time. The day before, he won his 60th career pole position, which surpassed Darrell Waltrip for the most in NASCAR's modern era (since 1971).
- Gordon won on the anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's birthday and on a track on which he and his son Dale Earnhardt Jr. have won a combined total of 15 Sprint Cup Series races.
- Despite posting the 20th-best overall lap, Michael Waltrip missed his eighth straight Cup race. That lap was only the eighth-fastest among those drivers having to qualify on time.[1] Archived 2007-04-29 at the Wayback Machine That would have been good enough to make the race, but Dale Jarrett, ironically a teammate at Michael Waltrip Racing, used a past champion's provisional, bumping Waltrip from the field.
- Also missing from the field was Brian Vickers, who had been the most recent race winner at Talladega prior to this, at the 2006 UAW-Ford 500.
- The #21 team owned by Wood Brothers/JTG Racing was absent from a Cup starting lineup for the first time since April 2000, also at Talladega. Ken Schrader, Mark Martin, and Michael Waltrip had been the only three drivers to qualify for all restrictor-plate races since NASCAR first placed them on cars at certain tracks in 1987. All those streaks ended that weekend (Martin was replaced in the #01 by Regan Smith).
- Bill Davis Racing had a mixed weekend; Jeremy Mayfield made his first race outside of those using the Car of Tomorrow, but Dave Blaney missed his first race of the year.
References
[edit]- ^ Weather information for the 2007 Aaron's 499at The Old Farmers' Almanac. Accessed 2013-06-19. 2013-06-21.
- ^ Smith, Marty (May 2, 2007). "Last-lap hits net fines for Harvick, McMurray". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved February 15, 2015.
- ^ "2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Aaron's 499 Entry List - Talladega Superspeedway". frcs.pro. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
- ^ "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
- ^ "Aarons 499 Qualifying Results and Starting Lineup Talladega Superspeedway NASCAR 2007". NASCAR Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
- ^ "Qualifying times: Aarons 499". Crash. 2007-04-29. Retrieved 2021-06-15.
- ^ "2007 Aaron's 499". The Third Turn.