2007 Daytona 500
| Race details[1] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series | ||||||
 | ||||||
| Date | February 18, 2007 | |||||
| Official name | Daytona 500 by Toyota | |||||
| Location |
Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. | |||||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02336 km) | |||||
| Distance | 202 laps, 505 mi (812.718 km) | |||||
| Scheduled Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | |||||
| Weather | Cold with temperatures approaching 55.9 °F (13.3 °C); wind speeds up to 15.90 miles per hour (25.59 km/h) | |||||
| Average speed | 149.333 miles per hour (240.328 km/h) | |||||
| Attendance | 185,000 | |||||
| Pole position | ||||||
| Driver |
Robert Yates Racing | |||||
| Time | 48.304 | |||||
| Qualifying race winners | ||||||
| Duel 1 Winner | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||||
| Duel 2 Winner | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | ||||
| Most laps led | ||||||
| Driver | Kurt Busch |
Penske Racing | ||||
| Laps | 95 | |||||
| Winner | ||||||
| No. 29 | Kevin Harvick |
Network | Fox | |||
| Announcers |
Nielsen Ratings |
10.1/20 (17.5 million viewers) | ||||
The 2007 Daytona 500, the 49th running of the
That was Mark Martin's first 500 race not driving for Jack Roush since 1986.
Entry list
Qualifying
When all was said and done,
Bill Elliott was not the only past Daytona 500 champion to miss the race, as 25 other cars battled for a set of seven spots in the starting grid. Ward Burton (who won in 2002) and Derrike Cope (the 1990 winner) did not qualify from their respective races. Elliott was not eligible for the past champion's provisional, as it was given to Dale Jarrett, who was the more recent champion.
Before the green flag the following drivers dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #00 –
Pre-race
Race summary
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David Gilliland was in the front of the field when the green flag waved. The first caution came on lap 16 when Boris Said moved up the track coming off of turn 2, most likely unaware that David Reutimann was there, and spun. He had very minor damage and continued the race from there. The race then stayed under the green flag for about 60 laps, during which Tony Stewart took the lead from Kurt Busch. On lap 79, Kyle Petty hit the wall after his rear tire blew out, bringing out another yellow flag. He went behind the wall for repairs. Reutimann obtained the free pass to return to the lead lap. Kurt Busch took the lead again during most of the next green flag period, only being passed by Ryan Newman for one lap on lap 128, and then by Stewart again on lap 150.
On lap 152, Stewart got on the apron in turn 4, got loose, and spun into Kurt Busch. He spun to a halt, while Busch kept the engine going and went to the garage area for repairs. However, with 46 laps to go, he was unable to continue and did not finish the race. A fourth caution came on lap 175 when a 5-car crash involving Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Green and Tony Raines occurred in the backstretch. Mark Martin took the lead shortly before the yellow flag came out. Another crash which took out Ken Schrader happened on lap 186, after contact from Dave Blaney who was parked for the remainder of the race (who may have been unaware of his right front tire being flat according to Darrell Waltrip). With 5 laps to go, Matt Kenseth ran into Jamie McMurray, who hit the wall and collected Dale Earnhardt Jr. with him. Ricky Rudd and Martin Truex Jr. were collected as well. Rudd remained on the lead lap, but Truex fell a lap down. McMurray and Earnhardt Jr. both were out of the race, finishing 31st and 32nd, respectively. The race was delayed for approximately 12 minutes for cleanup under the red flag. This set up a green-white-checkered finish.
With 2 laps to go, an outside line began to form, with Kevin Harvick, Kenseth and Jeff Burton. Martin came to the white flag looking for a victory. On the backstretch, Kyle Busch, sitting 2nd place, tried both ways to get around Martin. Meanwhile, Kenseth began to bump-draft Harvick, with Burton in tow. Harvick flew by David Stremme, Gilliland, Mike Wallace, David Ragan and Greg Biffle. Busch, trying to get around Martin and block Harvick at the same, nearly squeezed Harvick into the wall as Harvick zipped past him and pulled even with Martin. Harvick and Martin, Busch and Kenseth, and Biffle and Burton were side by side out of turn 4. With the checkered flag in sight, Busch hit the apron, getting him loose. He spun out and started a chain reaction collecting most of the field. Clint Bowyer took the worst hit, turning over on his roof and skidding across the finish line on it while on fire before flipping back upright in the grass. Harvick beat Martin by .02 of a second to claim the victory. After being 6th place out of turn 4, Burton finished 3rd. Mike Wallace and David Ragan were surprises, rounding out the Top 5.
Results
Controversy over the finish
Because of an incident between
The issue was especially passionate because Martin was in his 23rd Daytona 500 start and had never won. Such a win, arguably, would have been popular with fans, similar to Dale Earnhardt's 1998 victory (in his 20th start) or Darrell Waltrip's 1989 triumph (in his 17th). Martin retired following the 2013 season, never having achieved a Daytona 500 victory in his 29 attempts.
In some races, NASCAR has permitted the cars to run to the finish in case of more "minor" spins on the last lap.
References
- ^ "Weather information for the 2007 Daytona 500". Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "2007 Daytona 500 – Racing-Reference.info". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2013-12-06.
- ^ ESPN.com: Harvick barely takes checkered at drama-filled Daytona