2007 Auto Club 500
The 2007 Auto Club 500 was the second race in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was held on February 25, 2007 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season | |||
_-_Speedway.svg.png.webp) Track map of Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) | |||
| Date | February 25, 2007 | ||
| Official name | Auto Club 500 | ||
| Location |
Auto Club Speedway Fontana, California, U.S. | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.0 mi (3.23 km) | ||
| Distance | 250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures up to 68.9 °F (20.5 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 135.839 miles per hour (218.612 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 38.765 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | |
| Laps | 133 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 17 | Matt Kenseth | Roush Fenway Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds | ||
This was the first Cup race to use unleaded gasoline. All cars ran on Sunoco 260 GTX, a 98-octane (R+M/2) unleaded racing fuel, which had been tested at lower tier series in late 2006 and approved for 2007.
In the final accident of the race, David Reutimann was spun out accidentally by Greg Biffle and went into the wall in the corner. The strike to the wall was among the hardest hits NASCAR had ever recorded. The in-car camera showed him dazed by the impact and struggling to get out, unable to respond to his crew initially. Although he suffered a bruised foot, he was otherwise uninjured, and competed in the Busch Series race in Mexico City the next weekend.[2]
The race was won by Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. Kenseth also led the most laps in this race while Jeff Gordon won the pole.
Entry list
Results
| Pos | Start | Car # | Laps | Status | Driver | Manufacturer | Money won (in US Dollars) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 17 | 250 | Running | Matt Kenseth** | Ford | $342,326 |
| 2 | 1 | 24 | 250 | Running | Jeff Gordon* | Chevrolet | $249,111 |
| 3 | 23 | 48 | 250 | Running | Jimmie Johnson* | Chevrolet | $212,811 |
| 4 | 8 | 31 | 250 | Running | Jeff Burton* | Chevrolet | $173,441 |
| 5 | 3 | 01 | 250 | Running | Mark Martin* | Chevrolet | $171,708 |
| 6 | 6 | 07 | 250 | Running | Clint Bowyer* | Chevrolet | $119,875 |
| 7 | 18 | 2 | 250 | Running | Kurt Busch | Dodge | $140,583 |
| 8 | 11 | 20 | 250 | Running | Tony Stewart* | Chevrolet | $148,161 |
| 9 | 12 | 5 | 250 | Running | Kyle Busch* | Chevrolet | $109,525 |
| 10 | 15 | 83 | 250 | Running | Brian Vickers | Toyota | $94,400 |
| 11 | 17 | 11 | 250 | Running | Denny Hamlin | Chevrolet | $116,800 |
| 12 | 19 | 12 | 250 | Running | Ryan Newman | Dodge | $128,275 |
| 13 | 29 | 18 | 250 | Running | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | $124,958 |
| 14 | 26 | 13 | 250 | Running | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | $90,450 |
| 15 | 13 | 16 | 250 | Running | Greg Biffle* | Ford | $108,400 |
| 16 | 39 | 6 | 250 | Running | David Ragan† | Ford | $130,075 |
| 17 | 4 | 29 | 250 | Running | Kevin Harvick* | Chevrolet | $136,786 |
| 18 | 31 | 70 | 249 | Running | Johnny Sauter | Chevrolet | $87,450 |
| 19 | 24 | 40 | 249 | Running | David Stremme | Dodge | $90,850 |
| 20 | 22 | 15 | 249 | Running | Paul Menard† | Chevrolet | $87,850 |
| 21 | 42 | 7 | 249 | Running | Robby Gordon | Ford | $90,700 |
| 22 | 37 | 45 | 249 | Running | Kyle Petty* | Dodge | $104,908 |
| 23 | 41 | 96 | 249 | Running | Tony Raines | Chevrolet | $99,500 |
| 24 | 38 | 19 | 248 | Running | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | $105,670 |
| 25 | 40 | 38 | 248 | Running | David Gilliland | Ford | $114,314 |
| 26 | 9 | 42 | 248 | Running | Juan Pablo Montoya† | Dodge | $120,475 |
| 27 | 34 | 88 | 248 | Running | Ricky Rudd | Ford | $116,233 |
| 28 | 28 | 43 | 248 | Running | Bobby Labonte | Dodge | $121,436 |
| 29 | 21 | 99 | 247 | Running | Carl Edwards | Ford | $92,200 |
| 30 | 16 | 66 | 247 | Running | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | $106,608 |
| 31 | 10 | 25 | 246 | Running | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | $91,275 |
| 32 | 43 | 44 | 246 | Running | Dale Jarrett | Toyota | $80,575 |
| 33 | 33 | 00 | 239 | Accident | David Reutimann† | Toyota | $92,958 |
| 34 | 32 | 37 | 220 | Electrical | John Andretti | Dodge | $80,150 |
| 35 | 27 | 14 | 198 | Electrical | Sterling Marlin | Chevrolet | $89,472 |
| 36 | 36 | 21 | 160 | Engine | Ken Schrader | Ford | $98,989 |
| 37 | 35 | 26 | 134 | Running | Jamie McMurray | Ford | $87,550 |
| 38 | 2 | 9 | 129 | Engine | Kasey Kahne* | Dodge | $137,991 |
| 39 | 14 | 22 | 112 | Engine | Dave Blaney | Toyota | $87,180 |
| 40 | 5 | 8 | 74 | Engine | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | $124,433 |
| 41 | 30 | 10 | 16 | Accident | Scott Riggs | Dodge | $86,900 |
| 42 | 7 | 1 | 14 | Engine | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | $105,155 |
| 43 | 20 | 41 | 7 | Accident | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | $89,693 |
Time of Race: 3 hours, 36 minutes, 41 seconds.
Average Speed: 138.451 MPH.
Margin of Victory: 0.679 seconds.
Lead Changes: 28 among 12 drivers.
Cautions: Nine for 37 laps.
Cars finished on the lead lap: 17
Attendance: 87,000
Key
* Led one lap
** Led most laps
† Rookie of the Year Candidate
Did not qualify
The following eight drivers failed to qualify for the race: #55-Michael Waltrip, #4-Ward Burton, #36-Jeremy Mayfield, #84-A. J. Allmendinger, #72-Brandon Whitt, #49-Mike Bliss, #78-Kenny Wallace, and #34-Kevin Lepage.
Withdrew
Scott Wimmer in the #33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Regan Smith in the #39 Chevrolet for Ginn Racing, and Derrike Cope in the #74 McGlynn Racing Dodge all withdrew from the race.
Race Recap
Cautions
| Lap of incident | Laps of caution | Cars causing the caution | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 5 | 10, 26, 41 | Scott Riggs got loose on the backstretch and was hit by Reed Sorenson and Jamie McMurray. Sorenson retired from the race (finishing 43rd), Riggs only briefly returned and McMurray later returned after being in the garage. |
| 14 | 4 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. blew an engine, he was done and finished 42nd. |
| 20 | 3 | 6 | David Ragan spun coming onto the backstretch, but didn't hit anything and continued on. |
| 54 | 5 | 14 | Sterling Marlin spun on the backstretch, hitting the outside wall. He went behind the wall for repairs, later retiring due to electrical problems. |
| 92 | 4 | none | Debris (on the backstretch). |
| 115 | 4 | none | Debris (location unknown). |
| 120 | 5 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr., having just returned from the garage due to engine problems, lost it completely. He spun in turn 3 and 4 but didn't hit anything. He retired from the race, finishing 40th. |
| 226 | 4 | none | Debris (on the backstretch). |
| 243 | 3 | 00, 16, 43, 88 | Greg Biffle got into David Reutimann, sending him hard into the turn 3 wall. Reutimann's car briefly caught fire and was demolished. He was not injured but briefly had the wind knocked out of him. He was forced to retire from the race and finished 33rd. Ricky Rudd and Bobby Labonte were also involved. The race was red-flagged for cleanup. |
References
- "Weather information for the 2007 Pepsi 500". Retrieved July 25, 2014.
- Smith, Marty (March 5, 2007). "Reutimann's Crash Among Hardest Ever Recorded". ESPN. Retrieved July 24, 2014.
| Previous race: 2007 Daytona 500 |
Nextel Cup Series 2007 season |
Next race: 2007 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 |