2007 USG Sheetrock 400

The 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 was the 19th race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. It took place during daytime on July 15, 2007, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois with the broadcast airing on TNT.

2007 USG Sheetrock 400
Race details[1]
Race 19 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Layout of Chicagoland Speedway
Date July 15, 2007 (2007-July-15)
Official name USG Sheetrock 400
Location Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.414 km)
Distance 267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 80.6 °F (27.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed 134.258 miles per hour (216.067 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Hendrick Motorsports
Time 29.580
Most laps led
Driver Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps 108
Winner
No. 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network Turner Network Television
Announcers Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Kyle Petty

Qualifying

Unlike the previous week at Daytona, qualifying was complete for this race. Casey Mears won the pole position with a lap of 182.556 miles per hour. Michael Waltrip qualified for only his fourth race of the season. Chad Chaffin once again filled in at BAM Racing and again qualified for the race.

Race

Tony Stewart won for the first time in 2007 and for the 30th time in his career. He also led the most laps in the competition, 108 out of 267. His margin of victory over second-place Matt Kenseth was 1.727 seconds. The rest of the top five drivers, in order, were Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Clint Bowyer.

Jimmie Johnson led the second-most laps (82), but encountered tire trouble toward the end and wound up in 37th place.

Jeff Gordon (9th) extended his points lead over Denny Hamlin (17th) to 303 points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. led Ryan Newman by 39 points for 12th place and the final spot in the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. After this race, seven races remained until the "playoff" field was set.

Sunday (day) race results
PositionCar numberDriverManufacturerTeam
1 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing
2 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Roush Fenway Racing
3 99 Carl Edwards Ford Roush Fenway Racing
4 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
5 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
6 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Penske Racing
7 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing
8 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Penske Racing
9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports
10 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing

Notes
  • The command to start the engines was given by former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith.[2]
  • This was the final race in the telecast schedule for TNT. Kyle Petty, who was one of the color analysts, returned to the #45 car for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
  • On the Friday of the race weekend, NASCAR announced that Robby Gordon had lost 25 driver points and 25 owner points because the camera shell, a part that allows in-car images to be sent to television viewers, was not approved.[3]
  • The 2007 race was the last daytime race in Joliet until 2011. It was announced that starting in 2008, the race would be moved to Saturday night as lights would be installed.

References
  1. Weather information for the 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac. Accessed 2013-06-21. Archived 2013-07-05.
  2. Mayer, Larry (2007-06-27). "Smith to serve as Grand Marshal of NASCAR race". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  3. "Jayski'sŽ NASCAR Silly Season Site - Sprint Cup Team News and Links - #7". Jayski.com. 2004-11-09. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
Previous race:
2007 Pepsi 400		 Nextel Cup Series
2007 season		 Next race:
2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
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