The 2007 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa was the thirteenth race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was scheduled to be run on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at Dover International Speedway in

Dover, Delaware Dover () is the capital and second-largest city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County and the principal city of the Dover, DE, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Kent County and is part of ...

, but was postponed due to rain as a result of the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry and was run on Monday, June 4. The race marked the halfway point to the

2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup The 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup was the ten-race playoffs which concluded the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It began with the Sylvania 300 on September 16, 2007 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and ended with the Ford 400 on November 18 of the s ...

, the sixth race to use the

Car of Tomorrow The Car of Tomorrow (abbreviated as CoT) was the common name used for the chassis of the NASCAR Cup Series (2007 –2012) and Xfinity Series (since 2011 full-time) race cars. The car was part of a five-year project to create a safer vehicle ...

template, and the final race to be telecast on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

for the season.

Summary

The race is named for Autism Speaks, a charity that provides advocacy and services for people who have

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

, as well as their families. Autism had become a cause in the NASCAR garage; the nieces of Cup drivers

Elliott Sadler Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 dr ...

and Jamie McMurray and the son of NASCAR on Fox director

Artie Kempner Artie Kempner is an American director for FOX Sports. He is known for his work on the NFL, directing Super Bowls XLII (2008) and XXXIX (2005), as well as NASCAR, where he has directed 14 Daytona 500 races. His directorial credits also include the ...

have the disorder. For each race ticket which was sold before June 1, race sponsor

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

donated $5 to Autism Speaks.

Qualifying

Ryan Newman won the pole for the second week in a row, with an average speed of 152.925 miles per hour.

Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, and published author. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing Experience. He is the younger brother o ...

qualified for his first points-paying race since the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

, 12 races earlier.

Race

Martin Truex Jr. Martin Lee Truex Jr. (born June 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He is the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Serie ...

won the race, his first in Nextel Cup Series competition. For Truex, the victory was especially sweet, as he hails from Mayetta, New Jersey, a community in the

Jersey Shore The Jersey Shore (known by locals simply as the Shore) is the coastal region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Po ...

area about 100 miles northeast of Dover. The driver of the

Chevrolet Impala The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in ...

for

Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI) was a race team founded by Dale Earnhardt and his wife, Teresa Earnhardt, to compete in the NASCAR series, the highest level of competition for professional stock car racing in the United States. From 1998 to 2009, t ...

led 216 of the 400 laps. The rest of the Top 5, in order: Newman, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and Matt Kenseth.

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

was twice wrecked or shoved by longtime rival

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

and on pit road, he pulled alongside Tony Stewart forcing a crew member to have to jump to avoid being hit, and gestured from his window. Busch was instantly black flagged with the white cross, was fined $100,000 and put on probation for the rest of the year. Busch ended up 42nd in the race results. In the points standings,

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

led

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...

by 152 points at the checkered flag. On the other hand, of the "Race to the Chase," eight drivers (11th through 18th) were separated by just 127 points. During the race, it was announced that

Bill France Jr. William Clifton France (April 4, 1933 – June 4, 2007), better known as Bill France Jr. or Little Billy, was an American motorsports executive who served from 1972 to 2000 as the chief executive officer (CEO) of NASCAR, the sanctioning body of t ...

, who was NASCAR's chairman from 1972 to 2003 and its president from 1972 to 2000, had died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

at the age of 74 at 1:00 PM EST. The American flag at Dover was immediately lowered to

half-staff Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a salut ...

and the death was announced over the public address system and on the telecast at lap 261 (right before the accident and confrontation between Busch and Stewart), where Mike Joy's somber tone cast a pall as he called Truex's first-ever Cup win.

Top 10 results

Notes

*The postponement due to rain was the third of the season, which matched the combined total for the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

through

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

seasons. * Catherine Bell was grand marshal of the race.

References

External links

Race results

Complete weather informationAutism Speaks websiteCharity auction
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Autism Speaks 400 Presented By Visa

Autism Speaks 400 The DuraMAX Drydene 400 presented by RelaDyne is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held annually at Dover Motor Speedway in Dover, Delaware in the spring. History The 2020 race was postponed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic and beca ...

Sociological and cultural aspects of autism NASCAR races at Dover Motor Speedway