The 2007 Kobalt Tools 500 was the fourth

stock car race Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It or ...

of the

2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series The 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series was the 59th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 36th modern-era Cup series. Beginning on February 10 at Daytona International Speedway with the Budweiser Shootout, the seas ...

and the 48th iteration of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...

. The race was held on Sunday, March 18th, 2007, before an audience of 105,000 in

Hampton, Georgia Hampton is a city in southwestern Henry County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,987, up from 3,857 at the 2000 census. By 2018 the estimated population was 7,922. "Hampton" mailing addresses outside t ...

at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 325 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver

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, ...

would make a late-race charge for the lead, completing a final pass for the lead with three laps left in the race to take his 25th career

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

victory, his second victory of the season, and his second consecutive victory. To fill out the top three,

Joe Gibbs Racing Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization owned and operated by former Washington Redskins (today the Washington Commanders) coach Joe Gibbs, which first started racing on the NASCAR circuit in 1991. His ...

driver

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 ...

and Roush Racing driver

Matt Kenseth Matthew Roy Kenseth (born March 10, 1972) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He drives the No. 8 car in the Superstar Racing Experience. (SRX) Kenseth started racing on several short tracks in Wisconsin and won track cha ...

would finish second and third, respectively. This is also the final race to run the generation 4 NASCARs.

Background

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a track in

, 20 miles (32 km) south of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 111,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) standard oval. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two 1.5-mile (2.4 km) ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval. The project made the track one of the fastest on the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

circuit.

Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver.

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held on Friday, March 16, at 3:30 PM EST. The session would last for one hour and 30 minutes. Kurt Busch, driving for

Penske Racing South Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organiza ...

, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.165 and an average speed of .

Second practice

The second practice session was held on Saturday, March 17, at 10:00 AM EST. The session would last for 50 minutes.

, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.297 and an average speed of

Final practice

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, March 17, at 1:20 PM EST. The session would last for one hour. Kurt Busch, driving for

, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.371 and an average speed of .

Qualifying

Qualifying was held on Friday, March 9, at 6:10 PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. While positions 1-42 would be determined by qualifying speed, the top 35 teams in owner's points would be assured that they would earn a spot in the field if they had managed to make an effort to qualify. The remaining seven positions from positions 36-42 would be assigned to those drivers with the fastest qualifying speeds whose car owners are not among the top 35. The final starting position, position 43, can be utilized by a car owner whose driver is a current or past NASCAR Nextel Cup champion who participated as a driver during the current of previous season and was entered in the event for that owner in that car prior to the entry deadline. In the case that iff there was more than one series champion vying for the position, it would be given to the most recent series champion. If the final provisional starting position is not filled by a current or past series champion, it will be assigned to the next eligible car owner according to qualifying results. Ryan Newman, driving for

, would win the pole, setting a time of 28.707 and an average speed of . Eight drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Race results

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings * Note: Only the first 12 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

{{NASCAR on Fox Kobalt Tools 500 Kobalt Tools 500 NASCAR races at Atlanta Motor Speedway March 2007 sports events in the United States