The 2007 UAW-Ford 500 was the 30th
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 fourth in the ten-race season-ending
Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on October 7, 2007 at
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...
in
Talladega, Alabama
Talladega (, also ) is the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately east of one of the state’s biggest cities, Birmingham.
...
, before a crowd of 155,000.
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 ...
of
Hendrick Motorsports won the 188-lap race starting from 34th position. His teammate
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, ...
finished second and
Dave Blaney
David Louis Blaney (born October 24, 1962) is a semi-retired American professional stock car racing driver. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR, competing in both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Ser ...
was third.
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 ...
debuted at a
superspeedway, but it was heavily criticized for its lack of visibility, and drivers raised fears of becoming airborne if hit.
Michael Waltrip won the
pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying but was passed by Blaney by the end of the first lap. The race lead changed 42 times, with
Denny Hamlin
James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...
leading the most laps out of anybody else (40). Johnson took the lead after driving on the outside lane on lap 183. Johnson led as the final lap began, but Gordon went to the outside of the track, and was
bump-drafted by
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 ...
, allowing him to claim his fifth victory of the season, his sixth at Talladega Superspeedway, the 80th of his career, and he took over from
Dale Earnhardt as the driver with the most
restrictor plate
A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles (e.g., motorcycles) for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to li ...
wins, twelve.
The result advanced Gordon to the
Drivers' Championship's lead, and his teammate Johnson (who led coming into the race) fell to second. The trio of
Clint Bowyer
Clinton Edward Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''.
He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2020, driving for Richard Childress Racing for eight yea ...
,
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
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Harvick is the 2014 Cup Series champion, ...
retained third through fifth.
Carl Edwards
Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. ...
,
Kurt Busch gained one position each, and
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
fell from fourth to eighth after being caught up in a
multi-car accident.
Chevrolet increased their unassailable lead in the
Manufacturers' Championship, while
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
,
Dodge and
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
continued to occupy the remaining three places with six races left in the season.
Background
![TalladegaSuperspeedway2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/TalladegaSuperspeedway2.jpg)
The UAW-Ford 500 was the 30th of 36 scheduled
stock car races
In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...
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 fourth in the ten-race season-ending
Chase for the Nextel Cup.
It was held on October 7, 2007 at
Talladega Superspeedway
Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...
in
Talladega, Alabama
Talladega (, also ) is the county seat of Talladega County, Alabama, United States. It was incorporated in 1835. At the 2020 census, the population was 15,861. Talladega is approximately east of one of the state’s biggest cities, Birmingham.
...
,
a
superspeedway that holds
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 ...
races.
The standard track at the speedway is a four-turn long superspeedway.
The track's turns are
banked at 33 degrees, while the
front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 16.5 degrees. The back stretch has a two-degree banking.
Before the race,
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, ...
led the
Drivers' Championship with 5,506
points, with teammate
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 ...
second and
Clint Bowyer
Clinton Edward Bowyer (born May 30, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and commentator for ''NASCAR on Fox''.
He competed in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2005 to 2020, driving for Richard Childress Racing for eight yea ...
third.
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
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Michael Harvick (born December 8, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 4 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.
Harvick is the 2014 Cup Series champion, ...
were fourth and fifth.
Kyle Busch
Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and part-time ...
,
Carl Edwards
Carl Michael Edwards II (born August 15, 1979) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. Prior to that, he drove the No. ...
,
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 ...
,
Kurt Busch,
Jeff Burton
Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...
,
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 ...
and
Denny Hamlin
James Dennis Alan Hamlin (born November 18, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver and NASCAR team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 11 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. He co-owns and ope ...
rounded out the top twelve drivers competing for the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup.
Chevrolet led the
Manufacturers' Championship with 232 points, sixty ahead of
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
in second.
Dodge with 147 points was 56 ahead of
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
in fourth.
Brian Vickers
Brian Lee Vickers (born October 24, 1983) is an American professional stock car and sports car racing driver. He last drove the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing as an interim driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for the injured ...
was the race's defending champion.
The UAW-Ford 500 marked the début of 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 ...
on a superspeedway.
Teams started by using a 31/32 inch
restrictor plate
A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles (e.g., motorcycles) for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to li ...
which was expected to increase horsepower by to . Furthermore, the wing angle was established at 10 degrees, and the wicker height was set at to add
drag. Further changes were determined by the performance of the cars if they reached an average speed of more than .
NASCAR mandated teams to run flat side plates instead of the a curved side plate, and some cars had to make minor adjustments to pass pre-race inspection. Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby stated NASCAR changed the wording of the regulations to provide clarity and to have a starting point in controlling top speeds, "Basically, it says we're going to start out with this size of a restrictor plate, and if everything proves out OK, we'll leave it, but the ultimate restrictor-plate size won't be determined until the conclusion of final Cup practice."
Drivers spent one and a half days in mid-September testing the Car of Tomorrow at the track.
There were two changes of driver heading into the race. It was announced that open-wheel driver
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve ( born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian professional racing driver and amateur musician who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship with Williams. In addition to Formula One (F1) he has competed in various o ...
would début in the No. 27
Bill Davis Racing
Bill Davis Racing was a racing team that participated in all three of NASCAR's top divisions until 2009.
The team had run Toyota-branded stock cars and trucks in the Camping World Truck Series (Toyota Tundra) since 2004 and Sprint Cup Series ( T ...
car five weeks earlier than planned.
[ Villeneuve planned to compete in the ARCA Re/Max and ]Craftsman Truck Series
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...
races at Talladega, but was granted approval to race in the Nextel Cup Series after testing of the Car of Tomorrow at the track. Villeneuve said he was delighted to debut in the Nextel Cup Series: "It's perfect. I'm really happy that NASCAR has given me its approval so quickly, and having run Talladega with the Cup drivers, I'm really looking forward to it. It's a huge step in my learning process." Mike Wallace
Myron Leon Wallace (May 9, 1918 – April 7, 2012) was an American journalist, game show host, actor, and media personality. He interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers during his seven-decade career. He was one of the original correspo ...
replaced his younger brother Kenny Wallace
Kenneth Lee Wallace (born August 23, 1963) is an American race car driver and former reporter for Fox NASCAR. He retired from NASCAR in 2015 after driving in the national series since 1988. In a career spanning twenty-five years in NASCAR, Wallace ...
in the No. 88 Robert Yates Racing
Yates Racing was an American stock car racing team that competed in NASCAR through the 2009 season, after which it merged into Richard Petty Motorsports. Previously known as Robert Yates Racing, the team was owned by Doug Yates, who has offici ...
car while the team's regular driver Ricky Rudd
Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was name ...
continued to recover from a shoulder injury
Shoulder problems including pain, are one of the more common reasons for physician visits for musculoskeletal symptoms. The shoulder is the most movable joint in the body. However, it is an unstable joint because of the range of motion allowed. ...
.
Practice and qualifying
Two 60-minute practice sessions were held on the Friday before Sunday's race. Stewart set the fastest time in the first practice session with a lap of 49.118 seconds. Jeff Gordon was second-fastest. Positions three through ten were filled by Ken Schrader
Kenneth Schrader (born May 29, 1955) is an American professional racing driver. He currently races on local dirt and asphalt tracks around the country while also competing part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 11 Ford for Fast Tra ...
, Robby Gordon
Robert Wesley Gordon (born January 2, 1969) is an American auto racing driver. He has raced in NASCAR, CART, the IndyCar Series, the Trans-Am Series, IMSA, IROC and the Dakar Rally. He is active in top-tier off road motorsports such as BITD, N ...
, Kyle Petty
Kyle Eugene Petty (born June 2, 1960) is an American former stock car racing driver, and current racing commentator. He is the son of racer Richard Petty, grandson of racer Lee Petty, and father of racer Adam Petty, who was killed in a crash d ...
, Kasey Kahne
Kasey Kenneth Kahne (; born April 10, 1980) is an American dirt track racing driver and former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in 2018, driving the No. 95 Dumont Jets/ Procore Technolo ...
, David Stremme
David Andrew Stremme (born June 19, 1977) is an American professional stock car racing driver.
Early career
Stremme was born in South Bend, Indiana. His racing roots can be traced back to Midwestern short track racing, where he followed in the f ...
, 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 ...
, Greg Biffle, and Burton. Hamiln was forbidden by NASCAR to partake in its closing minutes because he was observed bump-drafting other cars. Darby explained that Hamlin was the most aggressive driver out of all those cautioned by NASCAR. Later that day, Stewart led the second practice session with a lap of 49.347 seconds; Paul Menard
John Paul Christian Menard (born August 21, 1980) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing.
M ...
was 0.045 seconds slower in second. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray
James Christopher McMurray (born June 3, 1976), nicknamed Jamie Mac, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and currently an analyst for '' Fox NASCAR''. He raced in the NASCAR Cup Series on a full-time basis from 2003 to 2018 ...
, Truex, Burton, Jeff Green, Tony Raines
Floyd Anthony Raines (born April 14, 1964) is a retired American professional stock car racing driver. He is a former National Touring Series champion in the now defunct American Speed Association and 1999 Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Natio ...
, and Johnny Sauter
Jonathan Joseph "Johnny" Sauter (born May 1, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 47 Toyota Tundra for G2G Racing, the No. 13 Tundra for T ...
were in positions three through ten. After practice, drivers complained of hindered visibility at the front of the car, due to a larger cockpit and spoiler. They felt this had the potential to cause a multi-car accident, and were worried about the possibility of getting airborne if hit by others.
Fifty-one cars were entered in the qualifier on Saturday afternoon, according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, forty-three were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times. Toyotas took five of the first six spots, as Michael Waltrip clinched the fourth pole position of his career, and his first since the 2005 Pocono 500, with a time of 50.648 seconds. He was joined on the grid
Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to:
Common usage
* Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road
* Grid reference, used to define a location on a map
Arts, entertainment, and media
* News ...
's front row by Dave Blaney
David Louis Blaney (born October 24, 1962) is a semi-retired American professional stock car racing driver. Blaney was a successful sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR, competing in both the Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Ser ...
whose lap was 0.062 seconds slower. Vickers qualified in third. Fourth was Joe Nemechek
Joseph Frank Nemechek III (born September 26, 1963) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Nemechek has made the second mos ...
, and David Reutimann
Emil David Reutimann (born March 2, 1970) is an American professional stock car racing crew chief and former driver. A native of Zephyrhills, Florida, he has competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series, and Camping World ...
fifth. The next three spots on the grid was composed of drivers who were required to qualify on time or risk missing the race: Villeneuve, John Andretti
John Andrew Andretti (March 12, 1963January 30, 2020) was an American race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. He was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam ...
, and Bobby Labonte
Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 18 car. L ...
. Kahne and 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 ...
completed the top ten. Of the drivers in the chase, Stewart started 11th, Truex 13th, Hamlin 18th, and Johnson 19th. The eight drivers who failed to qualify were A. J. Allmendinger
Anthony James "A. J." Allmendinger (born December 16, 1981) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing.
Allmendinger's professi ...
, Boris Said
Boris Said III (born September 18, 1962) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang for MBM Motorsports and in the Trans-Am Series, driving the No. 2 ...
, Scott Riggs
Russell Scott Riggs (born January 1, 1971) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed in the 92 for RBR Enterprises in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Racing career Early career
Riggs was born in Bahama, Nort ...
, Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
He began his top-tier raci ...
, Jeremy Mayfield
Jeremy Allen Mayfield (born May 27, 1969) is an American stock car racing driver. He drove cars for the Sadler brothers, T.W. Taylor, Cale Yarborough, Michael Kranefuss, Roger Penske, Ray Evernham, Bill Davis, and Gene Haas. In 2009, he drove for ...
, Sterling Marlin
Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...
, Ward Burton
John Edward Burton III (born October 25, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has five career wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, including the 2002 Daytona 500 and the 2001 Southern 500. He is the older brothe ...
and Kevin Lepage
Kevin Paul Lepage (born June 26, 1962) is a retired American professional stock car racing driver, who last drove in NASCAR in 2014.
Racing career
Early career
Lepage spent the 1980s driving in both the Busch North series and the Vermont-based ...
. Kurt Busch and David Ragan
David Lee Ragan (born December 24, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing, and is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox on ...
's cars were found to be too low at the front during post-qualifying inspection, and were mandated to start at the back of the field. Afterward, Waltrip said, "I felt confident yesterday that we would make the race. Our qualifying lap was faster than what we ran in practice. If I only had to worry about my car, I would've been happier."
Qualifying results
Race
Live television coverage of the race on ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
began at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small p ...
. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were mostly sunny with the air temperature at ; a ten percent chance of rain was forecast. A moment of silence
A moment of silence (also referred to as a minute's silence or a one-minute silence) is a period of silent contemplation, prayer, reflection, or meditation. Similar to flying a flag at half-mast, a moment of silence is often a gesture of ...
was held in honor of former NASCAR president Bill France Jr. Frank Stark of Raceway Ministries began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation
An invocation (from the Latin verb ''invocare'' "to call on, invoke, to give") may take the form of:
*Supplication, prayer or spell.
*A form of possession.
*Command or conjuration.
* Self-identification with certain spirits.
These forms ...
. Miss University of Alabama
The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...
Stephanie Shelton performed the national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
, and Dave Sparks, an employee of the race's sponsor, commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, McMurray moved to the rear of the field because he changed his engine, and Casey Mears
Casey James Mears (born March 12, 1978) is an American professional off-road and stock car racing driver. He has raced in IndyCar, NASCAR's three national series including 15 seasons in the Cup Series, SCORE International, and the Stadium Super ...
did the same for illegal adjustments to his car.
The race started at 2:21 p.m. Waltrip led the pack on the run to the first corner, but Blaney got ahead of him to take the first position at the end of the first lap. On lap two, Labonte made it three-abreast going to the finish line, and took the lead, before losing it to Vickers on the following lap. Waltrip steered right to reclaim first place on lap four, and held it for the next lap when Labonte returned to the head of the pack. The sixth lap had Robby Gordon pushed by other cars to become the new leader, which he retained until Vickers returned to the front on lap nine. In the meantime, Hamlin moved from eighteenth to fourth. He took the lead for the first time with assistance from Andretti on lap 12. The first caution was necessitated on lap 17 as Andretti's right-front tire blew, removing one of his car's fenders, and scattering debris on the track. Most of the leaders, including Hamlin, made pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...
s for fuel, tyres and car adjustments. Petty led the field for one lap before making his stop on the 20th lap, and Johnson was the leader on the next lap before doing the same.
Hamlin led the field back up to speed at the lap-22 restart, and was followed by Kahne, Truex, and Sadler. Three laps later, Harvick provided Sadler assistance to claim the lead on the left lane. However, Sadler lost the lead to Hamlin on lap 27, as some competitors created three-abreast racing by forming a middle lane. The outside lane was used by Truex to gain first place on lap 30. Dale Earnhardt Jr. moved to the lead on the 31st lap. He maintained it for the next 27 laps as the first round of green flag
Green Flag or Green Flag Rescue, is a British roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider, which is part of the Direct Line Group. Formed in 1971, as the National Breakdown Recovery Club, as an alternative to the AA and RAC, it used ...
pit stops commenced. After the pit stops, Hamlin regained the lead. On lap 63, David Gilliland
David Leonard Gilliland (born April 1, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. Since 2017, he has operated David Gilliland Racing, a team that races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, ...
collided with Biffle at turn four, causing Biffle to spin sideways. Biffle's front-left tire went flat, and the front of Gilliland's vehicle sustained light damage. The second caution was waved to restore order. Some cars in the middle of the pack went down pit road to stop for fuel and tyres. Gilliland's mechanics made repairs to his car. The race restarted on lap 67 as Hamlin led Stewart and Kyle Busch in a single file line.
Waltrip returned to the lead on lap 88, as Reutimann got into second by joining the pack of cars on the bottom line. Reutimann passed Waltrip for first on the following lap. On lap 91, Earnhardt led once again by driving on the outside lane. Two laps later, Jeff Burton's engine failed, laying oil and debris on the track, and calling for the race's third caution as he returned to pit road to retire. Pit stops for fuel and tyres were made by several drivers during the caution. Waltrip led the restarted race on lap 96. He held it until Hamlin took it as the lead group of cars went three-abreast on lap 98. Stewart became the leader for the first time by driving on the outside lane one lap later. Three abreast-racing temporarily ended on lap 101, as the main pack of cars fell into a single line behind Stewart. Sadler took the lead with assistance from Kahne on the inside line on the 109th lap. Four laps later, Truex's engine blew, leaving oil on the track, and requiring a fourth caution.
Most drivers, including Sadler, elected to make pit stops for fuel and tyres under the caution period. Bowyer and Sadler each led for one lap before making their pit stops. Sadler returned to the lead for the restart on lap 116 as the pack formed into one single file. On lap 132, Villeneuve scraped the wall alongside the track, but he continued without significant damage. Labonte received assistance from Stewart to move past Sadler for the lead on the 133rd lap. On the following lap, Stewart took the lead for himself. Vickers passed Stewart on the outside to claim the first position on lap 135. Lap 136 saw the race's fifth caution: Earnhardt's laid oil on the track after his engine failed. Dale Jarrett
Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champi ...
attempted to avoid other cars, but he sustained damage to the front-right corner of his car, stopping on the apron
An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...
. Vickers and the rest of the leaders chose to make pit stops for fuel and tyres while the caution was out. Sauter won the race off pit road, and led at the lap 140 restart. Jeff Gordon was required to drive down pit road as soon as the race resumed for a team equipment penalty in his pit stall.
The main pack of cars again formed a single line as Stewart returned to first place on the 141st lap. On lap 145, a multi-car accident prompted the sixth caution. Labonte lost control of his car in turn four, and slid down into Kyle Busch. He then ricocheted into Robby Gordon, Reutimann slid as Ragan had no space to negotiate through and ran into him. Other drivers involved in the collision were McMurray, Kenseth, Menard, Stremme, Vickers and Hamlin. Most drivers, including Stewart, made pit stops for fuel to allow them to complete the race. Raines led the field at the restart on lap 150, On the next lap, Ryan Newman received assistance from his teammate Kurt Busch to take the lead. Stewart overtook Newman to retake first on lap 152. The seventh caution was waved one lap later for Schrader whose right-front tire blew, causing him to clout the turn four wall.
Stewart kept the lead at the lap-156 restart. Another six laps passed until the eighth caution was called for, when Petty's tire blew and he crashed into the turn three wall. As with the previous restart, Stewart maintained the lead on lap 166. Blaney and Johnson formed a bottom line of around seven cars in an attempt to gain on Stewart. However, the top five of Stewart, Newman, Kurt Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...
, and Kahne temporarily split from the rest of the pack by the 173rd lap. This was the case until the next lap when Stewart tried to block on both lanes, but Newman found a way past him to reclaim the lead. On lap 176, the ninth (and final) caution was waved as Waltrip's right-front tire blew in turn one. He clipped the rear of Sadler's car, and then clouted a wall; Sadler spun and collected Biffle and Raines. Newman led the field at the restart on lap 180 with Busch second and Montoya third. Stewart turned onto the bottom lane so he could try and establish a second line of cars This proved successful as the Hendrick Motorsports duo of Johnson and Jeff Gordon were on the bottom lane, and caught Newman on the 182nd lap.
Newman lost the lead to Johnson on the following lap. Stewart tried to pass Johnson on lap 184, but could not do so as no other driver steered to the middle lane to provide him with assistance. The right lane had Newman and his teammate Kurt Busch driving on it. The two caught Johnson and his teammate Jeff Gordon on the 185th lap. Stewart linked up with Busch and Newman the lap after, and went to the outside with Jeff Gordon and Johnson remaining on the inside. On the final lap, Jeff Gordon turned right, and got in between his teammate Johnson and Newman and Kurt Busch. As Johnson went to block his teammate, Stewart bump-drafted Jeff Gordon to give the latter the lead, which he held to clinch his fifth victory of the season, the 80th of his career, and a season sweep of victories at Talladega Superspeedway. He also took his sixth win at Talladega Superspeedway, and suppressed Dale Earnhardt to become the new all-time wins leader at restrictor-plate tracks with twelve. Johnson finished second, Blaney came third, Hamlin took fourth and Newman placed fifth. Mears, Kurt Busch, Stewart, Raines and Reed Sorenson
Bradley Reed Sorenson (born February 5, 1986) is an American professional stock car racing driver and spotter. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 27 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Premium Motorsports, the Nos. 74 ...
completed the top ten. The race had a total of nine cautions and 42 lead changes by 22 different drivers. Hamlin led five times for a total of 40 laps, more than any other competitor.[
]
Post-race comments
Jeff Gordon appeared in Victory Lane
The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings.
0–9
;1–2 finish: When two vehicles from the same team finish first and second in a race. Can be extended to 1–2–3 or 1–2–3– ...
after his victory lap
A victory lap (also lap of honor) is a term used in motorsports to describe an extra lap of the race track after the conclusion of a race. This lap, driven at reduced speed, allows the winning driver to celebrate their victory and gives the s ...
to celebrate his fifth win of the season in front of the crowd of 155,000 people; the win earned him $246,036.[ He called it "the hardest three-quarters of a race that I've ever had to run before," after qualifying was influential in determining his strategy for the race, "We avoided the wrecks and all of a sudden found ourselves in the top 15 with about 25–30 to go, and we held on there. What I don't understand is how I got by my teammate. I got a couple of pushes. When it got three-wide, I thought, 'This is my opportunity.' Luckily when I got high, and Jimmie tried to block me, the 20 was there and had nowhere to go. He's the one who pushed me to the front."] Johnson said his second-place finish was not something he was happy with since he was passed by his teammate, "To get that close and not win is a letdown. There must have been stuff going on behind me that I couldn't see, but Jeff could in his mirror, and he pulled up and got in front of the 20 tewartand was able to take advantage of that push." Third-placed Blaney revealed his team's objective was to preserve his car and return to the top 35 in points, "I didn't want to do anything to put it in harm's way. I was way more cautious than I probably wanted to be. I just got with the right group of cars there at the end."[
Reaction to the Car of Tomorrow's debut at a superspeedway was negative. Newman stated his feeling that the racing "not very good" as he observed the single file driving, which he felt was not racing to him, "I hope it wasn’t what NASCAR intended with this car. I’m not complaining about the car because the old car did relatively the same thing. We gotta do something where we can race a little bit. I mean I was driving around with one hand running 15th just riding, on and off the gas. It’s not racing. If we’re going to do that why don’t we just make it a 100-mile race and we’ll tear them all up in the first 50?” Jeff Gordon spoke of how boredom affected him during the race, and called for more work on the car to prevent single-file racing, "I think we would never race like that if we didn't have the closing rate that we have, and ]ith
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
the bump-drafting being so drastic that I think we need to make some adjustments here." Kenseth said his strategy was to run at the rear of the pack, and believed spectators did not want to see that, adding, "We rode around for about 350–400 miles and then sooner or later you’ve got to go race and try to get a partner up there and see how your car is gonna handle. When we decided to go up there, we got up to the third or fourth row on the inside and then the leader wrecked. When the leader wrecks, there’s not a whole lot you can do to miss it.”
Two days after the race, Chip Ganassi Racing was given penalties for Sorenson's car. The penalties for "actions detrimental to stock car racing"; "car, car parts, components and/or equipment used do not conform to NASCAR rules" and for the front of the car failing to meet the minimum ride height
Ride height or ground clearance is the amount of space between the base of an automobile tire and the lowest point of the automobile (typically the axle); or, more properly, to the shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and the lowest p ...
restrictions as imposed by the regulations for the Car of Tomorrow during post-race inspection, included a $25,000 fine for crew chief Jimmy Elledge, who was placed on probation until December 31, 2007. Team owner Chip Ganassi
Floyd Ganassi Jr. (born May 24, 1958) better known as Chip Ganassi, is a US businessman, former racing driver, current team owner and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He has been involved with the North American auto racing scen ...
and Sorenson were penalized 25 points in the Owners and Drivers' Championships. The result gave Jeff Gordon a six-point lead over teammate Johnson in the Drivers' Championship. Bowyer, Stewart and Harvick stayed in positions third through fifth. Edwards and Kurt Busch advanced to sixth and seventh, while Kyle Busch, Hamlin, and Truex completed out the top ten placings.[ In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet (with 271 points) increased its unassailable lead. Ford maintained second with 175 points, Dodge stayed in third with 149 points, and Toyota retained fourth with 97 points with six races left in the season.] The race took three hours, 29 minutes and 11 seconds to complete, and the margin of victory was 0.066 seconds.
Race results
Standings after the race
;Drivers' Championship standings
;Manufacturers' Championship standings
* Note: Only the top twelve positions are included for the driver standings. These drivers qualified for the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Uaw-Ford 500
UAW-Ford 500
The YellaWood 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, hosting an event in the NASCAR playoffs. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with tapered spacers, the othe ...
UAW-Ford 500
The YellaWood 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, hosting an event in the NASCAR playoffs. The race is one of four NASCAR Cup Series races currently run with tapered spacers, the othe ...
NASCAR races at Talladega Superspeedway
October 2007 sports events in the United States