The 2007 Subway 500, the 32nd race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season and the sixth race in the

Chase for the Nextel Cup The NASCAR playoffs is a championship Playoffs, playoff system used in NASCAR's three national series. The system was founded as 'The Chase for the Championship' on January 21, 2004, and was used exclusively in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2004 to ...

, ran on Sunday, October 21, 2007, at

Martinsville Speedway Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing short track in Ridgeway, Virginia, just south of Martinsville. At in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in s ...

, located on the outskirts of

Martinsville, Virginia Martinsville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,485. A community of both Southside and Southwest Virginia, it is the county seat of Henry County, although ...

. This race was the fifteenth of sixteen series races to use NASCAR's

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, which will be made permanent as of the 2008 season. Martinsville Speedway, September 2011 overview

Background

Qualifying

With a lap of 19.938 seconds at a speed of 94.974 miles per hour, seven time Martinsville winner

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 ...

took his sixth pole at the paperclip and 63rd of his career. Spring Martinsville winner

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, ...

started fourth.

South Boston South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...

natives

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes * ...

and

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 ...

both struggled in qualifying, having to start 18th and 36th respectively. Chase contender

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 ...

started 34th.

Race

The 2007 running of the

race Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

set a record for cautions in this race, with 21 yellow flags flying for 127 laps. The race was eventually decided under caution, when, during the green-white-checkers,

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 ...

spun in turn number 1, ending the single attempt at a racing finish. With his third consecutive win at Martinsville, Johnson became the first driver since

Rusty Wallace Russell William "Rusty" Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He has won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Championship. Over the course of his successful care ...

in 1994-1995 to win three straight races at the track.

Results

Points

Gordon's lead over Johnson in the standings was reduced to 58 points. (See 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup) for complete Chase standings). For 35th place, and the last guaranteed starting spot, the #22 team (driver

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 ...

for

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 ...

) extended its lead over the #21 team (

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...

for

Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Wood Brothers Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was formed in 1950 by eponymous brothers Glen Wood, Glen and Leonard Wood (racing), Leonard Wood. From 2006 to 200 ...

) to 142 point

References

{{2007 Nextel Cup 2007 in sports in Virginia, Subway 500

Subway 500 The Xfinity 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car racing, stock car race held at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. The race is traditionally held in the fall and has been run in every NASCAR Cup Series season, starting with the sixth e ...

NASCAR races at Martinsville Speedway October 2007 sports events in the United States