2007 Food City 500

February 2025 CUST Race 5 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season Food City 500 2007 03 25 2007 5 36 Food City 500 Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tennessee 0.533 0.857 504 268.632 432.321 500 266.5 428.89 Temperatures reaching up to 82.9 F C; average wind speed of 6 mph km/hWeather History for Bristol, Tennessee on March 25, 2007 http://www.almanac.com/weather/history/TN/Bristol/2007-03-25 The Old Farmer's Almanac 23 March 2014 81.969 mi/h Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports 15.295 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing 257 5 Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports Fox Broadcasting Company Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds 2007_Food_City_500_program_cover_and_logo.png 2007 Food City 500 program cover The 2007 Food City 500 was the fifth race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season, and was run on Sunday, March 25, 2007, at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee. This marked the debut of the Car of Tomorrow. Overview The race was historic as this marked the competitive debut of NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow vehicle template, which was tested on February 28 at this facility, as the test was extended due to an impending rainstorm and three sessions were held in one day, including a nighttime session. Because of the success in those tests, NASCAR considered making the CoT permanent in the 2008 season. Additionally, in all CoT events, two brands will switch models, as Dodge will use the Avenger and Chevrolet will utilize the Impala brand. The event was the last to be run on the original concrete surface as resurfacing started following the race, using specially designed resurfacers that will lay a new concrete surface for the Sharpie 500 event in August. In addition, the 36-degree turns will be altered to progressive banking. The race was also the last for the Top 35 teams in the 2006 Owner's points to be "locked in" for the race. Starting with the next race, the Goody's Cool Orange 500, the current standings was used. Jeff Gordon won the pole. Dale Jarrett, who had used a provisional the past four races, qualified 30th. A. J. Allmendinger and Jeremy Mayfield made their season debuts after failing to qualify for the previous four races (qualifying 43rd and 23rd, respectively). Failed to qualify The following drivers failed to qualify: Kevin Lepage (#37), David Reutimann (#00), Michael Waltrip (#55), Joe Nemechek (#13), Johnny Sauter (#70), and Paul Menard (#15) Withdrew: Chad Chaffin (#34) Of these drivers, Nemechek (who missed his first race in over five years when he was released by Travis Carter because of a lack of sponsorship in 2002) and possibly Sauter could still end up locked into the top-35 after this race, despite missing this race (both had made the previous four races, but drive for new teams with no previous owner points to fall back on). With the car owner points provision for failing to qualify, however, both the Ginn #13 and the Haas CNC #70 remained in the top 35 in owner points, which meant both teams were awarded exemptions for the next race. The other teams are guaranteed to be out of the top 35. The #37 team has now missed four of the first five points races, Reutimann and Menard have missed two races, and Waltrip has missed four straight races. Race Day The race, despite the introduction of the CoT, was a typical Bristol affair, with 15 caution flags for 90 laps. Tony Stewart, starting from the fourth position, looked to have the car to beat all day. However, during a caution with 211 laps left, Stewart experienced a fuel pressure malfunction, and would finish 35th. The lead was inherited by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin. Hamlin would hold the lead until with 16 laps to go, Kyle Busch stole the lead from the sophomore in the #5 Kellogg's Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. It appeared as though Kyle would sail off with his first win of 2007, but a spin by rookie David Ragan set up a green-white-checkered finish with Hendrick Motorsports holding the first two spots. Kyle Busch was second, with teammate Jeff Gordon behind him, and the Richard Childress Racing cars of Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick behind them. That would not last long however, as on the restart, Kyle spun the tires, allowing Jeff to inch under him; however, Jeff Burton steered his #31 Chevrolet to the outside of Jeff Gordon and attempted to chase down Kyle. Jeff Burton would clear Gordon just as Kyle Busch took the white flag, and would chase down Kyle during the final lap, narrowly losing by half-a-car length at the start-finish line. Busch's victory was a historic one in many ways. Not only it being the first victory for the Car of Tomorrow, but it was also the 156th win for Hendrick Motorsports, the 600th victory for Chevrolet in NASCAR, and the 61st victory for the Chevrolet Impala nameplate, the last one coming in 1964 when Wendell Scott became the first African-American to win in NASCAR. The first win for the Impala came in 1959 when Bob Welborn won in Daytona. In a post-race ceremony, former 12-time Bristol winner and current NASCAR on Fox commentator Darrell Waltrip, who dropped the green flag for this race, jack-hammered a piece of the original concrete to begin the reconstruction of the track. Race results Source:Race Results https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/2007_Food_City_500/W/ 2021-05-27 Racing-Reference en-US POS ST # DRIVER CAR LAPS MONEYSTATUSLEDPTS 1 20 5   Kyle Busch Chevrolet 504 179400running29190 2 29 31   Jeff Burton Chevrolet 504 161691running0170 3 1 24   Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 504 165586running6170 4 40 29   Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 504 154911running9165 5 11 16   Greg Biffle Ford 504 111900running0155 6 9 66   Jeff Green Chevrolet 504 124383running01507318  Dale Earnhardt, Jr.Chevrolet504131908running014681807  Clint BowyerChevrolet50498500running01429526  Jamie McMurrayFord504103700running0138101625  Casey MearsChevrolet504101750running0134113817  Matt KensethFord504132816running0130123299  Carl EdwardsFord50496500running0127133340  David StremmeDodge50489875running0124141011  Denny HamlinChevrolet504113750running177126152583  Brian VickersToyota50483500running112316648  Jimmie JohnsonChevrolet503138411running0115171949  Mike BlissDodge503103933running011218144  Ward BurtonChevrolet50285525running01091929  Kasey KahneDodge501130591running0106202645  Kyle PettyDodge501103533running0103212778  Kenny WallaceChevrolet50182525running0100222843  Bobby LabonteDodge501123011running09723722  Dave BlaneyToyota501106408running094241796  Tony RainesChevrolet50194525running091251201  Regan SmithChevrolet501103297running08826416  David RaganFord501122350running08527319  Elliott SadlerDodge500103420running587281521  Ken SchraderFord500104489running07929422  Kurt BuschDodge499118483running1081302114  Sterling MarlinChevrolet49984475running07331810  Scott RiggsDodge49890675running070323642  Juan Pablo MontoyaDodge497114700running06733347  Robby GordonFord49381025running064342336  Jeremy MayfieldToyota48680025running16635420  Tony StewartChevrolet479133911running25768363718  J.J. YeleyChevrolet475107833running96037131  Martin Truex, Jr.Chevrolet475106220running052382488  Ricky RuddFord453110858crash049392212  Ryan NewmanDodge449111850crash046404384  A.J. AllmendingerToyota41379700running043413538  David GillilandFord48106864crash040423044  Dale JarrettToyota4279565crash037433941  Reed SorensonDodge2186932crash034Failed to qualify or withdrewPOSNAMENBRSPONSORCAR44Kevin Lepage37Dodge45David Reutimann00Toyota46Michael Waltrip55Toyota47Joe Nemechek13Chevrolet48Johnny Sauter70Chevrolet49Paul Menard15ChevroletWDChad Chaffin34Dodge References External links Complete race results https://web.archive.org/web/20070418050610/http://jayski.com/stats/2007/results/5bms2007results.htm 2007-04-18 Championship standings https://web.archive.org/web/20070428214635/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/standings/5bms2007points.htm 2007-04-28 Nextel Cup Series 2007 2007 Kobalt Tools 500 2007 Goody's Cool Orange 500 Food City 500 Food City 500 Category:NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway Food City 500