2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series

It was officially announced on January 22 at the annual NASCAR Media Tour in Charlotte, North Carolina that two changes were made for the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup.

The first is that wins became more important. The driver who finishes first now received 185 points instead of 180. Including the five bonus points for leading a lap and the possible five bonus points for leading the most laps, a driver could now get a maximum of 195 points for winning a race.

The other changes involved the actual Chase. The Top 12 drivers after the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 automatically qualified for the 2007 Chase. Additionally, each driver had their points reset to 5,000, plus ten for each win during the first 26 races. However, when the season ended, only the Top 10 drivers would be honored at the annual banquet in New York City at the Waldorf-Astoria.

NASCAR introduced a new car style known as the "Car of Tomorrow" for use in sixteen races in 2007. This car was the result of a design program that started after the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500. It was intended to offer improvements in safety, performance, competition, and cost efficiency. Plans for a partial schedule in 2008 were expanded to full usage after race results and owner feedback led to acceptance of the new car. Some drivers, however, offered criticism over the decision, thinking that the new design led to boring, uncompetitive races.

AT&T and BellSouth's Cingular brand, sponsor of Richard Childress Racing's No. 31 car, was legally renamed AT&T upon BellSouth acquisition by AT&T, and has been phased out. This is not allowed under the grandfather clause in the original sponsorship agreement between the former Nextel Communications (now Sprint Nextel) with NASCAR and on March 16, it was announced that AT&T had filed suit in Atlanta Federal Court seeking to overturn said grandfather clause because of this and allow AT&T decals on the car. A judge ruled that RCR was allowed to put AT&T decals on the car on May 18, and the decals made their debut the following night in the Nextel All-Star Challenge. NASCAR originally had a say when the judge ruled in RCR's favor, but that was later rescinded.

The legal wrangling continued as on June 17, NASCAR countersued AT&T for $100 million (US). NASCAR won the appeal on August 13, and eleven days later at the Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR ordered AT&T logos removed from the No. 31 car, and AT&T filed for an injunction to get the decals back on. Sprint Nextel, AT&T, and NASCAR settled their differences on September 7, and the AT&T logos were placed back on Burton's ride in time for the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. These features would remain on the car's body for the rest of the season and into 2008, but RCR afterwards found a new sponsor to replace AT&T. When Caterpillar signed on for the 2009 season, the team agreed to have them as the No. 31's main sponsor.

Motorola is an associate sponsor on Robby Gordon's No. 7 car. When his self-owned team, however, tried to put a Motorola decal on the car for the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 18, NASCAR ruled that this was in breach of the exclusivity clause with Sprint Nextel (even though Nextel uses Motorola phones) because NASCAR noticed this deal was part of Cellco Partnership (a joint partnership of Verizon and Vodafone better known as the trade name Verizon Wireless), which (legally) sponsored his Busch Series car. NASCAR and Sprint later relented as it was decided to allow Motorola's Audio Products Division to be the main sponsor.

Another controversy surrounded Shell and Sunoco. Sunoco does exclusively supply gasoline to NASCAR, yet RCR signed Shell and their Pennzoil brand to the No. 29 car driven by Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick. During the 500, the car had large Shell decals and large Shell logos on uniforms worn by Harvick and his team. Shell logos were ordered to be smaller for the following week's race at Auto Club. This was likely done at Sunoco's request since a rival gasoline company sponsored a car winning NASCAR's premier event, having taken away publicity from an official sponsor.[2]

The other concerned the part-time schedule being undertaken by Mark Martin. Through the spring Atlanta race, Martin held the points lead. Because he had planned a part-time schedule in the No. 01 Ginn Racing U.S. Army ride, Martin reiterated that he would not run in all 36 races on the circuit despite finishing second in the Daytona 500. He relinquished the lead by passing on the spring races at Bristol and Martinsville. Rookie drivers Regan Smith and Aric Almirola drove the No. 01 car in those races, as owner points had that car an exempt team for Bristol (from 2006) and Martinsville. However, Martin extended his schedule to include a few more points races, but did not race the full season.

On May 10, it was announced that Dale Earnhardt Jr. would be leaving the No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet following the conclusion of the season as he could not get a contract extension with Dale Earnhardt, Inc., the driving team his father founded and run by his stepmother, Teresa Earnhardt. Speculation according to WFXT in Boston had him going to Richard Childress Racing where the "unretirement" of the No. 3 car that his father drove to seven then-Winston Cup championships and the 1998 Daytona 500 would have happened. Other rumors had him going to Joe Gibbs Racing, or had him starting a Nextel Cup team with the organization he owns that fields Busch Series cars, JR Motorsports. However, at a press conference on June 13, Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced a five-year deal to join Hendrick Motorsports. He replaced Kyle Busch, who at the time drove the No. 5 Chevrolet; he subsequently joined Joe Gibbs Racing to replace J. J. Yeley in the No. 18 Toyota. Busch was replaced in the No. 5 by Casey Mears. On September 19, it was announced that Jr. had signed on to drive Hendrick's new No. 88 Mountain Dew AMP/National Guard Chevrolet.[3] Junior's crew chief at DEI, Tony Eury Jr. will make the move with him, leaving his position after the fall race at Talladega.

Before the season-opening Daytona 500, NASCAR team owner Jack Roush announced the selloff of 50% of his team, Roush Racing to the Fenway Sports Group, who owns the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team. The newly formed alliance between two differing sports markets involved the team name to change to Roush Fenway Racing. However, this was only the beginning of what was referred to as "Merger mania".

The week before the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard became the week NASCAR was all shaken up in the ownership boxes. On July 24, Dale Earnhardt, Inc. merged with Ginn Racing, inheriting the No. 01 US Army ride of Mark Martin and Aric Almirola, putting the points earned by the No. 14 team points earned to Paul Menard's No. 15 team and the closure of the No. 13 team while releasing Sterling Marlin and Joe Nemechek. The next day, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing, a regular in the Champ Car World Series, returned after a prolonged absence by buying Robert Yates Racing NASCAR team, and renamed the combined operation Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing. With the announced retirement of Robert Yates, however, the merger was called off and the team was named Yates Racing with Robert's son Doug Yates at the helm. Another merger was announced on August 6 when former crew chief Ray Evernham announced the merger of his team, Evernham Motorsports, with George N. Gillett Jr., owner of the National Hockey League team the Montreal Canadiens and co-owner of the English Premier League soccer team Liverpool. The merger was similar to the Roush Fenway merger as the new team was called Gillett Evernham Motorsports. During the weekend of the Sharp AQUOS 500, Hall of Fame Racing owners Troy Aikman and Roger Staubach, former football players for the Dallas Cowboys, announced their merger with Major League Baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks CEO Jeff Moorad and COO Tom Garfinkel.[4] Michael Waltrip Racing Holdings LLC, a company created as a 50–50 partnership between Robert Kauffman and Michael Waltrip, was announced the weekend of the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Waltrip, a two-time Daytona 500 winner, originally formed MWR in 1996. Cal Wells, himself a former owner in NASCAR was named the team's chief executive officer.

During the season rumors began to surface that Joe Gibbs Racing, owned by then-Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, would be switching to the new manufacturer Toyota for the 2008 season. This switch would be significant for several reasons, one of them being that JGR had been allied with General Motors since its inception in 1992, first with Chevrolet then beginning in 1997 with Pontiac, then switched back to Chevrolet in 2003, a year before Pontiac left NASCAR. The switch to Toyota would benefit the manufacturer itself, as they would be allied with a championship-caliber team. As JGR loans equipment to Hall of Fame Racing, the team confirmed that they would also switch to Toyota if JGR did so. On September 5, the rumors were confirmed.

During the race weekend for the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Michael Waltrip Racing held a press conference. During the announcement, besides the announcement of a new part-owner on Robert Kaufmann and Cal Wells being named CEO, it was revealed to the racing world that 1999 Cup champion and three-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett would retire from full-time driving following the end of the 2007 season. In 2008, Jarrett drove in the first five points races, then handed the No. 44 Toyota to David Reutimann for the Goody's Cool Orange 500. As Jarrett was the 1999 champion, entering the first five races, regardless of his previous standings, guaranteed his No. 44 in the field, as well as driving in the Budweiser Shootout and the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

List of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series teams in 2007 (45 full-time).

• The 36 team usually driven by Jeremy Mayfield ran Infineon as the 23 with Butch Leitzinger behind the wheel. Mayfield's sponsor, 360 OTC, had an agreement with Bill Davis Racing and Caterpillar Inc. for the 36 to run as 23 with Leitzinger, because California is the home state of Caterpillar. The 36 would return the following race.

Bold - Pole position awarded by time. Italics - Pole position set by owner's points standings. * – Most laps led.

For full top 12 drivers standings, please see 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup.

All races were held in the United States.

This non-points race, which involves the previous season's pole winners and past Shootout winners, was held on Saturday, February 10, at Daytona International Speedway officially kicking off Speedweeks. Two-time series champion Tony Stewart took the checkered flag, but as he did so, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made contact with the back bumper of Elliott Sadler, causing a five-car wreck less than 1000 feet from the start/finish line.

One of the biggest headlines for the Shootout was that it would be the first Nextel Cup race to feature Toyota, and in the draw for starting spots, Dale Jarrett, a Toyota driver, drew the pole position. However, he slid to the back within four laps of the start, and stayed there for most of the race. Brian Vickers, the other Toyota driver in the event, started fourth, and though he went back-and-forth through the field, finished eighth.

Qualifying for the front row of the 2007 Daytona 500 took place on February 11. Robert Yates Racing swept the front row with the No. 38 Ford Fusion of David Gilliland winning the pole and the No. 88 of teammate Ricky Rudd finishing second.

Rule-breaking tactics, however, swirled around the qualifying. Five teams were slapped with suspensions, fines and points deductions for illegal modifications. The hardest hit was Michael Waltrip, whose No. 55 team was the most harshly punished, having their race director and crew chief suspended indefinitely, fined $100,000 (US) and the docking of 100 owners and drivers points for a gelatin-like substance found in the intake manifold during inspections before the qualifying, and in a replacement manifold after qualifying. The substance was revealed by NASCAR, during the announcement of the penalties, to be an unspecified oxygenate compound that was blended with the fuel, possibly in an attempt to defeat the effect of the restrictor plate. Waltrip fired said crew chief for the unauthorized change that neither he or anyone else authorized. The No. 17 Matt Kenseth team of Roush Racing and the No. 9 Kasey Kahne team from Evernham Motorsports had their crew chiefs suspended for the first four races, fined $50,000 and had 50 driver and owner points taken away for illegal modifications discovered in post-qualifying inspections. All three teams also had their qualifying times for the pole positions disqualified, and Waltrip's original car was impounded by NASCAR, forcing him to go to a back-up auto for the first qualifying race.

Additionally, two other Evernham teams – the No. 10 of Scott Riggs and the No. 19 of Elliott Sadler – had their crew chiefs suspended for the first two races of the season, slapped with $25,000 fines and deductions of 25 owner and driver points. Unlike the other three teams, their times were allowed to stand and kept their starting positions for the qualifying doubleheader as those violations were found in pre-qualifying inspections.

Another story during Speedweeks was that 1966 Rookie of the Year James Hylton would attempt to make his first cup race since 1993 in a car prepared by Richard Childress Racing.

Gilliland sat on the pole for the first of the Gatorade Duel races on February 15, which establishes the starting order for the Super Bowl of NASCAR Racing, while Rudd was on the point for the second race, which both aired on Speed as part of the new NASCAR TV package.

The race was hotly contested by many, with many stories abound. From Toyota attempting to emotionally rebound after Michael Waltrip's loss of not only his crew chief and VP of Competition, but also losing 100 driver and owner points. Other stories were Jeff Gordon's disqualification after winning his Gatorade Duel, and Tony Stewart's Speedweeks domination, attempting to win the Bud Shootout, the Duel, and the Daytona 500. The first few laps were incident free except for a spin by road racing veteran Boris Said. The race was dominated by Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch. Both combined for a total of 130 of 200 laps. However, with just under a quarter of the laps to go, Tony got loose in Turn 4 while Busch was unable to avoid Stewart and turned him into the wall in a crash that looked like the one that killed Dale Earnhardt in 2001, exactly six years to that date. From that point on, it was a game of survival of the fastest as defending race winner Jimmie Johnson, outside polesitter Ricky Rudd, and fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. were taken out in incidents throughout the day. A red flag was brought out in a crash involving Jamie McMurray, Rudd, and Junior. At the time of the flag, Mark Martin, who had not won the Great American Race in 22 tries, was in the lead with his ex-teammates behind him. On the restart, everyone attempted to pass Mark on the low line, but he successfully blocked. However, charging up the outside was Kevin Harvick who came from 8th with half a lap to go to take the lead heading into the fourth turn. However, the Big One would finally occur on the last lap as Kyle Busch hit the apron and spun, causing a chain reaction crash. Despite the incidents, NASCAR officials did not freeze the field and let Harvick and Martin duke it out in the last hundred yards. In one of the closest 500s since the inaugural in 1959, Kevin Harvick passed Mark Martin to the stripe by 0.020 seconds, becoming the 31st different winner of the Great American Race.

The Auto Club 500, NASCAR's second points race of the season, and what many people consider "the first real race of the season" (without the restrictor plates run at Daytona) was held at California Speedway on February 25. This race was the first run in Nextel Cup series history with unleaded gasoline, as all three major series began running Sunoco 260 GT Plus, a 104-octane (R+M/2) unleaded racing fuel, starting with this race. Jeff Gordon won his first pole of the season. Matt Kenseth swept the Busch and Cup Series races at Fontana, and Toyota gained its first top-10 in the Nextel Cup Series.

The UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, NASCAR's third race of the season, was held at the newly refurbished Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 11. Kasey Kahne won the pole. This would be the final race with the UAW-DaimlerChrysler name; starting in 2008 after Daimler Benz sold off Chrysler, the race would be renamed the UAW-Dodge 400. This race marked the first time since the 1965 Firecracker 400 that the top 10 starters finished outside the top 10.

The fourth race of the season, the Kobalt Tools 500, was held at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 18. Ryan Newman won the pole, his seventh at Atlanta, but started 43rd after blowing an engine in Saturday practice.

The fifth race of the season, the Food City 500, was held at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 25. the last before the fabled high banks were repaved with new concrete for the August race under the lights with progressive banking.

Jeff Gordon won the first CoT Pole Position in NASCAR history, but this race was the first race without Joe Nemechek participating in five years as he failed to qualify on speed as his No. 13 Ginn Racing team missed the show. However, Jeremy Mayfield (Bill Davis Racing No. 36) and A. J. Allmendinger (Team Red Bull No. 84) both started their first race of the season.

The Goody's Cool Orange 500, the sixth race of the season was held at Martinsville Speedway on April 1, as this race was the second race to feature the Car of Tomorrow and the first of the season to use the 2007 owners' points to lock in the top 35 teams for qualification. Denny Hamlin won the pole for this race, and Jimmie Johnson was the race winner.

The Samsung 500, the seventh race of the season was held at Texas Motor Speedway on April 15. Qualifying was cancelled due to a wild tornado outbreak and the field was set by current owners' points, as a result Jeff Gordon started from the pole. He finished a respectable fourth place, but the race was won on turn 2 of the final lap by Jeff Burton, who overtook Matt Kenseth for the lead in a classy finish.

The eighth race of the season, the Subway Fresh Fit 500, was held at Phoenix International Raceway on April 21. This was the third race to feature the Car of Tomorrow, as well as the season's first night race. Jeff Gordon captured his third pole of the season, tying him for fourth on the all-time poles list with Darrell Waltrip. Near the end of the race, he pulled away from Tony Stewart, winning the race and tying Dale Earnhardt's 76 wins. In the eyes of his son, Jeff Gordon pulled a class act and drove a "Polish Victory Lap" with the flag of his father's famous No. 3, but fans of "The Intimidator" threw cans and bottles of beer on the track (mainly Earnhardt Jr.'s sponsor Budweiser), and were criticized by the driver of the No. 8 car in the post-race news conference. Tony Stewart, who was leading when Jeff Gordon passed him following a caution was so irate about the outcome (even going as far to criticize that NASCAR "fixed" races much like professional wrestling on his satellite radio show later that week) blew off the mandatory appearance at the post-race media session, and was fined $10,000 (US) for doing so.

The Aaron's 499, the ninth race of the season, was held at Talladega Superspeedway on April 29.

The tenth race of the season, the Crown Royal presents the Jim Stewart 400, was scheduled to be held at Richmond International Raceway on May 5. This was the fourth race to feature the Car of Tomorrow. The race was named after Jim Stewart of Houma, Louisiana who won an essay contest during the festivities leading up to the Daytona 500 sponsored by Crown Royal. The contest was so popular, it was repeated for the next four races at the track. Jeff Gordon captured his third straight pole by .01-second over second-place qualifier Carl Edwards. Dale Jarrett failed to qualify and missed his first Nextel Cup Race since the 1994 fall race at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

The Dodge Avenger 500, NASCAR's eleventh race of the season, was held at Darlington Raceway on May 13. This was the fifth race to feature the Car of Tomorrow. Clint Bowyer won his first career pole when he earned the pole position in qualifying.

The race marked the 50th anniversary of the first Rebel 300, run on Confederate Memorial Day weekend. Ironically, like the inaugural Rebel exactly 50 years to the date of the rescheduled date, the 51st running of the "Rebel" was postponed because of rain itself. Unlike 1957, when Darlington Raceway president Bob Colvin was fined for racing on Sunday, a violation of South Carolina Blue laws at that time, current regulations permit Sunday racing provided (1) the race was scheduled for greater than 250 miles or (2) if the race start was later than 1:30 pm. The 501.367-mile distance made the race legal on Sunday.

(The September 1983 Busch Series race at Darlington, held on a Sunday as the Southern 500 was held on Monday, was 250 miles because of the law. All other races at the track have been 200 miles on Friday or Saturday.)

Despite radiator problems, Jeff Gordon won his second Rebel, his first since 1996, when it was a 400-mile race.

This was also the first daytime race at Darlington since the Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 in March 2004.

The 23rd annual Nextel Open and All-Star Challenge, the second and final non-points event of the season, was held at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 19. in the first rule changes since the "Survivor" theme was eliminated from the event (then known as The Winston) after the 2003 season. Matt Kenseth earned the pole for the main event, while Martin Truex Jr. and Johnny Sauter overtook a fading pole sitter Carl Edwards to win the Nextel Open, and Kenny Wallace (a/k/a "Herman the German") voted in by the fans, but it was Kevin Harvick in the end winning the final quarter over defending champion Jimmie Johnson and the $1 million first prize.

The Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR's twelfth Nextel Cup race of the season, was held at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 27. This is the longest race run by the Cup Series (600 miles) and marks the official one-third mark of the season. Penske Racing South teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch led a group of three Dodges to the green flag. One of the main factors of the 600 is not only the physical condition of the drivers, but the legend that Lowe's has of being an ever changing racetrack.

The "first phase" of the 600 was wild and crazy, with two cautions involving 21 cars in all. Fox commentator Darrell Waltrip even said that the race had a higher attrition rate than Bristol.The first wreck saw five-time Lowe's winner Jimmie Johnson lose his tire tread and start a multi-car pileup behind him. The second crash was more spectacular. The car of Tony Raines got loose and turned the car of Jeff Gordon into the grass. As Gordon came back across the track, the oncoming car of A. J. Allmendinger hit the right side door, jacking Gordon's car off the ground. Penske's dominance of the day would end in the night with a crash by Kurt Busch and a blown engine from Newman. Toyota, who had been struggling through the first third of the season, had only led a total of 15 laps. However, not only did both of Team Red Bull's cars make the race, but Brian Vickers carried the day for the manufacturer, leading 72 laps before power steering problems hit, but rallied for the marquee's first top five in Nextel Cup competition. Somehow, in the end, the longest race of the season would come down to who could go the longest on 18¾ gallons of fuel. Casey Mears, who had not won in 154 previous attempts, snapped his losing streak and joined teammate Jeff Gordon as well as Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and David Pearson on the list of drivers who earned their first Cup win in the Coke 600. Mears went straight to Victory Lane after running out of fuel after crossing the finish line. The race also saw Kyle Petty earn his first top 5 since the MBNA 400 at Dover in 1997.

The Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa, the thirteenth race of the season, was held at Dover International Speedway on June 4. Ryan Newman won his second consecutive pole. This was the sixth race to feature the Car of Tomorrow, as well as the last race broadcast by Fox in 2007. The race also served as the halfway mark for the battle for entry into the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup. This race also marked the first time since Daytona that Michael Waltrip raced on Sunday, or because of the rainout, a Monday. In a twist of irony, Waltrip's teammate, David Reutimann, who had out-qualified or bumped his boss from the field many times before, failed to qualify for his second consecutive race. Martin Truex Jr. won his first NASCAR Nextel Cup race, leading 216 of the 400 laps.

The Pocono 500, the fourteenth race of the season, was held at Pocono Raceway on June 10. Ryan Newman earned his third consecutive Budweiser Pole Award. In a delayed and postponed at lap 106 race, Jeff Gordon won his third Pocono 500.

The Citizens Bank 400, the fifteenth race of the season, was held at Michigan International Speedway on June 17. J. J. Yeley won his first career pole, and Carl Edwards won his first race in 52 races. The race also saw Michael Waltrip, who has had a bad year since the Daytona qualifying fiasco, finish tenth in his No. 55 Toyota.

The Toyota/Save Mart 350, NASCAR's sixteenth race of the season was held at Infineon Raceway on June 24. This was the seventh race to feature the Car of Tomorrow, and the first road course race of 2007. For the first time in two years, Jamie McMurray won the pole position.

Much of the race was dominated by road course expert Robby Gordon, whose self-owned No. 7 Ford dominated the field, leading 48 laps. Robby hoped to win his first race since 2003 (also on a road course). However, through all the twists and turns, fuel mileage came into play after Joe Nemechek spun. Gordon's hopes were dashed when he was forced to make a pit stop for fuel. After his stop, the lead was given to McMurray, who had not won since 2002. However, McMurray would be chased by former-F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Montoya passed McMurray (who was later forced to pit for a splash of fuel) with a few laps remaining and held off Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick to become the first Colombian born driver (and the third not to have been born in the USA) to win in a NASCAR Cup Series event. The win was even bigger for Montoya's car owner, Chip Ganassi who had struggled in previous years but would finally taste victory for the first time since 2002.

The Lenox Industrial Tools 300, the seventeenth race of the season and the eighth to feature the Car of Tomorrow, was held at New Hampshire International Speedway on July 1. Dave Blaney won the pole, his second career pole and the first for Toyota in Nextel Cup.