2007 Auto Club 500

2007 Auto Club 500

Race details
Race 2 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Track map of Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway)
Date	February 25, 2007
Official name	Auto Club 500
Location	Auto Club Speedway Fontana, California, U.S.
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.0 mi (3.23 km)
Distance	250 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Temperatures up to 68.9 °F (20.5 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1]
Average speed	135.839 miles per hour (218.612 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	38.765
Most laps led
Driver	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing
Laps	133
Winner
No. 17	Matt Kenseth	Roush Fenway Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds

The 2007 Auto Club 500 was the second race in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was held on February 25, 2007 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.

This was the first Cup race to use unleaded gasoline. All cars ran on Sunoco 260 GTX, a 98-octane (R+M/2) unleaded racing fuel, which had been tested at lower tier series in late 2006 and approved for 2007.

In the final accident of the race, David Reutimann was spun out accidentally by Greg Biffle and went into the wall in the corner. The strike to the wall was among the hardest hits NASCAR had ever recorded. The in-car camera showed him dazed by the impact and struggling to get out, unable to respond to his crew initially. Although he suffered a bruised foot, he was otherwise uninjured, and competed in the Busch Series race in Mexico City the next weekend.^[2]

The race was won by Matt Kenseth, driving the No.17 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing. Kenseth also led the most laps in this race while Jeff Gordon won the pole.

Results

Pos	Start	Car #	Laps	Status	Driver	Manufacturer	Money won (in US Dollars)
1	25	17	250	Running	Matt Kenseth**	Ford	$342,326
2	1	24	250	Running	Jeff Gordon*	Chevrolet	$249,111
3	23	48	250	Running	Jimmie Johnson*	Chevrolet	$212,811
4	8	31	250	Running	Jeff Burton*	Chevrolet	$173,441
5	3	01	250	Running	Mark Martin*	Chevrolet	$171,708
6	6	07	250	Running	Clint Bowyer*	Chevrolet	$119,875
7	18	2	250	Running	Kurt Busch	Dodge	$140,583
8	11	20	250	Running	Tony Stewart*	Chevrolet	$148,161
9	12	5	250	Running	Kyle Busch*	Chevrolet	$109,525
10	15	83	250	Running	Brian Vickers	Toyota	$94,400
11	17	11	250	Running	Denny Hamlin	Chevrolet	$116,800
12	19	12	250	Running	Ryan Newman	Dodge	$128,275
13	29	18	250	Running	J.J. Yeley	Chevrolet	$124,958
14	26	13	250	Running	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	$90,450
15	13	16	250	Running	Greg Biffle*	Ford	$108,400
16	39	6	250	Running	David Ragan†	Ford	$130,075
17	4	29	250	Running	Kevin Harvick*	Chevrolet	$136,786
18	31	70	249	Running	Johnny Sauter	Chevrolet	$87,450
19	24	40	249	Running	David Stremme	Dodge	$90,850
20	22	15	249	Running	Paul Menard†	Chevrolet	$87,850
21	42	7	249	Running	Robby Gordon	Ford	$90,700
22	37	45	249	Running	Kyle Petty*	Dodge	$104,908
23	41	96	249	Running	Tony Raines	Chevrolet	$99,500
24	38	19	248	Running	Elliott Sadler	Dodge	$105,670
25	40	38	248	Running	David Gilliland	Ford	$114,314
26	9	42	248	Running	Juan Pablo Montoya†	Dodge	$120,475
27	34	88	248	Running	Ricky Rudd	Ford	$116,233
28	28	43	248	Running	Bobby Labonte	Dodge	$121,436
29	21	99	247	Running	Carl Edwards	Ford	$92,200
30	16	66	247	Running	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	$106,608
31	10	25	246	Running	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	$91,275
32	43	44	246	Running	Dale Jarrett	Toyota	$80,575
33	33	00	239	Accident	David Reutimann†	Toyota	$92,958
34	32	37	220	Electrical	John Andretti	Dodge	$80,150
35	27	14	198	Electrical	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet	$89,472
36	36	21	160	Engine	Ken Schrader	Ford	$98,989
37	35	26	134	Running	Jamie McMurray	Ford	$87,550
38	2	9	129	Engine	Kasey Kahne*	Dodge	$137,991
39	14	22	112	Engine	Dave Blaney	Toyota	$87,180
40	5	8	74	Engine	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	$124,433
41	30	10	16	Accident	Scott Riggs	Dodge	$86,900
42	7	1	14	Engine	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet	$105,155
43	20	41	7	Accident	Reed Sorenson	Dodge	$89,693

Time of Race: 3 hours, 36 minutes, 41 seconds.
Average Speed: 138.451 MPH.
Margin of Victory: 0.679 seconds.
Lead Changes: 28 among 12 drivers.
Cautions: Nine for 37 laps.
Cars finished on the lead lap: 17
Attendance: 87,000

Key

* Led one lap
** Led most laps
† Rookie of the Year Candidate

Did not qualify

The following eight drivers failed to qualify for the race: #55-Michael Waltrip, #4-Ward Burton, #36-Jeremy Mayfield, #84-A. J. Allmendinger, #72-Brandon Whitt, #49-Mike Bliss, #78-Kenny Wallace and #34-Kevin Lepage.

Withdrew

Scott Wimmer in the #33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, Regan Smith in the #39 Chevrolet for Ginn Racing, and Derrike Cope in the #74 McGlynn Racing Dodge all withdrew from the race.

Race Recap

Cautions

Lap of incident	Laps of caution	Cars causing the caution	Description
7	5	10, 26, 41	Scott Riggs got loose on the backstretch and was hit by Reed Sorenson and Jamie McMurray. Sorenson retired from the race (finishing 43rd), Riggs only briefly returned and McMurray later returned after being in the garage.
14	4	1	Martin Truex Jr. blew an engine, he was done and finished 42nd.
20	3	6	David Ragan spun coming onto the backstretch, but didn't hit anything and continued on.
54	5	14	Sterling Marlin spun on the backstretch, hitting the outside wall. He went behind the wall for repairs, later retiring due to electrical problems.
92	4	none	Debris (on the backstretch).
115	4	none	Debris (location unknown).
120	5	8	Dale Earnhardt, Jr., having just returned from the garage due to engine problems, lost it completely. He spun in turn 3 and 4 but didn't hit anything. He retired from the race, finishing 40th.
226	4	none	Debris (on the backstretch).
243	3	00, 16, 43, 88	Greg Biffle got into David Reutimann, sending him hard into the turn 3 wall. Reutimann's car briefly caught fire and was demolished. He was not injured but briefly was knocked unconscious! So he was out of the race and finished 33rd. Ricky Rudd and Bobby Labonte were also involved. The race was red-flagged for cleanup.

References

1. "Weather information for the 2007 Pepsi 500". Retrieved July 25, 2014.
2. Smith, Marty (March 5, 2007). "Reutimann's Crash Among Hardest Ever Recorded". ESPN. Retrieved July 24, 2014.