The 2007 Dodge Dealers 400 was the twenty-eighth stock car race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the second in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on September 23, 2007, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware before a crowd of 137,000. Roush Fenway Racing driver Carl Edwards won the 400-lap race starting from fifteenth position. His teammate Greg Biffle finished second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. took third.
Heading into the race, Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon were tied for the lead of the Drivers' Championship. Although Johnson won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying, he was passed by Denny Hamlin on the second lap. Hamlin led for the next 40 laps until Matt Kenseth passed him. Hamlin retook it on the 57th lap and Kurt Busch led from laps 85 to 98 after a pit stop cycle. Kenseth returned to the lead on lap 99, and kept the position for a race-high 169 laps. On lap 207, Edwards took the lead for the first time, and maintained it until Mark Martin overtook him 21 laps later. Edwards did not reclaim the first place until he moved past his teammate Kenseth in the final-third of the race and kept it until Kenseth led six laps before his engine failed. This enabled Edwards to return to the lead, which he held through two red flag periods to clear debris and fluids after two separate accidents to win the race. There were thirteen cautions and fourteen lead changes by nine drivers during the course of the race.
Edwards' victory was his third of the season, the seventh of his career, and the 100th for Roush Fenway Racing. However, Edwards was issued a 25-point penalty after the right-rear of his vehicle was found to be too low in post-race inspection, and it was upheld in a subsequent appeal to the National Stock Car Racing Commission. After the race Jeff Gordon became the new leader of the Drivers' Championship with Tony Stewart advancing to second and Johnson dropping to third. In the Manufacturers' Championship Chevrolet maintained a 57-point lead over Ford. Dodge and Toyota retained third and fourth with eight races left in the season.
Background
The Dodge Dealers 400 was the 28th of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the second in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on September 23, 2007, at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, a short tracks that holds NASCAR races. NASCAR makes use of the track's standard configuration, a four-turn short track oval. Its turns are banked at twenty-four degrees; both the front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the backstretch are banked at nine degrees.
Before the race, Jimmie Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon were tied for the lead in the Drivers' Championship on 5,210 points, with Tony Stewart in third. Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch were fourth and fifth, and Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Kurt Busch rounded out the top twelve drivers competing for the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup. Chevrolet led the Manufacturers' Championship with 215 points; Ford was second with 153 points. Dodge was third with 139 points, and Toyota a further 54 behind in fourth. Burton was the race's defending champion.
Former V8 Supercars champion and Busch Series driver Marcos Ambrose was scheduled to drive for Robby Gordon Motorsports after team owner Robby Gordon offered him the seat to make up for an incident between the two in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 Busch Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. However, Ambrose withdrew from the race as his wife Sonja was due to give birth to their second child intermittently. Three part-time season drivers attempted to qualify for the Dover International Speedway round: Sam Hornish Jr. for Penske Racing South, Scott Wimmer in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing vehicle, and Kenny Wallace who filled in for the injured Ricky Rudd in the No. 88 Robert Yates Racing car.
Practice and qualification Three practice sessions were held before the Sunday race: one on Friday and two on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes, the second 50 minutes and the third 60 minutes. In the first practice session, Johnson was fastest with a lap of 23.423 seconds. Hamlin was 0.071 seconds slower in second, and Tony Raines was third. Truex, Juan Pablo Montoya, Bobby Labonte, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, Scott Riggs and Gordon occupied positions four to ten. On his first lap on the track, A. J. Allmendinger's engine failed, and his team changed engines.
Forty-nine cars were entered for qualifying on Friday afternoon, according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, forty-three were allowed to race. Each driver was limited to two timed laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times. Johnson clinched his second pole position of the season, and his first at Dover International Raceway, with the fastest time of 23.261 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Montoya, the highest-placed rookie, who was 0.141 seconds slower, and had the pole position until Johnson's lap. Hamlin qualified third, Kurt Busch took fourth after improving his car's handling, and the Autism Speaks 400 winner Truex took fifth. Riggs was the fastest driver required to qualify on time in sixth. Rounding out the top ten were Harvick, Labonte, and the Roush Fenway Racing's Greg Biffle and Kenseth. Edwards, another driver in the chase, set the 15th-fastest time, while the winner of the preceding Sylvania 300, Bowyer struggled on his lap en route to 42nd. The six drivers who failed to qualify were Ward Burton, Wimmer, Kevin Lepage, Dave Blaney, Jeremy Mayfield and Hornish. After the qualifier, Johnson said, "It was a great lap. I've had a great car all day today and it was a car that allowed me to balance myself and find more speed, the two things that I asked it to do. Track position is really important here but the thing we really focused on today was getting that first pit stall. So mission accomplished there, but this is just one day of many long ones to come."
On Saturday morning Hamiln became ill with flu-like symptoms, but he was still fastest in the second practice session with a time of 23.849 seconds. Second was Johnson and third position was taken by Stewart. Kurt Busch duplicated his qualifying result in fourth. Casey Mears set the fifth-quickest time, and Mark Martin was sixth. Positions seven through ten were occupied by Biffle, Gordon, Kenseth and Burton. Of the other drivers in the chase, Kyle Busch was thirteenth, and Edwards recorded the eighteenth-fastest lap. Later that day, Hamlin duplicated his second session result in the final practice session with a 23.946 seconds lap; Kenseth and his teammate Edwards set the second and third-fastest laps. Johnson, Bowyer, Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Martin, Truex and Earnhardt completed the top ten ahead of Sunday's race.
Qualifying results Grid Car Driver Team Manufacturer 1 48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 23.261154.766 2 42Juan Pablo MontoyaChip Ganassi RacingDodge 23.402153.833 3 11Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 23.442153.570 4 2Kurt BuschPenske Racing South Dodge 23.450153.518 5 1Martin Truex Jr.Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 23.497153.211 6 10Scott RiggsEvernham Motorsports Dodge 23.540152.931 7 29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress Racing Chevrolet 23.548152.879 8 43Bobby LabontePetty Enterprises Dodge 23.616152.439 9 16Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord 23.620152.413 10 17Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 23.628152.362 11 84A. J. AllmendingerRed Bull Racing TeamToyota 23.628152.362 12 19Elliott SadlerEvernham Motorsports Dodge23.640152.284 13 00David ReutimannMichael Waltrip Racing Toyota23.674152.066 14 9Kasey Kahne Evernham Motorsports Dodge23.683152.008 15 99Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway Racing Ford23.716151.796 16 45Kyle Petty Petty Enterprises Dodge 23.720151.771 17 25Casey Mears Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.729151.713 18 78Joe NemechekFurniture Row Racing Chevrolet 23.732151.694 19 44Dale Jarrett Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota23.736151.668 20 96Tony RainesHall of Fame Racing Chevrolet23.740151.643 21 8Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc.Chevrolet23.760151.515 22 5Kyle BuschHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet 23.766151.477 23 83Brian VickersRed Bull Racing Team Toyota23.768151.464 24 12Ryan NewmanPenske Racing South Dodge23.777151.407 25 70Johnny SauterHaas CNC Racing Chevrolet23.781151.381 26 21Ken SchraderWood Brothers Racing Ford23.810151.197 27 24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.813151.178 28 20Tony StewartJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet 23.814151.172 29 49John AndrettiBAM Racing Dodge23.833151.051 30 26Jamie McMurray Roush Fenway Racing Ford23.839151.013 31 01Mark Martin Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet23.855150.912 32 18J. J. Yeley Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet23.860150.880 33 41Reed Sorenson Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge23.860150.880 34 66Jeff Green Haas CNC Racing Chevrolet23.872150.804 35 6David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford23.900150.628 36 31Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 23.933150.420 37 38David GillilandRobert Yates Racing Ford24.035149.782 38 15Paul MenardDale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 24.070149.564 39 88Kenny Wallace Robert Yates Racing Ford24.150149.068 40 40David Stremme Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge24.173148.926 41 7Robby GordonRobby Gordon Motorsports Ford24.296148.173 42 07Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet24.318148.038 43 55Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota23.945150.344 44 4Ward BurtonMorgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet24.023149.856 45 33Scott Wimmer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 24.035149.782 46 06Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing South Dodge24.073149.545 47 37Kevin LepageFront Row Motorsports Dodge 24.082149.489 48 22Dave BlaneyBill Davis Racing Toyota24.157149.025 49 36Jeremy Mayfield Bill Davis Racing Toyota24.242148.503
Race Live television coverage of the race began at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time in the United States on ABC. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were sunny and clear with the air temperature at ; a ten percent chance of rain was forecast. Dan Schafer, Pastor of Calvary Assembly of God in Hightstown, New Jersey, began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. America's Got Talent finalist Julienne Irwin performed the national anthem, and Chrysler chairman and chief executive officer Bob Nardelli commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Allmendinger moved to the rear of the grid because he changed engines.
The race began at 1:47 p.m. Johnson maintained by the lead by turning to the right of the track, as Hamlin passed Montoya for second place. On the second lap, Hamlin made contact with Johnson which got the latter loose, and he became the new leader. Montoya ran on the top groove and fell from second to tenth in the first ten laps. The first caution was given on lap 12. David Gilliland tagged the rear of Johnny Sauter's car leaving turn four, sending Sauter into the left-hand side wall on the front stretch, causing heavy damage to his vehicle. Hamlin stayed as the leader at the lap-17 restart. Four laps later, the second caution was necessitated when Ken Schrader spun 360 degrees on the back straightaway after Reed Sorenson bumped him on the exit of turn four. Schrader's car sustained minor damage and he drove to pit road for repairs. Racing resumed on the 24th lap with Hamlin leading Johnson and Kenseth. On lap 27, Johnson lost second place to Kenseth who turned onto the bottom lane. After starting 21st, Earnhardt was running in ninth by lap 35. Ten laps later, Hamlin was passed for the first position by Kenseth. Gordon moved to eighth after making a pit stop under caution.