NASCAR (NNCS) - SEASON IN REVIEW AN ONGOING LOOK AT 2007

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 25, 2007) – Six drivers have won NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races this season, potentially earning 10 valuable bonus points for each victory. If those drivers make the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup, their positions entering the Chase will be determined by the number of wins they accumulate over the first 26 races of the season. Jimmie Johnson, currently with three victories, heads the list of winning drivers but Kevin Harvick, whose lone victory would move him up six places in the standings, stands to gain the most benefit from the seeding process.

2007 Season Highlights • Jimmie Johnson has won three races, accumulating a potential 30 points toward his seeding if he qualifies for the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. • Jeff Gordon won his 76th career race, moving into a tie with Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time win list. • The Car of Tomorrow made its debut. • Toyota made its NASCAR NEXTEL Cup debut. • Chevrolet posted its 600th victory. • Four-time series champion, Jeff Gordon has led the points for the past four weeks.

The following pages contain reviews and analysis of various statistical data which impacts the on-going standings and the eventual goal of making the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.

Qualifying • There have been five different Budweiser Pole winners: Jeff Gordon (three); David Gilliland, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin (one each). Qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather at Texas. • Ryan Newman’s Budweiser Pole at Atlanta ended a streak of 20 races without a pole – the longest of his career. • Jeff Gordon leads all other drivers with five top-10 starts this season – all top fives.

First-timers • David Ragan finished fifth in the Daytona 500, earning a top-10 ranking in the point standings for the first time in his career. • Aric Almirola and Jon Wood both made their first career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start when they qualified for the Las Vegas race. Almirola finished 40th and Wood 29th. • At Bristol, AJ Allmendinger and Regan Smith made their first career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start.

The Races • There have been six different race winners this season, led by Jimmie Johnson who posted back-to-back victories at Las Vegas and Atlanta and then won at Martinsville. • Johnson’s victory at Las Vegas was his third consecutive win there. • Jeff Gordon is the only driver that has posted seven top-10 finishes. • Only three drivers have completed every lap run in 2007: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.

Milestone Finish Jeff Gordon’s win at Phoenix moved him into the long-awaited tie with Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time NASCAR NEXTEL Cup winners list. In addition to that, several other drivers posted significant finishes. • Jeff Green (sixth) and Johnny Sauter (ninth) gave car owner Gene Haas his career-first multiple top-10 finishes. Sauter also tied his career-best finish, also at Phoenix in April 2005. • Bobby Labonte (eighth) posted his first top-10 finish of 2007.

Laps Led • No driver has led in every race this season. One driver has led in seven races: Jeff Gordon. • Jeff Gordon leads all other drivers in bonus points earned this season with 45. • Tony Stewart has led 584 of the 2,695 laps – 21.7 percent of the laps raced.

Guaranteed Starters • A driver has made the field based on being a guaranteed starter 24 times (involving 14 teams), including the past champion provisional five times – all by the No. 44 UPS Toyota team. • The best finish by a guaranteed starter has been fourth by Kevin Harvick at Bristol. • The worst finish by a guaranteed starter has been 43rd, by David Stremme at Phoenix. • The average finish of the drivers that have made the field by virtue the guaranteed start has been 23.57.

Points • Three drivers have ranked in the top 10 in points for each of the first seven races this season: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon and Kevin Harvick. • Mark Martin led the points from California through Atlanta, becoming the oldest driver to lead the points for more than a week under the current point system. Martin, who is 48, falls behind Bobby Allison (51 in 1988) and Morgan Shepherd (49 in 1990) as the third-oldest driver to lead the points. Allison and Shepherd both led the standings for just one week at that age. • Jeff Gordon assumed the points lead after Bristol.

Turn Around • After eight races, many of the usual faces are present in the top 10 in the point standings, with five currently in the top 10, also in the top 10 at the end of the 2006 season. • Jeff Burton, currently second, has gained 16 spots over his 2006 ranking. • Carl Edwards (+14) and Denny Hamlin (+12) have also made major gains. • Though outside the top 10, David Stremme has made the largest gain over 2006 – gaining 15 positions from 33rd to 18th.

Car Owner Points • Sterling Marlin and the No. 14 Ginn Racing Chevrolet was the only driver in the first five races of the season that had to make the field on time and do so in all five races. • The biggest gain in car owner points over the final 2006 standings is held by the No. 01 owned by Bobby Ginn. The No. 01 ranked 28th in the final 2006 owner point standings and is currently 23 positions ahead of that ranking.

Manufacturer • Chevrolet and Dodge debuted new models for the Car of Tomorrow in its inaugural race at Bristol. The new Chevrolet model was designated as an Impala while the Dodge was an Avenger. It was the first race for the Impala model since the mid-1960s and the first ever for the Avenger. • Chevrolet got its 600th NASCAR NEXTEL Cup victory with Kyle Busch’s at Bristol. Busch’s victory was the first for the Chevrolet Impala since Wendell Scott won in a 1962 Impala at Jacksonville (Florida) Speedway Park on Dec. 1, 1963.

Blazing Start • Chevrolet has won seven of the first eight races this season, the best start to a season for a manufacturer since Chevrolet won the first seven races in 1995. Ford, which ended the Chevrolet string in 1995, posted the best season start for a manufacturer with nine consecutive wins 1992. The best start to a season ever was posted by Ford, which won 33 of the first 34 races of the 1965 season. Mercury won the second race of the season that year.