NASCAR NNCS (DAYTONA) - SEASON IN REVIEW (MAY 3)

SEASON IN REVIEW – AN ONGOING LOOK AT THE 2007 SEASON

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 “seedings” entering the Chase will be determined by the number of wins which they accumulate over the first 26 races of the season. Jimmie Johnson, currently with three victories, heads the list of winning drivers but Jeff Gordon has made significant strides with back-to-back victories bringing his potential seeding value to 20 points. 2007 Season Highlights Four-time series champion, Jeff Gordon has led the points for the past five weeks. Jeff Gordon won his 77th career race, breaking a tie with Dale Earnhardt for sixth on the all-time win list. Gordon tied Earnhardt at 767 wins the previous week at Phoenix. 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. The Car of Tomorrow made its debut, racing at Bristol, Martinsville and Phoenix. Toyota has made its NASCAR NEXTEL Cup debut. Chevrolet posted its 600th victory at Bristol.

Qualifying

There have been four different Bud Pole winners: Jeff Gordon (four); David Gilliland, Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin (one each). Qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather at Texas. Ryan Newman’s Bud Pole at Atlanta ended a streak of 20 races without a pole – the longest of his career. Jeff Gordon leads all other drivers with seven 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 start at Las Vegas. AJ Allmendinger and Regan Smith both made their first starts at Bristol.

The Races

There have been six different race winners, 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 (two) is the only other repeat race winner. Gordon has posted eight top-10 finishes – two more than any other driver.

Laps Completed

Only two drivers have completed every lap run in 2007: Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. Laps Led No driver has led in every race this season. One driver has led in eight races: Jeff Gordon. Jeff Gordon leads all other drivers in bonus points earned this season with 55. Tony Stewart has led 591 of the 2,886 laps – 20.5 percent of the laps raced.

Points

Jeff Gordon leads Jeff Burton by 203 points after nine races. The last time the margin from first to second was over 200 points was when Tony Stewart led Greg Biffle by 209 points following Race No. 25 in 2005. Only twice since 1975, has the point margin been over 200 points after just nine races in a season. In 1975, the first year of the current points system, Richard Petty led Benny Parsons by 225. In 1987, Dale Earnhardt led Bill Elliott by 220. Two drivers have ranked in the top 12 in points for each of the first nine races this season: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon. 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. Kurt Busch moved into 10th in the point standings with his third-place finish at Talladega, his first time in the top 10 since he finished the 2005 season in 10th place. Busch is currently 483 points behind leader Jeff Gordon. At this point in 2006, he was 430 points behind then leader Jimmie Johnson but was 18th in the point standings. David Ragan ranked fifth in the point standings for the first two weeks of the season, the highest point standing by a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate in 2007.

Turnaround

There are nine drivers currently in the top 12 also in the top 12 at the end of the 2006 season. Some of the other drivers have made significant improvements over their 2006 position, most notably Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer, both who are six positions ahead of their final 2006 point standing. David Stremme has made the largest gain over 2006 – gaining 19 positions from 33rd to 14th. Car Owner Points Sterling Marlin and the No. 14 Ginn Racing Chevrolet was the only team 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.

Car Owner Streaks

Hendrick Motorsports won four consecutive races (Las Vegas through Martinsville). The previous three times this happened, was also by Hendrick Motorsports (September-October 1996, July-August 1998 and March-April 2007). Manufacturer Chevrolet and Dodge debuted new models for the Car of Tomorrow in its inaugural race at Bristol. The new Chevrolet model was 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 win at Bristol. Busch’s victory was the first for the Chevrolet Impala since Wendell Scott won in an Impala at Jacksonville (Florida) Speedway Park on Dec. 1, 1963.

Blazing Start

Chevrolet has won eight of the first nine races this season, the best start to a season for a manufacturer since Chevrolet won the first seven races in 1995. Ford notched nine consecutive wins in 1992, the longest streak to start a season ever. Ford won 33 of the first 34 races of the 55-race 1965 season. Mercury won the second race of the season that year.

Season Tidbits

Jeff Green (sixth) and Johnny Sauter (ninth) at Phoenix, 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. Mark Martin kept his word and stepped out of the seat of the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet at Bristol, despite being the point leader entering the event. The 42 cars that were running at the finish for the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville were the most ever at the Virginia short track. The 41 cars running at the finish at Phoenix were the most ever at the Arizona track.