2007 Centurion Boats at the Glen

The 2007 Centurion Boats at the Glen was the twenty-second race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Season, and was run on Sunday, August 12, 2007 at Watkins Glen Raceway in New York. This road course race was one of only two races scheduled in NASCAR's premier series not on oval-shaped tracks, and was the ninth race that featured NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow, a safety-driven automobile that is being used in the 2008 season full time.

Pre-Race News

*George Gillett, owner of the NHL's Montréal Canadiens and part owner of the English Premier League's Liverpool Football Club, bought the majority share of Ray Evernham's team and has renamed the three-car operation (#9 of Kasey Kahne, #10 of Scott Riggs and #19 of Elliott Sadler) Gillett Evernham Motorsports (or "GEM" for short).
*Kyle Busch, unseated from his ride at Hendrick Motorsports as Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will take over driving duties for that team in 2008, signed for the 2008 season with Joe Gibbs Racing and will drive the #18 car replacing J.J. Yeley. This was officially announced on August 14. [http://www.joegibbsracing.com/season_2007/news_cup/08_august/070814_kb_announce.php]

Qualifying

The scheduled qualifying was cancelled due to rain, and the field was set by NASCAR's rulebook, meaning points leader Jeff Gordon was on the pole.

Failed to make race as qualifying was cancelled due to rain: Marcos Ambrose flagicon|Australia (#77), A.J. Allmendinger (#84), Ward Burton (#4), Klaus Graf flagicon|Germany (#49), Boris Said (#60)*, Brian Simo (#37).

* - It was announced on August 11 that Said would replace Bill Elliott in the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing #21 Ford for the race. By rule, that car started in the 43rd position.

Race

Tony Stewart won the race, his third in the last four Cup events.

The final 18 laps at the Glen were extraordinary. It began with a multi-car incident in Turn 1 with, among others, Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Jeff Burton. Harvick and Montoya then left their cars and traded insults and shoves. Due to an extensive amount of cleanup needed, the race was held under a red flag for nearly 30 minutes. During that time, a spectator attempted to get Matt Kenseth's autograph. Kenseth declined and the fan was later arrested. Police have identified the fan as Brett Hilbert of Kenmore, New York. [http://www.cupscene.com/081507nascar2.htm]

With two laps to go, Jeff Gordon, who had led 51 of the first 88 laps, spun out, also in Turn 1. Stewart inherited the lead. On the last lap, Carl Edwards, who was battling Stewart for the win, overdrove the car into turn 10, the 2nd to final turn on the course, through the gravel trap, and wound up finishing eighth, Stewart coasted to the win, his fourth at the track; that tied Gordon for the most in series history. Denny Hamlin finished second, making it a 1-2 finish for Joe Gibbs Racing.

The switch of Boris Said for Bill Elliott worked, as Said finished 14th, which was high enough for the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing's famous #21 to vault past Bill Davis Racing #22 for 35th in the season-long owners' standings and guarantee Elliott a place in the following week's 3M Performance 400.

In the points, Gordon leads second-place Denny Hamlin by 343 points. Kurt Busch remains 12th with a 90-point cushion for the last Chase position. Ryan Newman is now 13th, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 14th.

Results

Top ten results:

External links

* [http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/results/22watkins2007results.htm Complete results]
* [http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/standings/22watkins2007points.htm Points standings]