- 2007 Subway 500
The 2007
Subway 500 , the 32nd race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season and the sixth race in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup, ran on Sunday,October 21 st, 2007, atMartinsville Speedway , located on the outskirts ofMartinsville, Virginia . This race was the fifteenth of sixteen series races to use NASCAR'sCar of Tomorrow template, which will be made permanent as of the 2008 season.Pre-Race News
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Scott Riggs has been signed to drive forHaas CNC Racing in 2008, it is still to be determined which one of its drivers, Jeff Green orJohnny Sauter will be released or if both will be released andfree agent David Stremme would be signed to one of the Haas rides.*
2007 Indianapolis 500 winnerDario Franchitti made his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series Kroger 200 forCunningham Motorsports . Also, former Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series turnedARCA RE/MAX Series driversColin Braun and Michael McDowell made their debuts at "The Paperclip" (the nickname for Martinsville, owing to its paperclip-shape when seen from above), withRoush Fenway Racing andMichael Waltrip Racing , respectively. None of the three finished the race, and all were scored 30th or worse. [http://www.jayski.com/cts/next/2007/21martinsville2007.htm#results]Qualifying
With a lap of 19.938 seconds at a speed of 94.974 miles per hour, seven time Martinsville winner
Jeff Gordon took his sixth pole at the paperclip and 63rd of his career. Spring Martinsville winnerJimmie Johnson will start fourth. South Boston natives Jeff andWard Burton both struggled in qualifying, having to start 18th and 36th respectively. Chase contenderTony Stewart started 34th.Race
The 2007 running of the Subway 500 set a record for cautions in this race, with 21 yellow flags flying for 127 laps. The race was eventually decided under caution, when, during the green-white-checkers,
David Ragan spun in turn number 1, ending the single attempt at a racing finish. With his third consecutive win at Martinsville, Johnson became the first driver sinceRusty Wallace in 1994-1995 to win three straight races at the track.Results
Top Ten Results: "(NOTE: Chase drivers are in bold italics.)"
Points
Gordon's lead over Johnson in the standings was reduced to 58 points. (See 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup) for complete Chase standings).
For 35th place, and the last guaranteed starting spot, the #22 team (driver
Dave Blaney forBill Davis Racing ) extended its lead over the #21 team (Bill Elliott forWood Brothers/JTG Racing ) to 142 points. [http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/standings/32mar2007points.htm]Television pre-emption
Because of the Southern California wildfires, which began on race morning, KABC in Los Angeles showed the race on a
digital subchannel rather than on its main channel. This meant that the broadcast was available in the second-largestmedia market in theUnited States only ondigital cable and on stand-alone sets with digital tuners. Viewers who receive KABC on satellite servicesDirecTV andDish Network had to do without.KABC also did not air "
NASCAR Countdown " for a second consecutive week.
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