The 2007 NASCAR Busch Series was the 26th season of the NASCAR Busch Series, the second national professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. It began on February 17 with the Orbitz 300 at Daytona International Speedway and concluded on November 17 with the Ford 300 at Homestead–Miami Speedway. Carl Edwards clinched the series championship on November 3 during the O'Reilly Challenge with 2 races remaining. The 2007 season was the final season of the series under Anheuser-Busch's sponsorship. In 2008, the Busch Series became the Nationwide Series sponsored by insurance company Nationwide Insurance with a $70 million contract for 7 years. Also, Toyota joined the series as the fourth manufacturer.
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Buschwhackers The domination of the series by "Buschwhackers" continued in 2007. In the first 28 races, only two drivers not with regular Nextel Cup Series schedules drove their cars to victory from start to finish: Stephen Leicht (Meijer 300, Kentucky Speedway) and Jason Leffler (Kroger 200, O'Reilly Raceway Park). A third, Aric Almirola, was the official winner of the AT&T 250 at the Milwaukee Mile; Almirola qualified the car for Denny Hamlin who was racing at Sonoma in the Cup Series and was not scheduled to start, but was forced to as Hamlin was delayed in returning from Sonoma. Hamlin was placed in the car after arriving and drove nearly the entire race, winning, but he failed to receive credit because he failed to start. 32 of the 35 races were won by Cup Series drivers in 2007.
Meanwhile, Carl Edwards led Kevin Harvick by 733 points in the championship standings, a reversal from 2006 when Harvick beat Edwards by a record 824 points. At one time, Edwards' lead was 871 points prior to a stretch of five consecutive races outside the top 10 in the finishing order (in three of those races he finished 23rd or worse). There were more Busch only regulars near the top of the standings, but only because the Cup drivers ran fewer cumulative races than in 2006.
Owner's Championship The Owner's Championship went to the No. 29 car of Richard Childress Racing driven by Scott Wimmer and Jeff Burton. This is the second time in Busch Series history where the driver's and owner's points champions were different. The previous instance also involved RCR and happened in 2003. Hendrick Motorsports driver Brian Vickers won the series points title as a driver, but RCR's No. 21 car earned more total points with Johnny Sauter and Kevin Harvick sharing the ride. It would happen several more times afterwards.
2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series After 26 years of Anheuser-Busch sponsoring the series with their Busch Beer brand they decided not to renew their sponsorship for the 2008 season. Rumored sponsorship deals for the series included Subway, KFC, Wal-Mart, And Culvers, however, those deals fell through. On October 10, 2007, chairman Brian France announced that insurance company Nationwide had signed a seven-year $60 million deal to sponsor the series. Nationwide also replaces Allstate as the official insurance company of NASCAR.
Schedule
The official 2007 Busch Series schedule was announced on October 2, 2006. The only major schedule change was the addition of the first NASCAR race in Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which replaces last year's race at Martinsville. This marked the first time in Busch Series history that there are two consecutive road courses on the schedule. The order of races in July was also shuffled.
Race titleTrackLocationDate1Orbitz 300Daytona International SpeedwayDaytona Beach, FloridaFebruary 172Stater Brothers 300California SpeedwayFontana, CaliforniaFebruary 243Telcel-Motorola México 200Autódromo Hermanos RodríguezMexico City, MexicoMarch 44Sam's Town 300Las Vegas Motor SpeedwayLas Vegas, NevadaMarch 105Nicorette 300Atlanta Motor SpeedwayHampton, GeorgiaMarch 176Sharpie Mini 300Bristol Motor SpeedwayBristol, TennesseeMarch 247Pepsi 300Nashville SuperspeedwayLebanon, TennesseeApril 78O'Reilly 300Texas Motor SpeedwayFort Worth, TexasApril 149Bashas' Supermarkets 200Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaApril 2010Aaron's 312Talladega SuperspeedwayLincoln, AlabamaApril 2811Circuit City 250Richmond International RacewayRichmond, VirginiaMay 412Diamond Hill Plywood 200Darlington RacewayDarlington, South CarolinaMay 1113Carquest Auto Parts 300Lowe's Motor SpeedwayConcord, North CarolinaMay 2614Dover 200Dover International SpeedwayDover, DelawareJune 215Federated Auto Parts 300Nashville SuperspeedwayLebanon, TennesseeJune 916Meijer 300Kentucky SpeedwaySparta, KentuckyJune 1617AT&T 250Milwaukee MileWest Allis, WisconsinJune 2318Camping World 200New Hampshire International SpeedwayLoudon, New HampshireJune 3019Winn-Dixie 250Daytona International SpeedwayDaytona Beach, FloridaJuly 620USG Durock 300Chicagoland SpeedwayJoliet, IllinoisJuly 1421Gateway 250Gateway International RacewayMadison, IllinoisJuly 2122Kroger 200O'Reilly Raceway ParkBrownsburg, IndianaJuly 2823NAPA Auto Parts 200Circuit Gilles VilleneuveMontreal, Quebec, CanadaAugust 424Zippo 200Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen, New YorkAugust 1125Carfax 250Michigan International SpeedwayCambridge Township, MichiganAugust 1826Food City 250Bristol Motor SpeedwayBristol, TennesseeAugust 2427Camping World 300 presented by RVs.comCalifornia SpeedwayFontana, CaliforniaSeptember 128Emerson Radio 250Richmond International RacewayRichmond, VirginiaSeptember 729RoadLoans.com 200Dover International SpeedwayDover, DelawareSeptember 2230Yellow Transportation 300Kansas SpeedwayKansas City, KansasSeptember 2931Dollar General 300Lowe's Motor SpeedwayConcord, North CarolinaOctober 1232Sam's Town 250Memphis Motorsports ParkMillington, TennesseeOctober 2733O'Reilly ChallengeTexas Motor SpeedwayFort Worth, TexasNovember 334Arizona.Travel 200Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, ArizonaNovember 1035Ford 300Homestead–Miami SpeedwayHomestead, FloridaNovember 17
ESPN2 covered the majority of the Busch Series in 2007 with ESPN on ABC covering six races as part of the new television package. The primary commentators for ESPN were Jerry Punch, Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree.
Teams and drivers
Complete schedule
ManufacturerTeamDriverCrew chief Chevrolet D.D.L. Motorsports 0 Eric McClure Steve Jenkins Tyler Roach Mike Tichenor J. R. Fitzpatrick Kevin Lepage Jay Robinson Racing 28 Robert Richardson Jr. Steve Plattenberger Jay Robinson Wayne Carroll Jr. Kenneth Campbell Jeff Green Germán Quiroga Johnny Sauter Derrike Cope Niclas Jönsson Blake Bjorklund Joe Gibbs Racing 18 Aric Almirola Jason Ratcliff Tony Stewart Brad Coleman (R) Kevin Conway 20 Denny Hamlin Dave Rogers Tony Stewart Aric Almirola Travis Kittleson J. J. Yeley JR Motorsports 88 Shane Huffman Wes Ward Tony Eury Sr. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Brad Keselowski (R) Andy Pilgrim Kevin Harvick, Inc. 33 Tony Stewart Dan Stillman Kevin Harvick Ron Fellows Tony Raines Cale Gale 77 Bobby Labonte Wally Rogers Kertus Davis Kevin Harvick Ron Hornaday Jr. Scott Wimmer Brandon Miller McGill Motorsports 36 Brent Sherman Ricky Pearson Jeremy Clements Phoenix Racing 1 J. J. Yeley Marc Reno Chuck Meyers Johnny Benson Max Papis Sterling Marlin 7 Mike Wallace Fred Wanke Gere Kennon Jr. Richard Childress Racing 21 Kevin Harvick Shane Wilson Timothy Peters P. J. Jones Scott Wimmer Tim McCreadie Clint Bowyer 29 Scott Wimmer Pat Smith Jeff Burton Dodge Chip Ganassi Racing 41 Reed Sorenson Brian Pattie Brad Parrott Scott Pruett David Stremme Scott Lagasse Jr. Bryan Clauson A. J. Allmendinger 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Brad Parrott Brian Pattie Eddie Buffington Kevin Hamlin Michael Valiante David Stremme A. J. Allmendinger Dario Franchitti Fitz Racing 22 David Stremme Paul Wolfe Carlos Contreras Mike Bliss Josh Wise Patrick Carpentier Robby Gordon Gillett Evernham Motorsports 9 Kasey Kahne Mike Shiplett Scott Riggs Boris Said Elliott Sadler Chase Miller Deac McCaskill Rusty Wallace, Inc. 66 Steve Wallace Bryant Frazier Steve Darne Gio Edward Liberati Shane Huffman Reed Sorenson Ford Brewco Motorsports Baker Curb Racing 27 Ward Burton Stewart Cooper Newt Moore Shawn Parker Jorge Goeters Jason Keller Bobby East Johnny Sauter Robby Gordon Casey Atwood Brad Baker 37 Jamie McMurray Newt Moore Stewart Cooper Greg Biffle Johnny Sauter Bobby East John Graham Casey Atwood Brad Baker Carl A. Haas Motorsports 14 Kyle Krisiloff (R) Todd Gordon Travis Carter Bryant Frazier Robert Yates Racing 90 Stephen Leicht Cully Barraclough Roush Racing 6 David Ragan (R) Mike Kelley 16 Todd Kluever Eddie Pardue Greg Biffle Travis Kvapil Colin Braun 60 Carl Edwards Pierre Kuettel Team Rensi Motorsports 25 David Gilliland Todd Brewer Kenny Wallace Richard Johns 35 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Chris Wright Wood Brothers/JTG Racing 47 Jon Wood Scott Zipadelli Travis Kvapil Kelly Bires Andy Lally 59 Marcos Ambrose (R) Greg Conner Ernie Cope Toyota Braun Racing John Andretti Trent Owens Dave Blaney Todd Bodine Mike Bliss John Graham Brian Vickers Brent Sherman 38 Jason Leffler Todd Lohse Michael Waltrip Racing 99 David Reutimann Jerry Baxter
Part-time schedule