The 2007 UAW-Ford 500 was the 30th stock car race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the fourth in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on October 7, 2007, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, before a crowd of 155,000. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the 188-lap race starting from 34th position. His teammate Jimmie Johnson finished second and Dave Blaney was third.
The event marked the debut of the Car of Tomorrow at a superspeedway, but it was heavily criticized for its lack of visibility, and drivers raised fears of becoming airborne if hit by another car. Michael Waltrip won the pole position by posting the fastest lap in qualifying but was passed by Blaney by the end of the first lap. The race lead changed 42 times, with Denny Hamlin leading the most laps out of any other driver (40). Johnson took the lead after driving on the outside lane on lap 183. Johnson led as the final lap began, but Gordon went to the outside of the track, and was bump-drafted by Tony Stewart, allowing him to claim his fifth victory of the season, his sixth at Talladega Superspeedway, the 80th of his career, and he surpassed Dale Earnhardt as the driver with the most restrictor plate wins, twelve.
The result advanced Gordon to the Drivers' Championship's lead, and his teammate Johnson (who led coming into the race) fell to second. The trio of Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, and Kevin Harvick retained third through fifth. Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch gained one position each, and Kyle Busch fell from fourth to eighth after being caught up in a multi-car accident. Chevrolet increased their unassailable lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, while Ford, Dodge and Toyota continued to occupy the remaining three places with six races left in the season.
Background
The UAW-Ford 500 was the 30th of 36 scheduled stock car races of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the fourth in the ten-race season-ending Chase for the Nextel Cup. It was held on October 7, 2007, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama, a superspeedway that holds NASCAR races. The standard track at the speedway is a four-turn long superspeedway. The track's turns are banked at 33 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 16.5 degrees. The back stretch has a two-degree banking.
Before the race, Jimmie Johnson led the Drivers' Championship with 5,506 points, with teammate Jeff Gordon second and Clint Bowyer third. Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick were fourth and fifth. Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top twelve drivers competing for the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup. Chevrolet led the Manufacturers' Championship with 232 points, sixty ahead of Ford in second. Dodge with 147 points was 56 ahead of Toyota in fourth. Brian Vickers was the race's defending champion.
The UAW-Ford 500 marked the début of the Car of Tomorrow on a superspeedway. Teams started by using a 31/32 inch restrictor plate which was expected to increase horsepower by to . Furthermore, the wing angle was established at 10 degrees, and the wicker height was set at to add drag. Further changes were determined by the performance of the cars if they reached an average speed of more than . NASCAR mandated teams to run flat side plates instead of the a curved side plate, and some cars had to make minor adjustments to pass pre-race inspection. Nextel Cup Series Director John Darby stated NASCAR changed the wording of the regulations to provide clarity and to have a starting point in controlling top speeds, "Basically, it says we're going to start out with this size of a restrictor plate, and if everything proves out OK, we'll leave it, but the ultimate restrictor-plate size won't be determined until the conclusion of final Cup practice." Drivers spent one and a half days in mid-September testing the Car of Tomorrow at the track.
There were two changes of driver heading into the race. It was announced that open-wheel driver Jacques Villeneuve would début in the No. 27 Bill Davis Racing car five weeks earlier than planned. Villeneuve planned to compete in the ARCA Re/Max and Craftsman Truck Series races at Talladega, but was granted approval to race in the Nextel Cup Series after testing of the Car of Tomorrow at the track. Villeneuve said he was delighted to make his debut in the Nextel Cup Series: "It's perfect. I'm really happy that NASCAR has given me its approval so quickly, and having run Talladega with the Cup drivers, I'm really looking forward to it. It's a huge step in my learning process." Mike Wallace replaced his younger brother Kenny Wallace in the No. 88 Robert Yates Racing car while the team's regular driver Ricky Rudd continued to recover from a shoulder injury.
Practice and qualifying
Two 60-minute practice sessions were held on the Friday before Sunday's race. Stewart set the fastest time in the first practice session with a lap of 49.118 seconds. Jeff Gordon was second-fastest. Positions three through ten were filled by Ken Schrader, Robby Gordon, Kyle Petty, Kasey Kahne, David Stremme, Martin Truex Jr., Greg Biffle, and Burton. Hamlin was forbidden by NASCAR to partake in its closing minutes because he was observed bump-drafting other cars. Darby explained that Hamlin was the most aggressive driver out of all those cautioned by NASCAR. Later that day, Stewart led the second practice session with a lap of 49.347 seconds; Paul Menard was 0.045 seconds slower in second. Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, Truex, Burton, Jeff Green, Tony Raines, and Johnny Sauter were in positions three through ten. After practice, drivers complained of hindered visibility at the front of the car, due to a larger cockpit and spoiler. They felt this had the potential to cause a multi-car accident, and were worried about the possibility of getting airborne if they were hit by other drivers.
Fifty-one cars were entered in the qualifier on Saturday afternoon, according to NASCAR's qualifying procedure, forty-three were allowed to race. Each driver ran two laps, with the starting order determined by the competitor's fastest times. Toyotas took five of the first six spots, as Michael Waltrip clinched the fourth pole position of his career, and his first since the 2005 Pocono 500, with a time of 50.648 seconds. He was joined on the grid's front row by Dave Blaney whose lap was 0.062 seconds slower. Vickers qualified in third. Fourth was Joe Nemechek, and David Reutimann fifth. The next three spots on the grid was composed of drivers who were required to qualify on time or risk missing the race: Villeneuve, John Andretti, and Bobby Labonte. Kahne and Elliott Sadler completed the top ten. Of the drivers in the chase, Stewart started 11th, Truex 13th, Hamlin 18th, and Johnson 19th. The eight drivers who failed to qualify were A. J. Allmendinger, Boris Said, Scott Riggs, Sam Hornish Jr., Jeremy Mayfield, Sterling Marlin, Ward Burton and Kevin Lepage. Kurt Busch and David Ragan's cars were found to be too low at the front during post-qualifying inspection, and were mandated to start at the back of the field. Afterward, Waltrip said, "I felt confident yesterday that we would make the race. Our qualifying lap was faster than what we ran in practice. If I only had to worry about my car, I would've been happier."
Qualifying results Driver Team Manufacturer 1 55 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip RacingToyota50:648189.070 2 22Dave BlaneyBill Davis RacingToyota 50:710188.839 3 83Brian VickersRed Bull Racing TeamToyota 50.726188.779 4 78Joe NemechekFurniture Row RacingChevrolet 50.809188.471 5 00David ReutimannMichael Waltrip Racing Toyota 50.812188.459 6 27Jacques Villeneuve Bill Davis Racing Toyota 50.878188.215 7 49John AndrettiBAM RacingDodge 50.991187.798 8 43Bobby LabontePetty Enterprises Dodge 51.131187.284 9 9Kasey KahneEvernham Motorsports Dodge 51.138187.258 10 19Elliott SadlerEvernham Motorsports Dodge 51.176187.119 11 20Tony StewartJoe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 51.193187.057 12 45Kyle PettyPetty Enterprises Dodge 51.256186.827 13 1Martin Truex Jr.Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 51.259186.816 14 96Tony RainesHall of Fame Racing Chevrolet 51.274186.761 15 88Mike WallaceRobert Yates RacingFord 51.293186.692 16 12Ryan NewmanPenske Racing South Dodge 51.301186.663 17 18J. J. YeleyJoe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet51.355186.467 18 11Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet 51.428186.202 19 48Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet51.447186.133 20 16Greg BiffleRoush Fenway Racing Ford 51.480186.014 21 31Jeff BurtonRichard Childress Racing Chevrolet 51.496185.956 22 42Juan Pablo MontoyaChip Ganassi RacingDodge 51.501185.938 23 07Clint BowyerRichard Childress Racing Chevrolet51.532185.826 24 7Robby GordonRobby Gordon Motorsports Ford 51.540185.797 25 17Matt KensethRoush Fenway Racing Ford 51.544185.783 26 8Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet51.544185.783 27 38David Gilliland Robert Yates Racing Ford 51.560185.725 28 41Reed SorensonChip Ganassi Racing Dodge 51.588185.625 29 25Casey MearsHendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.611185.542 30 15Paul MenardDale Earnhardt Inc.Chevrolet 51.633185.463 31 99Carl EdwardsRoush Fenway Racing Ford 51.672185.323 32 66Jeff GreenHaas CNC Racing Chevrolet51.703185.212 33 40David StremmeChip Ganassi Racing Dodge 51.745185.061 34 24Jeff GordonHendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.748185.051 35 26Jamie McMurrayRoush Fenway Racing Ford 51.785184.918 36 5Kyle BuschHendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51.793184.890 37 29Kevin HarvickRichard Childress Racing Chevrolet51.839184.726 38 01Aric AlmirolaDale Earnhardt Inc Chevrolet51.867184.626 39 70Johnny SauterHaas CNC RacingChevrolet51.880184.580 40 21Ken SchraderWood Brothers Racing Ford51.989184.193 41 2Kurt BuschPenske Racing South Dodge51.369186.416 42 6David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford51.691185.255 43 44Dale JarrettMichael Waltrip Racing Toyota 51.029187.658 44 84A. J. AllmendingerRed Bull Racing Team Toyota 51.046187.596 45 60Boris SaidNo Fear Racing Ford 51.093187.423 46 10Scott RiggsEvernham Motorsports Dodge51.119187.328 47 06Sam Hornish Jr. Penske Racing South Dodge51.137187.262 48 36Jeremy MayfieldBill Davis Racing Toyota 51.173187.130 49 09Sterling MarlinPhoenix Racing Chevrolet51.292186.696 50 4Ward BurtonMorgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 51.494185.963 51 37Kevin LepageFront Row Motorsports Dodge 51.549185.765
Race Live television coverage of the race on ABC began at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Around the start of the race, weather conditions were mostly sunny with the air temperature at ; a ten percent chance of rain was forecast. A moment of silence was held in honor of former NASCAR president Bill France Jr. Frank Stark of Raceway Ministries began pre-race ceremonies with an invocation. Miss University of Alabama Stephanie Shelton performed the national anthem, and Dave Sparks, an employee of the race's sponsor, commanded the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, McMurray moved to the rear of the field because he changed his engine, and Casey Mears did the same for illegal adjustments to his car.