The 2007 Budweiser Shootout was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car race that was held on February 10, 2007 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the first non-championship race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the 29th running of the event. Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing won the 70-lap race; Robert Yates Racing driver David Gilliland finished second and Kurt Busch came in third for Penske Racing.
Background
The 2007 Budweiser Shootout was the first of two non-championship events for the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the 29th annual edition of the event. It was held on February 10, 2007 at the superspeedway, Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. The track features four corners which are banked as high as 31 degrees, while the front stretch has 18-degree banking.
The Budweiser Shootout was conceived by Busch Beer brand manager Monty Roberts, who wanted to promote the beer brand with a race between the fastest Cup Series drivers of the previous season. It was first held in 1979 as the Busch Clash. Budweiser became the title sponsor of the event in 1998; it was resultantly named the Bud Shootout before being retitled to the Budweiser Shootout in 2001. The race is considered a warm-up for the season-opening Daytona 500.
A total of 21 drivers were eligible to compete in the race, including the pole sitters of the 2006 season and past winners of the race who finished within the top 50 positions of the Drivers' Championship standings in 2006. Two of the participants, Dale Jarrett and Brian Vickers, drove for Toyota, marking the manufacturer's debut in the Cup Series. Denny Hamlin was the defending winner. The race had a scheduled distance of 70 laps, which were split into two segments of 20 and 50 laps with a ten-minute pit stop in between. Each driver was required to make at least one pit stop and change at least two tires during green-flag conditions. The race was also guaranteed to end under the green flag, and caution flag laps were counted.
Practice and qualifying The starting order for the Saturday race was determined on Thursday by drawing lots, a feature which is unique to the event. Jarrett drew the pole position, ahead of Scott Riggs, Boris Said, Vickers, and Greg Biffle, with Kyle Busch, Ken Schrader, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman, and Mark Martin rounding out the top-five. The remaining starting positions were occupied by Jeff Gordon, Jeff Burton, David Gilliland, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Hamlin. After the draw concluded, Jarrett expressed anticipation for the race: "I'll be glad to finally get into those race conditions to see where we stack up and see how we can compete. How much work do we have to do? Or how little do we have to do?"
Two practice sessions on Friday preceded the race, with the first lasting for 45 minutes and the second 60 minutes. Hamlin was quickest in the Friday afternoon session with a time of 47.432 seconds, beating second-place Johnson by a hundredth of a second. Kahne, Biffle, and Harvick rounded out the top-five. Kahne's lap of 47.532 seconds made him the quickest driver of the final practice session on Friday evening, with Kurt Busch trailing by almost two hundredths of a second. Earnhardt Jr. was third-quickest, Kyle Busch fourth, and Riggs fifth. Johnson's tire was loosened as he entered pit road, but he avoided damaging his car.
Qualifying results Driver Team Manufacturer 144 Dale Jarrett Michael Waltrip RacingToyota 210 Scott Riggs Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 360 Boris Said No Fear Racing Ford 483 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 516 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 65 Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 721 Ken Schrader Wood Brothers Racing Ford 848 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 912 Ryan Newman Penske Racing Dodge 1001 Mark Martin Ginn Racing Chevrolet 1124 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1231 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 1338 David Gilliland Robert Yates Racing Ford 1420 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 159 Kasey Kahne Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 1637 Bill Elliott Front Row Motorsports Dodge 178 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet 1819 Elliott Sadler Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 192 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 2029 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress RacingChevrolet 2111 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing ChevroletSources:
Race Live television coverage of the race in the United States was aired on Fox and began at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00). Commentary was provided by Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds. Pre-race ceremonies began with an invocation by Reverend John Long III. The national anthem was performed by Cowboy Crush and Dierks Bentley commanded the drivers to start their engines.
The green flag was waved at 8:38 PM to start the race. Riggs pulled ahead of Jarrett to lead the first lap. After Riggs drove to the inside line, Vickers overtook him in the first turn on lap two. Vickers maintained the lead until Kyle Busch drove up the track to take the lead in the second turn. By the sixth lap, Vickers fell outside the top-ten, while Jarrett dropped to 21st. The following lap, Harvick received a push from Earnhardt Jr. on the back stretch to take the lead from Busch. As Burton and Kurt Busch raced alongside each other for third place, Stewart got by Harvick in turn one for the lead on lap 12. Stewart slightly oversteered the next lap in turn two, but kept the lead. Harvick then reclaimed the lead on the 15th lap, as Schrader drove up to the fifth position.
The ten-minute break commenced on lap 21 to allow teams to make adjustments on pit road. Johnson's team alleviated an issue in the throttle assembly underneath his hood after he complained of being unable to race full bore. After the break, nine drivers drove to their pit stalls to fill their fuel tanks.
Race results Driver Team Manufacturer 114 20 Tony Stewart Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet70 213 38 David Gilliland Robert Yates Racing Ford70 319 2 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge70 48 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet70 520 29 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet70 610 01 Mark Martin Ginn Racing Chevrolet70 76 5 Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet70 84 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Team Toyota70 912 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet70 102 10 Scott Riggs Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge70 117 21 Ken Schrader Wood Brothers Racing Ford70 123 60 Boris Said No Fear Racing Ford70 135 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford70 1417 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Chevrolet70 1515 9 Kasey Kahne Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge70 1618 19 Elliott Sadler Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge70 1721 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet70 181 44 Dale Jarrett Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota70 1916 37 Bill Elliott Front Row Motorsports Dodge70 209 12 Ryan Newman Penske Racing Dodge46 2111 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet31Sources:
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