2007 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa

The 2007 Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa was the thirteenth race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season. It was scheduled to be run on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Delaware, but was postponed due to rain as a result of the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry and was run on Monday, June 4. The race marked the halfway point to the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup, the sixth race to use the Car of Tomorrow template, and the final race to be telecast on Fox for the season.

The race is named for Autism Speaks, a charity that provides advocacy and services for people who have autism, as well as their families. Autism has become a cause in the NASCAR garage; the nieces of Cup drivers Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray and the son of NASCAR on FOX director Artie Kempner have the disorder. For each race ticket which was sold before June 1, race sponsor Visa donated $5 to Autism Speaks. [http://www.jayski.com/next/2007/13dov2007.htm] .

Qualifying

Ryan Newman won the pole for the second week in a row, with an average speed of 152.925 miles per hour. Michael Waltrip qualified for his first points-paying race since the Daytona 500, 12 races earlier.

Race

Martin Truex, Jr. won the race, his first in NEXTEL Cup Series competition. For Truex, the victory was especially sweet, as he hails from Mayetta, New Jersey, a city in the Jersey Shore area about 100 miles north of Dover. The driver of the Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet Impala for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. led 216 of the 400 laps. The rest of the top 5, in order: Newman, Carl Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and Matt Kenseth.

Kurt Busch was ejected after repeated run-ins with Tony Stewart, both on the track and on pit road. Busch placed 40th.

In the points standings, Jeff Gordon led Jimmie Johnson by 152 points at the checkered flag. On the other hand of the "Race to the Chase," eight drivers (11th through 18th) were separated by just 127 points.

During the race, it was announced that Bill France, Jr., who was NASCAR's chairman from 1972 to 2003 and its president from 1972 to 2000, had died from cancer at the age of 74 at 1:00 PM EST. The American flag at Dover was immediately lowered to half-staff and the death was announced over the public address system and on the telecast, where Mike Joy's somber tone cast a pall as he called Truex's first-ever Cup win.

Top ten results:

Notes

*For the second time, the telecast to the San Francisco Bay Area was moved from Cox owned Fox affiliate KTVU to sibling station KICU due to a previous commitment to televise a San Francisco Giants baseball game, this time against the Philadelphia Phillies from Citizens Bank Park. Earlier this year, a Giants game at the Colorado Rockies pre-empted the Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway. This would also be the last time this would happen; after the 2007 season, the Giants switched from KTVU to NBC Universal-owned KNTV starting with the 2008 season.
*The postponement due to rain was the third of the season, which matched the combined total for the 2003 through 2006 seasons.
*Catherine Bell was grand marshal of the race.
*This was the first Monday postponement that all Fox affiliates were asked to carry the race.

External links

* [http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/results/13dov2007results.htm Race results]
* [http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/standings/13dov2007points.htm Standings after this race]
* [http://www.autismspeaks.org Autism Speaks website]
* [http://www.autismspeaks.org/dover400 Charity auction]