2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300

The 2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 was the 17th race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season, held on July 1, 2007, at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.

2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300
Race details
Race 17 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Layout of New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Layout of New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Date July 1, 2007 (2007-July-01)
Official name Lenox Industrial Tools 300
Location New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire
Course Permanent racing facility
1.058 mi (1.702 km)
Distance 300 laps, 317.4 mi (510.805 km)
Weather Mild with temperatures approaching 75.9 °F (24.4 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)[1]
Average speed 108.215 miles per hour (174.155 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Bill Davis Racing
Time 29.426
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Laps 64
Winner
No. 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network TNT
Announcers Bill Weber, Kyle Petty and
Wally Dallenbach Jr.

Summary

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The event served as the eighth race for the new Car of Tomorrow and its first race at NHIS.

Qualifying

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Dave Blaney won the pole with a speed of 129.437 mph giving him his second career pole (last pole at North Carolina Speedway in February 2003) [2] and giving Toyota their first ever NEXTEL Cup pole position.[3]

Shortly after the conclusion of qualifying the #83 Red Bull Toyota of Brian Vickers was found to be too low in post-qualifying inspection. Due to this his time was disallowed and he was dropped from the field. Chad Chaffin, driver of the #49 car, took his place in the starting lineup.[4]

Others who failed to qualify: Michael Waltrip (#55), A. J. Allmendinger (#84), Kenny Wallace (#78), Scott Riggs (#10), Dale Jarrett (#44)

Happy Hour

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Jimmie Johnson led Happy Hour with a speed of 127.062 mph, while Martin Truex Jr. ran the most laps, 58. Top 5 times were as follows:

Rank Driver Starting pos. Speed
1 Jimmie Johnson 10th 127.062 mph
2 Juan Pablo Montoya 5th 127.062 mph
3 Jeff Gordon 8th 126.783 mph
4 Kevin Harvick 7th 126.761 mph
5 Clint Bowyer 20th 126.694 mph

[5] [6]

Race

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Pole sitter Dave Blaney led the first 30 laps, the most laps he had led in a race since Atlanta in March 2001. However, he lost the lead to former New Hampshire winner Jeff Gordon. After a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Dale Earnhardt Jr. assumed the top spot and led the most laps at 64. Many pit problems arose for some teams, such as speeding penalties, or running over a hose in Ryan Newman's case, or having the jack drop off the racecar, as was witnessed by the 99 crew of Carl Edwards. However, the most significant pitstop of the day was the last one. Denny Hamlin's crew chief Mike Ford took a gamble, putting on two tires, thus giving his driver the lead. Hamlin managed to hold off a furious charge from Jeff Gordon to end his 32-race winless streak and put his team back in victory lane.

Results

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Place Driver Make
1 11 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 190/5 300 Running
2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 175/5 300 Running
3 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 170/5 300 Running
4 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 170/10 300 Running
5 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 160/5 300 Running
6 66 Jeff Green Chevrolet 150/0 300 Running
7 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 146/0 300 Running
8 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 142/0 300 Running
9 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 143/5 300 Running
10 12 Ryan Newman Dodge 139/5 300 Running
11 5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet 135/5 300 Running
12 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 127/0 300 Running
13 99 Carl Edwards Ford 129/5 300 Running
14 70 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 121/0 300 Running
15 6 David Ragan * Ford 118/0 300 Running
16 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 115/0 300 Running
17 7 Robby Gordon Ford 112/0 300 Running
18 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge 109/0 300 Running
19 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge 106/0 300 Running
20 96 Tony Raines Chevrolet 103/0 300 Running
21 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 105/5 300 Running
22 18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 97/0 300 Running
23 25 Casey Mears Chevrolet 94/0 300 Running
24 14 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 91/0 300 Running
25 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 88/0 300 Running
26 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge 85/0 300 Running
27 40 David Stremme Dodge 82/0 300 Running
28 38 David Gilliland Ford 79/0 299 Running
29 22 Dave Blaney Toyota 81/5 299 Running
30 88 Ricky Rudd Ford 73/0 299 Running
31 16 Greg Biffle Ford 70/0 298 Running
32 01 Regan Smith Chevrolet 67/0 298 Running
33 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge 64/0 297 Running
34 21 Bill Elliott Ford 61/0 297 Running
35 37 Kevin Lepage Dodge 58/0 294 Running
36 49 Chad Chaffin Dodge 55/0 293 Running
37 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 52/0 293 Running
38 00 David Reutimann * Toyota 49/0 293 Running
39 15 Paul Menard * Chevrolet 46/0 286 Running
40 36 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 43/0 259 Running
41 13 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 40/0 197 Out of Race
42 45 John Andretti Dodge 37/0 109 Out of Race
43 4 Ward Burton Chevrolet 34/0 4 Out of Race

"*" Denotes rookie

Race notes

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Post-race penalties

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The #70 car of Johnny Sauter and the #5 car of Kyle Busch were found too low during post-race inspection. As a result, both drivers lost 25 points in the standings, their respective owners (Haas CNC Racing and Hendrick Motorsports) lost 25 points as well, and their respective crew chiefs (Robert "Bootie" Barker and Alan Gustafson) were placed on probation until September 19.

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References

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  1. ^ "2007 Lenox Industrial Tools 300 weather information". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2024-05-26. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
  2. ^ 2003 Subway 400 - Racing-Reference.info
  3. ^ "NASCAR.COM - Blaney gives Toyota first pole on season at Loudon - Jun 29, 2007". Archived from the original on 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  4. ^ "NASCAR.COM - Vickers disqualified after car deemed to be too low - Jun 29, 2007". Archived from the original on July 2, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
  5. ^ "Nascar.Com". Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  6. ^ "Nascar.Com". Archived from the original on 2007-07-01. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  7. ^ "NASCAR.COM - Bliss resigns from BAM as driver of the 49 Dodge - Jun 27, 2007". Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved June 30, 2007.
Previous race:
2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350
Nextel Cup Series
2007 season
Next race:
2007 Pepsi 400