Race 11 - Dodge Avenger 500

Dodge Avenger 500
In the final race before the All-Star break, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series visited The Lady in Black.....or The Track Too Tough to Tame.....or whatever other nickname one prefers. Regardless, the annual event at Darlington Raceway proved that the decades old track was still alive and well, as a packed crowd watched the 42 car field bump and bang all the way to a heart-pounding finish.

Kurt Busch, in the midst of an abysmal start to his first year with Richard Childress Racing, grabbed the pole for the race, one of the few bright spots to go along with his Las Vegas victory. He led early, until teammate Kevin Harvick took over on lap 12. Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon also led early, but Busch was able to get back to the lead by lap 44. Eventually, he surrendered his lead under the first cycle of green flag pit stops, and Jeff Gordon emerged with the lead after the field cycled through. Edwards eventually tracked down the #24, however, moving back to the top spot on lap 114.

The first caution of the race was a big one. On lap 120, Tony Stewart and Reed Sorenson hooked fenders while battling for the final spot on the lead lap heading into the first corner. Stewart emerged from the incident without much damage, but Sorenson's car was left sideways in the middle of the track with Edwards and Gordon barreling down into the corner. The leader had no place to go, and slammed in the #41 Toyota's door, effectively ending both driver's days. Gordon also received somewhat substantial cosmetic damage, and would never factor into the outcome again.

Another RCR car, this time Jeff Burton, led the field to the green flag on lap 125. The pack went back under the yellow relatively quickly, though, as Jamie McMurray and Robby Gordon tangled on the backstretch of lap 132. Burton stayed in the lead for the lap 137 green flag, and dominated until lap 156, when Harvick took over. The two RCR teammates swapped the lead a number of times, until Penske Racing's Casey Mears spoiled the fun on lap 194. Just 6 laps later, the third caution came out when Kasey Kahne, Jon Wood, and Bobby Labonte tangled in turn 3.

The polesitter was able to get back in the lead for the lap 205 restart, but another Roush Ford Fusion was around to take it away. Greg Biffle, the 2006 Champion, took the lead for the first time of the race on lap 232. He would lead until the 4th caution flag on lap 269, when Steven Wallace, Derrike Cope, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon all collided in turn 2, each receiving minor cosmetic damage.

Biffle remained in the lead through the caution for the lap 274 restart, and would lead until there were 68 laps remaining. That's when Elliott Sadler, in the midst of a remarkably inconsistent season a year after finishing runner up to Biffle, went to the point. However, the leader would find himself in the midst of controversy just 30 laps later, as the race took on a more aggressive turn.

Sadler and Kevin Harvick had spent a good portion of the earlier part of the race ferociously battling for position, and reports from Harvick's radio indicated he was not pleased with the #38 driver. Apparently, Sadler wasn't too happy with Harvick, as evidenced by the 5th and final caution of the race. As Harvick merged back on the racetrack just in front of Sadler following his pit stop, Sadler made a hard left entering turn 3 and flat out wrecked the #29 car. Harvick, ironically, saved his car after slapping the outside barrier, while Sadler spun in front of traffic. Kurt Busch received damage when he had to put his car against the outside wall to squeeze past the drama, but Dave Blaney wasn't so lucky. He slammed into the #38, ending both drivers' days. As if the loss of a potential victory wasn't bad enough, Sadler learned after the race that he would lose 25 driver and owner points for "Conduct detrimental to the sport", for intentionally wrecking the #29.

Meanwhile, all of that drama occurred in the middle of a cycle of green flag pit stops. When the lap 335 restart happened, Martin Truex Jr. found himself in the lead, with Bobby Hamilton Jr., Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, who recovered from being a lap down and in a crash, and Scott Riggs the only cars left on the lead lap. Those 5 who stayed out chose to never pit, hoping to stretch their fuel mileage to the end of the race while conserving their already heavily-worn tires. With the rest of the contenders being trapped at the tail end of the lead lap, it would come down to those drivers if a caution flag did not come out.

Truex Jr. didn't last long in the lead, as Hamilton Jr. surged to the front on lap 339. Just 5 laps later, Hamilton slid wide exiting turn 2, allowing both Busch and Stewart to pass by. Busch was in command, with just 24 laps left in search of his first career victory. The laps slowly ticked off the clock, and Busch extended his lead over Stewart. Truex and Hamilton both pitted with just 7 laps to go, though, increasing the worry of the crew chiefs of Busch, Stewart, and Riggs. Then, the unthinkable happened for Busch - with just 3 and half laps left, fans saw the young driver viciously swerve his car back and forth on the backstretch, hoping to find one last gulp of fuel. That never happened though, as Busch ducked down to pit road, handing the lead over to Tony Stewart. Stewart at the time commanded a 4+ second lead over Riggs, and would lead the final 4 laps under cruise control, as he conserved enough fuel to earn his series-leading 3rd victory of 2007!

Results:


Point Standings:



Owner Standings:



Rookie of the Year Standings:
1. Jon Wood - 101
2. Todd Kluever - 93
3. Aric Almirola - 87
4. Paul Menard - 51
5. Denny Hamlin - 45

"And there goes our guaranteed start. Outside the top 35. That definitely sucks. We've got to make changes to the organization. That's our third engine failure in six weeks. We're not where we need to be. Aric's a great driver, but the competition seems so be really strong. We string these DNFs, and all of a sudden we're at the bottom of the list. A top 25 finish literally does nothing for us anymore. We've got to step it up and put ourselves back into the top 25, and then build a cushion. Thankfully, we get another week and a half before we have to worry about a qualifying effort."

DEI Statement:

"Clearly wasn't our best week, but we're happy to finish this event with a top-20."