2007 Pennsylvania 500

2007 Pennsylvania 500

Race details
Race 21 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Pocono Raceway, where the race was held.
Date	August 5, 2007
Official name	Pennsylvania 500
Location	Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.023 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 89.1 °F (31.7 °C); wind speeds up to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h)[1]
Average speed	131.627 miles per hour (211.833 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Time	52.949
Most laps led
Driver	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing
Laps	175
Winner
No. 2	Kurt Busch	Penske Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Jerry Punch, Andy Petree and Rusty Wallace

The 2007 Pennsylvania 500, the twenty-first race of the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season was raced on Sunday, August 5, 2007 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

Pre-Race

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the pole position after being allowed to requalify when a rainstorm interrupted his attempt which resulted in a 45-minute rain delay. NASCAR allowed Earnhardt to put on new tires and cool down his car because of the delay, when temperatures cooled down.

Kevin Lepage (#37), Mike Bliss (#49), Kenny Wallace (#78) and A.J. Allmendinger (#84) all failed to make the race.

Race

Outside polesitter Kurt Busch would be the class of the field, dominating for 175 of 200 laps and taking his first victory since the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in March 2006. While Busch dominated, the main story of the day was that of the polesitter. Dale Jr.'s team had brought an overly aggressive shock package to Pocono, and it was not working for them as the car was tight despite numerous adjustments. Their struggles hit a low point when Earnhardt Jr. spun the car in turn three. The team changed the shock and Dale Jr. rallied back to second place. Despite this comeback, Busch had overtaken Earnhardt, Jr. for the critical 12th position in points.

Jeff Gordon extended his points lead over Denny Hamlin to 366 points.

Top ten results:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Car	Team
1.	#2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Penske Racing South
2.	#8	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
3.	#11	Denny Hamlin	Chevrolet	Joe Gibbs Racing
4.	#24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
5.	#48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
6.	#20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Joe Gibbs Racing
7.	#12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	Penske Racing South
8.	#07	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
9.	#01	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
10.	#25	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports

Notes

• Kurt Busch has led a track record 175 laps.

References

1. Weather information for the 2007 Pennsylvania 500 at The Old Farmers' Almanac

External links

• Complete race results
• Points standings