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.

Summary

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

Qualifying

won the pole with a speed of 129.437 mph giving him his second career pole and giving Toyota their first ever NEXTEL Cup pole position.
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.
Others who failed to qualify: Michael Waltrip, A. J. Allmendinger, Kenny Wallace, Scott Riggs, Dale Jarrett

Happy Hour

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:
RankDriverStarting pos.Speed
1Jimmie Johnson10th127.062 mph
2Juan Pablo Montoya5th127.062 mph
3Jeff Gordon8th126.783 mph
4Kevin Harvick7th126.761 mph
5Clint Bowyer20th126.694 mph

Race

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

PlaceDriverMake
111Denny HamlinChevrolet190/5 300Running
224Jeff GordonChevrolet175/5 300Running
31Martin Truex Jr.Chevrolet170/5 300Running
48Dale Earnhardt Jr.Chevrolet170/10 300Running
548Jimmie JohnsonChevrolet160/5 300Running
666Jeff GreenChevrolet150/0 300Running
731Jeff BurtonChevrolet146/0 300Running
829Kevin HarvickChevrolet142/0 300Running
917Matt KensethFord143/5 300Running
1012Ryan NewmanDodge139/5 300Running
115Kyle BuschChevrolet135/5 300Running
1220Tony StewartChevrolet127/0 300Running
1399Carl EdwardsFord Lumber129/5 300Running
1470Johnny SauterChevrolet121/0 300Running
156David Ragan *Ford118/0 300Running
1626Jamie McMurrayFord115/0 300Running
177Robby GordonFord112/0 300Running
1843Bobby LabonteDodge109/0 300Running
1942Juan Montoya *Dodge106/0 300Running
2096Tony RainesChevrolet103/0 300Running
212Kurt BuschDodge105/5 300Running
2218J.J. YeleyChevrolet97/0 300Running
2325Casey MearsChevrolet94/0 300Running
2414Sterling MarlinChevrolet91/0 300Running
259Kasey KahneDodge88/0 300Running
2641Reed SorensonDodge85/0 300Running
2740David StremmeDodge82/0 300Running
2838David GillilandFord79/0 299Running
2922Dave BlaneyToyota81/5 299Running
3088Ricky RuddFord73/0 299Running
3116Greg BiffleFord70/0 298Running
3201Regan SmithChevrolet67/0 298Running
3319Elliott SadlerDodge64/0 297Running
3421Bill ElliottFord61/0 297Running
3537Kevin LepageDodge58/0 294Running
3649Chad ChaffinDodge55/0 293Running
3707Clint BowyerChevrolet52/0 293Running
3800David Reutimann *Toyota49/0 293Running
3915Paul Menard *Chevrolet46/0 286Running
4036Jeremy MayfieldToyota43/0 259Running
4113Joe NemechekChevrolet40/0 197Out of Race
4245John AndrettiDodge37/0 109Out of Race
434Ward BurtonChevrolet34/0 4Out of Race

"*" Denotes rookie

Race notes

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 lost 25 points as well, and their respective crew chiefs were placed on probation until September 19.