2007 USG Sheetrock 400

The 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 was the 19th race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. It took place during daytime on July 15, 2007, at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois with the broadcast airing on TNT.

2007 USG Sheetrock 400

Race details[1]
Race 19 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season
Layout of Chicagoland Speedway
Date	July 15, 2007 (2007-July-15)
Official name	USG Sheetrock 400
Location	Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.414 km)
Distance	267 laps, 400.5 mi (644.542 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 80.6 °F (27.0 °C); wind speeds up to 8.9 miles per hour (14.3 km/h)
Average speed	134.258 miles per hour (216.067 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Casey Mears	Hendrick Motorsports
Time	29.580
Most laps led
Driver	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	108
Winner
No. 20	Tony Stewart	Joe Gibbs Racing
Television in the United States
Network	Turner Network Television
Announcers	Bill Weber, Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Kyle Petty

Qualifying

Unlike the previous week at Daytona, qualifying was complete for this race. Casey Mears won the pole position with a lap of 182.556 miles per hour. Michael Waltrip qualified for only his fourth race of the season. Chad Chaffin once again filled in at BAM Racing and again qualified for the race.

Race

Tony Stewart won for the first time in 2007 and for the 30th time in his career. He also led the most laps in the competition, 108 out of 267. His margin of victory over second-place Matt Kenseth was 1.727 seconds. The rest of the top five drivers, in order, were Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, and Clint Bowyer.

Jimmie Johnson led the second-most laps (82), but encountered tire trouble toward the end and wound up in 37th place.

Jeff Gordon (9th) extended his points lead over Denny Hamlin (17th) to 303 points. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. led Ryan Newman by 39 points for 12th place and the final spot in the 2007 Chase for the NEXTEL Cup. After this race, seven races remained until the "playoff" field was set.

Sunday (day) race results
Position	Car number	Driver	Manufacturer	Team
1	20	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Joe Gibbs Racing
2	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
3	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Roush Fenway Racing
4	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
5	25	Casey Mears	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
6	2	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Penske Racing
7	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing
8	12	Ryan Newman	Dodge	Penske Racing
9	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports
10	07	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing

Notes

• The command to start the engines was given by former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith.[2]
• This was the final race in the telecast schedule for TNT. Kyle Petty, who was one of the color analysts, returned to the #45 car for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.
• On the Friday of the race weekend, NASCAR announced that Robby Gordon had lost 25 driver points and 25 owner points because the camera shell, a part that allows in-car images to be sent to television viewers, was not approved.[3]
• The 2007 race was the last daytime race in Joliet until 2011. It was announced that starting in 2008, the race would be moved to Saturday night as lights would be installed.

References

1. Weather information for the 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 at The Old Farmers' Almanac. Accessed 2013-06-21. Archived 2013-07-05.
2. Mayer, Larry (2007-06-27). "Smith to serve as Grand Marshal of NASCAR race". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
3. "Jayski'sŽ NASCAR Silly Season Site - Sprint Cup Team News and Links - #7". Jayski.com. 2004-11-09. Retrieved 2012-03-16.

External links

• Complete race results
• Points standings

Previous race: 2007 Pepsi 400

Nextel Cup Series 2007 season

Next race: 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard