Race
The 2007 running of the Dodge Dealers 400 was dominated early on by Chase driver Matt Kenseth. However, engine woes sidelined the #17 for the rest of the day. Besides Kenseth, various Chase drivers struggled throughout the day. RCR's Kevin Harvick had a loose wheel early on and could never recover from the mistake. Jimmie Johnson had a cut tire on lap 186, losing 2 laps. Jeff Gordon overall struggled with his CoT, Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton both needed the "Lucky Dog" to get back on the lead lap, but still ended up one lap down. Most recent winner Clint Bowyer was dodging wrecks left and right, while Denny Hamlin was involved in a heated altercation with Kyle Petty. A unique caution came out on lap 148. During the cycle of previous pit stops, Michael Waltrip's gasman, Art Harris, was hit by a stray wheel hit by the car of David Ragan. Harris had to be escorted out of the racatrack via ambulance, but Dover does not have a tunnel as it is below sea level. The crewman was okay. A five minute red flag was brought out as a result of a crash between John Andretti and Tony Raines. Misfortune would again strike the Chase contenders as "The Big One", commonly seen at Talladega erupted on lap 386 when Kurt Busch lost a tire and struck the turn two wall. He bounced off Reed Sorenson and into his teammate Ryan Newman. Out of the Chase contenders besides Busch, the melee also got his brother Kyle, points leader Jimmie Johnson and hometown hero Martin Truex Jr.. Non-Chasers involved were Reed Sorenson, J.J. Yeley, Jeff Green, Scott Riggs, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, and Bobby Labonte. The red flag would be brought out again to clean up the mess. Avoiding the misfortune of the Chasers would be Carl Edwards, looking to sneak up on the other drivers. This ploy would work as he had held off ex-teammate Mark Martin on the majority of restarts. With few laps in the race, Greg Biffle, who had not won since 2006 at Homestead, took the opportunity to take on four tires. After the 13th and final caution, Biffle soared past his ex-teammate, but would not have enough to catch Edwards, dubbed, "The Concrete Conqueror" in the Busch Series, who hung on for his first NEXTEL Cup win at Dover.
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Famous quotes containing the word race:
“But for the national welfare, it is urgent to realize that the minorities do think, and think about something other than the race problem.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“When at last in a race a new principle appears, an idea—that conserves it; ideas only save races.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)