2007 Dodge Dealers 400: Edwards Wins at Dover, Then Loses Points Over a Ride Height Penalty

Carl Edwards won the 2007 Dodge Dealers 400 on 23 September 2007 at Dover International Speedway in Delaware, starting from fifteenth on the grid. The 400-lap race was the twenty-eighth of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the second event of the ten-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. Two red flags and thirteen cautions shaped the afternoon, and the result was soon overshadowed by a penalty for his car.

What is Dover International Speedway?

Dover International Speedway is a four-turn oval measuring 1.6 km (1 mi) around. The turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, where the finish line sits, and the backstretch are each banked at nine degrees. It is a short track that holds NASCAR races, and it uses the standard configuration for the series.

The race drew a crowd of 137,000 spectators. Around the start the weather was sunny and clear, with an air temperature of 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit) and a ten percent chance of rain forecast.

Burton was the defending winner at the track, and the 2007 race came in the middle of a season that had a further 36 scheduled races.

Carl Edwards won from 15th at Dover, then lost 25 points when his car was found below minimum ride height.

Who was in contention before the race?

Going into Dover, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon shared the top of the Drivers' Championship on 5,210 points apiece. Tony Stewart was third, while Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch were fourth and fifth. The rest of the top twelve in the Chase included Truex, Kenseth, Edwards, Hamlin, Harvick, Burton and Kurt Busch.

Chevrolet led the Manufacturers' Championship with 215 points. Ford was second on 153, Dodge third on 139, and Toyota fourth, a further 54 points back.

Robby Gordon Motorsports had planned to run former V8 Supercars champion Marcos Ambrose, after team owner Robby Gordon offered him the seat to make amends for an incident between the two in a Busch Series race. Ambrose withdrew because his wife was due to give birth to their second child, so the team's entry was not the one first planned.

Who fought for places in qualifying?

Three part-time drivers tried to make the Dover field. Sam Hornish Jr. drove for Penske Racing South, Scott Wimmer ran a Richard Childress car, and Kenny Wallace stood in for the hurt Ricky Rudd at Robert Yates Racing. Six drivers ultimately failed to qualify, including Ward Burton, Wimmer, Kevin Lepage, Dave Blaney, Jeremy Mayfield and Hornish.

Three practice sessions came before the Sunday race, one on Friday and two on Saturday, lasting 90, 50 and 60 minutes. In the first session Johnson set the pace at 23.423 seconds, with Hamlin 0.071 seconds slower in second. A. J. Allmendinger's engine failed on his first lap, and the team changed the unit.

How did qualifying decide the grid?

Forty-nine cars entered qualifying on Friday afternoon, and forty-three of them were allowed to race. Every driver had two timed attempts. Johnson took his second pole of the season at 23.261 seconds, his first at Dover, and Juan Pablo Montoya was alongside him on the front row as the highest-placed rookie, 0.141 seconds slower.

Hamlin qualified third, Kurt Busch fourth and Martin Truex Jr. fifth, with Scott Riggs the fastest driver who had to qualify on time in sixth. Edwards set the fifteenth-fastest time, and Clint Bowyer struggled on his lap and ended up 42nd. Johnson said track position was important at Dover, and that the team had focused on getting the first pit stall.

On the Saturday morning Hamlin was still fastest in the second session, at 23.849 seconds, despite being unwell with flu-like symptoms. Johnson was second and Stewart third. Hamlin repeated his position in the final session at 23.946 seconds, with Kenseth and Edwards close behind.

How did the early race unfold?

The race began at 1:47 p.m. after ABC had started its live coverage at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, and Bob Nardelli, the chief executive of Chrysler, gave the order to start engines. Allmendinger had to start from the rear because of his engine change.

Hamlin passed Montoya for second at the start, and on the second lap he made contact with Johnson, which left Johnson loose and handed Hamlin the lead. Montoya ran the top groove and fell from second to tenth in the opening ten laps. The first caution came on lap 12, when David Gilliland hit the rear of Johnny Sauter's car as it left turn four and sent Sauter into the front-stretch wall with heavy damage.

Hamlin kept the lead at the lap-17 restart. A second caution followed four laps later, when Ken Schrader spun after a bump from Reed Sorenson on the exit of turn four. Schrader's car took only minor damage and went to pit road for repairs. On lap 27 Johnson lost second to Kenseth, who had moved to the bottom lane, and ten laps later Kenseth took the lead from Hamlin.

Earnhardt, who had started 21st, was already running ninth by lap 35. Gordon moved to eighth after a pit stop under caution.

What incidents shaped the middle laps?

A third caution came on lap 54 for debris on the track, and the leaders made stops for fuel and car adjustments. Michael Waltrip spent one lap in front under the yellow before giving the lead back to Hamlin after a stop. Johnson fell to ninth behind Gordon after the pit cycle, while Kenseth drew alongside Hamlin and the two began racing for the lead.

A fourth caution followed when Schrader spun Kyle Petty in the middle of turn two. Petty avoided the wall, but a loose tyre from Dale Jarrett's pit box rolled into the fast lane. Ragan could not avoid it, and the tyre bounced into Waltrip's pit stall and struck gas man Art Harris on the helmet. Harris was treated at the infield care centre and then taken to hospital by ambulance.

Kurt Busch got the best of the stops and led the restart on lap 85. Kenseth reached third six laps after that. On lap 98 Kenseth went around Edwards to take third, and Kenseth then took the lead from Kurt Busch on lap 99. Edwards got back past Kurt Busch to move into second on lap 122.

Johnson's right-rear tyre shredded on lap 188, and his team changed all four tyres on pit road. Earnhardt dropped to fourth on lap 152 after he got loose, and Biffle passed Kurt Busch for second 16 laps later.

How did the race turn in the back half?

On lap 204, Hamlin hit Petty as they came out of turn four. Petty spun into the front-stretch wall, and his car was damaged enough that he retired. Bowyer also ran into Hamlin and damaged a bracket holding his right-front splitter, while Hamlin had heavy damage down the right side of his car.

Hamlin tried to return to speed but a broken brake rotor forced him back to pit road without brakes. Kenseth led at the lap-212 restart. A seventh caution followed when McMurray and Montoya collided on the backstretch, and McMurray's right-rear tyre was cut in the contact. He slid up the wall and went back to his garage.

Martin moved to third on the 253rd lap. Kenseth went up the track fifteen laps afterward, and Edwards got under him for the lead. Martin then passed Kenseth to take second on lap 272, and he caught Edwards by lap 282 before taking the lead when Edwards made his first green-flag stop for four tyres and an adjustment.

Several cars were on an alternative pit cycle that let them try to finish on one more stop. Biffle, Sorenson and Kenseth all led during that period. Edwards passed his teammate Kenseth on the 322nd lap once the stops were complete.

How did the red flags change the finish?

Debris brought out an eighth caution 33 laps after that pass, and most drivers, Edwards included, pitted for adjustments. Kenseth led the lap-361 restart, but his engine was failing and he lost the lead to Edwards two laps later. Next came a ninth caution for John Andretti, who lost control and made contact with Raines on the backstretch.

Eight laps after that the race was red-flagged for five minutes so that debris and fluid could be cleared. The field restarted on lap 364 after Kenseth's engine failed and triggered another caution. Edwards became the leader five laps later and kept the lead at the lap-379 restart.

Robby Gordon lost control in the second turn on the 381st lap and hit the wall, bringing out the eleventh caution. The next lap a multi-car accident caused the twelfth caution and a second red flag. A component broke on Kurt Busch's car, and he hit the backstretch wall on lap 386. Truex could not avoid him, and his car ricocheted into Sorenson, while Kahne crashed as well. Once the red flag was lifted 12 minutes later, cars that could finish made repairs and tyre changes.

Edwards and Martin stayed on track and led the lap-390 restart, with Earnhardt and Biffle running third and fourth. Biffle got around Earnhardt on the next lap for third. On lap 393 sheet metal from Truex's damaged car cut a right-front tyre and brought out the thirteenth and final caution.

How did Edwards win the race?

Edwards held the lead at the lap-397 restart, with Martin, Biffle and Earnhardt behind him. Biffle then moved past Earnhardt into second. Edwards held off his teammate for the remaining three laps to win his third race of the season and his seventh in the series. It also gave Roush Fenway its 100th Cup Series win, counting from Martin's first win for the team at the 1989 AC Delco 500.

Biffle finished second, Earnhardt third, Martin fourth and Kyle Busch fifth. Mears, Burton, McMurray, Stewart and Montoya completed the top ten. Kenseth led 192 laps in total, the highest figure of any driver, and Edwards led three times for 92 laps.

Edwards received $229,250 for the victory. After the race he said the red flags had been frustrating and that the Chase was a battle in which a lot of drivers were having bad luck. He said he was pleased to have capitalised on a race in which Kenseth lost an engine.

What was the penalty for Edwards?

Edwards' car failed post-race inspection because its right-rear ride height was three-eighths of an inch below the minimum. NASCAR found no malice, but the car went to its Concord facility for more analysis. Roush said the car had not been altered and blamed a dent for the violation, while Edwards suspected a congratulatory bump from Biffle might have caused it.

Two days after the race, Roush Fenway Racing was penalised for conduct detrimental to stock car racing, for non-conforming components and for the ride height failure. Crew chief Bob Osborne was fined $25,000 and placed on probation until 31 December 2007. Edwards and Roush each lost 25 points. Roush Fenway president Geoff Smith said the team saw no logic in the penalty and would appeal.

The appeal was heard on 9 October by a three-member National Stock Car Racing Commission, and all three commissioners unanimously upheld the original penalty. Edwards said afterwards he was pleased to have his side heard, but he called for an arbitrator to preside over the case because the panel was appointed by NASCAR. The result dropped him from third to sixth in the Drivers' Championship.

Who led the championship after the race?

The result moved Gordon into the lead of the Drivers' Championship with 5,340 points. Stewart was second, two points behind, and Johnson fell to third. Kyle Busch moved up to fourth and Bowyer dropped to fifth, while Edwards, Truex, Burton, Harvick, Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Hamlin completed the top twelve.

In the Manufacturers' Championship Chevrolet kept its lead with 219 points. Ford stood on 162, with Dodge at 143 and Toyota at 89. The race took three hours, 55 minutes and 39 seconds, and Edwards' winning margin was 0.617 seconds.

What happened between Hamlin and Petty?

After Hamlin's car was damaged in the lap 204 incident, Petty came to his pit area while the car was being repaired. Pit crews and series officials separated the two drivers after they exchanged angry words and Petty struck Hamlin's helmet visor. Hamlin said he had not crashed into Petty on purpose. Petty said Hamlin had lost focus after his Busch Series win the previous day, and Hamlin denied the claim.