2007 Gatorade Duels
# 2007 Gatorade Duels

The 2007 Gatorade Duels were a pair of NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stock car races that were held on February 15, 2007, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Both, contested over 60 laps, were the qualifying races for the 2007 Daytona 500. The first race was won by Tony Stewart of Joe Gibbs Racing and the second race was won by Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports.

The races set the field for the 49th running of "The Great American Race". These races are the only ones in the NASCAR Nextel Cup that qualifies drivers and their teams for a points-paying race. As qualifying only sets the front row for the Daytona 500, these races are formatted as follows:

* The pole sitter for the Daytona 500 (David Gilliland) was on the point for the first race, with odd-numbered racers who have times in the first event, with the third-fastest driver sitting next to the pole sitter on the front row, then fifth- and seventh-fastest drivers in the second row, and so on.
* The second-fastest overall driver (Ricky Rudd) was the pole sitter for race two, with the fourth-fastest driver alongside in the front row, then the sixth- and eighth-fastest cars in row two, and so forth.

Positions three through 39 were filled that way (not counting the pole drivers in each race) along with the top drivers in each race not locked in from the previous season's Top 35, automatically qualify for the race. After that, the three fastest cars that did not qualify in the races along with a past champions provisional (if needed) completes the 43-car field. Had all past champions made the race, the next fastest car would have been entered into the field.

## Top ten finishers

Race 1 and 2

Top Ten Finishers

Race 1

Race 2

Pos.

No.

Driver

Car Make

Team

Pos.

No.

Driver

Car Make

Team

1

20

Tony Stewart

Chevrolet

Joe Gibbs Racing

1

24

Jeff Gordon

Chevrolet

Hendrick Motorsports

2

8

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Chevrolet

Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

2

2

Kurt Busch

Dodge

Penske Racing

3

31

Jeff Burton

Chevrolet

Richard Childress Racing

3

40

David Stremme

Dodge

Chip Ganassi Racing

4

38

David Gilliland

Ford

Robert Yates Racing

4

5

Kyle Busch

Chevrolet

Hendrick Motorsports

5

11

Denny Hamlin

Chevrolet

Joe Gibbs Racing

5

17

Matt Kenseth

Ford

Roush Fenway Racing

6

07

Clint Bowyer

Chevrolet

Richard Childress Racing

6

18

J. J. Yeley

Chevrolet

Joe Gibbs Racing

7

1

Martin Truex Jr.

Chevrolet

Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

7

99

Carl Edwards

Ford

Roush Fenway Racing

8

55

Michael Waltrip

Toyota

Michael Waltrip Racing

8

12

Ryan Newman

Dodge

Penske Racing

9

25

Casey Mears

Chevrolet

Hendrick Motorsports

9

13

Joe Nemechek

Chevrolet

Ginn Racing

10

21

Ken Schrader

Ford

Wood Brothers Racing

10

96

Tony Raines

Chevrolet

Hall of Fame Racing

Failed to qualify for the Daytona 500

Race 1

Race 2

49-Mike Bliss

15-Paul Menard

36-Jeremy Mayfield

34-Kevin Lepage

78-Kenny Wallace

74-Derrike Cope

30-Stanton Barrett

39-Regan Smith

37-Bill Elliott

71-Frank Kimmel

72-Brandon Whitt

04-Eric McClure

58-James Hylton

27-Kirk Shelmerdine

4-Ward Burton

83-Brian Vickers

84-A. J. Allmendinger

23-Mike Skinner

Penalties

During the 2007 NASCAR Gatorade Duels, the qualifying events for the Daytona 500, various incidents and cheating allegations surrounding the events occurred, leading to various sanctions for teams and drivers.

Pole qualifying infractions

Prior to qualifying, Evernham Motorsports team directors (equivalent of crew chief) Rodney Childers (#10 Dodge Charger) and Josh Browne (#19 Charger) were suspended for Daytona and the following week's race at Fontana, fined $25,000 (US), plus both their teams and drivers (Scott Riggs for the #10, Elliott Sadler for the #19) were penalized 25 championship points due to an illegal modification that was corrected before qualifying in pre-qualifying inspection.

After the qualifying had ended, NASCAR handed out heavier penalties for crew chiefs Kenny Francis (Evernham Motorsports #9 Charger) and Robbie Reiser (Roush Fenway Racing #17 Ford Fusion) teams. Both were suspended for Daytona and the next three races, fined $50,000, and their teams and drivers (Kasey Kahne for the #9 and Matt Kenseth for the #17) were penalized 50 championship points due to illegal modifications found in post-qualifying inspection. In addition, due to the modifications, their qualifying times were disallowed. (Kenseth had the 11th-fastest time in the opening round, while Kahne was 28th.) The penalty to the #10 team would drop it out of the top-35 in owners points.

Michael Waltrip Racing

On February 14, three days after the first round of qualifying, David Hyder, the crew chief for Michael Waltrip and Bobby Kennedy, competition director for Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) (cars #44 and #55) and Waltrip-PPI Racing (#00) were ejected from the track by NASCAR officials. Earlier, the intake manifold from Waltrip's #55 car had been confiscated by NASCAR when "an unknown substance" was found in it during post-qualifying inspection. When a new manifold was installed and the engine test-run, the same substance was found in the new manifold, resulting in NASCAR impounding the entire car and disallowing Waltrip's qualifying time, which was 25th-fastest. Just before 6 PM US EST, NASCAR held a press conference at which it was announced that both Hyder and Kennedy were suspended indefinitely, Hyder fined $100,000, Waltrip docked 100 championship points, and the team, owned by Waltrip's wife, Buffy, were docked 100 car owner points for violations that included a violation of the rule (in place through the 2010 season) prohibiting the blending of gasoline with "alcohols, ethers, or other oxygenates"; this quickly became known among the media and fans as "rocket fuel". Waltrip was permitted to compete in the first Gatorade Duel qualifying race in a backup car. He finished eighth, which was high enough to qualify the car for the Daytona 500.

As a result of the penalty, Waltrip became only the second driver to ever have a negative score in the championship standings. He finished Daytona with -27 points, as his 30th-place showing, worth 73 points, did not compensate for the 100-point penalty. This remained his score until June 4, when he finally made his second start of the year at Dover International Speedway in the Cup series' 14th race. Meanwhile, Kennedy was given a 6-month leave of absence by MWR. He was relieved of duty later that year but rehired by MWR in March 2008. Because somebody had to be fired according to the MWR rules for the near-fatal scandal for the team, David Hyder was ultimately held responsible and relieved of duty. Neither NASCAR nor MWR has specified what substance was found in Waltrip's engine.

Duel Race #2

In a post-race inspection following the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race, race winner Jeff Gordon, driver of the Hendrick Motorsports #24 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS had been found to be one inch too low because of misaligned bolts on a shock absorber. Due to the official's belief that the violation was unintentional, he kept the win, but would be penalized by starting 42nd in the Daytona 500.

Aftermath

The race, the first of the season, was won by Kevin Harvick. The penalties resulted in the following point readjustments:

Sadler: Finished 6th in the race, was dropped to 11th in points, 65 points behind Harvick.

Kahne: Finished 7th, was tied for 23rd, 94 points behind.

Kenseth: Finished 27th, was tied for 40th, 157 points behind.

Riggs: Finished 37th, was 42nd, 163 points behind.

Waltrip: Finished 30th, was 43rd, 217 points behind, becoming the first driver in NASCAR history to begin a season with a negative point total, at -27 points, and second of three drivers to carry a negative point total for a race (in 2000 Jeremy Mayfield carried -26 points following the DieHard 500, in 2009 Carl Long carried -200 points following the Coca-Cola 600 weekend).

On March 6, appeals for Kenseth by Roush Fenway Racing and Kahne by Evernham Motorsports were denied by the three-member panel that oversees NASCAR's disciplinary action. Before that, Kenseth had been able to climb to 12th in the standings after winning the Auto Club 500 with interim crew chief Chip Bolin.

References

↑ "Jayski's NASCAR Silly Season Site - Lineup and Qualifying Info". www.jayski.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 13 January 2022.↑ Smith, Steven Cole (August 27, 2010). "The Greatest Cheats in NASCAR History". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 2012-06-07.

"MWR's penalty will hurt for many years to come" by Ryan Smithson

vte2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup SeriesPoints races

Daytona 500

Auto Club 500

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400

Kobalt Tools 500

Food City 500

Goody's Cool Orange 500

Samsung 500

Subway Fresh Fit 500

Aaron's 499

Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400

Dodge Avenger 500

Coca-Cola 600

Autism Speaks 400

Pocono 500

Citizens Bank 400

Toyota/Save Mart 350

Lenox Industrial Tools 300

Pepsi 400

USG Sheetrock 400

Brickyard 400

Pennsylvania 500

Centurion Boats at the Glen

3M Performance 400

Sharpie 500

Sharp AQUOS 500

Chevy Rock & Roll 400

Chase for the Nextel Cup

Sylvania 300

Dodge Dealers 400

LifeLock 400

UAW-Ford 500

Bank of America 500

Subway 500

Pep Boys Auto 500

Dickies 500

Checker Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil

Ford 400

Exhibition races

Budweiser Shootout

Gatorade Duels

All-Star Challenge :

