2007 Citizens Bank 400
# 2007 Citizens Bank 400

The 2007 Citizens Bank 400 was the 15th race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season. It was held on June 17, 2007, at Michigan International Speedway, located in the town of Brooklyn, Michigan .

After this race, 11 races remained to set the field for the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

## Qualifying

J. J. Yeley won his first career pole with a fast lap of 187.505 miles per hour, or 38.399 seconds. Jimmie Johnson fell short of Yeley's lap by .001 second. Ryan Newman, who had won the three previous poles, qualified fourth.

Michael Waltrip made only his third race in 15 tries. He had announced earlier that week that he was stepping aside for the following week's race, the Toyota/Save Mart 350, in favor of two-time series champion Terry Labonte.

## Race

Carl Edwards won the Citizens Bank 400 for his first win in the Nextel Cup Series since November 4, 2005 at Texas Motor Speedway, a span of 52 races. Edwards took the lead from Johnson on lap 166 (out of 200) and never lost it.

Martin Truex Jr. finished second; he now had a three-race span in which he finished first, third, and second. Tony Stewart rallied from the 41st starting position to place third. The remaining Top 5 drivers were Casey Mears and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who will be teammates at Hendrick Motorsports in 2008.

There were 22 lead changes among 11 drivers. The race also had four caution periods; one of them was for an accident involving seven cars, including Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers, and Jeff Green. Michigan International Speedway has been a Ford dominated track starting in 1984, and a Mercury track before that from 1969 to 1978. It was also a track that suited a smooth driver or a driver that could change his driving tactics for Michigan International Speedway.

### Results

| POS | ST | # | DRIVER | SPONSOR / OWNER | CAR | LAPS | MONEY | STATUS | LED | PTS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Office Depot (Jack Roush) | Ford | 200 | 177850 | running | 63 | 195 |
| 2 | 8 | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) | Chevrolet | 200 | 154445 | running | 54 | 175 |
| 3 | 41 | 20 | Tony Stewart | The Home Depot (Joe Gibbs) | Chevrolet | 200 | 157586 | running | 2 | 170 |
| 4 | 13 | 25 | Casey Mears | National Guard / GMAC (Rick Hendrick) | Chevrolet | 200 | 113325 | running | 1 | 165 |
| 5 | 23 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Budweiser (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) | Chevrolet | 200 | 128558 | running | 1 | 160 |
| 6 | 3 | 5 | Kyle Busch | Kellogg's / Carquest (Rick Hendrick) | Chevrolet | 200 | 111650 | running | 0 | 150 |
| 7 | 19 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Shell / Pennzoil (Richard Childress) | Chevrolet | 200 | 129761 | running | 0 | 146 |
| 8 | 35 | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Crown Royal (Jack Roush) | Ford | 200 | 92400 | running | 0 | 142 |
| 9 | 6 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | DuPont (Rick Hendrick) | Chevrolet | 200 | 124986 | running | 18 | 143 |
| 10 | 18 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | NAPA Auto Parts (Michael Waltrip) | Toyota | 199 | 99208 | running | 1 | 139 |
| 11 | 21 | 21 | Bill Elliott | Motorcraft (Wood Brothers) | Ford | 199 | 102414 | running | 0 | 130 |
| 12 | 38 | 15 | Paul Menard | Menards / Johns Manville (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) | Chevrolet | 199 | 81825 | running | 1 | 132 |
| 13 | 30 | 7 | Robby Gordon | Menards / MAPEI (Robby Gordon) | Ford | 199 | 81225 | running | 0 | 124 |
| 14 | 7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Freight (Joe Gibbs) | Chevrolet | 199 | 94025 | running | 1 | 126 |
| 15 | 40 | 00 | David Reutimann | Burger King (Michael Waltrip) | Toyota | 199 | 92683 | running | 0 | 118 |
| 16 | 11 | 07 | Clint Bowyer | DirecTV (Richard Childress) | Chevrolet | 199 | 86225 | running | 0 | 115 |
| 17 | 20 | 38 | David Gilliland | M&M's (Yates Racing) | Ford | 199 | 105039 | running | 0 | 112 |
| 18 | 17 | 22 | Dave Blaney | Caterpillar (Bill Davis) | Toyota | 199 | 100083 | running | 0 | 109 |
| 19 | 2 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe's (Rick Hendrick) | Chevrolet | 199 | 144961 | running | 56 | 111 |
| 20 | 27 | 14 | Sterling Marlin | Ginn Resorts (Bobby Ginn) | Chevrolet | 199 | 91108 | running | 0 | 103 |
| 21 | 34 | 6 | David Ragan | AAA Insurance (Jack Roush) | Ford | 198 | 112550 | running | 0 | 100 |
| 22 | 25 | 88 | Ricky Rudd | Snickers (Yates Racing) | Ford | 198 | 106958 | running | 0 | 97 |
| 23 | 29 | 41 | Reed Sorenson | Target (Chip Ganassi) | Dodge | 198 | 94072 | running | 0 | 94 |
| 24 | 9 | 31 | Jeff Burton | AT&T Mobility (Richard Childress) | Chevrolet | 198 | 111966 | running | 0 | 91 |
| 25 | 10 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Miller Lite (Roger Penske) | Dodge | 198 | 109208 | running | 2 | 93 |
| 26 | 28 | 70 | Johnny Sauter | Radioactive Energy Drink (Gene Haas) | Chevrolet | 198 | 75200 | running | 0 | 85 |
| 27 | 37 | 45 | John Andretti | American Spirit Motor Oil (Petty Enterprises) | Dodge | 198 | 74400 | running | 0 | 82 |
| 28 | 1 | 18 | J. J. Yeley | Interstate Batteries (Joe Gibbs) | Chevrolet | 198 | 107958 | running | 0 | 79 |
| 29 | 15 | 01 | Mark Martin | U.S. Army (Bobby Ginn) | Chevrolet | 198 | 81950 | running | 0 | 76 |
| 30 | 5 | 13 | Joe Nemechek | Haier (Bobby Ginn) | Chevrolet | 198 | 73875 | running | 0 | 73 |
| 31 | 43 | 84 | A.J. Allmendinger | Red Bull (Dietrich Mateschitz) | Toyota | 197 | 70725 | running | 0 | 70 |
| 32 | 36 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge Dealers / UAW (Ray Evernham) | Dodge | 197 | 117841 | running | 0 | 67 |
| 33 | 22 | 10 | Scott Riggs | Valvoline / Stanley Tools (James Rocco) | Dodge | 197 | 79525 | running | 0 | 64 |
| 34 | 31 | 43 | Bobby Labonte | Cheerios / Betty Crocker (Petty Enterprises) | Dodge | 197 | 107411 | running | 0 | 61 |
| 35 | 39 | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge Dealers / UAW (Ray Evernham) | Dodge | 196 | 88670 | running | 0 | 58 |
| 36 | 42 | 66 | Jeff Green | Best Buy (Gene Haas) | Chevrolet | 196 | 78275 | running | 0 | 55 |
| 37 | 4 | 12 | Ryan Newman | Alltel (Roger Penske) | Dodge | 196 | 102300 | running | 0 | 52 |
| 38 | 14 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Dish Network (Jack Roush) | Ford | 192 | 88490 | running | 0 | 49 |
| 39 | 32 | 96 | Tony Raines | DLP HDTV (Bill Saunders) | Chevrolet | 184 | 78390 | running | 0 | 46 |
| 40 | 24 | 40 | David Stremme | Coors Light (Chip Ganassi) | Dodge | 183 | 70050 | running | 0 | 43 |
| 41 | 16 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull (Dietrich Mateschitz) | Toyota | 140 | 70015 | running | 0 | 40 |
| 42 | 26 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Carhartt / DeWalt (Jack Roush) | Ford | 78 | 117611 | crash | 0 | 37 |
| 43 | 33 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Texaco / Havoline (Chip Ganassi) | Dodge | 67 | 103926 | crash | 0 | 34 |
| Failed to qualify or withdrew |||||||||||
| POS | NAME | NBR | SPONSOR | OWNER | CAR | | | | | |
| 44 | Dale Jarrett | 44 | UPS | Michael Waltrip | Toyota | | | | | |
| 45 | Ward Burton | 4 | State Water Heaters | Larry McClure | Chevrolet | | | | | |
| 46 | Jeremy Mayfield | 36 | 360 OTC | Bill Davis | Toyota | | | | | |
| 47 | Mike Bliss | 49 | Paralyzed Veterans of America | Beth Ann Morgenthau | Dodge | | | | | |
| 48 | Kevin Lepage | 37 | Huddle House | Bob Jenkins | Dodge | | | | | |
| 49 | Kenny Wallace | 78 | Furniture Row Racing | Barney Visser | Chevrolet | | | | | |
| WD | Scott Wimmer | 33 | Holiday Inn | Richard Childress | Chevrolet | | | | | |

## Points

Jeff Gordon (9th place) retained his points lead, by 247 over second place Denny Hamlin (14th). They were followed by Kenseth (42nd), Johnson (19th due to a fuel-mileage problem), and Jeff Burton (24th) in that order. Earnhardt Jr. entered the top 12 in points, the last qualifying spot for the Chase, while Mark Martin dropped out.

## Race notes

* Edwards, driving a Ford Fusion for Roush Fenway Racing, was only the second non-Chevrolet driver to win a race. The other was Kenseth (Auto Club 500 at California Speedway).
