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The 2007 stock car racing season is set to get underway with the Daytona 500 beginning at 3pm today, Feb. 18...

Seems like last years season just ended...

One thing is for sure, and that's, there may be a layoff between races, but with the Daytona 500 being the most anticipated race in the world of Nascar, everyone involved works year around behind the scenes as no race car entering the Daytona 500 can be less than perfect by the standards of the guys in the garage that go unnoticed...As if it's hard enough to get a car to produce an average of 8000 RPM, what people don't realize is that it takes an extended knowledge of suspension and aerodynamics technology to compete in a sport designed to sustain equality throughout the entire field of participants, which in turn makes the sport more competitive.

Daytona 500

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Daytona 500 is a 200-lap, 500 mile (805 km) NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is one of four restrictor plate races on the Cup schedule.

The Daytona 500 is widely considered to be NASCAR's most important and prestigious race, and has the largest purse, although it is equivalent to other races on the calendar for championship purposes. It is also the circuit's first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers. [1]

The event serves as the final event of Speedweeks and is known as "The Great American Race" and the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing."

The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J. Earl Trophy in Victory Lane, and the winning car is displayed, in race-winning condition, for one year at Daytona USA, a museum and gallery adjacent to Daytona International Speedway



2007 Daytona 500 Starting lineup

Pos - Car# - Driver - Make

1. #38 David Gilliland, Ford

2. #88 Ricky Rudd, Ford

3. #20 Tony Stewart, Chevrolet

4. #2 Kurt Busch, Dodge

5. #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet

6. #40 David Stremme, Dodge

7. #31 Jeff Burton, Chevrolet

8. #5 Kyle Busch, Chevrolet

9. #11 Denny Hamlin, Chevrolet

10. #17 Matt Kenseth, Ford

11. #07 Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet

12. #18 J.J. #Yeley, Chevrolet

13. #1 Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet

14. #99 Carl Edwards, Ford

15. #55 Michael Waltrip, Toyota

16. #12 Ryan Newman, Dodge

17. #25 Casey Mears, Chevrolet

18. #13 Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet

19. #21 Ken Schrader, Ford

20. #96 Tony Raines, Chevrolet

21. #48 Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet

22. #109 Mike Wallace, Chevrolet

23. #160 Boris Said, Ford

24. #26 Jamie McMurray, Ford

25. #16 Greg Biffle, Ford

26. #01 Mark Martin, Chevrolet

27. #43 Bobby Labonte, Dodge

28. #9 Kasey Kahne, Dodge

29. #45 Kyle Petty, Dodge

30. #19 Elliott Sadler, Dodge

31. #66 Jeff Green, Chevrolet

32. #10 Scott Riggs, Dodge

33. #41 Reed Sorenson, Dodge

34. #29 Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet

35. #6 David Ragan*, Ford

36. #42 Juan Montoya*, Dodge

37. #22 Dave Blaney, Toyota

38. #14 Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet

39. #7 Robby Gordon, Ford

40. #00 David Reutimann*, Toyota

41. #70 Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet

42. #24 Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet

43. #44 Dale Jarrett++, Toyota

________________________________________________________________________________________

DNQ #36 Jeremy Mayfield, Toyota

DNQ #23 Mike Skinner, Toyota

DNQ #139 Regan Smith, Chevrolet

DNQ #4 Ward Burton, Chevrolet

DNQ #15 Paul Menard*, Chevrolet

DNQ #84 A.J. Allmendinger*, Toyota

DNQ #34 Kevin Lepage, Dodge

DNQ #37 Bill Elliott, Dodge

DNQ #83 Brian Vickers, Toyota

DNQ #78 Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet

DNQ #171 Frank Kimmel, Ford

DNQ #49 Mike Bliss, Dodge

DNQ #104 Eric McClure, Chevrolet

DNQ #130 Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet

DNQ #27 Kirk Shelmerdine, Chevrolet

DNQ #172 Brandon Whitt*, Chevrolet

DNQ #74 Derrike Cope, Dodge

DNQ #158 James Hylton, Chevrolet

Juan Montoya Qualified 36th...

I will be surprised if he finishes in the top 30 to be honest...

Kevin Harvick won the 2007 Daytona 500 on the last lap as he got just a big enough push from Matt Kenseth to edge out Mark Martin starting his 21st Daytona 500, a race he has never won in his 24 year career racing in the Nextel(Winston)Cup.

It was an intense race throughout all 202 laps, as the 200th and what was supposed to be the final lap saw a yellow flag, and because Nascar cannot finish under caution, the end would be decided on the throwing of the green flag, followed by the white, and then the checkered.

Front runners Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart tangled up on lap 152, with only 48 laps to go. Stewarts car got loose in turn four slowing him down enough for Kurt Busch's front end to clip the 20 car sending them both to the outside retaining wall down the frontstretch...

Kevin Harvick was in the right place at the right time going into turn three of the final lap as Martin tried to hold off everyone and anyone trying to pass him, which opened up a great run on the outside as Harvick was being pushed by Matt Kenseth and the momentum Harvick got from the draft gave him just enough speed to edge passed Mark Martin by a half a nose length. It was the first Daytona 500 win of Harvicks career, and his first Nascar Nextel Cup win under new sponsor - Shell. Not a bad way to start. I bet GM Goodwrench is fuming.