2007 NASCAR Busch Series

David Reutimann finished second in points.

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The 2007 NASCAR Busch Series was the 26th season of the NASCAR Busch Series, the second-tier professional stock car racing series sanctioned by NASCAR in the United States. It began on February 17 with the Orbitz 300 at Daytona International Speedway and concluded on November 17 with the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Carl Edwards clinched the series championship on November 3 during the O'Reilly Challenge with 2 races remaining. The 2007 season was the final season of the series under Anheuser-Busch's sponsorship. In 2008, the Busch Series became the Nationwide Series sponsored by insurance company Nationwide Insurance with a $70 million contract for 7 years.

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Buschwhackers

The domination of the series by " Buschwhackers" continued in 2007. In the first 28 races, only two drivers not with regular Nextel Cup Series schedules drove their cars to victory from start to finish: Stephen Leicht ( Meijer 300, Kentucky Speedway) and Jason Leffler ( Kroger 200, O'Reilly Raceway Park). A third, Aric Almirola, was the official winner of the AT&T 250 at the Milwaukee Mile; Almirola qualified the car for Denny Hamlin who was racing at Sonoma in the Cup Series and was not scheduled to start, but was forced to as Hamlin was delayed in returning from Sonoma. Hamlin was placed in the car after arriving and drove nearly the entire race, winning, but he failed to receive credit because he failed to start. 32 of the 35 races were won by Cup Series drivers in 2007.

Meanwhile, Carl Edwards led Kevin Harvick by 733 points in the championship standings, a reversal from 2006 when Harvick beat Edwards by a record 824 points. At one time, Edwards' lead was 871 points prior to a stretch of five consecutive races outside the top 10 in the finishing order (in three of those races he finished 23rd or worse). There were more Busch only regulars near the top of the standings, but only because the Cup drivers ran fewer cumulative races than in 2006.

Owner's Championship

The Owner's Championship went to the No. 29 car of Richard Childress Racing driven by Scott Wimmer and Jeff Burton. This is the second time in Busch Series history where the driver's and owner's points champions were different. The previous instance also involved RCR and happened in 2003. Hendrick Motorsports driver Brian Vickers won the series points title as a driver, but RCR's No. 21 car earned more total points with Johnny Sauter and Kevin Harvick sharing the ride. It would happen several more times afterwards.

2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series

After 26 years of Anheuser-Busch sponsoring the series with their Busch Beer brand they decided not to renew their sponsorship for the 2008 season. Rumored sponsorship deals for the series included Subway, KFC, Wal-Mart, And Culvers, however, those deals fell through. On October 10, 2007, chairman Brian France announced that insurance company Nationwide had signed a seven-year $60 million deal to sponsor the series. Nationwide also replaces Allstate as the official insurance company of NASCAR.

Schedule

The official 2007 Busch Series schedule was announced on October 2, 2006. The only major schedule change was the addition of the first NASCAR race in Canada at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which replaces last year's race at Martinsville. This marked the first time in Busch Series history that there are two consecutive road courses on the schedule. The order of races in July was also shuffled.

ESPN2 covered the majority of the Busch Series in 2007 with ESPN on ABC covering six races as part of the new television package. The primary commentators for ESPN were Jerry Punch, Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree.

Teams and drivers

Complete schedule

Part-time schedule

Notes

Races

Orbitz 300

The Orbitz 300 was held February 16 at Daytona International Speedway. Aric Almirola won the pole. Kevin Harvick won a relatively quick race from the 31st starting position. There were two early cautions: the first one on lap 4 for a three-car incident and the second one for "the Big One" on lap 16 involving 12 cars. The race was clean afterward. This was the first race televised on ESPN2 as part of the 2007 television package that lasted until 2014.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Casey Mears (#24), David Stremme (#22), Justin Diercks (#70), J. J. Yeley (#1), Brad Keselowski (#23), Brad Teague (#52)

Stater Brothers 300

The Stater Brothers 300 was held February 24 at California Speedway. Dave Blaney won the pole, the first pole for Toyota in the Busch Series. The race had a short field of only 41 cars.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: None.

Telcel-Motorola México 200

The Telcel-Motorola México 200 was held March 4 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. The race was broadcast on ESPN2 in English and ''en español'' on ESPN Deportes. Scott Pruett won the pole. Juan Pablo Montoya made contact with his leading teammate Scott Pruett on a restart after coming back from a fuel-filler problem, spinning Pruett and going on to win the race, becoming the first non-American to win a NASCAR race since Ron Fellows in 2001.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: None

Sam's Town 300

The Sam's Town 300 was held March 10 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Kevin Harvick won the pole. In a challenging race that was held on a newly banked racetrack, many teams, especially cup teams with drivers racing on Sunday, tried to find a setup that would work with their cars. Grip and aerodynamics became major issues as the race set a record for number of caution flags with 12 for 58 laps. This included a red flag with 10 laps to go for a hard crash into the wall by Reed Sorenson. Las Vegas natives, Kyle and Kurt Busch dominated the race, leading 123 of 200 laps, with 81 and 42 led respectively. However, Jeff Burton had been consistently quicker than the younger Busch and had taken the lead for 31 laps. Coming to the checkers, two-time Las Vegas winner Jeff Burton took his No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevy to the outside and banged fenders with Kyle who got loose under Burton and spun down on the apron and hit the outside wall after taking the second position. Out of respect for Busch leaving him room to pass, Jeff Burton pulled alongside Kyle's wrecked car to shake hands with him before going to victory lane and receive his checkered flag. This was the first NASCAR race broadcast on ABC since the 2000 Brickyard 400 seven years earlier.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: None.

''Note:'' ''No. 52-Kevin Lepage withdrew from the race prior to qualifying.''

Nicorette 300

The Nicorette 300 was held March 17 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch won the pole. From the drop of the green flag, it appeared as though Kyle Busch would walk away with an easy victory. He proved his dominance by leading 143 of 195 laps. However, a loose lugnut after the final pit stop forced Busch to go to the tail end of the longest line, handing the lead to Jeff Burton. Burton would hold off RCR teammate Kevin Harvick for the win while Kyle Busch rallied to third after his penalty.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Jay Sauter (#34)

Sharpie Mini 300

The Sharpie Mini 300 was held March 24 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Steve Wallace won his first career pole. This would be the last Busch Series race before Bristol would be repaved with new concrete and progressive banking. For the second consecutive week, Kyle Busch again proved he had the car to beat. He and series points leader Carl Edwards proved they had the cars to beat. The biggest controversy of the race came after a crash at lap 182 by David Reutimann. At the point of the crash, some of the leaders elected to come down pit road for tires and some gas on lap 188. Although the electronic light was green, signaling that pit road was open, the flagman near the light was still waving the pit road closed flag. The pit crews of Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. argued with NASCAR officials about the call. Eventually, NASCAR controversially decided to let all of the cars pit and maintain their position in the field. After the confusion was sorted out, Busch took off with Edwards in pursuit. However, Mike Wallace, running on the tail end of the lead lap (Mike was in front of the leader), jumbled up the 9th restart. Mike's mistake forced Edwards into the rear bumper of Kyle Busch. Edwards would inherit the lead and would hold off teammate Matt Kenseth for his first win since Gateway in 2006.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: None only 43 entries.

Pepsi 300

The Pepsi 300 was held April 7 at Nashville Superspeedway. David Stremme won the pole. From the drop of the green flag, it appeared as though new manufacturer Toyota would steal the show and walk off with its first Busch Series win. However, Carl Edwards spoiled the party, coming back from a loose wheel penalty to pass Busch regular Jason Leffler with 25 laps to go to win his second consecutive race and extend his points lead.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: None only 43 entries.

O'Reilly 300

The O'Reilly 300 was held April 14 at Texas Motor Speedway. David Ragan won his first career Busch Pole Award. The race, for the third time of the season, was dominated again by Kyle Busch, who hoped to turn his strong runs into a win. However, that day would not come as an unlucky caution during a green flag pit stop would again cost Kyle the victory. Former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya appeared to have his second Busch Series win in the bag until he hit the clutch during a pit stop, leaving him with a loose lugnut. Juan would tangle with fellow rookie Marcos Ambrose and finish 30th. Denny Hamlin would hold the lead until Matt Kenseth, who had recovered from an early spin, took the lead with 11 laps left and would go on to win in Texas.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Robert Richardson Jr. (#80)

Bashas' Supermarkets 200

The Bashas' Supermarkets 200 was held April 20 at Phoenix International Raceway. Kyle Busch won the pole. The early portion of the race was dominated again by Busch. However, lady luck would, for the fourth time this season, deal Busch a bad hand. While running fifth after a restart, Busch attempted to pass Ryan Newman and thought he had cleared him. However, Busch came back down on Ryan's front bumper and they both ended up crashing. Running a partial schedule, Clint Bowyer would dominate the race, leading 120 of the 200 laps. His only contender seemed to be Matt Kenseth, who had previously passed Bowyer with 33 to go but Bowyer passed him back with 14 to go and held on to win his first race since Dover last fall.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Brian Pannone (#50)

Aaron's 312

The Aaron's 312 was held on April 28 at Talladega Superspeedway. The race is tagged as to pay homage to the title sponsor, Aaron's custom of letting customers rent an item for 12 months. Brad Coleman captured his first NASCAR pole. The race itself was an exciting one to watch. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the dominant car of the day until his transmission broke on a lap 95 restart. Kyle Busch's streak of bad luck would continue as on lap 26, Tony Stewart made contact with Kyle Busch's left rear fender sending Kyle into the wall on the backstretch. Busch took a wild ride as the car slid across the track into the grass and flipped several times. From there, many cars, including surprises Kyle Krisiloff, and Juan Pablo Montoya were in contention for the win. But Tony Stewart, who was aiming to avenge his spectacular flip from one year ago, took the lead from Casey Mears with help from Kevin Harvick, Inc. teammate Bobby Labonte. However, Labonte pulled aside Stewart coming to the checkered flag in the trial to win his first Busch Series race since 1998.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: None only 42 entries.

Circuit City 250

The Circuit City 250 presented by Funai was held on May 4 at Richmond International Raceway. Denny Hamlin won the pole. In the Busch Series' first Friday night shootout of the season, Kevin Harvick aimed to make it a four-peat of consecutive wins at RIR. From the outset, pole-sitter Denny Hamlin dominated but was taken out early by Matt Kenseth. From there, Kenseth, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer established themselves as the frontrunners. Matt Kenseth looked to have the race locked up until J. J. Yeley spun on lap 222 and cut Kenseth's 2-second lead. During the final pit stop of the night, Kenseth had a mishap with the jack and came out behind Bowyer and Burton. On the last restart of the night, Bowyer pulled away from Kenseth and Buron to snap Harvick's win streak but give owner Richard Childress his fourth consecutive victory at RIR.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Eric McClure (#0)

Diamond Hill Plywood 200

The Diamond Hill Plywood 200 was held May 11 at Darlington Raceway. Denny Hamlin captured his first win of the season from the pole.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Kevin Lepage (#52)

Carquest Auto Parts 300

The Carquest Auto Parts 300 was held May 26 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Matt Kenseth won the pole. From the drop of the green, pit strategy played into the race. Although he was not running on fresh tires, Kurt Busch amazingly made his tires last for most of the race en route to leading the most laps. However, Busch's day would end as he would end up hitting the wall on lap 148. This accident gave the top 2 positions to Casey Mears and Kasey Kahne. Both drivers needed to rebound heavily from a struggling Nextel Cup season, and both wanted to carry any momentum from this race over into the 600. However, it was the latter Kasey who held off the competition to win his first NASCAR race since October. Former NASCAR champion Ned Jarrett was a guest commentator on the ESPN telecast.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Eric McClure (#0), Kevin Lepage (#72), Bill Elliott (#32), Blake Feese (#95)

Dover 200

The Dover 200 was held June 2 at Dover International Speedway. Denny Hamlin won the pole. The race would end up being dominated by Carl Edwards, whom many had dubbed the "Concrete Carl" for his victories on concrete. True to his nickname, Edwards dominated the race, leading for 122 of the 200 laps.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: None only 43 entries.

Federated Auto Parts 300

The Federated Auto Parts 300 presented by Dollar General was held June 9 at Nashville Superspeedway. Steve Wallace won the pole. This race was seen as an opportunity for Busch Series regulars to upset the Cup drivers who had to fly from Pocono to Nashville. Although Carl Edwards had no seat time in a car practiced by Matt McCall, he laid down the 7th quickest lap time. From the drop of the green, the race was a good mix of contending Busch regulars and Cup stars. Although Clint Bowyer seemed to have the car to beat, it was Edwards who had the upper hand and recorded his second consecutive win.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Justin Ashburn (#05)

Meijer 300

The Meijer 300 presented by Oreo was held June 16 at Kentucky Speedway. Regan Smith won his first career pole (even after hitting a seagull on his second qualifying lap), making it seven different pole winners in seven races. Many Busch regulars, including Smith, were aspiring to end the Cup drivers' parade by pulling out a victory. From the drop of the green, it looked as though Smith would be the class of the field. However, a refiring problem during a pit stop cost him 2 laps, but amazingly rallied back. The race, unfortunately for the Busch regulars, would be handed to Carl Edwards. Edwards again dominated the race and looked to have it in hand until he was tagged by Steve Wallace on a restart. It was Stephen Leicht who downed the Buschwhackers and fulfilled that dream to earn his 1st career Busch Series victory.

Top ten results:

Did not qualify: Jerick Johnson (#76)

AT&T 250

The AT&T 250 took place on June 23 at The Milwaukee Mile. Aric Almirola won the pole, but in an interesting twist, the No. 20's regular driver, Denny Hamlin, was late getting back from Sonoma, so Almirola took the green flag. The race would be again dominated by Carl Edwards, who was looking to bounce back from his worst finish of the year (33rd at Kentucky). Edwards had the field covered, leading for 123 laps until an unscheduled pit stop forced Edwards down pit road and pinned him a lap down. A tough decision had to be made by Dave Rogers, crew chief on the 20. Hamlin had arrived on the track at lap 43, and Almirola was still running in third. Rogers decided to put Hamlin in the car at lap 59 instead of leaving Almirola in it. The decision, although tough, paid off as Hamlin held off Wisconsin native Scott Wimmer to cross the start/finish line in first, but Almirola was credited with his first career NASCAR Busch Series victory. Hamlin also became the first relief driver to finish first since Jack Ingram handed his car over to Harry Gant

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