The 2007 Pennsylvania 500, the twenty-first race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season was held on Sunday, August 5, 2007 at

Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly known as the Pocono International Raceway in early years) is a tri-oval track in Blakeslee, Pennsylvania. The track has held a variety of events since its opening in 1969, including NASCAR, IndyCar Series, and IMSA GT ...

in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Pocono Raceway

Background

Qualifying

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ralph Dale Earnhardt Jr. (born October 10, 1974) is an American professional stock car racing driver, team owner, and broadcaster. A third-generation driver, he is the son of the late 7-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt and relative ...

won the pole position after being allowed to requalify when a rainstorm interrupted his attempt which resulted in a 45-minute rain delay. NASCAR allowed Earnhardt to put on new tires and cool down his car because of the delay, when temperatures cooled down. Kevin Lepage (#37), Mike Bliss (#49), Kenny Wallace (#78) and A. J. Allmendinger (#84) all failed to make the race.

Race

Outside polesitter

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American auto racing driver. He is best known for competing in the NASCAR Cup Series from 2000–2022, last driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. Busch is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series ch ...

would be the class of the field, dominating for 175 of 200 laps and taking his first victory since the Food City 500 at

Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol Motor Speedway (formerly known as the Bristol International Raceway from 1978 to 1996 and as the Bristol International Speedway from 1961 to 1978) is a oval Oval track racing#Short track, short track in Bristol, Tennessee. The track ha ...

in March 2006. While Busch dominated, the main story of the day was that of the polesitter. Dale Jr.'s team had brought an overly aggressive shock package to Pocono, and it was not working for them as the car was tight despite numerous adjustments. Their struggles hit a low point when Earnhardt Jr. spun the car in turn three. The team changed the shock and Dale Jr. rallied back to second place. Despite this comeback, Busch had overtaken Earnhardt Jr. for the critical 12th position in points.

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...

extended his points lead over Denny Hamlin to 366 points.

Race results

Notes

* Kurt Busch has led a track record 175 laps. * Kurt's track record for most laps led can't be broken because in 2012 Pocono revised the distances of their races down from 500 to 400 miles. Making the distances of the events only 160 laps. In 2020, when Pocono started the doubleheader weekend, the Saturday Cup event was revised down to 325 miles/130 laps, and the Sunday Cup event was revised down to 350 miles/140 laps.

References

External links

Complete race results

{{2007 Nextel Cup Pennsylvania 500 Pennsylvania 500 NASCAR races at Pocono Raceway Pennsylvania 500