The 2007 Pocono 500 turned out to be an exercise in pit strategy. Rain delayed the start of the race and then brought out the red flag just past the halfway point. Jeff Gordon's crew chief made exactly the right call and Gordon was out front when the skies opened up. Gordon was out of tires, brakes and fuel but still managed to claim the 2007 Pocono 500 victory.
Qualifying
Ryan Newman sat on the pole in his ALLTEL Dodge.
Last year's pole sitter Denny Hamlin started second today in the FedEx Chevy. Martin Truex and Kyle Busch made up row number two in their Chevrolets. Finally Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five in his Jack Daniels Chevy.
Drop Of The Green
The start of the race was delayed nearly three hours as NASCAR worked to dry the rain soaked track.
When the green flag finally flew Denny Hamlin picked up right where he left off in 2006 and took the early lead. Hamlin's teammate Tony Stewart quickly raced his way up to second place but the rest of the field was content to ride along in single-file and put some miles in the books.
The drivers raced cleanly through the first round of green-flag pit stops which came around lap 27. Tony Stewart came off of pit road in the lead but Denny Hamlin quickly tracked him down and resumed the race lead.
It certainly appeared that Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart had the field covered in the early going.
Storylines
Rain delayed the start by three hours and loomed during the race.
Weather was still in the area and just 70 laps into the race teams began to change up their pit strategy to try to be in the right place at the right time to claim the Pocono win.
NASCAR was racing the raindrops. They were trying desperately to get to the halfway point before the skies opened up. There was a big clap of thunder on lap 99 as Jeff Gordon held down the lead. NASCAR breathed a sigh of relief when Gordon completed lap 101 and made the race official. From that point on if the rains came the race would be official and they wouldn't have to come back on Monday.
The rains came back on lap 104 and NASCAR threw the red flag three laps later. NASCAR tried to dry the track but they couldn't get it dried enough to get the drivers back on track.
Chasing The Checkers
There was no dash for the flag this week as the rains caused the race to be decided after the cars were already waiting out a red flag.
Top Ten
- Jeff Gordon
- Ryan Newman
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Casey Mears
- Tony Stewart
- Denny Hamlin
- Mark Martin
- Kyle Busch
- Matt Kenseth
- Clint Bowyer
The Points
Jeff Gordon extended his lead once again with another win. No new drivers were able to crack the top twelve this week but Ryan Newman moved up to thirteenth. He is just one spot out of The Chase.
The top twelve are now:
- Jeff Gordon -0
- Matt Kenseth -242
- Denny Hamlin -247
- Jimmie Johnson -305
- Jeff Burton -421
- Tony Stewart -516
- Carl Edwards -539
- Clint Bowyer -590
- Kevin Harvick -601
- Kyle Busch -636
- Martin Truex Jr. -652
- Mark Martin -663
Next Week
The fast and wide two mile D shaped oval of Michigan International Speedway can provide great racing. But it can also let cars get strung out and just make laps until the checkered flag falls. Hopefully this week will bring NASCAR some much needed dry weather and a great show in Michigan.