2007 Aaron's 312 Explained

Year:2007
Race Name:Aaron's 312
Details Ref:[1]
Race No:10
Season No:35
Official Name:2007 Aaron's 312
Location:Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama
Course:Superspeedway
Course Mi:2.66
Course Km:4.28
Scheduled Laps:117
Scheduled Mi:311.2
Scheduled Km:500.83
Distance Laps:120
Distance Mi:319
Distance Km:513.381
Weather:Partly cloudy
Avg:133.216mph
Attendance:75,000
Pole Driver:Brad Coleman
Pole Team:Joe Gibbs Racing
Pole Time:51.959
Most Driver:Casey Mears
Most Team:Hendrick Motorsports
Most Laps:52
Car:77
First Driver:Bobby Labonte
First Team:Kevin Harvick Inc.
Network:ABC
Announcers:Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree

The 2007 Aaron's 312 was a NASCAR Busch Series race held at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama on April 28, 2007. The race was the 16th iteration of the event. It was also the 10th race of the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series. Brad Coleman won the pole for the race becoming one of the youngest pole winners in Busch Series history while Casey Mears led the most laps. But it would be Bobby Labonte winning the race in a close finish with his former Cup Series teammate and his teammate at Kevin Harvick Inc. in Tony Stewart, beating Stewart by .052 seconds in a last lap pass.[2] But the race was most remembered for when Kyle Busch suffered in one of the most wildest crashes in the history of the racetrack.

Background

The track, Talladega Superspeedway, is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Daytona International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway.[3] The standard track at the speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.66miles long.[4] The track's turns are banked at thirty-three degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 16.5 degrees. The back stretch has a two-degree banking. Talladega Superspeedway can seat up to 143,231 people.[5]

Entry List

DriverTeamMake
0 Chevrolet
01 D.D.L. Motorsports Chevrolet
1 Chevrolet
2 Chevrolet
4 Chevrolet
05 Chevrolet
5 Chevrolet
6 David Ragan (R) Ford
7 Phoenix Racing Chevrolet
8 Chevrolet
9 Dodge
10 Toyota
11 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet
14 Kyle Krisiloff (R) Ford
16 Roush Racing Ford
17 Roush Racing Ford
18 Brad Coleman (R) Chevrolet
20 Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet
21 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
22 Dodge
24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
25 Ford
27 Ford
28 Chevrolet
29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
33 Chevrolet
35 Team Rensi Motorsports Ford
36 Chevrolet
37 Brewco Motorsports Ford
38 Braun Racing Toyota
41 Dodge
42 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge
47 Ford
52 Ford
59 Marcos Ambrose (R) Wood Brothers Racing/JTG Racing Ford
60 Roush Racing Ford
66 Dodge
70 Chevrolet
77 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet
88 Chevrolet
90 Ford
99 Toyota
Official Entry list

Qualifying

Brad Coleman won the pole with a time of 51.959 and a speed of 184.299. Coleman became the third youngest pole winner in Busch Series history at 19 years old behind a pair of 18 year olds such as Joey Logano in 2008, Trevor Bayne in 2009, Chase Elliott in 2014, Ty Gibbs in 2021, and Sammy Smith in 2023 all of whom behind 17 year old Casey Atwood in 1998.[6]

GridDriverTeamManufacturerTimeSpeed
1 18 Brad Coleman (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 51.959 184.299
2 10 Dave Blaney Braun Racing Toyota 52.026 184.062
3 38 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota 52.062 183.935
4 24 Casey Mears Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 52.131 183.691
5 27 Ward Burton Brewco Motorsports Ford 52.204 183.434
6 2 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.233 183.332
7 6 David Ragan (R) Roush Racing Ford 52.283 183.157
8 17 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Roush Racing Ford 52.284 183.154
9 60 Carl Edwards Roush Racing Ford 52.307 183.073
10 37 Jamie McMurray Brewco Motorsports Ford 52.325 183.010
11 4 Regan Smith Ginn Racing Chevrolet 52.336 182.972
12 5 Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 52.348 182.930
13 11 Martin Truex Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 52.369 182.856
14 41 Reed Sorenson Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 52.392 182.776
15 99 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 52.402 182.741
16 25 David Gilliland Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 52.430 182.644
17 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford 52.449 182.577
18 47 Jon Wood Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford 52.459 182.543
19 20 Aric Almirola Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 52.464 182.525
20 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 52.497 182.410
21 29 Scott Wimmer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.505 182.383
22 35 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 52.509 182.369
23 14 Kyle Krisiloff (R) Carl A. Haas Motorsports Ford 52.539 182.265
24 9 Kasey Kahne Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 52.551 182.223
25 21 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52.566 182.171
26 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 52.585 182.105
27 90 Stephen Leicht Robert Yates Racing Ford 52.628 181.956
28 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Inc. Dodge 52.658 181.853
29 70 Justin Diercks ML Motorsports Chevrolet 52.665 181.829
30 7 Mike Wallace Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 52.673 181.801
31 22 Mike Bliss* Fitz Racing Dodge 52.748 181.542
32 59 Marcos Ambrose (R) Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford 52.798 181.371
33 1 J. J. Yeley Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 52.844 181.213
34 36 Brent Sherman McGill Motorsports Chevrolet 52.900 181.021
35 77 Bobby Labonte Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 52.900 181.021
36 88 Shane Huffman JR Motorsports Chevrolet 52.999 180.683
37 33 Tony Stewart Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 53.111 180.302
38 28 Robert Richardson Jr. Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 53.141 180.200
39 0 Eric McClure D.D.L. Motorsports Chevrolet 53.450 179.158
40 01 Morgan Shepherd D.D.L. Motorsports Chevrolet 53.557 178.800
41 05 Justin Ashburn Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet 53.803 177.983
42 52 Donnie Neuenberger Means Racing Ford 54.576 175.462
Official Starting grid

Race

Pole sitter Brad Coleman led the first lap of the race. The first caution flew on lap 4 of the race when Jason Leffler hit the backstretch wall after getting hit from behind by Casey Mears. The race would restart on lap 8 of the race. On lap 9, Clint Bowyer tried to take the lead from Coleman but coming through the tri-oval, Bowyer tried to side draft when he made contact with Ward Burton and sent Burton spinning. Burton spun back up the track sending several other cars scattering around and spinning. Martin Truex Jr., Scott Wimmer, Marcos Ambrose, and David Reutimann all spun and crashed trying to avoid Burton bringing out the second caution of the race for the 6 car accident. The race would restart on lap 15. On the restart, David Ragan took the lead and Brad Coleman would fall very far in the back of the pack after no one else drafted behind Coleman. On lap 16, Juan Pablo Montoya took the lead. On lap 18, Casey Mears attempted to take the lead but failed to do so. On lap 19, Carl Edwards took the lead from Montoya. On lap 21, Casey Mears took the lead with a big push from Kyle Busch. On lap 23, Tony Stewart took the lead. On lap 25, Mears would take the lead back.

On lap 27, the biggest crash of the day would occur that involved one of the scariest crashes in the history of the track. Going down the backstretch, Kyle Busch attempted to slingshot his teammate Mears to take the lead on the outside. Tony Stewart went up to help Busch but Stewart hit Busch in the left rear causing Busch to turn left into the side of Mears which would spin his car around to the right. Busch's car had enough grip to flip his car upside down and hit the outside wall drivers side first upside down. Busch's car slid onto its roof all the way down to the turn 3 infield grass where the grass sent his car into violent sidewinder barrel rolls. Busch's car barrel rolled 7 times before it landed on its wheels. Busch would climb out of his car unharmed in a matter of seconds after it crashed. The force of the crash was so severe, it cracked Busch's HANS device in the process.[7] [8]

Some drivers pitted while others stayed out including Kasey Kahne and Kahne would lead the field back to the restart on lap 32. On lap 33, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Kahne. On lap 34, Aric Almirola took the lead but was immeadietly passed by David Gilliland. On lap 35, Clint Bowyer took the lead. On lap 38, David Reutimann took the lead. On lap 40, Carl Edwards took the lead. On lap 43, Clint Bowyer took the lead. On lap 44, Regan Smith's hood all of a sudden came up and blocked his view. On lap 47, Casey Mears took the lead. On lap 48, Mike Wallace took the lead. On lap 48, Kevin Harvick and J. J. Yeley both made it 3 wide for the lead but both were unable to pass Wallace for the lead. On lap 52, Mike's nephew Steve Wallace attempted to take the lead but couldn't get infront of him. On lap 53, Casey Mears took the lead. On lap 56, the fourth caution flew when David Gilliland spun down the frontstretch after contact with Tony Stewart and ended up hitting the turn 1 outside wall. Casey Mears won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart on lap 61. On the restart, Aric Almirola attempted to take the lead but failed to do so. On lap 64, Steve Wallace took the lead but Mears would take it back on the next lap.

Final laps

With 50 laps to go, Greg Biffle took the lead. Mears took it back on the next lap. With 43 laps to go, Kevin Harvick took the lead with help from Dale Earnhardt Jr. but Junior passed Harvick and took the lead. Mears took it back on the next lap with 42 to go. With 36 to go, Juan Pablo Montoya took the lead. With 34 to go, Carl Edwards took the lead. With 33 to go, Kevin Harvick took the lead. With 32 to go, Aric Almirola took the lead. With 30 laps to go, Kevin Harvick took the lead. With 28 to go, the 5th caution would fly when Greg Biffle crashed into the outside wall in turn 3 where he would collect Jon Wood in the process. Kevin Harvick won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 23 laps to go. With 21 to go, Casey Mears took the lead. With 19 to go, Stephen Leicht attempted to take the lead but failed to get infront of Mears. Carl Edwards tried on the same lap but failed to do so. With 16 to go, the 6th caution would fly when Aric Almirola crashed in turn 4. The race would restart with 12 laps to go. With 8 laps to go, the 2nd multi car crash would occur on the backstretch taking out 7 cars. It started when Reed Sorenson pushed Steve Wallace at the wrong angle and turn Wallace down and collected Marcos Ambrose and Ambrose spun up and collected Sorenson, Kasey Kahne, Mike Bliss, Stephen Leicht, and David Reutimann. The wreck would cause a short red flag. The race would restart with 3 laps to go. But the caution would fly on the same lap for the 8th and final time for debris that came off of Kasey Kahne's car. The wreck would set up an attempt of a green-white-checkered finish. On the restart, Tony Stewart took the lead with a push from his teammate Bobby Labonte. On the last lap, Labonte stayed behind Stewart until they came through the tri-oval. Labonte pulled to Stewart's outside at just the perfect time and Labonte beat Stewart by .052 seconds and Stewart would finish in 2nd. Casey Mears, David Ragan, and Kyle Krisiloff rounded out the top 5 while Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ward Burton, Brad Coleman, and Carl Edwards rounded out the top 10.[9]

Race results

PosCarDriverTeamManufacturerLaps RunLaps LedStatusPoints
1 77 Bobby Labonte Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 120 2 running 190
2 33 Tony Stewart Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 120 3 running 175
3 24 Casey Mears Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 120 52 running 175
4 6 David Ragan (R) Roush Racing Ford 120 1 running 165
5 14 Kyle Krisiloff (R) Carl A. Haas Motorsports Ford 120 0 running 155
6 21 Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 120 8 running 155
7 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 120 5 running 151
8 27 Ward Burton Brewco Motorsports Ford 120 0 running 142
9 18 Brad Coleman (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 120 14 running 143
10 60 Carl Edwards Roush Racing Ford 120 6 running 139
11 17 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Roush Racing Ford 120 0 running 130
12 35 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 120 1 running 132
13 2 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 120 7 running 129
14 22 Mike Bliss Fitz Racing Dodge 120 0 running 121
15 88 Shane Huffman JR Motorsports Chevrolet 120 0 running 118
16 36 Brent Sherman McGill Motorsports Chevrolet 120 1 running 120
17 1 J. J. Yeley Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 120 0 running 112
18 0 Eric McClure D.D.L. Motorsports Chevrolet 120 1 running 114
19 28 Robert Richardson Jr. Jay Robinson Racing Chevrolet 120 0 running 106
20 20 Aric Almirola Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 120 2 running 108
21 9 Kasey Kahne Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge 119 5 running 105
22 05 Justin Ashburn Day Enterprise Racing Chevrolet 118 0 running 97
23 4 Regan Smith Ginn Racing Chevrolet 116 0 running 94
24 99 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 110 2 crash 96
25 59 Marcos Ambrose (R) Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford 109 0 crash 88
26 66 Steve Wallace Rusty Wallace Inc. Dodge 109 1 crash 90
27 41 Reed Sorenson Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge 109 0 crash 82
28 90 Stephen Leicht Robert Yates Racing Ford 109 0 crash 79
29 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 94 2 transmission 81
30 16 Greg Biffle Roush Racing Ford 89 1 crash 78
31 47 Jon Wood Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford 89 0 crash 70
32 10 Dave Blaney Braun Racing Toyota 87 0 running 67
33 7 Mike Wallace Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 74 5 engine 69
34 29 Scott Wimmer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 71 0 running 61
35 38 Jason Leffler Braun Racing Toyota 71 0 running 58
36 37 Jamie McMurray Brewco Motorsports Ford 59 0 overheating 55
37 25 David Gilliland Team Rensi Motorsports Ford 55 1 crash 57
38 52 Donnie Neuenberger Means Racing Ford 34 0 overheating 49
39 5 Kyle Busch Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 0 crash 46
40 70 Justin Diercks ML Motorsports Chevrolet 17 0 overheating 43
41 11 Martin Truex Jr. Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet 9 0 crash 40
42 01 Morgan Shepherd D.D.L. Motorsports Chevrolet 2 0 handling 37
Official Race results

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2007 Aaron's 312. April 28, 2007.
  2. Web site: BUSCH SERIES Labonte keeps cool, beats Stewart to line. April 29, 2007.
  3. Web site: NASCAR Race Tracks . April 29, 2012 . NASCAR . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110207161158/http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/ . February 7, 2011 .
  4. Web site: NASCAR Tracks — The Talladega Superspeedway . Talladega Superspeedway . May 6, 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090827144403/http://www.talladegasuperspeedway.com/This-Is-Talladega/Track-Facts.aspx . August 27, 2009 .
  5. Web site: Talladega . April 29, 2012 . NASCAR . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101115200255/http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/tal/ . November 15, 2010 .
  6. Web site: Sports in Brief; Teenager Coleman takes pole at Talladega. April 28, 2007.
  7. Web site: Busch walks away from crash. April 29, 2007.
  8. Web site: Busch's HANS device cracked during Talladega crash. May 3, 2007. ESPN.com. ESPN Internet Ventures. Associated Press. May 13, 2017.
  9. Web site: Labonte caps wild Busch Series race with last-lap pass at Talladega. April 28, 2007.