JGR Race Report - Texas
Date: Nov. 4, 2007
Event: Dickies 500 (Round 34 of 36)
Series: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile oval)
Winner: Jimmie Johnson of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
JGR Finish: Tony Stewart (Started 15th, Finished 11th / Running, completed 334 of 334 laps)
J.J. Yeley (Started 38th, Finished 17th / Running, completed 333 of 334 laps)
Denny Hamlin (Started 7th, Finished 29th / Running, completed 324 of 334 laps)
Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet, led the three-car Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) contingent at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth by finishing 11th in Sunday’s Dickies 500 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race. It was Stewart’s eighth top-15 result in 12 career Nextel Cup races at Texas.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 FedEx Kinko’s Chevrolet for JGR, finished 29th. In his four previous Nextel Cup races at Texas, Hamlin had never finished outside the top-10, and he appeared well on his way to making it five straight races as he led twice for 45 laps. But while battling Matt Kenseth for the lead on lap 273, Hamlin got loose and touched the wall. The subsequent damage forced him to an extended stay on pit road, where his crew repaired his race car and got him back onto the racetrack, albeit 10 laps down.
Stewart and Hamlin are JGR’s representatives in this year’s 12-driver Chase for the Nextel Cup. Stewart’s 11th-place finish dropped him one spot to sixth in points. The two-time Nextel Cup champion is 58 markers ahead of seventh-place Jeff Burton and 373 points behind new series leader Jimmie Johnson. Hamlin also dropped a position to 11th in points, where he is tied with Martin Truex Jr., for last in the standings, 524 points behind Johnson. With only two races remaining, just the top-six drivers remain mathematically eligible for this year’s championship.
J.J. Yeley, driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet for JGR, came back from a lap-117 spin to finish 17th. The effort bumped him up one place to 20th in points.
Johnson won the Dickies 500 to score his 32nd career Nextel Cup victory, his third straight and his ninth this season. Matt Kenseth, Truex, future JGR driver Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman rounded out the top-five. Burton, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 12 caution periods for 52 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish the 334-lap race.
The penultimate event on the Nextel Cup schedule is the Nov. 11 Checker Auto Parts 500k at Phoenix International Raceway. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EST with live, high-definition coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 3 p.m.
