| Next stop on the Nextel Cup Schedule is Martinsville | | | | at the Food City 500. Coming into Bristol, Gordon |
| Speedway | | | | was 8 points behind semi-retired leader Mark Martin |
| Next week NASCAR heads to the shortest track on | | | | who planned to sit out this race. All Gordon had to do |
| the Nextel Cup circuit, Martinsville Speedway, for the | | | | was stay clean and finish in the top ten. |
| DirecTV 500. The 1/2 mile paper clip-like track | | | | Sounds like an easy assignment for a 4-time |
| produces some of the best fender bending action on | | | | champion, right? Wrong! There is nothing easy or |
| the circuit. With 800 ft straightaways and 12 degree | | | | predictable about Bristol. And with the debut of the |
| banking, the track has been described as "two drag | | | | Car of Tomorrow, this race offered an additional |
| strips with a turnaround on each end." The 2007 | | | | twist! |
| racing season is a special one for Martinsville; it marks | | | | Initially, Gordon hedged the odds in his favor by |
| the 60th anniversary of racing at one of NASCAR's | | | | capturing the poll. But after only 6 laps as the leader, |
| oldest tracks. | | | | he relinquished the lead to Tony Stewart, and began |
| In recent history, both Hendrick Motor sports drivers | | | | a backwards slide that almost found him a lap down. |
| Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have dominated | | | | Gordon bottomed out in 24th position about a 3rd of |
| Martinsville. Each driver averages a top 10 finish with | | | | the way through the race. Over 15 cautions, the #24 |
| Gordon averaging a 6th place finish while Johnson | | | | team was able to make the right adjustments on the |
| averages a 7th. Of course, you can through historical | | | | Impala SS to help send it back to the top. |
| results out the window this year. NASCAR's Car of | | | | On the last restart of the race, Jeff Gordon was in |
| Tomorrow will make its second appearance of the | | | | second place and looking to take the lead from |
| season next week at Martinsville. | | | | teammate Kyle Busch. However, Jeff Burton made a |
| Other drivers to note: | | | | daring pass, and Gordon finished the race in 3rd. |
| Jeff Burton - Average finish of 13th | | | | Despite not winning, the #24 team piloted by Jeff |
| Tony Stewart - Average finish of 13th | | | | Gordon appears to be the team to beat this year. |
| Ricky Rudd - Average finish of 14th | | | | Over 5 races, they have 4 top 10's and a 12th place |
| Dale Jarrett - Average finish of 14th | | | | finish at Daytona. Could this be the year that Jeff |
| Next Week's Schedule: | | | | wins his 5th championship? |
| Nextel Cup: @ Martinsville Speedway (all times EST) | | | | Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway Recap |
| 03/30/07 - 03:45pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Goody's | | | | The one benefit the Car of Tomorrow presented to |
| Cool Orange 500 Qualifying | | | | us fans strapped to our couches for yesterday's |
| 03/31/07 - 12:50pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Goody's | | | | Food City 500 was the new camera angles. The new |
| Cool Orange 500 Practice | | | | camera locations on the car are unreal and give fans |
| 04/01/07 - 02:00pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Goody's | | | | hair raising vantage points that even the drivers |
| Cool Orange 500 | | | | themselves can't experience. |
| Busch Series off until April 7th at Nashville | | | | Other than that, from a viewer's perspective there |
| Superspeedway | | | | were no major differences when compared to |
| Craftsman Truck Series: @ Martinsville Speedway (all | | | | previous races at Bristol. There was tons of cautions |
| times EST) | | | | (15) and lost of beating and banging. Even the |
| 03/30/07 - 02:20pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck | | | | opening pace laps offered up action. Reed Sorenson |
| Series Kroger 250 Practice | | | | was so anxious to get going that he rear-ended JJ |
| 03/31/07 - 11:10am NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series | | | | Yeeley before the green flag ever waved. |
| Kroger 250 Qualifying | | | | It always seems the most successful drivers at |
| 03/31/07 - 03:00pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series | | | | Bristol are the ones who lay low and make a charge |
| Kroger 250 | | | | toward the end. Both Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton did |
| Kyle Busch Captures his 4th Nextel Cup Win at | | | | just that. After starting 20th & 29th |
| Bristol! | | | | respectively, Kyle and Jeff found themselves racing |
| Any race at Bristol Motor Speedway is unpredictable. | | | | for the win at the end. Kyle was able to hold off |
| You can start at the front, and run there all day only | | | | Burton by 1/2 a car length to win the Food City 500. |
| to succumb to mechanical problems or, more likely, a | | | | Other top drivers faired as follows: |
| Bristol bump as I like to call it. | | | | Tony Stewart had the best car in the field at Bristol, |
| Just ask Tony Stewart what he thinks of Bristol. | | | | and led the most laps. However, the former |
| After starting up front, and leading a majority of the | | | | champion suffered a huge setback as he lost fuel |
| laps, Stewart suffered fuel line problems that | | | | pressure in the middle stages of the race. As a result, |
| knocked him back to 35th position. | | | | Stewart finished many laps down and in 35th place. |
| Or, ask Kyle Busch about Bristol's unpredictability. | | | | Stewart now sits 12th in points. |
| After starting in 20th position and laying low for 3/4 | | | | Kasey Kahne is slowly starting to climb his way out |
| of the race, Busch began to charge his way to the | | | | the monster hole he dug in the first 4 races of the |
| front. While running second to Denny Hamlin in the | | | | season. A 19th place finish at Bristol has moved him |
| closing laps, Busch was able to take advantage of | | | | to 34th in the points and allows him to take a |
| back up caused by Jimmie Johnson to pass Hamlin. | | | | provisional should he not qualify at next week's race |
| Once Busch passed Hamlin, it was all over. After | | | | in Martinsville. Early on, the #9 Dodge looked strong |
| staving off other drivers, including his own teammate | | | | running in the top 3, but plummeted halfway through |
| Jeff Gordon, over the last two cautions of the race, | | | | the race to 33rd. |
| Busch had only Jeff Burton to beat on the last lap. | | | | The Daytona 500 winner, Kevin Harvick, jumped 2 |
| Coming off of turn 4, Burton eased his nose under | | | | spots in the standings to 5th place with a 4th place |
| the left fender of Busch and pushed him up the | | | | finish at Bristol. After struggling the last two races, |
| track. From there it was a drag race down the front | | | | Harvick was in desperate need of a strong finish to |
| stretch to the checkered flag where Busch won by 1 | | | | salvage his great start to the season. |
| 2 a car length. | | | | Reigning champion, Jimmie Johnson, had a decent |
| Jeff Gordon Claims the Top Spot in NASCAR | | | | race at one of his least favorite tracks. That was |
| Jeff Gordon accomplished exactly what he set out | | | | until lap 485 where Johnson had a right front go flat. |
| to do at Bristol Motor Speedway; take the points | | | | He was able to salvage his car and a 16th place finish. |
| lead. Barring a catastrophic finish, Gordon was set to | | | | Johnson now sits 3rd in points. |
| take over the lead in the Nextel Cup point standings | | | | |