Defining Moments in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Season

This year, 2007, was a year of changes for NASCAR's top series, Nextel Cup. Some of the changes were ground breaking, some barely noticeable. In any event, it will be a year to remember for some time. I would like to point out what I feel are the seven most important moments of the 2007 season. They are listed in no particular order.

Before the season ever started, Toyota had announced it was entering NASCAR's highest level of racing after several successful years in the Craftsman Truck Series. Toyota would become the first Japanese manufacturer to join NASCAR's elites. Many mistakenly thought they would be the first foreign manufacturer, but that would be inaccurate as several others had raced in NASCAR several decades past.

Toyota came in with great hopes of challenging on a weekly basis, but wound up struggling to make the field. No Toyota team made each race, and by season's end, only one team, Bill Davis Racing's Dave Blaney, made their way into the top 35 in owner's points, guaranteeing a starting spot in the first five races of the 2008 season. Toyota drivers did, though, earn two poles in qualifying, and did muster a few top tens. The bright spot would have most likely been Brian Vicker's Red Bull Toyota leading a portion of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May.

For most of its existence, NASCAR cars have run on premium leaded gasoline. This has bothered environmentalists. This fuel puts out many harmful greenhouse gasses. It was needed, though, for the lubricating properties of the lead in the fuel. It was thought, if they switched to unleaded fuel, it would bring multiple, catastrophic engine failures.

Beginning at California in February, the second race of the season, NASCAR made the switch to unleaded fuel. This was with the help of the new "Official Fuel of NASCAR", Sunoco. For weeks, fans, engine builders and NASCAR officials watched to see if those failures would manifest. They never did. In fact, only a few people all season complained that their engine failures were due to the unleaded fuel. In fact, there were more engines impacted by the water that worked its way into the fuel supply at Atlanta in October. Now the call is to get NASCAR to use some sort of biofuel. I'm not sure that will happen.

Since the beginning of the modern era, NASCAR has had little input into what each car looked like. They developed safety regulations and templates to make sure no one got an unfair advantage. Each manufacturer would submit their car, NASCAR would approve and develop templates and that was it. Rules would then be enacted to regulate things such as rear spoiler and other features with regard to safety or fairness. In 2007, though, NASCAR unveiled the Car of Tomorrow which was wholly designed and developed by NASCAR with input from the manufacturers.

The idea behind the Car of Tomorrow was that a car designed with safety first, competition second, would make the drivers safer and the competition fairer. NASCAR had worked with several former drivers and the manufacturers over the last few years. They decided it was finally ready for competition this year, though not the full season. Even after testing late last year, they wanted a slow roll out over this year. They determined that a 16 race schedule this year would be a good amount. They would then add 10 more races next year and a full implementation scheduled for 2009. Midway through 2007, NASCAR made the decision to go to full implementation next year.

Two of the largest differences between the Car of Tomorrow and the "Current" car were the taller greenhouse and the rear wing. Drivers had for years complained how cramped the interior had become. Drivers such as Michael Waltrip saw a need to make the car taller and the window larger to allow them to exit easier in the event of a crash. NASCAR apparently agreed.

NASCAR also decided to change the familiar spoiler with a rear wing. This coupled with the front splitter, was designed to provide the needed downforce to make the car more stable. While this might have been the case, drivers had trouble adapting to the new feel of the aerodynamics. The only ones who seemed not to have difficulty were the open wheel drivers who came to NASCAR, as their cars already featured a wing. While the wing may provide more stability in the turns from side forces, it most likely provided less downforce in the rear than a piece of sheet metal standing straight up.

Most likely the Car of Tomorrow played into the championship this year. Hendrick Motorsports poured a lot of resources into their Car of Tomorrow program, delivering them almost perfection in the Car of Tomorrow races. More teams seemed to make improvements toward the end of the season, but it will surely impact championships for the next several years to come.

The Car of Tomorrow brought with it a statement from NASCAR that it was taking rules violations much more serious. In years past, a fine of $10,000 and 25 points was viewed as normal for serious violations. NASCAR realized, though, it was not enough to halt the violations. For 2007, NASCAR brought in penalties of $100,000 and 100 points. These stiff fines were applied to Michael Waltrip for an unapproved fuel additive at Daytona, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for unapproved adjustments or parts on their Car of Tomorrow and Kurt Busch for a pit road incident between he and Tony Stewart. Crew chiefs were also suspended.

These penalties affected two teams, proving that NASCAR may have finally found a way to express their displeasure at violations. Waltrip's loss of points hurt his chances of making races this season. For several weeks, he had negative owner points, which determines who is guaranteed a spot in the field and who much qualify on speed. With their early season struggles with the new Camary, Waltrip missed several races, hurting his chances for not only this season, but possibly the next few seasons.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also suffered from the point loss. Loosing 100 points and his crew chief for six races may have meant the difference between making and missing the Chase for the Nextel Cup. That would mean the difference in large sums of money at the end of year awards ceremony.

Dale, Jr. also made an impact on the season with his decision to change teams. Early in the season, Dale confirmed what many suspected; he would leave DEI, the team his father founded and race elsewhere next year. Upon this announcement, the sporting world was abuzz with speculation on where Dale would land. He admitted that he wanted to continue to drive for a Chevrolet team, so the most likely teams were those of Hendrick, Richard Childress Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing and Ginn Racing, who only became a player because Mark Martin was having a great season for the upstart program.

With speculation that Dale's long time sponsor, Budweiser, would follow him, Joe Gibbs announced that he was not pursuing Dale as that sponsorship would not fit with their company atmosphere. Richard Childress Racing had announced an engine cooperation with DEI, so that would most likely rule them out. Hendrick Motorsports appeared to have no room, with all four drivers under contract for at least two years, leaving Ginn to look like the most likely.

Most believed, though, that with Dale's desire to win a championship, Hendrick was the only place he could go. No one knew how Rick Hendrick would make it work, only believed he would. After a couple of months of speculation, Dale and Rick announced that Dale had signed a multi-year contract to drive for Rick. It was also announced that to make room for Dale, Rick was letting young phenom Kyle Busch out of his contract. Most thought Rick would release Casey Mears, as Kyle was having a strong year, but Kyle's attitude and problems, both on and off the track, were his undoing. Kyle was please, though, and found a home at Joe Gibbs Racing.

Dale managed to turn a poor showing for the season into a media circus for most of the season. From his announcement to leave DEI, to this announcement of new sponsors Mountain Dew Amp and the National Guard, he stayed in the news far beyond what most would have. Dale proved that star power is about more than on track results.

NASCAR, itself, made an impact on the season by changing the Chase format. In years past, the top ten after the 26^th race, or any drivers within 400 points of the leader, were included in the Chase. The points were then reset, bringing each driver to within five points of the driver ahead of them. For 2007, they set a firm twelve drivers and reset the points to bring each driver equal, awarding ten points for each "regular season" victory.

This change caused the leader at the end of the regular season, Jeff Gordon, to fall behind new leader Jimmie Johnson, despite having attained a lead of over four hundred points. This was due to the fact that Johnson had two more victories than Jeff. The change, plus the change in the point system to award more points for victories, was designed to encourage more aggressive driving so drivers would be more interested in winning. Fans had been calling for this for years.

The emphasis on winning seemed to make a difference in how the drivers raced, both during the Chase and before. Drivers who regularly challenge for the championship drove with renewed vigor. Winning, for the first time in a generation, became the focus rather than consistency.

Qualifying also became a major focus again. NASCAR has become so popular that there are more teams attempting to make each race than there are spots available. In response, NASCAR developed a "Top 35" rule. This rule states that the top thirty-five in owner points each week has a guaranteed spot in the field. All others must qualify on time, and against each other.

For most weeks, these drivers outside the top thirty-five qualify toward the rear of the field, so even without the guarantee, many would not make it on time. For some, though, they might qualify ahead of some of the guaranteed teams and still not make the field. Almost no one forsaw a time when this would be a major issue. That is, until they qualified for the second race at Talladega in October.

At that race, almost all of the "go-or-go-home" teams out qualified the top thirty-five teams. In fact, the top nine in qualifying were teams outside the top thirty-five. The result was that the ninth, tenth and twelfth place qualifier did not make the race. This showed the biggest flaw in the rule. NASCAR must now look at the rule in the off season.

Surely these seven moments will make the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup season one to remember. Some will impact seasons to come, from the renewed focus on penalties to the Chase format. Some, such as the Car of Tomorrow will cause us to look back on this season as a turning point in NASCAR history. In any event, this season is one for the books.