NASCAR Lenox 300 Recap 2007

When they dropped the rag for the start of thethe pits. Johnson led the field to the green and it
Lenox Industrial Tools 300 it didn't take long fordidn't take long for Dale Jr. to jump out front. It
the 1st caution to come out. Ward Burton blewwas short lived for Jr. as Johnson passed him
an engine that caused the yellow to drop. Daveback and was cruising out front.
Blaney led the field to a green start again with 11At lap 137 Hendrick teammate Kyle Busch got
laps in the books.past Johnson and held the lead for over 45 laps.
The Hendrick cars had already started showingDale Jr. was the only one that finally chased Busch
their muscles as Jeff Gordon moved to 2nd anddown. Around lap 183 Junior got around Busch and
Jimmie Johnson taking 8th. The race was 31 lapswas in command again.
old as Gordon passed Blaney for the lead. OtherAt lap 192 green flag pit stops started with Jeff
battles on the track included Dale Earnhardt Jr.Gordon starting the parade. After all was done in
and Reed Sorenson who were fighting for 4ththe pits Dale Jr. was back in the lead with
place.teammate Martin Truex Jr. right behind him. DEI
After 46 laps Gordon had started lapping thedrivers were continuing their hot steak over the
slower cars. Dale Jr. and Kurt Busch were battlingpast several weeks. With 89 laps to go Truex Jr.
for 2nd as Gordon continued to put distancegot past Dale Jr. and opened up over a second
between them and him self. On lap 53 Dale Jr.lead over his teammate.
came out ahead of Busch to take over the 2ndWith 254 laps in the book the fifth caution of the
spot. The pole sitter and previous leader Blaneyday came out for debris. Leaders were in for
had fallen back all the way to 15th.their final pit stop of the day. By only taking two
With 64 laps in the top 5 were Gordon, Dale Jr.,tires Denny Hamlin came out first and waited to
Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman.see if the strategy paid off for him. With the
At lap 68 green flag pit stops started with polegreen flag dropping Hamlin saw the caution for
sitter Blaney making the first stop. That led tothe 6th and final time for the day come out for
the entire field making stops during the next 5 toDavid Stremme and Bobby Labonte spinning. The
10 laps. After they cycled through stops Dale Jr.caution was short lived as Hamlin was back under
came out leading with the usual suspects ofway as the leader. Martin Truex Jr. quickly started
Gordon, Busch, Johnson and Newman followingto challenge for the lead but he had to keep
behind.looking back as Jeff Gordon was all over him.
Eighty seven laps old the race saw Dale Jr. openWith 7 laps to go Gordon and Truex Jr. were side
up a 2 second lead over Gordon. The 2nd cautionby side and fighting tooth and nail. Quickly Gordon
came out for the day with 96 laps in the booksgot around Truex Jr. and was all over Hamlin.
for debris in the 3rd turn. All 27 lead lap cars hitGordon tried to make a final lap pass but could
pit road with no room to spare. Kurt Busch wonnot. Hamlin came away and took the checkered
the race off pit road and led the field to theflag and got Joe Gibbs Racing their first COT
green with Matt Kenseth showing up in the top 5.victory.
Dale Jr. didn't waste anytime getting by JohnsonThe top five included Gordon, Truex Jr., Dale
and Busch to retake the lead.Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. It was again a
With 120 laps in the books Dale Jr. had already ledstrong showing for Hendrick Motorsport in the
39 laps which was tops for the day so far. A fewCOT. Next week the Nextel teams head back to
laps later debris brought out the 3rd caution.Daytona for the annual Pepsi 400. Congratulations
Leaders once again were first onto pit road. Thisto Denny Hamlin and the FedEx team.
time around Jimmie Johnson won the race out of