2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350

2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350
Race details[1][2]
Race 16 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
Track as used by NASCAR
Track as used by NASCAR
Date June 24, 2007 (2007-June-24)
Official name Toyota/Save Mart 350
Location Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California
Course 1.99 mi (3.202 km)
Distance 110 laps, 218.9 mi (352.285 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures approaching 84 °F (29 °C); wind speeds up to 17.1 miles per hour (27.5 km/h)
Average speed 74.547 miles per hour (119.972 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Roush Fenway Racing
Time 77.521
Most laps led
Driver Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports
Laps 48
Winner
No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Chip Ganassi Racing
Television in the United States
Network Turner Network Television
Announcers Bill Weber, Kyle Petty, Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Nielsen Ratings
  • 4.7 (Final)
  • 4.0 (Overnight)
  • (6.5 million)[3]
Radio in the United States
Radio Performance Racing Network

The 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 was the sixteenth stock car race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and the first of the season's two road course events. It was held on June 24, 2007 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California before a crowd of 102,000. The 90-lap race was won by Juan Pablo Montoya of the Chip Ganassi Racing team who started from thirty-second position. Kevin Harvick finished second and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Jeff Burton came in third.

Although Jamie McMurray won the pole position, he was passed by Robby Gordon on the first lap. Gordon held the position until the first round of green-flag pit stops, and Carl Edwards took over the first position. He held it for twelve laps until Gordon got ahead of Edwards. At the race's final restart on lap 70, Tony Stewart took over the lead when he passed Gordon, but ceded it to McMurray after Stewart made a pit stop. McMurray slowed on lap 97 as he attempted to conserve fuel which allowed Montoya to close the gap. Montoya got ahead of McMurray for the lead after a seven-lap battle and held it to win the race. There were seven cautions and eleven lead changes by eight drivers.

It was Montoya's first win in the Nextel Cup Series, and became the first foreign driver since 1974 to win in the series. After the race Jeff Gordon's lead in the Drivers' Championship was reduced because he, along with his teammate Jimmie Johnson, were penalized for a car infringement. Chevrolet maintained its lead in the Manufacturers' Championship, 49 points ahead of their nearest rival Ford with twenty races remaining in the season. The race attracted 6.5 million television viewers.

  1. ^ "The Race: The Toyota/Save Mart 350". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on April 1, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  2. ^ "2007 Toyota / Save Mart 350". Racing-Reference. USA Today Media Sports Group. Archived from the original on June 6, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
  3. ^ "2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup TV Ratings". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN Internet Ventures. Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2014.