2007 Coca-Cola 600 at Lowes Motor Speedway

The Coca-Cola 600 is the longest race on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule. This traditional Memorial Day weekend event starts in the daylight and ends under the lights. Teams will need to communicate well and adjust the car all race long to stay on top of the ever-changing conditions. The 2007 Coca-Cola 600 features NASCAR's old car style which should make teams more comfortable with the necessary changes.

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Lowes Motor Speedway is a mile and a half tri-oval with 24 degrees of banking in the turns. The track is fast and even though there is a preferred groove there is still enough room for a faster car to get by.

Lowes Motor Speedway is the home track for NASCAR. The majority of the teams are based within 30 miles of the speedway and everybody brings their best stuff to Lowes because everybody wants the bragging rights of winning their home race.

400 Laps = 600 Miles

Two weeks ago point leader Jeff Gordon extended his lead with his third victory in the last four races.

In the battle for The Chase no new drivers cracked the top twelve as a result of the last points race.

The current top twelve:

1. Jeff Gordon -0
2. Jimmie Johnson -231
3. Matt Kenseth -299
4. Denny Hamlin -342
5. Jeff Burton -395
6. Tony Stewart -506
7. Kurt Busch -556
8. Kevin Harvick -566
9. Clint Bowyer -579
10. Carl Edwards -590
11. Kyle Busch -600
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -621

This week the Coca-Cola 600 is not using the Car of Tomorrow. However, they did announce this week that starting in 2008 NASCAR would use the Car of Tomorrow for the entire schedule.

Originally NASCAR was going to run another season splitting races between the old and new car styles. 2009 was going to be the first full season for the Car of Tomorrow.

Now, after talking it over with owners and drivers NASCAR has decided to accelerate their plans and switch the the new Car of Tomorrow full-time beginning with the 2008 Daytona 500.

TV: FOX Sunday, May 27th, 5:00PM Eastern.

Radio: PRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 5:30PM Eastern

$6,569,628

In 2006 Kasey Kahne lead the most laps and had a very fast horse all night long. However the final restart saw Carl Edwards leading over Jimmie Johnson. Kasey Kahne restarted in third.

Kahne made the top work and took second place over Johnson. Just one lap later he ducked under Edwards and took the lead. Jimmie Johnson was able to get around Edwards to get second but just didn't have enough to get around Kahne and claim his fourth Coca-Cola 600 in a row.

Given his incredible statistics at Lowes Motor Speedway over the last four years I have to go with Jimmie Johnson to win the 2007 Coca-Cola 600. In the last four years he has never finished worse than third. He finished second in both races last year and nearly won last's All-Star Challenge. Johnson already has four wins so far in 2007 and this weekend he can extend his domination at a track he knows very well.

Chevrolet drivers have dominated 2007 winning all but one race so far this season. For my backup I'm going to go with the only Ford driver to win so far in 2007. Matt Kenseth had a winning car in last week's All-Star Challenge until a pit road mistake sent him to the rear. Matt won the Coca-Cola 600 in 2000 and has a fast car this year capable of bringing him another big Memorial Day weekend victory.