2007 Bank Of America 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway

2007 Bank Of America 500 at Lowes Motor Speedway:

The 2007 Chase For The Cup turns the corner this weekend as the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup series rolls into the Charlotte, North Carolina area for the fifth race of the ten race Chase. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon currently lead the points. Both drivers excel at Lowes Motor Speedway so this race might become a preview of the battle for the Championship. Every point counts this Saturday night at Lowes.

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (800) 455-FANS or (704) 455-3200

Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)

The Track:

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.

Race Distance:

334 Laps = 501 Miles

The Big Picture:

After last weekend's Talladega race Jeff Gordon moved past his teammate to take over the point lead by just four points. Jimmie Johnson is second and Clint Bowyer maintains third place spot as the only other driver within 100 points of the lead.

The top twelve:

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Jimmie Johnson -9
3. Clint Bowyer -63
4. Tony Stewart -154
5. Kevin Harvick -202
6. Carl Edwards -205
7. Kurt Busch -215
8. Kyle Busch -260
9. Denny Hamlin -262
10. Martin Truex Jr. -300
11. Matt Kenseth -318
12. Jeff Burton -336

Storylines:

NASCAR has exploded with international flavor in recent weeks. Last weekend Canadian Jacques Villeneuve made his NEXTEL Cup debut with a solid run in Talladega. That same weekend Scotland's Dario Franchitti won the ARCA race. Both of those drivers recently signed deals to drive in the 2008 Sprint Cup Series.

The international flavor keeps on flowing as this week Patrick Carpentier, who is Canadian, signed with Gillette Evernham Motorsports to replace Scott Riggs in the #10 car for 2008.

Media Coverage:

TV: ABC Saturday, October 13th, 7:00PM Eastern.

Radio: PRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 7:40PM Eastern

Posted Awards:

$5,185,096

Last Year:

Kasey Kahne qualified on the front row for this race last year and then went on to dominate the race. Kahne completed the Lowes Motor Speedway sweep with the easy win. Kasey Kahne was clearly the class of the field.

Finishing second both in May and again in October was former Lowes master Jimmie Johnson. Johnson was quick but it was clear that nobody had anything for Kahne.

Predictions:

Given his incredible statistics at Lowes Motor Speedway over the last four years one driver clearly stands out among all current drivers. I have to go with Jimmie Johnson to win. This is an obvious pick.

In the last nine races at Lowes Motor Speedway Jimmie Johnson has five wins, two second place finishes, one third and one "terrible" run where he had to pit late in the race for a splash of fuel and still finished tenth. Jimmie Johnson owns Lowes Motor Speedway and has to be everybody's favorite for another great run this Saturday night.

For my backup this week I am going with Jeff Burton. Burton is currently twelfth in points and has nothing to lose. His Chase chances are done so he can race for the win without any pressure. He finished third in this race last year and has two career NEXTEL Cup wins here at Lowes.