The 2007 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup is complete. Jimmie Johnson is the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion. Johnson had an amazing Chase. Since the Chase began no driver has gone the entire Chase without at least one bad race. This Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were both perfect. The downside for Jeff Gordon fans is that Johnson was just a little more perfect. Here are all twelve of the 2007 Chase for the Cup contenders.
1. Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie Johnson had an incredible 2007 Chase. He only had two finishes outside of the top ten (14th at both Dover and Lowes) and ended the Chase with a ten-race average finish of 5.00. Johnson's performance in 2007 is the very definition of what it takes to win under the Chase rules.2. Jeff Gordon -77
Whether or not you are a fan, you have to feel bad for Jeff Gordon this year. He came into the Chase with a huge lead in the points. Under the old format he would have won the Championship by 353 points over Jimmie Johnson. In the Chase format he did everything right. In any other year or under any other NASCAR point system Jeff Gordon would have won the title.He posted an amazing nine top tens out of the ten Chase races. During the Chase Jeff Gordon's worst finish was eleventh (Dover). His average finish during the Chase was just a hair behind his teammate at 5.1.
This year he lead the series in poles, top fives and top tens. In 2007, that is only good enough for second in points.
3. Clint Bowyer -346
Comfortably in third Clint Bowyer has had a solid 2007 Chase effort. Bowyer finished a strong third and the best of the non-Hendrick cars. Not too bad for a driver that came into the 2007 Chase winless in his career.4. Matt Kenseth -425
Matt Kenseth ripped off five consecutive top five finishes to jump from twelfth up to fourth in the final 2007 Chase standings. This was a huge rebound considering that he had four consecutive finishes of 26th or worse during his 2007 Chase run.5. Kyle Busch -430
Kyle Busch was in this battle until Kansas and Talladega. In those two races Kyle posted terrible finishes of 41st and 36th. Since his Hendrick teammates Johnson and Gordon has made it through the Chase without any bad finishes this was enough to knock Kyle Busch from Championship contention.6. Tony Stewart -481
Tony Stewart just never got his 2007 Chase on track. Known for finishing the season strong Tony Stewart hasn't been able to put together the Chase that he is used to. 2008 will see Tony return to the Sprint Cup series in a Toyota. Given Toyota's 2007 performance was this Tony's last shot at a title?7. Kurt Busch -492
Kurt Busch finished a strong second in Homestead to finish out the year and jump up from tenth to seventh in the final standings. Kurt had four finishes outside of the top twenty during the Chase and never got his 2007 Chase on track.8. Jeff Burton -492
Jeff Burton is another driver that saw their 2007 Chase fate cast in stone at Kansas and Talladega. Burton had trouble in Kansas and only managed a 36th place finish. Trouble again found him in Talladega as he lost the motor and finished a dismal 43rd.Burton bounced back with three top ten finishes in Atlanta, Texas and Phoenix but it was too little too late for his Chase dreams.
