Template:Future sport The 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season will begin at Daytona International Speedway with the Bud Shootout and will end with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup will begin with the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway. The series will most likely not be called NEXTEL Cup, due the Nextel-Sprint merger; however, the combined company has not yet officially announced a name change.
New Cars
The 2007 season is the first time that a non-US automaker, Toyota, will run cars in the NEXTEL Cup and the Busch Series. Toyota will run the best selling car in the United States, the Camry. Toyota has run trucks in the Craftsman Truck Series since 2003. Michael Waltrip Racing Red Bull Racing, and Bill Davis Racing have announced that they will use Camrys next season. The last non-American car to run in a major series was the British-manufactured Jaguar in the 1950's.
NASCAR is also planning to use the Car of Tomorrow in sixteen races in 2007, starting at Bristol. All cars will be using the same templates.
Silly Season
Several new drivers will enter the NEXTEL Cup series in 2007. Todd Kluever will take over the famous #6 AAA Ford from long-time driver Mark Martin, who will run the Truck series full-time in 2007. Paul Menard will switch from a part-time to a full-time schedule in 2007, running the #15 Menards Home Improvement Chevrolet. David Gilliland is currently being courted by several teams after a stunning win in the Busch Series at the 2006 Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway. Jon Wood will drive a car for Wood Brothers Racing, though it is currently unknown if he will replace Ken Schrader in the #21 Ford or drive a new car. Road racing specialist Boris Said plans to run the full 2007 season in a new Ford team sponsored by SoBe No Fear Energy Drink, which will be affiliated with Roush Racing and carry the #60.
Red Bull Racing will enter NASCAR for the first time, running two Toyota teams. One of their drivers will be current Hendrick Motorsports driver Brian Vickers, in the #83 Red Bull Toyota. The other driver has not been named, but is widely rumored to be Bill Elliott, who will race Dodges for Red Bull Racing in three 2006 races. Elliott would have a guaranteed spot in all races due to his past champion's provisional, which could help the team in the first five races (the top 35 in 2006 owners' points will be automatically in the field; a new team must race its way in).
Casey Mears will replace Brian Vickers in the #25 GMAC Chevrolet. Juan Pablo Montoya, a Formula 1 racer, will replace Mears in the #42 Texaco-Havoline Dodge. Montoya drove for Ganassi in the CART series.
Dale Jarrett and his sponsor UPS are leaving the #88 Ford for a Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota, which would be eligable for past champion provisional for all races (as Jarrett won the 1999 championship, then known as the Winston Cup). MWR will also run the #00 Toyota, co-sponsored by Domino's Pizza and Burger King. Michael Waltrip has said that he has offered the job to Jeremy Mayfield, who has repeatedly stated his unhappiness with his current ride, the #19 Dodge with Evernham Motorsports. In turn, RYR announced that Elliott Sadler, driver of the #38 M&Ms Ford for RYR, will leave his current ride at the end of the year[1]. Although it has been rumored that Sadler will replace Jeremy Mayfield in Evernham Motorsports's #19 Dodge, he has repeatedly stated that he does not yet know where he will be next season. It is believed that sponsor M&Ms will stay on the #38.
Robert Yates has confirmed that he wants to replace the drivers with Stephen Leicht (one of RYR's Busch drivers) and Ward Burton. He also said that citifinancial, Leicht's Busch sponsor, will probably replace UPS on the #88. It is very likely that Leicht will fill one of the two rides, Yates said, but both M&Ms and citifinancial would prefer a younger driver than Burton. [2] David Gilliland has recieved an offer from Yates to replace Sadler in the #38 machine. [3] This would imply that Stephen Leicht and citifinancial would go to the #88 if Gilliland accepts the offer.
Bill Lester, driver of the #23 car will attempt to race the entire 2007 season in a Toyota if owner Bill Davis Racing can convince current sponsor Waste Management or another sponsor to sign full-time. If Waste Management goes with BDR, Sterling Marlin's #14 team wouldn't have to go far for a new sponsor. That team, and Joe Nemechek's #01 U.S. Army ride will be owned by Bob Ginn, owner of Ginn Resorts, purchased from MB2 Motorsports, and Ginn's company would become the new sponsor on the #14 car. Ginn has said he would like to expand his team to four cars in 2007, one being the #36 ride.
Jeff Burton, driver of the #31 Cingular Chevy, will be looking for a new sponsor if AT&T completely phases out the Cingular brand, as a change to AT&T would not fall under the grandfather clause in NEXTEL/Sprint's sponsorship agreement. Possible candidates are Holiday Inn and the Coast Guard, the sponsors of two of Richard Childress Racing's Busch cars.
DEI, which is already adding a third full-time team in 2007 with Paul Menard, is considering adding a fourth team as well, with Tony Eury, Sr. as the crew chief.
Joe Gibbs Racing is also considering a fourth part-time team with Ricky Rudd has the driver.
It was rumored that Danica Patrick might move to NASCAR, but she has decided to stay in IRL.
Races
The 2007 Schedule has not yet been finalized, but will open with the traditional Speedweeks events - Budweiser Shootout, Gatorade Duel, and Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway starting February 10 with the 500 on the 18th, and conclude with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, tenatively scheduled for November 18.
One confirmed change involves the month of July - the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway will be run on July 1st, while the Pepsi 400 at Daytona will be run on July 7th. The Chicago event will also be sliding back a week, to the 15th. This is due in part to the traditional scheduling of the Pepsi 400 around the 4th of July, which falls on a Wednesday in 2007.
There are rumors that Las Vegas Motor Speedway will get a second date and that Kentucky Speedway may receive a date. Rumors had been reported that the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard may move up one week to kick off ABC/ESPN's television coverage; however, their coverage will begin with the July race at Pocono Raceway.
Rookies
- Todd Kluever, #6 AAA Ford (Roush Racing)
- Paul Menard, #15 Menard's Chevy (Dale Earnhardt Inc.)
- Juan Montoya, #42 Texaco-Havoline Dodge (Chip Ganassi Racing)
- Jon Wood, #47 or 21 Ford (Wood Brothers Racing)
Television
FOX will carry the first part of the season beginning with Speedweeks at Daytona, and continue coverage up through the Coca-Cola 600, with SPEED carrying the Gatorade Duel qualifying races and the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge. TNT will pick up mid-season races in June and July including the Pepsi 400. ABC and ESPN will carry the rest of the season beginning in mid-July and run through the entire Chase for the Cup. ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 will carry the entire Busch Series in 2007, while Fox-owned SPEED (with the exception of two races on FOX) continues carrying the entire Craftsman Truck Series.