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The2007 Nextel Open and Nextel All-Star Challenge was a professionalauto race held on May 19, 2007, atLowe's Motor Speedway inConcord,North Carolina.^[1] North Carolina native and former NBA MVPMichael Jordan was the grand marshal of the event.

NASCAR's All-Star Challenge is an exhibition race which uses a different format. Similarly to the All-Star games in other North American sports leagues, it does not affect the championship standings. Race winners (either drivers or teams) in the2006 and the first eleven races of the2007 seasons, plus former Winston/Nextel Cup Champions and All-Star event winners from the past decade, automatically qualify for the main event. On restarts of the race after caution flags, the cars line up in a double file restart, akin to the start of a regulation race. A description of how the race was reformatted for the 2007 running can be foundhere.

Qualifying for this event is different from qualifying inNASCAR. Those entered for the main event take 3 timed qualifying laps, instead of the usual two laps used in all sanctioned oval races, but they must take a required pit stop for four tires after either the first or second lap, coming in at the pit road speed (in the case of LMS, 45 miles per hour), with no speed limit on exits. Infractions will also incur time penalties. Starting in 2007, the selection of the pit boxes used by teams was made after the annual Pit Crew Challenge event to be held three days earlier atCharlotte Bobcats Arena, won by theRyan Newman No. 12 team. In the qualifying,Matt Kenseth won the pole.Kevin Harvick was bumper-to-bumper withJimmie Johnson coming to the start/finish line to win the race.

All other drivers or teams that are in the Nextel Cup Top 50 owners or drivers points that do not automatically qualify for the All-Star Challenge are entered into a 40-lap, a two-half event called the Nextel Open. Only the top two drivers, plus one additional driver on the lead lap that is voted in by fans on theWorld Wide Web via Sprint/Nextel's website, their customers, and attendees of the race, join the elite field. Standard qualifying rules applied for those in this event, which sawCarl Edwards win "P-1" (a.k.a. the pole position), edging fellow Roush-Fenway teammateDavid Ragan. The Nextel Open was won byMartin Truex Jr. Johnny Sauter finished second.

Before the All-Star Challenge, a new preliminary race was held between Nextel Cup crew chiefs—theKobalt Tools Crew Chief Race.^[2] The race comprised eighteen crew chiefs driving small LegendsThunder Roadster cars on the quarter-mile oval in front of the main track's grandstand and was televised in the United States onSpeed.^[2]NASCAR on ESPN color commentator and former crew chief,Andy Petree won the main event, earning a $10,000 donation for any charity of his choice.^[2][3] The charities he decided to donate the race winnings to wereMotor Racing Outreach and Mud Creek Baptist Church.^[2]

The following drivers qualified after they won at least one race in the2006 or2007 seasons, in order of their qualifying win:

• Jimmie Johnson -2006 Daytona 500
• Matt Kenseth - 2006Auto Club 500
• Kasey Kahne - 2006Golden Corral 500
• Kurt Busch - 2006Food City 500
• Tony Stewart - 2006DirecTV 500
• Kevin Harvick - 2006Subway Fresh 500
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. - 2006Crown Royal 400
• Greg Biffle - 2006Dodge Charger 500
• Denny Hamlin - 2006Pocono 500
• Jeff Gordon - 2006Dodge/Save Mart 350
• Kyle Busch - 2006Lenox Industrial Tools 300
• Jeff Burton - 2006Dover 400
• Brian Vickers - 2006UAW Ford 500 (drove the No. 25Hendrick Motorsports car)

The following drivers qualified as a result of driving a car that won a race in 2006 with a different driver:

• Casey Mears - No. 25 car won the 2006 UAW Ford 500

The following drivers qualified as a result of being a former Nextel Cup champion (since1997):

• Jeff Gordon (1997,1998 and 2001 Champion, already qualified)
• Dale Jarrett (1999 Champion)
• Bobby Labonte (2000 Champion)
• Tony Stewart (2002 and2005 Champion, already qualified)
• Matt Kenseth (2003 Champion, already qualified)
• Kurt Busch (2004 Champion, already qualified)
• Jimmie Johnson (2006 Champion, already qualified)

The following drivers qualified as a result of being a former winner of the Nextel All-Star Challenge (since 1997):

• Jeff Gordon (1997 and 2001 winner, already qualified)
• Mark Martin (1998 and 2005 winner, already qualified)
• The 1999 winner wasTerry Labonte, who retired after the 2006 season and did not compete
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000 winner, already qualified)
• Ryan Newman (2002 winner)
• Jimmie Johnson (2003 and 2006 winner, already qualified)
• Matt Kenseth (2004 winner, already qualified)

The following drivers qualified via the Nextel Open:

• Martin Truex Jr. (won the Nextel Open)
• Johnny Sauter (finished 2nd in the Nextel Open)

Also qualifying, the 2007 Fan Vote Winner:

• Kenny Wallace

• (R) = Rookie

* - Won the Showdown

** - Showdown runner up

*** - Fan Vote winner

Martin Truex Jr. won the Nextel Open, which was the first win for Truex of any kind in a Nextel Cup race.Johnny Sauter edged outCarl Edwards for the second transfer spot in this race.

The 40-lap race was stopped four times due to caution, including a 10-car incident halfway through lap 1 in which, among other things, the hoods of the cars driven byDavid Gilliland andJuan Pablo Montoya collided.

Kenny Wallace won the fan vote, partly due to a largeGet out the vote campaign mounted bySpeed Channel, where he worked as ananalyst.

Kevin Harvick passedJeff Burton at the start of the fourth and final segment and won the event for the first time in his career. Harvick won $1,031,539, which at the time was the largest amount awarded to an all-star race winner.Jimmie Johnson finished second, andMark Martin finished third.

Burton had inherited the lead fromMatt Kenseth, who was sent to the tail end of the longest line due to speeding on pit road during the break between segments three and four. During this break, teams had to visit the pits at least once, but no service was required. Kenseth decided on the visit and also won the first segment.Kyle Busch was first at the end of the second segment.

It was the fourth win forRichard Childress Racing after three wins byDale Earnhardt.

This race was also notable for a crash between brothersKurt Busch andKyle Busch. They touched entering turn 1 with 18 laps to go, sending both into the wall rear-first. In an interview after the incident, Kurt Busch joked that he would not "be eatingKellogg's anytime soon," referring to Kyle Busch's sponsor.

• 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway
• 2007 in sports in North Carolina
• May 2007 sports events in the United States
• NASCAR All-Star Race

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