David Stremme narrowly missed a top ten finish in his final drive for the #40 Chip Ganassi Racing team although 12th place was like a win for Dave Blaney as he rubber-stamped his passage into the 2008
Daytona 500 by virtue of his #22 Bill Davis Racing team finishing 35th in the final owner standings.
Greg Biffle never looked capable of extending his Homestead winning streak to four and could only manage 13th place while Kyle Busch's career at Hendrick Motorsports ended with a disappointing 20th place run.
Ricky Rudd's 32 year Cup Series career drew to a close with a 21st place finish in his 906th start and as Rudd stepped away from the cockpit, his team boss Robert Yates stepped down as an active team owner. Tony Raines' tenure with Hall of Fame Racing ended with a 29th place effort, two places ahead of the driver who will replace him next year, outgoing Joe Gibbs driver JJ Yeley.
Johnny Sauter's days at Haas CNC Racing concluded with the biggest crash of the day on lap 157 while Sam Hornish Jr and Patrick Carpentier both made contact with the walls and finished 37th and 40th respectively.
By far the biggest groan from the packed Homestead grandstands came when Dale Earnhardt Jr spun entering pit road on lap 50 after fighting his way up from 43rd place to 13th and then found himself punted into the start-line wall during a typical chain reaction restart crash. With his #8 Budweiser Chevrolet heavily damaged Earnhardt Jr soldiered on to the finish but could do no better than 36th.
![Jimmie Johnson - Lowe's Chevrolet [pic credit: image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/279398.jpg)
