2007 Firestone Indy 400
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2.000 mi / 3.219 km
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Race 13 of 17 in the 2007 IndyCar Series season
| |||
 2007 Firestone Indy 400 program cover | |||
| Date | August 5, 2007 | ||
| Official name | Firestone Indy 400 | ||
| Location | Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi / 3.219 km | ||
| Distance | 200 laps 400.000 mi / 643.738 km | ||
| Weather | Cloudy | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver |  Dario Franchitti (Andretti Green Racing) | ||
| Time | 32.9810 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |  Danica Patrick (Andretti Green Racing) | ||
| Time | 32.9067[1] (on lap 4 of 200) | ||
| Podium | |||
| First |  Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing) | ||
| Second | Marco Andretti (Andretti Green Racing) | ||
| Third | Scott Sharp (Rahal Letterman Racing) | ||
The 2007 Firestone Indy 400 was an IRL IndyCar Series motor race held on August 5, 2007, in Brooklyn, Michigan at Michigan International Speedway. It was the thirteenth round of the 2007 IRL IndyCar Series and the final American open-wheel car racing event at the track. Andretti Green Racing driver Tony Kanaan won the 200-lap race from the eighth starting position. Kanaan's teammate Marco Andretti finished second and Scott Sharp of Rahal Letterman Racing finished third.
Dario Franchitti, the points leader heading into the race, started on the pole position after posting the fastest lap during qualifications. The race was delayed by over four and a half hours due to rainfall. Franchitti led most of the race's first 50 laps before stalling his engine during a pit stop, forcing him to drop to the rear of the field. By lap 63, he made his way back to the front, but was heavily challenged by Dan Wheldon. The two drivers battled alongside each other for the lead until their wheels touched on lap 144, which sparked a multi-car pileup in which Franchitti pirouetted in the air; none of the drivers involved were injured. Soon after the race's final restart on the 171st lap, Kanaan, Andretti, and Danica Patrick got by Sharp, though Patrick's chances of earning her first win were ruined when she pitted for a blown tire on lap 186. Kanaan successfully fended off Andretti's attempts to overtake him on the outside line and earned the victory. Six cautions slowed the event and the lead was traded 23 times between nine drivers.
The win was Kanaan's tenth in the IRL IndyCar Series and 11th in top-level American open-wheel competition. Despite Franchitti's poor finish, he maintained his 24-point gap over Scott Dixon in the Drivers' Championship standings, with four races left in the season.
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The Firestone Indy 400 was the 13th of 17 scheduled open-wheel races for the 2007 IRL IndyCar Series and the 56th American open-wheel car race at the track, counting races sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (1968, 1970–1978) and by Championship Auto Racing Teams (1979–2001).[2][3] It was held on August 5, 2007, in Brooklyn, Michigan, United States, at Michigan International Speedway, a four-turn 2 mi (3.2 km) asphalt tri-oval track with 18-degree banking in the corners, 12-degree banking in the front stretch, and 5-degree banking in the back stretch, and was contested over 200 laps and 400 miles (640 km).[4][5] The race was the last to be included in the series' 2007 schedule, and was initially planned to be held on July 22 before being moved back to August 5 in order to accommodate for the series' debut event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.[6]
Heading into the race, Dario Franchitti earned 474 points and held a 24-point lead over Scott Dixon in the Drivers' Championship standings. Tony Kanaan was third on 363 points, six points ahead of fourth-placed Dan Wheldon and 18 more than Sam Hornish Jr. in fifth.[7] Dixon had won the three preceding IndyCar Series races leading up to the Firestone Indy 400, but he admitted that Franchitti's consistency throughout the season made it tougher for him to close the gap on his points lead.[8] Defending race winner Hélio Castroneves opined that Franchitti had the advantage of his three teammates who were capable of stealing points from Dixon.[8] Franchitti looked forward to returning to the track after a week off and aimed to win the race at Michigan. Kanaan, a fellow Andretti Green Racing driver, reminisced of his prior successes at the track and hoped to battle with Franchitti and Dixon for the title.[9]
Twenty cars were entered for the race at Michigan, up from 18 in the previous round at Mid-Ohio,[2] all of which utilized the Dallara IR-03 chassis, tires supplied by Firestone, and Honda Indy V8 engines powered with ethanol fuel.[5] Rookie driver Milka Duno planned to compete in the two preceding races at Nashville Superspeedway and Mid-Ohio,[10] but injuries sustained in a testing crash at Nashville forced her to miss both races.[11] She was medically cleared to race at Michigan and received assistance from former IndyCar Series driver Tomáš Enge in preparing the setup of her car.[12] Jon Herb, who had not raced in the IndyCar Series since the Bombardier Learjet 550 in June, gained enough sponsorship to compete in the event and hoped to race in the season-ending Peak Antifreeze Indy 300.[12] The two drivers completed a rookie orientation session at Michigan ahead of the race weekend alongside Ryan Hunter-Reay, who made his abrupt series debut with Rahal Letterman Racing in the previous round.[12]
It had already been determined that this would be the Indy Racing League (IRL)'s final event at Michigan International Speedway, as was confirmed by track officials in July 2007.[13] Track president Roger Curtis explained that IRL officials planned to host their annual race at the track two weeks prior to one of the track's events for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which he felt would create issues regarding the promotion of both races.[14] Curtis expressed sorrow for the event's removal from the IndyCar Series calendar because of the track's long history with American open-wheel car racing and discussed the possibility of adding a road course to the track in order to attract other motorsport series besides NASCAR.[15]
Practice and qualifying
There were two 120-minute practice sessions on Saturday that preceded the race on Sunday, both of which were split into two groups of drivers that each received 60 minutes of track time per session.[5] The first practice session, held on Saturday morning, was led by Kanaan with a time of 33.0803 seconds, one hundredth of a second quicker than Dixon, with Hornish Jr., Franchitti, and Danica Patrick rounding out the top-five.[16] The session was briefly paused after Duno slid into the inside line while exiting the fourth turn.[17] Tomas Scheckter—the 2002 winner of the event—lapped quickest in the second practice session later that day with a time of 32.9999 seconds;[18] Franchitti was second, Castroneves third, Patrick fourth, and Wheldon fifth.[19] Herb caused the only stoppage of the session when he crashed into the SAFER barrier in the fourth corner.[17]
The qualifying session was held 75 minutes after the second practice session ended.[5] Each driver was required to complete up to two timed laps in their qualifying attempt, with the fastest of the two laps determining their starting position.[17] With a time of 32.9810 seconds, Franchitti earned his fourth IndyCar Series pole position and his 16th pole in American open-wheel racing, and was joined on the grid's front row by Hornish Jr., whose lap time trailed Franchitti by four hundredths of a second.[20][21][22] Castroneves, Scott Sharp, and Wheldon rounded out the top five, and Scheckter and Dixon took the next two positions.[23] Kanaan qualified eighth; he was only permitted to complete one lap after suffering an issue with his dashboard during his first qualifying attempt.[17] Patrick's team was late to pre-qualifying technical inspection and was also forced to run a single lap, which earned her the ninth spot on the grid.[17] Ed Carpenter started 10th,[21] ahead of eleventh-placed Vítor Meira, who failed technical inspection and only ran one lap.[17] The remaining positions on the grid were occupied by Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Kosuke Matsuura, A. J. Foyt IV, Sarah Fisher, Buddy Rice, Darren Manning, Duno, and Herb,[21] the latter of whom did not participate in qualifications due to his crash earlier that day.[24]
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