2007 Firestone Indy 400

2007 Firestone Indy 400

Race details
Race 13 of 17 in the 2007 IndyCar Series season ← Previous race Next race →
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 sixth and final running of the event. 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.

The Firestone Indy 400 was the thirteenth of 17 scheduled open-wheel races for the 2007 IRL IndyCar Series and the sixth annual edition of the event dating back to 2002. 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).^[2][3] 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.^[4]

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.^[5] 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.^[6] Defending race winner Hélio Castroneves opined that Franchitti had the advantage of his three teammates who were capable of stealing points from Dixon.^[6] 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.^[7]

Twenty cars were entered for the race at Michigan, up from 18 in the previous round at Mid-Ohio,^[8] all of which utilized the Dallara IR-03 chassis, tires supplied by Firestone, and Honda Indy V8 engines powered with ethanol fuel.^[3] Rookie driver Milka Duno planned to compete in the two preceding races at Nashville Superspeedway and Mid-Ohio,^[9] but injuries sustained in a testing crash at Nashville forced her to miss both races.^[10] 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.^[11] Jon Herb, who hadn't 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.^[11] 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.^[11]

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.^[3] 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.^[12] The session was briefly paused after Duno slid into the inside line while exiting the fourth turn.^[13] 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;^[14] Franchitti was second, Castroneves third, Patrick fourth, and Wheldon fifth.^[15] Herb caused the only stoppage of the session when he crashed into the SAFER barrier in the fourth corner.^[13]

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Speed	Grid
1	27	Dario Franchitti	Andretti Green Racing	32.9810	218.308	1
2	6	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	33.0239	218.024	2
3	3	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	33.0436	217.894	3
4	8	Scott Sharp	Rahal Letterman Racing	33.0835	217.631	4
5	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	33.1113	217.448	5
6	2	Tomas Scheckter	Vision Racing	33.1135	217.434	6
7	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	33.1234	217.369	7
8	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	33.1504	217.192	8
9	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	33.1848	216.967	9
10	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	33.2879	216.295	10
11	4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing	33.3399	215.957	11
12	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	33.3521	215.878	12
13	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	33.3629	215.809	13
14	55	Kosuke Matsuura	Panther Racing	33.4307	215.371	14
15	22	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	33.4363	215.335	15
16	5	Sarah Fisher	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	33.4422	215.297	16
17	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	33.5103	214.859	17
18	14	Darren Manning	A. J. Foyt Racing	33.6174	214.175	18
19	23	Milka Duno	SAMAX Motorsport	33.8185	212.901	19
20	19	Jon Herb	Racing Professionals	—	—	20
Sources:[16][17]

Fin. Pos	Car No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	200	2:49:38.0509	8	29	50
2	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	200	+0.0595	13	12	40
3	8	Scott Sharp	Rahal Letterman Racing	200	+0.3867	4	11	35
4	55	Kosuke Matsuura	Panther Racing	200	+0.4703	14	0	32
5	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	200	+4.9097	17	0	30
6	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	200	+10.0114	12	0	28
7	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	199	+1 Lap	9	5	26
8	22	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	167	Mechanical	15	0	24
9	6	Sam Hornish Jr.	Team Penske	148	Mechanical	2	1	22
10	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	145	Handling	7	14	20
11	2	Tomas Scheckter	Vision Racing	144	Collision	6	2	19
12	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	143	Collision	5	24	18
13	27	Dario Franchitti	Andretti Green Racing	143	Collision	1	102	17+3
14	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	143	Collision	10	0	16
15	14	Darren Manning	A.J. Foyt Racing	113	Accident	18	0	15
16	5	Sarah Fisher	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	83	Accident	16	0	14
17	3	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	58	Collision	3	0	13
18	4	Vítor Meira	Panther Racing	58	Collision	11	0	12
19	23	Milka Duno (R)	SAMAX Motorsport	43	Mechanical	19	0	12
20	19	Jon Herb	Racing Professionals	26	Accident	20	0	12
Lead changes: 23 between 9 drivers

• IndyCar Series