2007 Brickyard 400
The 2007 Allstate 400 at The Brickyard, the 14th running of the event, was the twentieth race of the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season and the first of the season that was televised by NASCAR on ESPN. It was held on July 29, 2007 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.
Race details | |||
---|---|---|---|
Race 20 of 36 in the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season | |||
Map of the basic speedway | |||
Date | July 29, 2007 | ||
Official name | Allstate 400 at the Brickyard | ||
Location | Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana | ||
Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.023 km) | ||
Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
Weather | Temperatures up to 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1] | ||
Average speed | 117.379 miles per hour (188.903 km/h) | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | Chip Ganassi Racing | ||
Time | 48.858 | ||
Most laps led | |||
Driver | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
Laps | 65 | ||
Winner | |||
No. 20 | Tony Stewart | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
Television in the United States | |||
Network | ESPN | ||
Announcers | Jerry Punch, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett |
Pre-race
Two Nextel Cup Series teams announced changes in their ownership just before this race:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. merged with Ginn Racing, taking over the No. 01 team of Mark Martin and Aric Almirola, and closing the Nos. 13 and 14 teams after Ginn had released Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin because of sponsorship difficulties. The No. 14 and No. 15 teams switched positions in the standings, guaranteeing Paul Menard, the driver of the No. 15, a starting spot. Regan Smith, who had shared driving duties with Martin, was reassigned to the Craftsman Truck Series.
- Terry Labonte filled in for Michael Waltrip in the No. 55 Toyota which originally made Bill Elliott, winner of the 2002 race, and his No. 21 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team ineligible for the past champion's provisional since Labonte's championship is more recent than Elliott's. However, with the closing of the Nos. 13 and 14 teams from Ginn, Elliott was assured of racing in this event.
- Originally, there were 51 cars on the initial entry list, including the No. 13 team, which was left without a driver and sponsor. The No. 14 team was entered with Smith as the driver, but because of the merger between DEI and Ginn Racing, the final entry list only included 49 cars.
Race
Results
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 20 | Tony Stewart (W) | Chevrolet | Joe Gibbs Racing |
2. | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya (R) | Dodge | Chip Ganassi Racing |
3. | 24 | Jeff Gordon (W) | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
4. | 5 | Kyle Busch | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
5. | 41 | Reed Sorenson | Dodge | Chip Ganassi Racing |
6. | 01 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. |
7. | 29 | Kevin Harvick (W) | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
8. | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
9. | 22 | Dave Blaney | Toyota | Bill Davis Racing |
10. | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
11. | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Penske Racing South |
12. | 1 | Martin Truex Jr. | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. |
13. | 07 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
14. | 4 | Ward Burton | Chevrolet | Morgan-McClure Motorsports |
15. | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
16. | 6 | David Ragan (R) | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
17. | 38 | David Gilliland (R) | Ford | Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing |
18. | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
19. | 43 | Bobby Labonte (W) | Dodge | Petty Enterprises |
20. | 15 | Paul Menard (R) | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. |
21. | 83 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Team Red Bull |
22. | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chevrolet | Joe Gibbs Racing |
23. | 21 | Bill Elliott (W) | Ford | Wood Brothers/JTG Racing |
24. | 88 | Ricky Rudd (W) | Ford | Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing |
25. | 49 | Ken Schrader | Dodge | BAM Racing |
26. | 40 | David Stremme | Dodge | Chip Ganassi Racing |
27. | 7 | Robby Gordon | Ford | Robby Gordon Motorsports |
28. | 19 | Elliott Sadler | Dodge | Evernham Motorsports |
29. | 10 | Scott Riggs | Dodge | Evernham Motorsports |
30. | 55 | Terry Labonte | Toyota | Michael Waltrip Racing |
31. | 33 | Scott Wimmer | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
32. | 45 | Kyle Petty | Dodge | Petty Enterprises |
33. | 26 | Jamie McMurray | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
34. | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | Dale Earnhardt, Inc. |
35. | 25 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
36. | 18 | J. J. Yeley | Chevorolet | Joe Gibbs Racing |
37. | 70 | Johnny Sauter | Chevrolet | Haas CNC Racing |
38. | 00 | David Reutimann (R) | Toyota | Michael Waltrip Racing |
39. | 48 | Jimmie Johnson (W) | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
40. | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Dodge | Evernham Motorsports |
41. | 96 | Tony Raines | Chevrolet | Hall of Fame Racing |
42. | 12 | Ryan Newman | Dodge | Penske Racing South |
43. | 66 | Jeff Green | Chevrolet | Haas CNC Racing |
Failed to Quality | ||||
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Team |
08 | Joe Nemechek | Chevrolet | EM Motorsports | |
84 | A. J. Allmendinger (R) | Toyota | Team Red Bull | |
37 | Kevin Lepage | Dodge | Front Row Motorsports | |
44 | Dale Jarrett (W) | Toyota | Michael Waltrip Racing | |
36 | Jeremy Mayfield | Toyota | Bill Davis Racing | |
78 | Kenny Wallace | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Racing | |
Notes
- For the first time in history, there was not a testing session before this race.
- This race marked the second time an Indy NASCAR race was on cable television. Either ABC or NBC televised all 13 of the previous events except for 1995, when ESPN showed the race on one day's tape delay. This time, the 400 was originally scheduled to air on ESPN, while ABC would not takeover the broadcast until September. Additionally, this was the first NASCAR Cup race aired on ESPN since the 2000 season finale of what was then the Winston Cup Series.
- Dale Jarrett's failure to qualify meant that only 4 drivers had started every Brickyard 400 since its inception in 1994: Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, and Bill Elliott.
- Kevin Harvick, who led part of the race until Stewart overtook him on lap 149, missed the victory by a close finish to become the 3rd driver to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year.
Post-race
For the second time since 2004, a winning driver uttered an obscenity in a live post-race interview when Stewart said "This one's for every one of those fans in the stands who pull for me every week and take all the bullshit from everybody else" to then ESPN pit reporter Dave Burns. At first, it was perceived to be in response to critics who have gone after his blunt and abrasive personality, but it has since been reported that Stewart was the subject of statements made by Pardon the Interruption co-hosts Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon on the show that aired the day after Stewart's win at the USG Sheetrock 400. After Stewart joked about celebrating the victory by drinking a case of Schlitz beer, the co-hosts concluded that the driver was a bad role model for children. Whether the comments were a form of revenge against the network is open for interpretation.[3][4]
On the Tuesday after the race, Stewart was fined US$25,000 by NASCAR, and lost 25 points in the driver's championship due to the infraction. His team, Joe Gibbs Racing, also was penalized 25 points in the owners' championship. However, his classification of fifth in the championship standings remained the same despite the penalty.[5] Dale Earnhardt Jr., who said the word "shit" after winning the 2004 EA Sports 500 at Talladega Superspeedway had been given the same penalty that year.
References
External links
Previous race: 2007 USG Sheetrock 400 |
Nextel Cup Series 2007 season |
Next race: 2007 Pennsylvania 500 |