2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard
| 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 | ||
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 race under the ESPN/ABC section of the TV coverage. It was held on July 29, 2007 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana.
Pre-Race
Two NEXTEL Cup teams announced changes in their ownership just before this race:
- Dale Earnhardt Inc. merged with Ginn Racing, taking over the #01 team of Mark Martin and Aric Almirola, and closing the #13 and #14 teams after Ginn had released Joe Nemechek and Sterling Marlin because of sponsorship difficulties. The #14 and #15 teams switched positions in the standings, guaranteeing Paul Menard, the driver of the #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- Terry Labonte filled in for Michael Waltrip in the #55 Toyota which originally made Bill Elliott, winner of the 2002 race, and his #21 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team ineligible for the past champion's provisional since Labonte's championship is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 #13 and #14 teams from Ginn, Elliott was assured of racing in this event.
- Originally, there were a total of 51 cars with an entry including the #13 listed driverless and sponsorless as well as the #14 with Smith driving, but with the DEI/Ginn merger, the final total was 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 | |
| Source:[2] | ||||
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 scheduled to air on ESPN all along; ABC will not join coverage 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. This was the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway now called the Georgia 500. Jerry Nadeau was the race winner at that time, making that his only Cup victory.
- Dale Jarrett's failure to qualify means that only 4 drivers have 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 lap 149 when Tony made the winning pass, missed by a close finish to become the 3rd driver to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year since the third record was accomplished by Jamie McMurray in 2010. He led until he came into contact with Tony Stewart made him fall back to 7th when the checker flag waved.
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 the ESPN reporter. 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 $25,000 and lost 25 points in the NEXTEL Cup standings due to the infraction. Joe Gibbs Racing, for which he drives, also lost 25 points in the owners' standings. His position in the standings (5th) did not change.[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.