2007 Detroit Indy Grand Prix

2007 Detroit Indy Grand Prix

Race details
16th round of the 2007 IndyCar Series season
Date	September 2, 2007
Official name	Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone
Location	Detroit, Michigan
Course	Temporary street circuit 2.09 mi / 3.37 km
Distance	89 laps 186.50 mi / 300.14 km
Scheduled Distance	90 laps 188.64 mi / 303.59 km
Weather	80°F, sunny
Pole position
Driver	Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske)
Time	1:12.0688
Podium
First	Tony Kanaan (Andretti Green Racing)
Second	Danica Patrick (Andretti Green Racing)
Third	Dan Wheldon (Chip Ganassi Racing)

The 2007 Detroit Indy Grand Prix presented by Firestone was an IndyCar Series race that was held on September 2, 2007 on the Raceway on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. It was the sixteenth race of the 2007 IndyCar Series season. Originally scheduled to run over 90 laps, it was shortened to 89 laps. The race was won by Tony Kanaan for the Andretti Green Racing team. Danica Patrick finished second, and Dan Wheldon clinched third.^[1]

Hélio Castroneves claimed pole position for the race, and led the race for the first 26 laps. Dario Franchitti look over the lead when Castroneves pitted, and maintained it until lap 49 when he pitted and relinquished the position to Buddy Rice. Rice held the lead for seven laps, before it passed to Patrick, and then back to Franchitti. Kanaan took the lead on lap 70, staying on the track while most of the field pitted after a caution, and remained at the front for the rest of the race.^[2] Behind him, Rice was running in second position, but on the penultimate lap of the race, he ran out of fuel and slowed suddenly, causing Scott Dixon to collide with him, and spin the pair into the barriers. Franchitti, who had been just behind the pair, was blocked by the two cars, but kept running and finished in sixth.^[3]

There were six cautions, totalling 19 laps during the race, as a result of which the race was completed in 89 laps, hitting the time limit of 2 hours and 10 minutes, rather than the scheduled 90 laps.^[1] It was Kanaan's fifth victory of the 2007 season.^[4] Of the 18 drivers that started, 9 were listed as running at the end of the race; six retired after contact, and three retired with mechanical issues.^[1]

Classification

Qualifying

Grid	No.	Driver	Time
1	3	Hélio Castroneves	1:12.0688
2	27	Dario Franchitti	1:12.1430
3	9	Scott Dixon	1:12.5830
4	11	Tony Kanaan	1:12.8451
5	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	1:13.3434
6	26	Marco Andretti	1:13.3840
7	6	Sam Hornish, Jr.	1:13.6224
8	14	Darren Manning	1:14.1814
9	2	Tomas Scheckter	1:14.2015
10	4	Vitor Meira	1:14.2889
11	7	Danica Patrick	1:14.4061
12	20	Ed Carpenter	1:15.1738
13	22	A. J. Foyt IV	1:15.5708
14	55	Kosuke Matsuura	1:15.5998
15	15	Buddy Rice	1:15.7886
16	10	Dan Wheldon	1:15.8588
17	8	Scott Sharp	1:16.2611
18	55	Sarah Fisher	1:20.8682
Source: Crash.net[5]

Race results

Tony Kanaan won the race, his fifth victory of 2007.

On the penultimate lap, Buddy Rice (car pictured) ran out of fuel, and was hit by Scott Dixon.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points^1
1	11	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	89	2:11:50.5097	4	20	50
2	7	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	89	+0.4865	11	9	40
3	10	Dan Wheldon	Chip Ganassi Racing	89	+1.2207	16	0	35
4	14	Darren Manning	A.J. Foyt Racing	89	+1.9217	8	0	32
5	55	Kosuke Matsuura	Panther Racing	88	+1 Lap	14	0	30
6	27	Dario Franchitti	Andretti Green Racing	88	+1 Lap	2	27	31
7	15	Buddy Rice	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	87	Contact	15	7	26
8	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	87	Contact	3	0	24
9	22	A. J. Foyt IV	Vision Racing	87	Mechanical	13	0	22
10	20	Ed Carpenter	Vision Racing	86	+3 Laps	12	0	20
11	8	Scott Sharp	Rahal Letterman Racing	82	+7 Laps	17	0	19
12	6	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Team Penske	75	+14 Laps	7	0	18
13	2	Tomas Scheckter	Vision Racing	67	Contact	9	0	17
14	3	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	67	Contact	1	26	16
15	4	Vitor Meira	Panther Racing	31	Contact	10	0	15
16	5	Sarah Fisher	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	29	Contact	18	0	14
17	26	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	27	Mechanical	6	0	13
18	17	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Rahal Letterman Racing	24	Mechanical	5	0	12
Source: Racing-Reference[1]

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Franchitti, DarioDario Franchitti	587
2	Dixon, ScottScott Dixon	584
3	Kanaan, TonyTony Kanaan	548
4	Wheldon, DanDan Wheldon	449
5	Hornish Jr., SamSam Hornish Jr.	427
Source: Racing-Reference[1]

References

1. "2007 Detroit Indy Grand Prix Presented by Firestone". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
2. "Kanaan wins as Dixon, Franchitti crash on last lap in Detroit". ESPN. Associated Press. September 3, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
3. "Detroit Indy Grand Prix Race Report". Honda. September 2, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
4. "2007 IndyCar Series Results". ESPN. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
5. "IndyCar » Qualifying times: Detroit Indy Grand Prix". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. September 1, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2012.