The 2007 IndyCar Series was the 12th season of the IndyCar Series, a motor racing series recognized by its sanctioning body, the Indy Racing League (IRL), as a top-class American open-wheel car racing formula. It encompassed the 96th national open-wheel championship season with the rival Champ Car World Series' 2007 season. The season was contested over 17 races, beginning at Homestead on March 24 and ending at Chicagoland on September 9. Teams and drivers competed for the Drivers', Entrants', and Chassis Manufacturers' Championships, respectively won by Dario Franchitti, Andretti Green Racing, and Dallara. Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Rookie of the Year title.
The schedule saw the additions of the newly built Iowa Speedway, the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and the Raceway at Belle Isle Park; the latter two tracks were former mainstays on the Champ Car World Series calendar, but had not hosted an American open-wheel car race since 2003 and 2001, respectively. The 'IRL' moniker was also dropped from the series' name because of its negative connotation among American open-wheel car racing fans.
Franchitti gradually built momentum in the first half of the season, winning three races—including the series' most prestigious event, the 91st Indianapolis 500—and widening his championship advantage to as much as 65 points after the SunTrust Indy Challenge. However, during the summer months, Franchitti's lead dwindled as he was set back by two flips in successive races, while Scott Dixon took four victories, the last of which allowed him to take the championship lead with two races left. Franchitti reclaimed the top spot despite a controversial crash with Dixon at the Detroit Indy Grand Prix and won his first of four IndyCar Series Drivers' Championships after Dixon ran out of fuel on the final lap of the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300.
Sam Hornish Jr. entered the season as the three-time and reigning titlist and finished fifth in the championship standings. It wound up being the final season of his IndyCar Series career before moving to NASCAR in 2008. Franchitti also sought a career in NASCAR and chose not to defend his title, but he returned to the IndyCar Series in 2009 after an underwhelming tenure.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 2007 IndyCar Series. All teams competed with tires supplied by Firestone and Honda Indy V8 engines.
Team Chassis Driver A. J. Foyt EnterprisesDallara14 Darren ManningAll50 Al Unser Jr.5Andretti Green RacingDallara7 Danica PatrickAll11 Tony KanaanAll26 Marco AndrettiAll27 Dario FranchittiAll39 Michael Andretti5Chastain MotorsportsPanoz77 Stéphan Grégoire5 Roberto Moreno Target Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara 9 Scott Dixon All 10 Dan Wheldon AllCURB/Agajanian/Beck MotorsportsDallara98 Alex Barron1, 4–5 AAMCO/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara 5 Sarah Fisher All Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 15 Buddy Rice All24 Roger Yasukawa5 Hemelgarn/Racing Professionals Dallara 91 Richie Hearn5 Racing Professionals 19 Jon Herb 5, 7, 13Luczo Dragon RacingDallara12 Ryan Briscoe5 Camping World Panther RacingDallara 33 John Andretti 5 Delphi Panther Racing 4 Vítor Meira All Super Aguri Panther Racing55 Kosuke MatsuuraAll60 Hideki Mutoh 17PDM RacingPanoz18 Jimmy Kite5Playa Del RacingPanoz21 Jaques Lazier531 Phil Giebler 5 Rahal Letterman Racing Dallara 8 Scott Sharp All 17 Jeff Simmons 1–11 Ryan Hunter-Reay 12–17Roth RacingDallara25 Marty Roth1, 4–5, 1776 P. J. Chesson 17Sam Schmidt MotorsportsDallara99 Buddy Lazier5SAMAX MotorsportDallara23 Milka Duno 4–5, 7–9, 13, 17Team Leader/Dollander RacingDallara40 P. J. Jones5Team PenskeDallara3 Hélio CastronevesAll6 Sam Hornish Jr.AllVision RacingDallara02 Davey Hamilton52 Tomas ScheckterAll20 Ed CarpenterAll22 A. J. Foyt IVAll Source: Key Symbol Meaning Eligible for Rookie of the Year
Team and driver changes
The future of Fernández Racing was in serious doubt when twenty-seven of their employees were laid off after both of their drivers, Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsuura, departed the team to join Rahal Letterman Racing and Panther Racing, respectively. Sharp had ended his nine-year partnership with sponsor Delphi due to concerns about the company's financial future, though Delphi went on to sponsor Matsuura's teammate Vítor Meira, who signed a two-year extension deal with Panther Racing. Fernández Racing considered signing sprint car driver P. J. Chesson for the 2007 season, but ultimately moved to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS).
Rahal Letterman Racing downsized to two cars and retained Jeff Simmons along with Sharp ahead of 2007. Two of their drivers left the team in the off-season. With Bryan Herta leaving the IndyCar Series to join Andretti Green Racing's ALMS program, 2005 Rookie of the Year Danica Patrick took his seat. 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice was released from Rahal Letterman Racing with one year left on his contract with the team and competed in the Champ Car World Series race at Mexico City in hopes to replace the outgoing A. J. Allmendinger at Forsythe Championship Racing, but was later employed to drive for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing with Sarah Fisher, who initially intended on only competing in the twelve oval track races before opting to enter all seventeen events on the schedule. Former Ford Motor Company engineer Jay O'Connell also joined Rahal Letterman Racing as their technical director.
Darren Manning, who had not raced in the IndyCar Series since he was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing midway through the 2005 season, returned to the series with A. J. Foyt Enterprises. Larry Foyt, son of team owner and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A. J. Foyt, was hired as team director.
Vision Racing expanded to three full-time cars and hired A. J. Foyt IV for their new third entry. Foyt had previously left his grandfather's team at the end of 2005 to attempt a switch to the NASCAR Busch Series the next year, but underperformed in his few outings.
Mid-season changes After a year in the Champ Car Atlantic series, Alex Barron was hired to drive for CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports in the races at Homestead, Kansas, and Indianapolis. Marty Roth drove for his Roth Racing team in the same three rounds, but for the season-ending Peak Antifreeze Indy 300, he entered two cars for himself and the 2007 Indy Pro Series champion, who wound up being Alex Lloyd. However, Lloyd's chance to test at Chicagoland Speedway was hindered by a scheduling conflict, so Chesson was chosen to compete in his first race since the previous year's Indianapolis 500.
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series driver Milka Duno entered ten IndyCar Series races with SAMAX Motorsport, beginning at Kansas. Duno and had initially signed with Cahill Racing before their deal fell apart for unknown reasons in February 2007. However, a crash during testing at Nashville Superspeedway prevented her from racing in the Nashville and Mid-Ohio races, and she was barred from competing in the Meijer Indy 300 after being placed on probation by Indy Racing League (IRL) chief steward Brian Barnhart.
Several teams fielded one-off entries for the Indianapolis 500: Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. teamed with A. J. Foyt Racing and drove a 50 car in honor of A. J. Foyt's 50th anniversary in American open-wheel car racing. Andretti Green Racing owner Michael Andretti came out of retirement for the second time since 2003 to compete in the race after finishing third in the 2006 Indianapolis 500. With aid from the Linux computer operating system, Chastain Motorsports celebrated the tenth anniversary of the team's founding by reuniting with Stéphan Grégoire; however, after Grégoire suffered an endplate fracture of the T3 vertebrae in a practice crash, Roberto Moreno took his seat for the rest of the month of May, marking his first start in the event since 1999. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing entered a third car for the Indianapolis 500 for Roger Yasukawa, who previously ran for the team in 2005. Indianapolis 500 veteran Richie Hearn returned to the event in a joint effort with Hemelgarn Racing and Racing Professionals. The latter team's owner–driver Jon Herb also competed in the race and the rounds at Texas and Michigan. Ryan Briscoe's relationship with Roger Penske in the ALMS earned him a ride with his son Jay's team, Luczo Dragon Racing, which leased one of Team Penske's Dallara-Honda chassis. John Andretti returned to the Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1994 in a third entry for Panther Racing. PDM Racing teamed with Jimmy Kite, who previously ran for the team in 2002 and 2003. Indy Pro Series racer Phil Giebler debuted in the Indianapolis 500 with Playa Del Racing and was teamed with veteran Jaques Lazier. 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2000 IndyCar Series champion Buddy Lazier drove for successful Indy Pro Series team Sam Schmidt Motorsports. P. J. Jones joined Team Leader/Dollander Racing and honored his father Parnelli's near-victory in the 1967 Indianapolis 500 with a paint scheme that resembled the car he drove. After years of rehabilitation from severe foot injuries that he sustained in a race at Texas Motor Speedway in 2001, Davey Hamilton made a long-awaited comeback to the IndyCar Series with Vision Racing. At Rahal Letterman Racing, Simmons was replaced by former Champ Car driver Ryan Hunter-Reay ahead of the Mid-Ohio race because the team felt it was necessary to revitalize their past race-winning performance. Two-time Indy Pro Series race winner Hideki Mutoh made his IndyCar Series debut in a third Panther Racing car at the Chicagoland season finale after completing a rookie test at the track in August.
Schedule Rather than a single schedule announcement, the events for the 2007 IndyCar Series schedule were revealed one-by-one over the course of several months in 2006. The schedule was finalized with the reinstatement of the Firestone Indy 400 on October 13, 2006.
RoundDateRaceTrackLocation1March 24XM Satellite Radio Indy 300 Homestead–Miami SpeedwayHomestead, Florida2April 1Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Streets of St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg, Florida3April 21Indy Japan 300 Twin Ring MotegiMotegi, Japan4April 29Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Kansas SpeedwayKansas City, Kansas5May 27Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana6June 3ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225 Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin7June 9Bombardier Learjet 550 Texas Motor SpeedwayFort Worth, Texas8June 24Iowa Corn Indy 250 Iowa SpeedwayNewton, Iowa9June 30SunTrust Indy Challenge Richmond International RacewayRichmond, Virginia10July 8Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen, New York11July 15Firestone Indy 200 Nashville SuperspeedwayLebanon, Tennessee12July 22The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, Ohio13August 5Firestone Indy 400 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan14August 11Meijer Indy 300 Kentucky SpeedwaySparta, Kentucky15August 26Motorola Indy 300 Infineon RacewaySonoma, California16September 2Detroit Indy Grand Prix Raceway at Belle Isle ParkDetroit, Michigan17September 9Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Chicagoland SpeedwayJoliet, IllinoisSource: Key Symbol Track type Oval track Road course Street circuit
Schedule changes