A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| 2007 IndyCar season | |
|---|---|
| IndyCar Series | |
| Season | |
| Races | 17 |
| Start date | March 24 |
| End date | September 9 |
| Awards | |
| Drivers' champion |  Dario Franchitti |
| Rookie of the Year |  Ryan Hunter-Reay |
| Indianapolis 500 winner | Dario Franchitti |
_(cropped).jpg)
The 2007 IRL IndyCar Series began with a night race on Saturday March 24 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. The season's premiere event, the 91st Indianapolis 500 was held on May 27. The season finale was held at Chicagoland Speedway on September 9. Dario Franchitti won four races during the season, including the Indy 500, clinched the 2007 IndyCar Series championship after he won the final race of the season at Chicagoland Speedway, after points leader Scott Dixon ran out of fuel in turn 3 of the final lap.
At the conclusion of the season, Danica Patrick was voted Most Popular Driver for the third consecutive year.[1]
All races were televised on the ESPN family of networks. In addition, all races were broadcast live on the IMS Radio Network, and XM IndyCar Channel 145 and simulcast on XM Sports Nation.
The 2007 schedule was the twelfth season of the IRL IndyCar Series, and part of the 96th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. It was the final season that IndyCar Series ran independently before the IRL merged with Champ Car in 2008. It also marked A. J. Foyt's 50th anniversary of participation in IndyCar racing.
It was also the final season that all IndyCar Series cars ran with the sequential manual gearbox shifters before all IndyCar Series cars switched to sequential semi-automatic paddle-shifters for the following season.
2007 was also the first season that all IndyCar Series entrants utilized Dallara spec-chassis all-season long although Panoz chassis were still only used by part-time underfunded entrants for Indianapolis 500 event only, but without factory support from Panoz.
Confirmed entries
All entries utilize Honda engines and Firestone Firehawk tires.
Driver changes
- Danica Patrick switched from Rahal Letterman Racing to Andretti Green Racing.
- Buddy Rice left Rahal Letterman Racing and raced a one-off event in the Champ Car series at Mexico City on November 12, 2006, for Forsythe Racing. Afterwards, he signed full-time for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
- Kosuke Matsuura switched from Super Aguri Fernández Racing to Panther Racing.
- Scott Sharp switched from Delphi Fernandez Racing to Rahal Letterman Racing.
- A. J. Foyt Racing signed Darren Manning for a one car operation.
- Dario Franchitti was confirmed for Andretti Green Racing in both the IndyCar Series and ALMS.
- Vision Racing signed A. J. Foyt IV as their third driver.
- Sarah Fisher rejoined Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for a full-time ride.
- Michael Andretti announced he would compete in the 2007 Indy 500 for Andretti Green Racing.
- CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports raced in the season opener at Homestead, Kansas, and the Indy 500 with driver Alex Barron.
- Milka Duno signed to compete in ten races, including Indianapolis, for SAMAX Motorsport in 2007.
- On August 6, 2007, Duno was put on probation by chief steward Brian Barnhart. She was required to improve her skills before racing in another event.[2]
- On July 19, 2007, it was announced that Ryan Hunter-Reay would replace sacked Jeff Simmons for Rahal Letterman Racing.[3]
- On July 21, 2007, it was announced that Hideki Mutoh would run the final race of the IndyCar Series season at Chicago in a third Panther entry.
- On August 21, 2007, it was announced that both P. J. Chesson and Marty Roth would run the final race of the IndyCar Series season at Chicagoland.
Schedule
The schedule consisted of 12 oval races, 3 road course races, and 2 street track races.