2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

The 2007 Allstate 400 at The Brickyard 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 re-assigned to the Craftsman Truck Series.
*It was also announced that actor - and supporter of the Victory Junction Gang Camp - Paul Newman would return to NASCAR after a prolonged absence last running the #37 Kmart sponsored Ford in the mid 1990s by purchasing the Robert Yates Racing franchise and running the teams under the newly established Yates/Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing banner, which has been successful in the open-wheel Champ Car World Series.

Two other rumored announcements - one in which Hendrick Motorsports would finalize a deal with PepsiCo, with the Mountain Dew and AMP Energy Drink brand sharing a race schedule on the #5 with new driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and that Budweiser, Earnhardt Jr.'s current sponsor, would switch its money over to the #9 team, owner Evernham Motorsports and driver Kasey Kahne - did not materialize.

Terry Labonte filled in for Michael Waltrip in the #55 Toyota which originally made Bill Elliott, winner of the 2002 race, and his #21 Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team ineligible for the past champion's provisional since Labonte's championship is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.

The race

Race results

DNQ: [ [http://www.racing-reference.info/race?id=2007-20&series=W 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Results] ]

Notes

* For the first time in event history, there was not a testing session before the 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 on ESPN since the 2000 season finale of what was then the Winston Cup Series, the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway now called the Georgia 500. Jerry Nadeau was the race winner in his only Cup victory.
*Dale Jarrett's failure to qualify means that only four drivers have started every Brickyard 400 since its inception in 1994: Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin and Bill Elliott.

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. [ [http://info.detnews.com/racing/index.cfm?blogid=244 Tony Stewart Punk'd ESPN...] ] [ [http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2007/08/tony-stewart-vs-espn-it-could-be-long.html Tony Stewart vs. ESPN: It Could Be a Long TV Season] ]

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. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=2&id=2956304 ESPN - Stewart fined $25,000, docked 25 points for cursing on TV - Nascar ] ] 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

* [http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/results/20indy2007results.htm Complete results]
* [http://www.jayski.com/stats/2007/standings/20indy2007points.htm Points standings]