The 2007 Vegas Grand Prix was the first round of the

2007 Champ Car World Series Season The 2007 Champ Car World Series season was the fourth and final season of the Champ Car World Series. It began on April 8, 2007 and ended on November 11 after 14 races. Unbeknownst at the time, this would end up being the final contested season o ...

, held on April 8 on the streets of

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Qualifying results

* Tracy awarded 2nd on the starting grid for gaining provisional pole position.

Grid

Race

The race was a fresh start for the Champ Car World Series. With a new car (Panoz DP01), new rules, including timed races and staggered starts, new teams like Pacific Coast Motorsports, a different season opener on a new track, and an eventual return to ABC/ESPN later in the year, all were the big stories of the day. The race would be one of survival of the fittest as many drivers were taken out by either crashes or mechanical failures. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing would not have a good day as 3-time champion

Sébastien Bourdais Sébastien Olivier Bourdais (born 28 February 1979) is a French professional racing driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, having won 37 races. He won four successive championships u ...

was hampered by numerous tire problems and rookie

Graham Rahal Graham Robert Rahal (born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver and small business owner. He currently participates in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team partially owned by his father Bobby Rahal, the winn ...

was taken out on the first lap.

Will Power William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...

had the dominant car all day long, only being challenged consistently by

Paul Tracy Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hill". ...

, who many saw as the man to unseat Bourdais as the face of Champ Car. In the end, the race would all come down to fuel mileage. Tracy's car struggled with taking a full load of fuel preventing him from snapping his winless streak. Will Power outlasted the field to take his first career victory, which was also the first Champ Car victory by an Australian, in a dominant fashion.

Caution flags

Notes

** New Race Lap Record:

: 1:19.934 ** New Race Record:

: 1:45:13.637 (68 Laps) *This was not only Will Power's first victory, but also the first victory for an Australian in Champ Car. *The win was also the first for Team Australia owner

Derrick Walker Derrick Walker (born 8 April 1945 in Leven, Scotland) is a former British auto racing team owner. In May 2013 Walker became President of operations and competition of IndyCar until the finalization of the 2015 Indycar season. Career Formula ...

since 1999.

Attendance

Attendance at the inaugural 2007 event was estimated to be 40,000 fans on race day. This surpassed the number of seats available on the course's temporary grandstands facilitating an expansion for the 2008 season.ReviewJournal.com - News - GRAND PRIX'S TWIN SPIN
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Future of the Race

This was the third race for

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...

in Las Vegas, but the only one held on a downtown street course. Two oval Grands Prix had taken place at

Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas Motor Speedway, located in Clark County, Nevada in Las Vegas, Nevada about 15 miles northeast of the Las Vegas Strip, is a complex of multiple tracks for motorsports racing. The complex is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., which is ...

: the 2004 Bridgestone 400 and the 2005 Hurricane Relief 400. The planned 2008 race was removed from the calendar due to Champ Car's merge with the

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

(IRL). IRL returned to Las Vegas in 2011, however the return was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, rather than to a downtown street course.

References

External links

Full Weekend Times & Results

{{IndyCar Series on NBC

Las Vegas Grand Prix The Las Vegas Grand Prix is a planned Formula One Grand Prix due to form part of the 2023 Formula One World Championship, with the event taking place in Paradise, Nevada, on a temporary street circuit including the Las Vegas Strip. History ...

Las Vegas Grand Prix, 2007