The race: Champ Car began the 2007 season with a new car (the Panoz DP01), a new venue (the streets of downtown Las Vegas) and eight rookie drivers.
But the weekend belonged to Will Power, the 2006 rookie of the year. He won the pole and pretty much had the fastest car all day. Even a miscue on a pit stop, when he almost pinned his right-front tire changer to the wall, wasn’t enough to prevent Power from scoring the first Champ Car victory of his career.
Three-time defending series champion Sebastien Bourdais got off to a rough start in his quest for a fourth consecutive title.
He suffered from mechanical problems during Friday qualifying, then tapped the wall during Saturday qualifying. After starting the race 16th, the worst of his career, Bourdais suffered three tire punctures, then hit the wall in Turn 4 on Lap 31, incurring left-front suspension damage and a broken front wing. He finished 13th.
Robert Doornbos, a rookie in name only (he has 11 starts in Formula One), was second in his Champ Car debut and Tracy was third.
