2003 IndyCar Series season

2003 IndyCar season
	Season
Races	16
Start date	March 2
End date	October 17
	Awards
Drivers' champion	Scott Dixon
Rookie of the Year	Dan Wheldon
Indianapolis 500 winner	Gil de Ferran
	Chronology
Previous season	Next season
2002 (IRL)	2004

The 2003 IRL IndyCar Series season brought some of the biggest changes in its history. The league adopted the name IndyCar Series, after a settlement with CART prohibiting its use, had expired. Several former CART teams brought their full operations to the IRL, most notably major squads Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Green Racing, as well as former CART engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda, replacing Infiniti who shifted its efforts to the new feeder series Infiniti Pro Series. Many of the IRL's old guard including Robbie Buhl, Greg Ray, and Buddy Lazier had difficulty competing in this new manufacturer-driven landscape. The league, also added its first international race this year, taking over the CART date at Twin Ring Motegi.

The season's most successful entrants were Ganassi and Team Penske that had made the switch already the year before. New Zealander Scott Dixon won the opening race of the season at Homestead and ran very consistently all year long to win his first title at the age of 23. Gil de Ferran won Penske's third consecutive Indianapolis 500 in May and finished second to Dixon in the title race. The finale however was marred by a severe incident that nearly took former series' champion and Indy 500 winner Kenny Bräck's life. De Ferran won the race with Dixon in second being well enough to seal the title. Bräck would eventually recover. Tony Renna did not have the same luck, the Ganassi-bound driver losing his life in a test crash at Indianapolis late in the year.

2003 IndyCar Series schedule

All races running on Oval/Speedway.

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most Laps Led	Winner
1	March 2	Toyota Indy 300	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan	Gil de Ferran	Scott Dixon
2	March 23	Purex Dial Indy 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona	Tony Kanaan	Scott Dixon	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan
3	April 13	Indy Japan 300	Twin Ring Motegi	Motegi, Japan	Scott Dixon	Tomas Scheckter	Tony Kanaan	Scott Sharp
4	May 25	87th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Hélio Castroneves	Tony Kanaan	Tomas Scheckter	Gil de Ferran
5	June 7	Bombardier 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Tomas Scheckter	Felipe Giaffone	Tomas Scheckter	Al Unser, Jr.
6	June 15	Honda Indy 225	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan	Scott Dixon	Scott Dixon
7	June 28	SunTrust Indy Challenge	Richmond International Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	Scott Dixon	Tomas Scheckter	Scott Dixon	Scott Dixon
8	July 6	Kansas Indy 300	Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, Kansas	Scott Dixon	Tony Kanaan	Gil de Ferran	Bryan Herta
9	July 19	Firestone Indy 200	Nashville Superspeedway	Lebanon, Tennessee	Scott Dixon	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Tony Kanaan	Gil de Ferran
10	July 27	Firestone Indy 400	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Tomas Scheckter	Bryan Herta	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Alex Barron
11	August 10	Emerson Indy 250	Gateway International Raceway	Madison, Illinois	Hélio Castroneves	Scott Dixon	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves
12	August 17	Belterra Casino Indy 300	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, Kentucky	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sarah Fisher	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.
13	August 24	Firestone Indy 225	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania	Scott Dixon	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves
14	September 7	Delphi Indy 300	Chicagoland Speedway	Joliet, Illinois	Richie Hearn	Bryan Herta	Tomas Scheckter	Sam Hornish, Jr.
15	September 21	Toyota Indy 400	California Speedway	Fontana, California	Hélio Castroneves	Scott Dixon	Tomas Scheckter	Sam Hornish, Jr.
16	October 12	Chevy 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Gil de Ferran	Tony Kanaan	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran

BOLD indicates a Superspeedways.

Team and Driver Chart

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Sponsor(s)	Notes
Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Toyota	9	Scott Dixon	Target
Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Toyota	10	Tomas Scheckter	Target
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Pennzoil	Team entitled to #1 but chose to keep the #4 associated with minority partner Jim Harbaugh.
			44	Robby McGehee	Pedigo Chevrolet	Indy 500 only.
			98	Billy Boat	Pedigo Chevrolet	Indy 500 only.
Penske Racing	Dallara G-Force	Toyota	3	Helio Castroneves	Marlboro
			6	Gil de Ferran		Injured at Phoenix
			6	Alex Barron		Replaced de Ferran at Motegi.
Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	7	Michael Andretti	7-Eleven	From Homestead to Indy 500.
			11	Tony Kanaan	7-Eleven
			26	Dan Wheldon	Klein Tools Jim Beam	From Motegi onwards.
			27	Bryan Herta	Archipelago Motorola	Try to replace Franchitti at Indy but injured before the race. He is replaced by Gordon.
				Dario Franchitti	Alpine Archipelago Motorola	Homestead, Phoenix, Pikes Peak only skipped almost the full season due to a motorcycle accident.
				Robby Gordon	Archipelago Motorola	Replaced Herta at Indy.
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Toyota	8	Scott Sharp	Delphi
			31	Al Unser Jr.	Corteco Bryant
			32	Tony Renna	Cure Autism Now HomeMed	Indy 500 only.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara G-Force	Toyota	5	Jaques Lazier	A. J. Foyt Racing	From Texas to Kansas.
			5	Shigeaki Hattori	EPSON	From Homestad to Indy.
			14	A. J. Foyt IV	Conseco
			41	Airton Daré	A. J. Foyt Racing	Indy 500 only. DNS at Texas.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	23	Sarah Fisher	GMAC AOL Raybestos	Did not start at Nazareth.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	24	Robbie Buhl	Purex Aventis
Team Rahal	Dallara	Honda Toyota	15	Kenny Bräck	Pioneer Miller Lite
Team Rahal	Dallara	Honda Toyota	19	Jimmy Vasser	Argent Mortgage	Indy 500 only.
Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force	Toyota	12	Toranosuke Takagi	Pioneer
			20	Arie Luyendyk	Meijer	Indy 500 only, did not qualify
			21	Alex Barron	Hollywood cigarettes	Replaced Giaffone from Nashville to Nazareth.
			21	Felipe Giaffone	Hollywood cigarettes	Skipped Nashville to Nazareth due an injury.
Fernández Racing	Dallara	Honda	55	Roger Yasukawa	Panasonic ARTA
Cheever Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	52	Buddy Rice	RedBull	Homestead to Nazareth
Cheever Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	52	Alex Barron	RedBull	Replaced Rice at Joliet, Fontana, Texas 2.
Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	54	Shinji Nakano	Beard Papa's Auto Project Honda	Motegi and Indy 500 only.
Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	22	Vitor Meira	Menards Johns Manville	raced number 22 at Indy
			2	Vitor Meira		Ten races
				Jaques Lazier		Homestad to Indy.
				Richie Hearn		Joliet only.
PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	18	Ed Carpenter	Metabolife Ultra PDM Racing	Joliet, Fontana, Ft. Worth only.
				Scott Mayer	Bank one PDM Racing	Homestead to Motegi onwards. Failed rookie orientation at Indy.
				Jimmy Kite	Denny Hecker's Auto Connection	Replaced Mayer at Indy.
Access Motorsports	G-Force	Honda	13	Greg Ray	TrimSpa	Missed Homestead, Phoenix. DNS at Joliet.
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Buddy Lazier	Metabolife Hemelgarn Racing	Missed Homestead,Did not start at Fontana, Texas 2.
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Richie Hearn	Delta Faucet Life Fitness	Replaced Lazier at Fontana, Texas 2.
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	G-Force	Toyota	99	Richie Hearn	Contour Hardening	Indy 500 only.

This race was held October 12 at Texas Motor Speedway. Gil de Ferran won the pole. The race was memorable for a five–way championship duel involving de Ferran, Scott Dixon, Hélio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, and two-time titlist Sam Hornish, Jr.. The race was also notable for a frightening, but non–fatal, accident involving Tomas Scheckter and 1999 Indianapolis 500 champion Kenny Bräck. Scheckter was uninjured, but the Swede was launched into the air after wheel–to–wheel contact on the backstretch and violently clobbered the catch fencing. Debris was scattered across the track, and the already long period of yellow flag laps prompted IRL race control to shorten the race from 200 to just 195 laps. Gil de Ferran, Bräck's former title rival in CART, won in his final IndyCar race, joining Ray Harroun and Sam Hanks (both of whom retired immediately after winning an Indianapolis 500) as drivers who retired from U.S. open wheel competition in the winner's circle. Scott Dixon won the IRL title in his first season in the IndyCar Series (having spent two seasons in CART) and Englishman Dan Wheldon beat Roger Yasukawa for Bombardier Rookie of the Year honors.

Top ten results

Final driver standings

Pos	Driver	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	PIK	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	GAT	KTY	NAZ	CHI	FON	TXS	Pts
1	Scott Dixon	1	20	15	17	6	1*	1*	6	2	5	15	2	16	2	2	2	507
2	Gil de Ferran	2*	14		1	8	3	3	3*	1	7	3	9	4	12	15	1*	489
3	Hélio Castroneves	3	2	22	2	7	12	2	2	3	17	1*	5	1*	20	6	13	484
4	Tony Kanaan	4	1*	14*	3	2	2	5	4	9*	16	2	6	18	6	3	14	476
5	Sam Hornish, Jr.	10	21	6	15	10	5	4	17	11	2*	6	1*	2	1	1	17	461
6	Al Unser, Jr.	13	4	5	9	1	14	10	14	8	9	20	4	6	19	9	9	374
7	Tomas Scheckter	8	15	16	4*	18*	8	18	9	10	3	4	10	19	5*	5*	15	356
8	Scott Sharp	5	7	1	20	16	11	17	16	13	4	10	13	12	11	8	6	351
9	Kenny Bräck	11	5	2	16	4	7	7	5	6	18	19	19	5	21	20	16	342
10	Toranosuke Takagi	12	22	8	5	3¹	6	13	18	7	6	7	18	14	9	18	7	317
11	Dan Wheldon			7	19	20	19	8	21	4	20	5	8	7	4	4	3	312
12	Roger Yasukawa	14	17	21	10	9	17	11	7	15	8	18	12	8	8	7	10	301
13	Bryan Herta				DNQ	5		14	1	12	19	21	3	3	3	22	5	277
14	Robby Buhl	19	12	10	23	22	15	15	12	21	13	12	7	9	10	12	11	261
15	Greg Ray			9	8	11	18	12	8	16	10	8	15	17	DNS	14	8	253
16	Buddy Rice	16	9	13	11	14	9	9	19	18	11	14	11	10				229
17	Alex Barron			17	6					5	1	16	20	15	7	10	20	216
18	Sarah Fisher	15	8	23	31	15	20	19	11	20	15	13	14	DNS	18	19	12	211
19	Buddy Lazier		11	19	21	13	10	20	13	14	12	11	16	13	16			201
20	Felipe Giaffone	9	3	3	33	17	13	6	22						15	16	19	199
21	A. J. Foyt IV	17	18	18	18	21	22	21	15	17	14	17	17	11	17	17	22	198
22	Vitor Meira				12	12	16	22	20	19	21	9	DNS			11	4	170
23	Jaques Lazier	20	6	12	29	19	21	16	10					DNS				120
24	Michael Andretti	6	13	4	27													80
25	Dario Franchitti	7	16				4											72
26	Shigeaki Hattori	18	10	20	30													43
27	Ed Carpenter														13	13	21	43
28	Richie Hearn				28										14	21	18	39
29	Shinji Nakano			11	14													35
30	Tony Renna				7													26
31	Scott Mayer	21	19	24	DNQ													26
32	Jimmy Kite				13													17
33	Robby Gordon				22													8
34	Airton Daré				24	DNQ												6
35	Robby McGehee				25													5
36	Jimmy Vasser				26													4
37	Billy Boat				32													1
-	Arie Luyendyk				DNQ													0
Pos	Driver	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	PIK	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIS	GAT	KTY	NAZ	CHI	FON	TXS	Pts

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th & 5th place
Light Blue	6th-10th place
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 10)
Purple	Did not finish (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Brown	Withdrawn (Wth)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps (2 points)
DNS	Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns all the points had they taken part.
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

In every race, points are awarded to drivers on the following basis:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33
Points	50	40	35	32	30	28	26	24	22	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	1	1	1	1

Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc.

Note

¹ Toranosuke Takagi had 23 points deduction at Texas Motor Speedway due to unacceptable driving.

External links

2003 IndyCar season


Season
Races	16
Start date	March 2
End date	October 17
Awards
Drivers' champion	Scott Dixon
Rookie of the Year	Dan Wheldon
Indianapolis 500 winner	Gil de Ferran

Chronology
Previous season	Next season
2002 (IRL)	2004

v t e American Championship car racing (IndyCar) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
NASCAR	1952 1953
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART / CCWS	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
INDYCAR	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Years marked in italics are not official championship years.

2003 IndyCar Series season

Contents

2003 IndyCar Series schedule

Team and Driver Chart

Race summaries

Toyota Indy 300

Purex Dial Indy 200

Indy Japan 300

87th Indianapolis 500

Bombardier 500

Honda Indy 225

SunTrust Indy Challenge

Kansas Indy 300

Firestone Indy 200

Firestone Indy 400

Emerson Indy 250

Belterra Casino Indy 300

Firestone Indy 225

Delphi Indy 300

Toyota Indy 400

Chevy 500

Final driver standings

Note

See also

External links

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