IndyCar Series 2009

The 2009 IndyCar Series season was the 14th season of the US IndyCar Series . Originally it was to be held in 19 races. Since the organizer could not agree on a date with the organizer Surfers Paradies and the race on Belle Isle in Detroit was canceled early due to the current economic crisis, the 2009 season only consisted of 17 races.

Compared to the 2008 season, the starting field had not grown, as was initially expected, but had shrunk significantly. Apart from the top teams Penske, Ganassi, Andretti-Green and Newman / Haas / Lanigan, the other teams often only had one car at the start; however, the two teams Luczo Dragon Racing and Team 3G have been added, which only had sporadic missions in the 2008 season.

There was the following change in the awarding of points: For most laps of the lead, only two instead of three bonus points were awarded; in return, the pole position was rewarded with one point.

Dario Franchitti won the championship .

Teams and drivers

All teams used Dallara chassis , Honda engines and Firestone tires .

team	No.	driver	run
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	09	Scott Dixon	1-17
	10	Dario Franchitti	1-17
Penske Racing	03	Will power	1
		Helio Castroneves	2-17
	06th	Ryan Briscoe	1-17
	12	Will power	2, 4, 10-12, 14
Andretti Green Racing	07th	Danica Patrick	1-17
	11	Tony Kanaan	1-17
	25th	Franck Montagny	14th
	26th	Marco Andretti	1-17
	27	Hideki Mutoh	1-17
Vision racing	20th	Ed Carpenter	1-17
	21st	Ryan Hunter-Reay	1-6
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	24	Mike Conway	1-17
	23	Darren Manning	1-2
		Milka Duno	3-4, 6, 9, 12-15, 17
		Tomas Scheckter	5, 7-8, 10-11
		Roger Yasukawa	16
	43	John Andretti	4th
		Tomas Scheckter	6, 12, 15-17
	44	Davey Hamilton	4th
Newman / Haas / Lanigan Racing	02	Graham Rahal	1-17
	06	Robert Doornbos	1-12
		Oriol Servià	13-16
	40202	Alex Lloyd	17th
Panther Racing	04th	Dan Wheldon	1-17
	16	Scott Sharp	4th
HVM Racing	00	Nelson Philippe	4th
	13	EJ Viso	1-17
	33	Robert Doornbos	13-17
AJ Foyt Enterprises	14th	Vitor Meira	1-4
		Paul Tracy	5
		AJ Foyt IV	6th
		Ryan Hunter-Reay	7-17
	41	AJ Foyt IV	4th
Team 3G	98	Stanton Barrett	1-5, 16
		Jaques Lazier	6-8, 12, 15, 17
		Richard Antinucci	9-11, 13-14
Luczo Dragon Racing	02	Raphael Matos	1-17
KV Racing Technology	5	Mario Moraes	1-12, 14-17
		Paul Tracy	13
	8th	Townsend Bell	4th
	15th	Paul Tracy	4, 9-11
Dale Coyne Racing	18th	Justin Wilson	2-17
	19th	Justin Wilson	1
		Tomas Scheckter	4th
Conquest Racing	34	Alex Tagliani	1-2, 4, 6, 10-11
		Nelson Philippe	14th
		Kosuke Matsuura	16
	36	Bruno Junqueira 1	4th
		Alex Tagliani 1	4th
Sarah Fisher Racing	67	Sarah Fisher	3-4, 6, 12, 15, 17
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	99	Alex Lloyd	4th
Hemelgarn Racing	91	Buddy Lazier	4th
Rahal Letterman Racing	17th	Oriol Servià	4th

¹ Junqueira qualified for the Indy 500 but was replaced by Alex Tagliani who failed to qualify with his car.

Racing calendar

17 races were held. Ten races were held on ovals, four on street courses or temporary racetracks and three on racetracks.

No.	date	Racetrack	Art	First	Second	Third	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most lead laps
1.	April 5th	St. Petersburg	S.	Briscoe	Hunter-Reay	Wilson	Rahal	Wilson	Wilson
2.	April 19th	Long Beach	S.	Franchitti	power	Canaan	power	Briscoe	Franchitti
3.	26th of April	Kansas City	O	Dixon	Castroneves	Canaan	Rahal	Briscoe	Dixon
4th	May 24th	Indianapolis	O	Castroneves	Wheldon	Patrick	Castroneves	Franchitti	Dixon
5.	31. May	West Allis	O	Dixon	Briscoe	Franchitti	Briscoe	Dixon	Briscoe
6th	6th of June	Fort Worth	O	Castroneves	Briscoe	Dixon	Franchitti	Briscoe	Briscoe
7th	June 21st	Newton	O	Franchitti	Briscoe	Mutoh	Castroneves	Mutoh	Briscoe
8th.	June 27th	Richmond	O	Dixon	Franchitti	Rahal	Franchitti	Dixon	Dixon
9.	5th July	Watkins Glen	R.	Wilson	Briscoe	Dixon	Briscoe	Briscoe	Wilson
10.	July 12	Toronto	S.	Franchitti	Briscoe	power	Franchitti	Briscoe	Franchitti
11.	July 26th	Edmonton	S.	power	Castroneves	Dixon	power	Conway	power
12.	August 1st	Sparta	O	Briscoe	Carpenter	Canaan	Dixon	Carpenter	Dixon
13.	August 9	Lexington	R.	Dixon	Briscoe	Franchitti	Briscoe	Dixon	Dixon
14th	August 23	Sonoma	R.	Franchitti	Briscoe	Conway	Franchitti	Castroneves	Franchitti
15th	29th August	Joliet	O	Briscoe	Dixon	Moraes	Briscoe	Scheckter	Briscoe
16.	September 19th	Motegi	O	Dixon	Franchitti	Rahal	Dixon	Dixon	Dixon
17 January	October 11th	Homestead	O	Franchitti	Briscoe	Dixon	Franchitti	Dixon	Briscoe

• ¹ First race without interruption (caution) in the history of the IndyCar Series.
• Explanation: O : oval, S : street course, R : race track

Driver ranking

space	driver	team	STP	LBE	KAN	IND	Mil	TEX	IOW	RIC	WAT	GOAL	EDM	KEN	MID	SON	CHI	MOT	HOM	Points
1	Dario Franchitti	Chip Ganassi Racing	32	52	12	26th	35	31	50	41	15th	53	30th	28	35	53	32	40	51	616
2	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	14th	15th	52	30th	50	35	30th	52	35	32	35	28	52	17th	40	53	35	605
3	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing	50	17th	32	15th	43	42	42	12	41	40	32	50	41	40	53	12	42	604
4th	Helio Castroneves	Penske Racing	-	26th	40	51	19th	50	26th	13	32	12	40	32	18th	12	12	20th	30th	433
5	Danica Patrick	Andretti Green Racing	12	32	30th	35	30th	28	22nd	30th	19th	28	19th	24	12	14th	18th	28	12	393
6th	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing	30th	35	35	10	12	24	16	28	24	13	12	35	20th	24	17th	19th	32	386
7th	Graham Rahal	Newman / Haas / Lanigan Racing	27	18th	27	10	32	12	19th	35	17th	12	26th	30th	24	12	30th	35	19th	385
8th	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	17th	28	28	10	26th	32	18th	26th	30th	24	20th	20th	28	16	19th	26th	12	380
9	Justin Wilson	Dale Coyne Racing	37	12	16	12	15th	15th	12	16	52	30th	24	12	17th	26th	20th	18th	20th	354
10	Dan Wheldon	Panther Racing	16	30th	20th	40	20th	26th	32	20th	20th	16	15th	19th	14th	18th	12	24	12	354
11	Hideki Mutoh	Andretti Green Racing	15th	12	24	20th	24	12	35	32	12	18th	16	17th	30th	30th	12	16	28	353
12	Ed Carpenter	Vision racing	12	12	22nd	24	14th	22nd	20th	17th	14th	15th	14th	40	13	19th	28	17th	18th	321
13	Raphael Matos	Luczo Dragon Racing	12	24	12	12	28	18th	14th	24	18th	20th	12	14th	22nd	22nd	22nd	22nd	16	312
14th	Mario Moraes	KV Racing	12	12	19th	10	22nd	20th	13	14th	16	19th	12	12	-	32	35	30th	26th	304
15th	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Vision Racing & AJ Foyt Enterprises	40	19th	15th	10	18th	14th	12	15th	12	26th	13	16	32	12	15th	12	17th	298
16	Robert Doornbos	Newman / Haas / Lanigan & HVM Racing	19th	22nd	18th	10	16	19th	15th	22nd	22nd	12	22nd	12	16	20th	12	14th	12	283
17th	Mike Conway	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	12	12	12	12	12	12	24	12	28	12	12	13	12	35	14th	12	15th	261
18th	Ernesto Viso	HVM Racing	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	18th	26th	17th	18th	15th	15th	12	13	15th	14th	248
19th	Will power	Penske Racing	28	41	-	30th	-	-	-	-	-	35	53	22nd	-	6th	-	-	-	215
20th	Tomas Scheckter	Dale Coyne & Dreyer & Reinbold	-	-	-	18th	17th	17th	28	19th	-	14th	12	12	-	-	24	12	22nd	195
21st	Oriol Servià	Rahal Letterman & Newman / Haas / Lanigan	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19th	28	26th	32	-	115
22nd	Alex Tagliani	Conquest Racing	20th	20th	-	19th	-	16	-	-	-	22nd	17th	-	-	-	-	-	-	114
23	Paul Tracy	KV Racing & AJ Foyt Enterprises	-	-	-	22nd	13	-	-	-	12	12	28	-	26th	-	-	-	-	113
24	Milka Duno	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	-	-	14th	12	-	12	-	-	13	-	-	12	12	13	12	-	13	113
25th	Sarah Fisher	Sarah Fisher Racing	-	-	17th	13	-	13	-	-	-	-	-	18th	-	-	16	-	12	89
26th	Jaques Lazier	Team 3G	-	-	-	-	-	12	17th	12	-	-	-	12	-	-	12	-	12	77
27	Richard Antinucci	Team 3G	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	12	12	-	12	15th	-	-	-	63
28	Vítor Meira	AJ Foyt Enterprises	22nd	16	12	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	62
29	Stanton Barrett	Team 3G	18th	13	13	-	6th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	62
30th	Alex Lloyd	Sam Schmidt & Newman / Haas / Lanigan	-	-	-	17th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	41
31	Darren Manning	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	24	14th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	38
32	Townsend Bell	KV Racing	-	-	-	32	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	32
33	AJ Foyt IV	AJ Foyt Enterprises	-	-	-	14th	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	26th
34	Scott Sharp	Panther Racing	-	-	-	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16
35	Nelson Philippe	HVM Racing & Conquest Racing	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6th	-	-	-	16
36	Kosuke Matsuura	Conquest Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	-	13
37	John Andretti	Richard Petty Motorsports	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
38	Franck Montagny	Andretti Green Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	12
39	Roger Yasukawa	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	-	12
40	Davey Hamilton	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10

Single results

Item driver STP LBH KAN INDY Mil TXS IOW RIR WGL GOAL EDM KTY MDO SNM CHI MOT HMS Points 1  Franchitti 4th 1* 18th 7th 3 5 1 2 15th 1 * 5 6th 3 1 * 4th 2 1 616 2  Dixon 16 15th 1* 6 * 1 3 5 1 * 3 4th 3 7 * ' 1 * 13 2 1 * 3 605 3  Briscoe 1 13 4th 15th 2 * 2 * 2 * 19th 2 2 4th 1 2 2 1 * 18th 2 * 604 4th  Castroneves 7th 2 1 11 1 7 ' 17th 4th 18th 2 4th 12 18th 20th 10 5 433 5  Patrick 19th 4th 5 3 5 6th 9 5 11 6th 11 8th 19th 16 12 6th 19th 393 6th  Canaan 5 3 3 27 19th 8th 14th 6th 8th 17th 21st 3 10 8th 13 11 4th 386 7th  Rahal 7th 12 7th 31 4th 22nd 11 3 13 20th 7th 5 8th 21st 5 3 11 385 8th  M Andretti 13 6th 6th 30th 7th 4th 12 7th 5 8th 10 10 6th 14th 11 7th 22nd 380 9  Wilson 3 * 22nd 14th 23 15th 15th 18th 14th 1* 5 8th 21st 13 7th 10 12 10 354 10  Wheldon 14th 5 10 2 10 7th 4th 10 10 14th 15th 11 16 12 22nd 8th 21st 354 11  Mutoh 15th 20th 8th 10 8th 21st 3 4th 18th 12 14th 13 5 5 23 14th 6th 353 12  Carpenter 18th 18th 9 8th 16 9 10 13 16 15th 16 2 17th 11 6th 13 12 321 13  Matos 20th 8th 20th 22nd 6th 12 16 8th 12 10 18th 16 9 9 9 9 14th 312 14th  Moraes 21st 19th 11 33 9 10 17th 16 14th 11 23 18th 4th 3 5 7th 304 15th  Hunter-Reay 2 11 15th 32 12 16 19th 15th 21st 7th 17th 14th 4th 19th 15th 21st 13 298 16  Doornbos 11 9 12 28 14th 11 15th 9 9 23 9 19th 14th 10 18th 16 20th 283 17th  Conway 22nd 21st 19th 18th 20th 19th 8th 18th 6th 22nd 20th 17th 20th 3 16 22nd 15th 261 18th  Viso 17th 23 21st 24 18th 24 20th 12 7th 13 12 15th 15th 22nd 17th 15th 16 248 19th  power 6th 2 5 3 1 * 9 DNS 4 INJ INJ INJ 215 20th  Scheckter 12 13 13 6th 11 16 19th 22nd 8th 23 9 195 21st  Servià 26th 11 6th 7th 4th 115 22nd  Tagliani 10 10 11 2 14th 9 13 114 23  Tracy 9 17th 20th 19th 6th 7th 113 24  Duno 16 20th 23 17th 20th 21st 17th 21st 17th 113 25th  Fisher 13 17th 17th 12 14th 18th 89 26th  J Lazier 18th 13 20th 23 19th 23 77 27  Antinucci 19th 21st 22nd 18th 15th 63 28  Meira 9 14th 22nd 21 3 INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ INJ 62 29  Barrett 12 17th 17th DNQ DNS 19th 62 30th  Lloyd 13 8th 41 31  Manning 8th 16 38 32  Bell 4th 32 33  Foyt 16 20th 26th 34  Sharp 14th 16 35  Philippe 25th DNS 4 INJ INJ INJ 16 36  Matsuura 17th 13 37  J Andretti 19th 12 38  Montagny 20th 12 39  Yasukawa 20th 12 40  Hamilton 29 10  Junqueira DNS 2 0  B Lazier DNQ 0 Item driver STP LBH KAN INDY Mil TXS IOW RIR WGL GOAL EDM KTY MDO SNM CHI MOT HMS Points

colour meaning gold winner silver 2nd place bronze 3rd place green 4th and 5th place Light Blue 6th to 10th place Dark blue Race ended (outside of the first ten pilots) violet Race not finished red not qualified (DNQ) black disqualified (DSQ) White not at the start (DNS) withdrawn (WD) Race canceled (C) Blank not participated did not appear (DNA) injured or sick (INJ) excluded (EX) Further notation fat Pole position (1 point) Italic Fastest race lap * Most leading laps (2 points) ' Aborted qualifying and received no bonus point Rookie of the Year Rookie

The points were awarded according to the following scheme:

position	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23	24	25th
Points	50	40	35	32	30th	28	26th	24	22nd	20th	19th	18th	17th	16	15th	14th	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10

There is also one extra point for pole position and two extra points for the driver who has led the race most laps.

Remarks:

² Bruno Junqueira qualified for the Indy 500 but was replaced by Alex Tagliani who failed to qualify with his car.
³ Vitor Meira was seriously injured in the Indy 500 and was out for the rest of the season.
⁴ Will Power and Nelson Philippe had a serious training accident. Power broke his L2 and L4 vertebrae, Philippe broke his left leg.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ “INDYCAR: Kanaan Hurting; Meira Out For '09 ” ( Memento from July 28, 2009 on WebCite ) (speedtv.com on May 25, 2009)
2. ↑ “Drivers hospitalized” ( Memento from September 7, 2009 on WebCite ) (archive entry of an article from indycar.com on August 22, 2009)