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 killed former series' champion and Indy 500 winner Kenny Bräck. De Ferran won the race with Dixon in second being well enough to seal the title. Bräck would eventually recover; however, Tony Renna, a Ganassi development driver, lost 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	Notes
Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Toyota	9	Scott Dixon
			10	Tomas Scheckter
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Team entitled to #1 but chose to keep the #4 associated with minority partner Jim Harbaugh.
			44	Robby McGehee	Indy 500 only.
			98	Billy Boat	Indy 500 only.
Penske Racing	Dallara G-Force	Toyota	3	Helio Castroneves
			6	Gil de Ferran	Injured at Phoenix
				Alex Barron	Replaced de Ferran at Motegi.
Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	7	Michael Andretti	From Homestead to Indy 500.
			11	Tony Kanaan
			26	Dan Wheldon	From Motegi onwards.
			27	Bryan Herta	Try to replace Franchitti at Indy but injured before the race. He is replaced by Gordon.
				Dario Franchitti	Homestead, Phoenix, Pikes Peak only skipped almost the full season due to a motorcycle accident.
				Robby Gordon	Replaced Herta at Indy.
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Toyota	8	Scott Sharp
			31	Al Unser Jr.
			32	Tony Renna	Indy 500 only.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara G-Force	Toyota	5	Jaques Lazier	From Texas to Kansas.
				Shigeaki Hattori	From Homestead to Indy.
			14	A. J. Foyt IV
			41	Airton Daré	Indy 500 only. DNS at Texas.
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	23	Sarah Fisher	Did not start at Nazareth.
			24	Robbie Buhl
Team Rahal	Dallara	Honda Toyota	15	Kenny Bräck
			19	Jimmy Vasser	Indy 500 only.
Mo Nunn Racing	G-Force	Toyota	12	Toranosuke Takagi
			20	Arie Luyendyk	Indy 500 only, did not qualify
			21	Alex Barron	Replaced Giaffone from Nashville to Nazareth.
				Felipe Giaffone	Skipped Nashville to Nazareth due an injury.
Fernández Racing	Dallara	Honda	55	Roger Yasukawa
Cheever Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	52	Buddy Rice	Homestead to Nazareth
				Alex Barron	Replaced Rice at Joliet, Fontana, Texas 2.
Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	54	Shinji Nakano	Motegi and Indy 500 only.
Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	22	Vitor Meira	raced number 22 at Indy
			2		Ten races
				Jaques Lazier	Homestad to Indy.
				Richie Hearn	Joliet only.
PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	18	Ed Carpenter	Joliet, Fontana, Ft. Worth only.
				Scott Mayer	Homestead to Motegi onwards. Failed rookie orientation at Indy.
				Jimmy Kite	Replaced Mayer at Indy.
Access Motorsports	G-Force	Honda	13	Greg Ray	Missed Homestead, Phoenix. DNS at Joliet.
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Buddy Lazier	Missed Homestead,Did not start at Fontana, Texas 2.
				Richie Hearn	Replaced Lazier at Fontana, Texas 2.
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	G-Force	Toyota	99	Richie Hearn	Indy 500 only.

Race summaries

Toyota Indy 300

This race was held March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tony Kanaan won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 9- Scott Dixon
2. 6- Gil de Ferran
3. 3- Hélio Castroneves
4. 11- Tony Kanaan
5. 8- Scott Sharp
6. 7- Michael Andretti
7. 27- Dario Franchitti
8. 10- Tomas Scheckter
9. 21- Felipe Giaffone
10. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.

Purex Dial Indy 200

This race was held March 23 at Phoenix International Raceway. Tony Kanaan won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 11- Tony Kanaan
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 21- Felipe Giaffone
4. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
5. 15- Kenny Bräck
6. 2- Jaques Lazier
7. 8- Scott Sharp
8. 23- Sarah Fisher
9. 52- Buddy Rice
10. 5- Shigeaki Hattori

Indy Japan 300

This race was held April 13 at Twin Ring Motegi. Scott Dixon won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 8- Scott Sharp
2. 15- Kenny Bräck
3. 21- Felipe Giaffone
4. 7- Michael Andretti
5. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
6. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
7. 27- Dan Wheldon
8. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
9. 13- Greg Ray
10. 24- Robbie Buhl

87th Indianapolis 500

The 87th Indy 500 was held May 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hélio Castroneves sat on pole but came up just short of the three-peat in the 500.

Top ten results

1. 6- Gil de Ferran
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 11- Tony Kanaan
4. 10- Tomas Scheckter
5. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
6. 20- Alex Barron
7. 32- Tony Renna
8. 13- Greg Ray
9. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
10. 55- Roger Yasukawa

Bombardier 500

This race was held June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway. Tomas Scheckter won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
2. 11- Tony Kanaan
3. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
4. 15- Kenny Bräck
5. 27- Bryan Herta
6. 9- Scott Dixon
7. 3- Hélio Castroneves
8. 6- Gil de Ferran
9. 12- Roger Yasukawa
10. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.

Honda Indy 225

This race was held June 15 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Tony Kanaan won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 9- Scott Dixon
2. 11- Tony Kanaan
3. 6- Gil de Ferran
4. 27- Dario Franchitti
5. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
6. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
7. 15- Kenny Bräck
8. 10- Tomas Scheckter
9. 52- Buddy Rice
10. 91- Buddy Lazier

SunTrust Indy Challenge

This race was held June 28 at Richmond International Raceway. Scott Dixon won the pole. The Race originally scheduled for 250 laps, but shortened to 206 laps due to rain.

Top ten results

1. 9- Scott Dixon
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 6- Gil de Ferran
4. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
5. 11- Tony Kanaan
6. 21- Felipe Giaffone
7. 15- Kenny Bräck
8. 26- Dan Wheldon
9. 52- Buddy Rice
10. 31- Al Unser, Jr.

Kansas Indy 300

This race was held July 6 at Kansas Speedway. Scott Dixon won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 27- Bryan Herta
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 6- Gil de Ferran
4. 11- Tony Kanaan
5. 15- Kenny Bräck
6. 9- Scott Dixon
7. 55- Roger Yasukawa
8. 13- Greg Ray
9. 10- Tomas Scheckter
10. 5- Jaques Lazier

Firestone Indy 200

This race was held July 19 at Nashville Superspeedway. Scott Dixon won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 6- Gil de Ferran
2. 9- Scott Dixon
3. 3- Hélio Castroneves
4. 26- Dan Wheldon
5. 21- Alex Barron
6. 15- Kenny Bräck
7. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
8. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
9. 11- Tony Kanaan
10. 10- Tomas Scheckter

Firestone Indy 400

This race was held July 27 at Michigan International Speedway. Tomas Scheckter won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 21- Alex Barron
2. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
3. 10- Tomas Scheckter
4. 8- Scott Sharp
5. 9- Scott Dixon
6. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
7. 6- Gil de Ferran
8. 12- Roger Yasukawa
9. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
10. 13- Greg Ray

Emerson Indy 250

This race was held August 10 at Gateway International Raceway. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 3- Hélio Castroneves
2. 11- Tony Kanaan
3. 6- Gil de Ferran
4. 10- Tomas Scheckter
5. 26- Dan Wheldon
6. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
7. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
8. 13- Greg Ray
9. 2- Vitor Meira
10. 8- Scott Sharp

Belterra Casino Indy 300

This race was held August 17 at Kentucky Speedway. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. 9- Scott Dixon
3. 27- Bryan Herta
4. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
5. 3- Hélio Castroneves
6. 11- Tony Kanaan
7. 24- Robbie Buhl
8. 26- Dan Wheldon
9. 6- Gil de Ferran
10. 10- Tomas Scheckter

Firestone Indy 225

This race was held August 24 at Nazareth Speedway. Scott Dixon won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 3- Hélio Castroneves
2. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
3. 27- Bryan Herta
4. 6- Gil de Ferran
5. 15- Kenny Bräck
6. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
7. 26- Dan Wheldon
8. 12- Roger Yasukawa
9. 24- Robbie Buhl
10. 91- Buddy Rice

Delphi Indy 300

This race was held September 7 at Chicagoland Speedway. Richie Hearn won the pole.

Top ten results

1. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. 9- Scott Dixon
3. 27- Bryan Herta
4. 26- Dan Wheldon
5. 10- Tomas Scheckter
6. 11- Tony Kanaan
7. 52- Alex Barron
8. 55- Roger Yasukawa
9. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
10. 24- Robbie Buhl

Toyota Indy 400

This race was held September 21 at California Speedway. Hélio Castroneves won the pole. It was the fastest circuit race ever in motorsport history, with an average speed of 207.151 mph (333.306 km/h) over 400 miles (643.6 km).

Top ten results

1. 4- Sam Hornish, Jr.
2. 9- Scott Dixon
3. 11- Tony Kanaan
4. 26- Dan Wheldon
5. 10- Tomas Scheckter
6. 3- Hélio Castroneves
7. 55- Roger Yasukawa
8. 8- Scott Sharp
9. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
10. 52- Alex Barron

Chevy 500

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

1. 6- Gil de Ferran
2. 9- Scott Dixon
3. 26- Dan Wheldon
4. 2- Vitor Meira
5. 27- Bryan Herta
6. 8- Scott Sharp
7. 12- Toranosuke Takagi
8. 13- Greg Ray
9. 31- Al Unser, Jr.
10. 55- Roger Yasukawa

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 3^1 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) 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.

See also

• 2003 Indianapolis 500
• 2003 Infiniti Pro Series season
• 2003 CART season
• 2003 Toyota Atlantic Championship season

External links

• IndyCar.com - official site
• Indianapolis 500 - official site