IndyCar Series

The NTT IndyCar Series has confirmed that former series champion and Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will be included in the 31-car field that hits the virtual Michigan International Speedway for. Get the latest IndyCar Series news, photos, rankings, lists and more on Bleacher Report.

Contents.Overview Series name For 1996–1997, the series was simply referred to as the Indy Racing League. For 1998–1999, the series garnered its first title sponsor, and was advertised as the Indy Racing League. In 2000, the series sold its to, and the series was named the Indy Racing Northern Light Series.The IndyCar Series name was officially adopted beginning in 2003, as the series was now legally entitled to use it due to the expiration of a 1996 legal settlement with.

The series began to progressively downplay the former IRL name, changing its name to simply IndyCar for the 2008 season. Was announced as the series title sponsor beginning on November 5, 2009. Izod ended its sponsorship after the 2013 season.In 2014, became title sponsor of the series through 2018. In January 2019, it was announced that Japanese communications company would become title sponsor and official technology partner of the IndyCar Series.

Car history and current specifications. This section needs additional citations for. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: – ( September 2019) The IndyCar Series is not an open formula motor sport archetype. A, the league mandates chassis and engine manufacturers which teams must use each season.

Currently, provides a specification chassis to all teams, with and providing teams engines.Chassis 1996–2011 In the series' first season , 1992 to 1995 model year CART chassis built by and were used. The first new Indycar came into being in 1997. Specified new technical rules for less expensive cars and production-based engines. The move effectively outlawed the chassis and turbocharged engines that had been the mainstay of the since the late 1970s. G-Force GF05 IRL car in which won the.Starting with the 2003 season, the series rules were changed to require chassis manufacturers to be approved by the league before they could build cars. Prior to that, any interested party could build a car, provided it met the rules and was made available to customers at the league-mandated price. In total, four manufacturers have built IndyCar chassis.Dallara began producing Indycars for the 1997 season.

The Dallara and G Force chassis were relatively evenly matched over their first few seasons, but eventually the Dallara began to win more races. This caused more teams to switch to the Dallara, further increasing their success. As of 2017, a Dallara chassis has been used by 17 Indy 500 winners, although there have not been any competing manufacturers since 2008.

Dallara was also tabbed to build the machines. After the withdrawal of factory support from, they are the only supplier of new chassis.The G Force chassis was introduced in 1997, and won the 1997 and 2000 Indy 500 races. In 2002, bought G Force, and the chassis was renamed 'Panoz G Force', and then shortened to 'Panoz' in 2005. In 2003 a new model was introduced, and it won the Indy 500 in 2003–2004, and finished second in 2005. It fell out of favor starting in 2006, and by then, only one finished in the top ten at Indy. Little factory support was given to IndyCar teams by Panoz after that point, as they had concentrated on their DP01 chassis for the rival Champ Car World Series. By 2008, only one Panoz saw track time, an aborted second weekend effort at Indy, that resulted in being injured in a practice crash.

A Panoz GF09 Indycar Series chassis driven by during practice for the.produced IndyCar chassis from 1997 to 2000. Their initial effort, the Mark V, was introduced late in the 1997 season, severely limiting its potential market.

It also proved to be uncompetitive. After Riley & Scott was purchased by Reynard, an all-new model, the Mark VII, was introduced for the 2000 season. It won in Phoenix, the second race of the season (driven by Buddy Lazier), but was off the pace at Indy and was quickly dropped by its teams.Falcon Cars was founded by and Ken Anderson in 2002 as the third approved chassis supplier for the 2003 season. One rolling chassis was completed and shown, but it was never fitted with a working engine and never ran. No orders were ever filled. Superficially, IndyCar machines closely resemble those of other open-wheeled formula racing cars, with front and rear and prominent. Originally, the cars were unique, being designed specifically for oval racing; for example, the oil and cooling systems were to account for the pull of liquids to the right side of the cars.

Later cars were designed to accommodate the added requirements of road racing. 2017 DW12 chassis driven by during Carb Day before the.

This was driven with the version of the Separate Manufacture Aerokits that were used for the 2015-2017 seasons.This chassis was intended to support multiple aerodynamic kits, but introduction of these was delayed until 2015 with teams citing costs.In 2015, teams began running aero kits developed by their engine manufacturers. The kits, while increasing speeds and offering clear distinction between the two manufacturers, did lead to significant cost increases. Further, Chevrolet's aero kit was the more dominant with Honda only able to mount a competitive charge on ovals due to having slightly better engine power. While Honda was able to make gains in 2016, after two years of development the kits were frozen for 2017 and starting in 2018 all cars ran the same aero package again.

To further help reduce costs, IndyCar allowed teams to shop for competitively priced non-safety related parts such as brakes instead of mandating parts from specific suppliers.IndyCar had hoped to set a new speed record at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by 2016 with the introduction of aero kits and the development work associated with them. However, after a series of safety concerns during practice for the 2015 Indianapolis 500 with the Chevrolet aero kit package, this did not come about.After the events of the the chassis was nicknamed in honour of.

2018–present The 2017 season was the third and final year contested with the and aero kits outfitted to the chassis. Beginning in 2018, all Safety Cell chassis were fitted with a universal bodywork kit. Digital renderings for the common bodywork kit, referred to as the 'IR18' car, were released in early May 2017. The car was officially unveiled in late July, and the universal aero kit became known as the UAK18 bodywork. The IR18 chassis in its Road Course configuration, driven by during the at.The bodywork is inspired by 's 1990s and 2000s livery.

The redesigned 'spec' aero kit reduces both aerodynamic downforce and team and manufacturer design development costs. The universal Aero Kit was designed without the wheel arches of the DW12 chassis, which were deemed ineffective, and without an air inlet above the cockpit, a first for an IndyCar Series chassis (most Champ Car chassis had been designed that way). The new Aero Kit also has fewer small aerodynamic pieces which can become broken or dislodged, with the intent to reduce the amount of debris that ends up on the track and expenses from repairs.Transmission, gearbox and clutches For the transmission gearboxes, all IndyCar Series cars currently use an 'assisted' (automated) with 6-speed gearbox and an automatically actuated pneumatic clutch supplied by since the 2008 season but with assistance. From 1996 to 2007, all IndyCar Series cars used a conventional with a 6-speed gearbox and stick shift, supplied also by since 2000 season until 2007. The clutch of all IndyCar Series cars are carbon with steel housing 3-plate clutch operated by foot-pedal in 1996–2011 later hand-paddle steering wheel in 2012–present and provided. Mechanical limited-slip differentials are also allowed and constant velocity joint tripod driveshafts are also used. All IndyCar Series cars drivetrain are currently.Brakes Since the formation of IndyCar Series in 1996, the brake package of IndyCar Series were only slimmer carbon brake rotors with 4-pot brake calipers and carbon pads on all-oval races until 2011.

The thicker steel brake rotors with 6-pot brake calipers and carbon pads were introduced in 2005 for road and street course races for stronger braking while approaching sharper turns even hairpins. From 2012 onwards, IndyCar Series ditched the steel brake discs in favour of carbon brake rotors in all types of tracks but the caliper configuration remained same as 1996–2011.PFC currently supplying brake packages for all IndyCar Series cars since 2017 season (disc only) and later increased their involvement from 2018 season (supplying the calipers). Previously Brembo supplied the brake packages in 2012–2016 (full brake package), 2017 (caliper only) and Alcon in 2003–2011.Wheel rims and have been supplying forged wheels since 1996. The wheel rims for all IndyCar Series cars are made of aluminum alloy. The size of IndyCar Series wheel rims have been 10 in × 15 in (254 mm × 381 mm) on the front and 14 in × 15 in (356 mm × 381 mm) on the rear since 1996; this size will be used until at least the 2021 season. 18-inch wheel rims will be adopted if the 's successor comes out for the 2022 season onward.Tires is currently the tire supplier for the series since 1996 season and later increased to sole tire supplier since 2000 season.

Previously, had also supplied tires from 1996 to 1999 for several teams, before withdrawing their support. The IndyCar Series runs the bespoke compounds since 1996 and re-profiled in 2003. The front tire sizes are 305/45-R15 (10.0/25.8-R15) and the rear tire sizes are 415/40-R15 (14.5/28.0-R15). The compounds and construction of IndyCar Series tires unique to each mounting position on the race car.

For road/street events, there are unique primary and alternative specifications for dry conditions, along with specially designed rain tires for wet conditions. For oval racing, a single set of specifications is used, based upon the configuration and speed of the track, as well as having the right rear tire diameter constructed to be slightly larger than the left rear, (also known as stagger) to aid in high speed corning.Suspension The suspension of all IndyCar Series cars is double A-arm, pushrod, with third spring and anti-roll bar configuration multilink.Cockpit and safety components. Cosworth CCW Mk2 steering wheel in the cockpit of 's car.For the safety equipment, all IndyCar Series cars seating uses carbon-fibre shell driver's seat with 6-point seat belts. The steering wheel of all IndyCar Series cars are free design with multiple buttons (similar to ). Honda Indy V8 engine on the carStarting in 1997, IRL cars were powered by 4.0-litre, four-stroke piston, Otto cycle -burning, production prototype-based, normally-aspirated engines and electronic indirect multi-point port fuel injection, produced by (under the label) and (badged as Infiniti). Per IRL rules, the engines sold for no more than $80,000, and were rev-limited to 10,000 rpm and weighed up to 280 (127 ) (excl.

Headers, clutch, ECU, spark box or filters). They produced around 700 hp (520 kW).The engine formula was changed with the 2000–2004 formula. The displacement was dropped down from 4.0 to 3.5 (244 to 214 ), and the requirement for the block to be production-based was dropped. This formula was used through 2003. In 2004, in the wake of several crashes including the fatal crash of and the severe crash of, the displacement was reduced to 3.0-litres using the existing engine blocks to curb top speeds (started from the ).Infiniti's engines, though reliable, were significantly down on power compared to the Auroras in 1997, leading many of the teams that had initially opted for the Infiniti to switch.

By the end of the 1998 season, only a handful of low-budget teams were using the Infiniti. However, early in the 1999 season, a well-funded team, was brought on to develop the engine with team owner expanding the team to two cars and bringing on his brother as a test driver. By 2000, the engine had improved markedly and Cheever captured the marque's first win at. However, despite the improved success, few teams made the switch to the Infiniti and the company left the series after the 2002 season to focus on powering the league's new (now Firestone Indy Lights).As part of General Motors' discontinuance of the Oldsmobile name, the Olds engine was rebadged as the Chevrolet starting with the 2002 season. However, the effort could not compete with the Toyota and Honda programs starting in 2003.

In August 2003, Chevrolet announced to the public its 'Gen IV' motor, a rebadged motor for competition. At the time, Cosworth was owned by Ford. On November 4, 2004, Chevrolet stated that it would be ending its IRL engine program effective with the end of the 2005 season, citing costs that exceeded value, according to then Racing Director Doug Duchardt, 'The investment did not meet our objectives.'

In 2003, Toyota came to the IRL from the rival CART series. Toyota won their first race in Miami, as well as the Indianapolis 500 and the series title. However, Toyota had just one podium in the last seven races of 2004, and only Penske Racing fielded competitive Toyota-powered cars in 2005. In November 2005, Toyota company officials announced the company's withdrawal from American open-wheel racing and the immediate discontinuation of its IRL program, coinciding with its entrance into in 2004, and its discontinuation of its program.Honda also came to the IRL in 2003, and by 2005 was clearly the dominant engine manufacturer.Single-manufacturer spec engine era (2006–2011).

Main article:After and elected to shut down their IRL involvement after 2005 season ( temporarily hiatus from IndyCar Series for six years while USA elected to focus on involvement), Honda became the only standard spec-engine manufacturer in the IndyCar Series starting in 2006 and continued in that capacity through 2011 as it was announced by Indy Racing League president & chief operating officer Brian Barnhart and president Robert Clarke on December 15, 2005. The Honda Indy V8 engine was partnered and co-developed by, which is part owned by for tune-up, engine maintenance, arrangement and trackside support. The engine displacement was reverted back from 3.0 to 3.5 (183 to 214 ) beginning from 2007 season.During that time, since the IndyCar Series had only one engine manufacturer, Honda focused on minimizing engine failure and minimizing costs instead of defeating rivals. As such, the engines were moderately de-tuned. The engines proved themselves to be quite durable — there had been no engine failures at Indy from 2006 to 2010, which also lowered the number of crashes.

Most of the engines, including those used for the Indy 500, are used for multiple races and were intended to last 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) between rebuilds. The Honda engines were only available via lease arrangement from Honda, which, for the 2010 full season, cost $935,000 U.S. Per season, per car.IndyCar Series engines were rev-limited to 10,300 rpm + 200 rpm push-to-pass and produce approximately 650 + 40 hp push-to-pass. The valve train is a dual overhead camshaft configuration with four valves per cylinder.

The fuel feed of Honda Indy V8 engine was electronic indirect multi-point port fuel injection. The crankshaft is made of alloy steel, with five main bearing caps. The pistons are forged aluminum alloy, while the connecting rods are machined alloy steel. The electronic engine management system is supplied by Motorola, firing a CDI digital inductive ignition system. The engine lubrication is a dry sump type, cooled by a single water pump.In 2009, Honda froze the Indy V8 engine development for 2009-2011 seasons due to Honda focusing on new third-generation V6 turbo engine for 2012 season.Third generation (2012–2021) Engine competition era (2012-present) The current, third-generation IndyCar formula was introduced in 2012 including two new manufacturers marked the return of IndyCar Series engine manufacturer competition war since 2005 season. The engines are now fuel-efficient DOHC 2.2-liter twin- V6 with four-stroke piston Otto cycle developing an estimated 550–750 depending on the level of boost used and no inter-cooling systems.

They are limited to 12,000 and weighed up to 248 (112 ). Engines are currently supplied by Chevrolet and Honda.

This war of mine story. Since the 2012 season, has supplied its TAG-400i. The current engine fuel injector delivery now combines direct and electronic indirect injection which produces roughly 300 (4,351 ) of rail pressure. No fuel flow restriction exists in the IndyCar Series engine configuration.

Returned to the series in 2012 to provide all-new V6 twin-turbocharged engines after six-year hiatus while still remain committed to the series also to provide all-new V6 single-turbocharged engines in the same year. Provided an engine developed by in 2012, but left the series in 2013 after lack of interest from teams in running the underdeveloped and uncompetitive Lotus engine. The push-to-pass overtake system was reintroduced during round and still being used currently that produced roughly 60 (45 ) with a duration about 6–200 seconds of usage rechargeable (varies track shape).Chevrolet was the first engine manufacturer to utilize the twin-turbocharged configuration alongside Lotus in 2012 while Honda was utilized the single-turbocharger in 2012–2013. Honda ditched the single-turbocharged after 2013 in favor of twin-turbochargers since 2014 until present.Turbocharger The turbochargers are reintroduced from the start of.

The turbo configuration is currently twin-turbocharged that mandated since 2014 and producing the turbo boost level pressure range restricted to 1.3–1.6 (19–23 ) depending on track shape. American turbocharger company currently supplies exclusive turbocharger kits including wastegate for all IndyCar Series cars from 2014 season onwards using an EFR7163 model. Previously BorgWarner EFR9180 (single) was used exclusively by -powered cars while BorgWarner EFR6758 (twin) were used exclusively by Chevrolet and Lotus (2012) powered cars.Fourth generation (2022–) The upcoming, fourth-generation IndyCar engine formula will be introduced for 2022 season with engine displacement will increase from 2.2 to 2.4 (134 to 146 ) and also horsepower increase from 550–700 to 900 (410–522 to 671 ) while the twin-turbo engines will remain despite power and displacement increase. In addition, the hybrid systems will also introduced as a relevance to the hybrid road vehicles. The current third generation IndyCar Series engines will retire after 2021.The hybrid technology will consist of a multi-phase motor, inverter and electric storage device that will create energy recovery from the car's braking system.The addition of the hybrid technology to the traditional engine formula will provide some integral benefits for the competitors while enhancing the race action for the fans. In addition to allowing drivers to restart their cars from the cockpit, the system will increase the horsepower of the push-to-pass system and potentially improve the pace and overall time of races.The addition of the hybrid powertrain will push the debut of the new engine formula from 2021 to 2022, realigning it with the arrival of the next-generation chassis as initially scheduled.

The move will allow INDYCAR to continue working on other future innovations for the new package as well as extend the window of opportunity for an additional OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to join Chevrolet and Honda in 2022.The new engine regulations will be in place for years - 2022 and beyond seasons - in a concerted effort to provide a clear vision and stability for the NTT IndyCar Series engine manufacturers and teams. It is a continuation of INDYCAR's initial five-year strategic competition plan that originated in 2016. According to RACER.com, INDYCAR accepted proposals from 10 companies for KERS vendors bidding candidates. Jay Frye stated: “We’ve had American companies, European companies; it’s been a multinational response, some came out of the blue, which has been good. We’ve learned about some new vendors when we asked for RFPs, and some have been from companies we’d expect to weigh in'.

Spark plugs Currently and providing spark plugs for all IndyCar Series cars since 2012. Previously was exclusive spark plugs supplier in 2006–2011 when was the standard IndyCar Series engine supplier. Previously also was spark plugs supplier in 2003–2005 for -powered cars.Performance The current IndyCar Series car top speed is approximately 235–240 (378–386 ) on the oval layout only. On intermediate and long ovals the top speed is approximately 215–220 (346–354 ), and on road/street courses and short ovals, it is approximately 200–210 (322–338 ) depending on downforce setup.

Further information:Like other governing bodies, IndyCar awards points based upon where a driver finishes in a race. The winner of a race gets 50 points.

The top three drivers are separated by ten and five points respectively. The fourth through tenth-place finishers are separated by two points each. Eleventh through twenty-fifth are separated by one point each.

All other drivers who start the race score five points. Bonus points are awarded as follows: one point to the driver that earns the pole each race (except at Indianapolis), one point to any driver that leads at least one lap in a race, and two additional bonus points to the driver that leads the most laps each race.For the Indianapolis 500, qualifying points are awarded for all 33 cars at the Indianapolis 500. The point scale slides based on the teams that qualify for the top-nine shootout, then descending by speed and position.As of 2014, the Indianapolis 500 now awards double points for finishing place.In the case of a tie, IndyCar Series will determine the champion based on the most first-place finishes. If there is still a tie, IndyCar Series will determine the champion by the most second-place finishes, then the most third-place finishes, etc., until a champion is determined.

IndyCar Series will apply the same system to other ties in the rankings at the close of the season and at any other time during the season. Further information:Following the merger of into the in 2008, the IRL acquired all intellectual property and historic records.SeasonChampionRookie of the YearMost Popular DriverDriverAgeCar No.TeamChassisChampion's EngineEngine Manufacturer Overall Champion2811not awardednot awarded2512(2)2623214(2)(2)332(2)3291224(5)234(2)239(2)(3)29112726(3)2763427(3)0(6)(4)38103128(4)3222262(5)389(8)(10)(2)(2)282(5)(7). In 1996, Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins were tied in the final standings and were declared co-champions. Calkins had one win, as opposed to Sharp being winless, but no tiebreakers were in place. Although it was Dixon's first year in IndyCar and he won the championship, he was not considered a rookie because of earlier Champ Car experience.

In 2006, Sam Hornish, Jr. And Dan Wheldon tied in the final standings for first place.

Main article: TeamTotalSeasons8,(former Penske Racing)5,(former Andretti Green Racing)4,2,1Championships by engine manufacturers Television Since the series inception, IndyCar Series events have been broadcast in the United States on several networks, including,. Beginning in 2009, Versus (now ) began a 10-year deal to broadcast 13 IndyCar races per season, whereas the remaining races, including the Indianapolis 500, would remain on ABC through 2018. As of the 2018 season, ABC aired 5 races per-season (plus two days of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500), with NBCSN or other networks (in the event of scheduling conflicts) airing the remainder of the schedule. On March 21, 2018, it was announced that would become the sole U.S. Rightsholder of the IndyCar Series beginning in 2019, under a new three-year contract. NBCSN will continue as the primary broadcast outlet for most races, and overflow content will be available through its subscription service NBC Sports Gold. Eight races per-season will be televised by —including the Indianapolis 500, marking the first time in 54 years that the race was not televised by ABC.In the United Kingdom, since the launch of in August 2013 races are shown on one of the BT branded channels or ESPN.

Previous to August 2013, the IndyCar Series races were broadcasts on the family of networks, with the viewing figures of the IndyCar races in the UK outnumbering those of NASCAR races. The IndyCar Series also had highlights of all the races on the channel British terrestrial channel and, but has since been discontinued since the 2009 season. For the broadcasts returned to, with the series being shown on their.In Portugal, all of the IndyCar Series are broadcast on.In February 2013, announced that it would become the official Canadian broadcaster of the IndyCar Series beginning in the in a five-year deal with the series. The new contract will include broadcasts on the Sportsnet regional networks, Sportsnet One, and City, along with mobile coverage and French rights sub-licensed to.

Additionally, Sportsnet would also originate coverage from the, and with,. Canadian driver also joined Sportsnet as an analyst.serve as the Brazilian broadcast partner in that country since 2019.ESPN has been the international broadcast partner of IndyCar Series in Latin America (except in Brazil).has been the international broadcast partner of IndyCar in most of Europe (except in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia and the United Kingdom).In the late 2000s, the official website streamed online all races, qualifying and practice sessions unrestricted.

That service is now limited in the United States to television subscribers of the respective television network broadcasters.See also.References. The first season took place in. Archived from on November 6, 2009.

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