The 2009 IndyCar Series was the 14th season of the IndyCar Series. The 17-race season began on April 5, and its premier event, the 93rd Indianapolis 500 was held May 24. All races were broadcast on ABC or Versus in high-definition. It represented the 98th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing.
On July 30, 2008, the 2009 schedule for the IndyCar Series was officially released. New to the schedule were Long Beach and Toronto, with Nashville having been removed to make way for the new events.
Dario Franchitti won his second IndyCar Series championship, putting a disappointing foray into NASCAR in 2008 behind him. Franchitti took his Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda to victory at Long Beach, Iowa Speedway, Toronto and Infineon Raceway in a season long battle with his Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon and Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe. Dixon led the series heading into the final round, but Franchitti's win at the series finale at Homestead pushed the British driver eleven points clear at season's end.
Dixon, who took five wins, held second place by a solitary point over Briscoe. Briscoe, with three wins, had his best ever season leading Team Penske after Hélio Castroneves's abbreviated start to the season from his tax-evasion trial. The Brazilian recovered by winning his third Indianapolis 500 before taking a win at Texas Motor Speedway a month later.
The Ganassi and Penske teams dominated the season, only two race victories were taken by drivers other than the four regulars from these two teams, and one of them, at Edmonton, was claimed by part-time Penske driver Will Power. The only other winner was Justin Wilson, scoring Dale Coyne Racing's first victory at Watkins Glen.
The Andretti Green Racing team had their first ever season without a win. Drivers Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan and Hideki Mutoh each scored podium finishes, and Patrick finished fifth in the season points, setting a new record for highest points finish by a female driver.
Brazilian racer Raphael Matos claimed rookie of the year honors for the Luczo-Dragon Racing team, finishing thirteenth in the season point score, 29 points clear of Robert Doornbos with a season best result of sixth at Milwaukee.
Originally Honda was supposed to end their IndyCar Series single engine supplier after 2009. But on September 23, 2009, it was confirmed that Honda renewed their single engine supplier until the 2011 season.
Series news 2009 started a 10-year TV deal with the Versus TV network. Versus agreed to broadcast at least twelve IndyCar Series events a year in HD, as well as pre-race coverage, a one-hour preview show the day before each race including qualifying highlights, qualifications for the Indianapolis 500, a Firestone Indy Lights weekly telecast, replays of all series races a week after original broadcast, and at least ten hours of ancillary programming. Bob Jenkins, Robbie Buhl, and Jon Beekhuis made up the broadcast team along with Jack Arute, Robbie Floyd, and Lindy Thackston in the pits. Emmy Award-winning auto-racing producer Terry Lingner produced the coverage. Versus will air commercials using IndyCar Non-Stop. In 2011 Versus was renamed NBC Sports Network. Firestone supplied two sets of tire compounds beginning in 2009 on road and street courses for the IR5 chassis. Alternate tires would be marked with red sidewalls and would be made of a softer compound. They contain more grip and allow for faster times, but do not last as long as the regular tires. Each team received six sets of the regular tires ("the blacks") and three sets of the new alternate tires ("the reds") for the race weekend. The cars were required to run at least two green flag laps with the alternate tires during a race. Oval races used the primary tire only. A new private testing policy was put into place for team for 2009, provided they participate in the TEAM revenue-sharing program. Teams were permitted: or six days of testing, whichever comes first, along with eight sets of tires. Two-car teams may conduct of testing with 26 sets of tires. Additional team cars gained and four sets of tires per car. No testing at any track within seven days of a race. Teams could earn additional test days by providing opportunities to Firestone Indy Lights drivers. Bonus practice time for rookies and teams outside the Top 10 in points were added starting at Long Beach. The bonus session lasted from 30 to 45 minutes at each venue before the first practice sessions of the day for all cars. The policy was intended to promote competition, allowing teams a chance to close the gap on the Top 10 teams without paying for expensive private testing, and provided more opportunities for rookie drivers, particularly those moving up from Indy Lights. Slight changes were made to the points system in 2009, the number of points awarded for leading the most laps in a race was reduced from three to two. A point was awarded for winning pole for a race. On December 26, 2008, IndyCar Series introduced a new exhaust design to reduce noise of Honda Indy V8 engines. IndyCar Series officials have banned formerly optional 118 and 120 inch wheelbases, requiring teams to uniformly adopt 122 inch wheelbases. This will provide cost savings for the teams as well as greatly enhancing competition on the oval tracks. On July 28, 2009, the IRL approved "push to pass" buttons on all the cars. This gave a driver a 20 hp boost for 12 seconds with a 10-second recharge time. This was available for use only 20 times during a given race. This feature debuted at the event at Kentucky Speedway on August 1, 2009.Lewandowski, Dave. Horsepower boost, IndyCar.com, July 28, 2009 Due to several IndyCar Series teams opting for Dallara IR-05 chassis, Panoz discontinued their IndyCar Series involvement after the 2008 season. With the series undergoing a development freeze until the 2011 season, IndyCar Series teams carried over chassis and engine from 2008 season but modified due to new exhaust design. The series was concentrating on 2012 new car development to save costs.
Confirmed entries All entrants competed in Dallara IR-05 chassis, powered by Honda HI9R V8 engines, and utilize Firestone Firehawk tires. Team No Drivers Rounds Andretti Green Racing 7 Danica Patrick All 11 Tony Kanaan All 25 Franck Montagny 14 26 Marco Andretti All 27 Hideki Mutoh All A. J. Foyt Enterprises 14 Vítor Meira 1–4 Paul Tracy 5 Ryan Hunter-Reay 7–17 A. J. Foyt IV 6 41 4 Conquest Racing 34 Alex Tagliani 1–2, 4, 6, 10–11 Nelson Philippe 14 Kosuke Matsuura 16 36 Alex Tagliani 4 Bruno Junqueira 4 Dale Coyne Racing 18 Justin Wilson 2–1719 1 Tomas Scheckter 4 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 23 Darren Manning 1–2 Milka Duno 3–4, 6, 9, 12–15, 17 Tomas Scheckter 5, 7–8, 10–11, 16 24 Mike Conway All 43 John Andretti 4 Tomas Scheckter 6, 12, 15, 17 Roger Yasukawa 16 44 Davey Hamilton 4 Hemelgarn Racing 91 Buddy Lazier 4 HVM Racing 00 Nelson Philippe 4 13 E. J. Viso All 33 Robert Doornbos 13–17 KV Racing Technology 5 Mario Moraes1–12, 14–17 Paul Tracy 13 15 4, 9–11 8 Townsend Bell 4 Luczo-Dragon Racing 2 Raphael Matos All Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing 02 Graham Rahal All 06 Robert Doornbos 1–12 Oriol Servià 13–1640202 Alex Lloyd 17 Panther Racing 4 Dan Wheldon All 16 Scott Sharp 4 Penske Racing 12 Will Power 2, 4, 10–12, 14 3 1 Hélio Castroneves 2–17 6 Ryan Briscoe All Rahal Letterman Racing 17 Oriol Servià 4 Sam Schmidt Motorsports 99 Alex Lloyd 4 Sarah Fisher Racing 67 Sarah Fisher 3–4, 6, 12, 15, 17 Target Chip Ganassi Racing 9 Scott Dixon All 10 Dario Franchitti All Team 3G 98 Stanton Barrett 1–5, 16 Jaques Lazier 6–8, 12, 15, 17 Richard Antinucci 9–11, 13–14 Vision Racing 20 Ed Carpenter All 21 Ryan Hunter-Reay 1–6
Team and driver news
Chip Ganassi Racing: 2007 Champion Dario Franchitti returns from NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series and is driving the #10 entry in 2009, replacing Dan Wheldon, who was re-signed by Panther Racing. 2007 Firestone Indy Lights Champion Alex Lloyd competed in the Indianapolis 500 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports in partnership with Ganassi. Penske Racing: Hélio Castroneves signed a multi-year contract extension with Penske Racing. However, on October 2, 2008, Castroneves was faced with a federal indictment, and was charged with six counts of tax evasion. Castroneves went on hiatus from the team during the trial. Will Power was named as a replacement, and drove the St. Petersburg race in the #3 car. With Castroneves being acquitted on all tax evasion charges later in the month, he returned to the #3 car starting at Long Beach, with the team running a third car, the #12 Penske Championship Racing machine for Will Power at Long Beach and the Indianapolis 500. Roger Penske announced after the Indianapolis 500 that he would field a third car for Power at additional races in the 2009 season. Andretti Green Racing: All four drivers returned for 2009. The team will field a fifth car for Franck Montagny at Sonoma. HVM Racing: Driver E. J. Viso returned for 2009. The team tested Ryan Hunter-Reay at Sebring but ultimately signed Viso. The team prepared a second Indy-only entry for Nelson Philippe. Panther Racing: Dan Wheldon signed a multi-year contract replacing Vítor Meira in the #4 entry. Scott Sharp drove a second Indy-only entry, in a joint-effort with Patrón Highcroft Racing. A. J. Foyt Enterprises: Vítor Meira replaced Darren Manning in the #14 entry. Meira suffered two fractured vertebrae at Indianapolis and missed most of the remainder of the season. Paul Tracy was the replacement driver for Milwaukee. The team fielded the #41 driven by A. J. Foyt IV in the Indianapolis 500. The #48 car was entered in the race but did not appear. KV Racing: Oriol Servia did not re-sign with the team and Will Power left for Penske Racing. Mario Moraes signed with the team for 2009 and will be the team's sole full-season entry. In addition to Servia, Paul Tracy and GP2 driver Lucas di Grassi also have been linked with a seat with the team. Team co-owner Jimmy Vasser has stated that he is confident the team will have a deal in place to run a second car starting with the Indy 500. It was announced on April 17 that Paul Tracy will drive the #15 car for the team at the Indy 500, with additional races up to the rest of the season possible. A later release from the team confirmed Tracy would appear in the #15 at the Edmonton and Toronto races. A third car, the #8, was listed for the team on the Indianapolis 500 entry list, and was raced by Townsend Bell. Vision Racing: A. J. Foyt IV was replaced by Ryan Hunter-Reay.Miller, Robin. Hunter-Reay Joins Vision, says Miller, SpeedTv.com, March 27, 2009. Accessed 2009-07-01. Archived 2009-07-28. The team would have prepared an additional car for the Indianapolis 500, the #22 entered by Bryan Herta Autosport, but entry was later withdrawn. Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing: Justin Wilson did not return to the team in 2009. However, Graham Rahal's option was picked up for 2009 and he returned. 2007 Champ Car Rookie of the Year Robert Doornbos' signing was confirmed on February 20, 2009. Milka Duno tested with the team at Homestead, but the deal to run a third full-season car for her apparently fell apart as she lost her backing from Citgo according to a report.James, Brant. Money woes put many on IndyCar hot seat in offseason , St. Peterburg Times, April 1, 2009