The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series was the 25th season of the IndyCar Series and the 109th official championship season of American open-wheel racing. The premier event was the 2020 Indianapolis 500. Josef Newgarden entered the season as the defending National Champion. Honda entered as defending Manufacturers' Cup champion for the second consecutive season. It was the first year under Penske management after they took over in late 2019.
Series news On May 24, 2019, it was announced that the IndyCar Series would introduce cockpit protection, combining an Aeroscreen and the Halo used in Formula One, from the 2020 season onwards. The cockpit protection was built by Red Bull Advanced Technologies in a collaborative effort with Dallara. The combination of aeroscreen and halo is designed to improve safety standards by deflecting debris away from a driver's head and was originally developed for use in Formula One and IndyCar before its application was expanded to other open-wheel championships. On November 3, 2019, it was announced the Team Penske owner Roger Penske had purchased IndyCar, LLC and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Penske also announced he will step down as full-time race strategist. On January 6, 2020, IndyCar announced the transactions were formally complete. Penske officially becomes just the fourth owner in Indianapolis Motor Speedway's history and marks the first time since 1945 where ownership of the Speedway has changed hands.
Confirmed entries The following teams, entries, and drivers have been announced to compete in the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season. All teams will use a spec Dallara DW12 chassis with UAK18 aero kit and Firestone tires.
TeamEngineNo.Driver(s)Round(s)A. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet4 Charlie KimballAll14 Tony Kanaan1, 5–9 Sébastien Bourdais12–14 Dalton Kellett 2–4, 10–11417, 12–13Andretti AutosportHonda26 Zach Veach1–11 James Hinchcliffe12–1427 Alexander RossiAll28 Ryan Hunter-ReayAll29 James Hinchcliffe1–2, 7Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport88 Colton HertaAllAndretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb-Agajanian98 Marco AndrettiAllArrow McLaren SPChevrolet5 Pato O'WardAll7 Oliver Askew 1–11, 14 Hélio Castroneves12–1366 Fernando Alonso 7CarlinChevrolet 59 Conor Daly1, 5–6, 8–9 Max Chilton2–4, 7, 10–14Chip Ganassi RacingHonda8 Marcus EricssonAll9 Scott DixonAll10 Felix RosenqvistAllDale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing, Byrd & BelardiHonda51 James Davison 7Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh55 Álex Palou AllDale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan18 Santino FerrucciAllDragonSpeed USAChevrolet81 Ben Hanley 7Dreyer & Reinbold RacingChevrolet24 Sage Karam2, 7, 12–1367 J. R. Hildebrand7Ed Carpenter RacingChevrolet20 Ed Carpenter1, 5–9 Conor Daly2–4, 10–1421 Rinus VeeKay All47 Conor Daly7Meyer Shank RacingHonda60 Jack HarveyAllRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda15 Graham RahalAll30 Takuma SatoAllRLL with Citrone/Buhl Autosport45 Spencer Pigot2, 7Team PenskeChevrolet1 Josef NewgardenAll3 Hélio Castroneves7 Scott McLaughlin 1412 Will PowerAll22 Simon PagenaudAll
Team changes Formula One team McLaren Racing announced on August 1, 2019, it would join the series in 2020 in partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports under the name Arrow McLaren Racing SP. The team will field two full-time entries. As a result of McLaren partnership, the team officially agreed to end its engine partner deal with Honda to allow Chevrolet to supply Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team as it was announced on August 9, 2019. On October 25, 2019, the joint venture unveiled a new logo and confirmed the team's name as Arrow McLaren SP. On September 21, 2019, it was announced that Andretti Autosport would field a fifth entry for Colton Herta under the name Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport, partnering with Mike Harding and George Michael Steinbrenner IV of the previously independent team Harding Steinbrenner Racing. On November 8, 2019, Meyer Shank Racing, after competing part-time in 2017, 2018, and 2019, announced that they would expand to a full-time program in 2020 with Jack Harvey. The team retained its Honda power and entered a technical partnership with Andretti Technologies after 2 years partnering with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. On December 19, 2019, Dale Coyne Racing announced a partnership with 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans winners Team Goh to run Álex Palou for the full season. On December 24, 2019, DragonSpeed released a schedule of six races for 2020, including the 104th Indianapolis 500. While 2019 driver Ben Hanley had previously been tipped to return, the December announcement did not confirm any drivers. On January 13, 2020, it was announced that Hanley would drive for DragonSpeed at the first round in St. Petersburg. On May 20, 2020, David Malsher-Lopez from Motorsport.com reported that DragonSpeed were revising their IndyCar schedule to start at the Indianapolis 500, with additional races depending on their concurrent European Le Mans Series and WeatherTech SportsCar Championship commitments. On January 7, 2020, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing revealed to RACER that they would be expanding to a 4-race program in 2020. Team owner Dennis Reinbold revealed that Sage Karam would be back with the team in 2020, but did not specify how many rounds, or which rounds, Karam would be entering. On January 10, 2020, in an interview with IndyStar, Reinbold clarified that Karam would be driving their car in the rounds at St. Petersburg, Indianapolis, and Toronto. On February 21, 2020, Citrone/Buhl Autosport, a partnership between Nick and Robert Citrone and Tom and Robbie Buhl, announced their intentions to partner with an existing team to enter the IndyCar Series at the GMR Grand Prix and attempt to qualify for the 2020 Indianapolis 500. On February 27, 2020, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced a partnership with Citrone/Buhl Autosport and Spencer Pigot will drive their entry in the GMR Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. On June 2, 2020, Carlin announced that its No. 31 entry would not race at Texas due to funding issues.
Driver changes On October 8, 2019 Chip Ganassi Racing announced that Marcus Ericsson would join the team, leaving Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to drive the revived No. 8 car in 2020. On October 28, 2019 Arrow McLaren SP relieved James Hinchcliffe of his driving duties and signed 2019 Indy Lights champion Oliver Askew and former Carlin driver and 2018 Indy Lights champion Pato O'Ward to fill their two seats. On November 15, 2019, Ed Carpenter Racing announced that Spencer Pigot would not be returning to the team in 2020. On November 20, ECR announced Rinus VeeKay had been signed to drive the No. 21 full-time. On November 22, 2019, it was announced that Sébastien Bourdais would not return to Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan due to a new need for funding. The same day, Bourdais confirmed his exit from the IndyCar Series after signing to drive for JDC-Miller Motorsports in the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. On January 23, 2020, the team announced that Santino Ferrucci, who drove the No. 19 car for Dale Coyne Racing in 2019, would switch to the Vasser-Sullivan-supported No. 18 entry to replace Bourdais. On December 9, 2019, Ed Carpenter Racing announced that Conor Daly would contest the road and street circuit races in the team's No. 20 entry with sponsorship from the United States Air Force, and would pilot a third entry for the team in the Indianapolis 500. He replaces Ed Jones, who will drive for Audi Sport Team WRT in the 2020 DTM season. Daly will also compete the five other oval events in Carlin's No. 59, replacing Max Chilton who quit racing ovals in 2019. On January 22, 2020, A. J. Foyt Enterprises named Charlie Kimball the driver of their No. 4 entry, marking his return to full-time competition after running a partial schedule for Carlin in 2019. On January 29, 2020, Tony Kanaan announced that 2020 would be his final season as a primary driver in IndyCar. He will race in the six oval events in the No. 14 for A. J. Foyt Enterprises. On February 4, 2020 A. J. Foyt Enterprises confirmed that driving duties for the No. 14 on the road and street tracks would be split between Sébastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett. Kellett will also drive the team's third entry in the Indianapolis 500. On February 5, 2020, Team Penske confirmed that defending Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin (a driver for the Supercars team Penske co-owned at the time) would make his IndyCar debut at the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis road course. Hélio Castroneves, who drove a fourth Penske car at both Indianapolis races in 2018 and 2019, will only race in the 2020 Indianapolis 500 for Penske. On March 27, 2020, it was revealed that McLaughlin would no longer be making his IndyCar debut at the GMR Grand Prix due to the rescheduling of the race. On September 17, it was confirmed that McLaughlin would make his debut in the final race of the season in St. Petersburg. On February 19, 2020, Andretti Autosport announced that James Hinchcliffe would race in three events in the team's No. 29 entry with sponsorship from Genesys. He will be driving at the GMR Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and the Genesys 600. On February 25, 2020, Fernando Alonso, who attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 with McLaren Racing in 2019, announced that he would be driving for Arrow McLaren SP at the 2020 Indianapolis 500. On March 10, 2020, Carlin announced that Felipe Nasr, who races full-time with Action Express Racing in the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, would make his IndyCar debut in St. Petersburg. On September 23, 2020, Andretti Autosport announced that Zach Veach would leave the team ahead of the Harvest Grand Prix. On September 25, the team announced that James Hinchcliffe would take over the No. 26 entry for the remainder of the season. On September 24, 2020, Arrow McLaren SP announced that Oliver Askew has not been medically cleared to drive the Harvest Grand Prix after Askew reported balance and coordination issues after the round at Mid-Ohio. The team subsequently announced that Hélio Castroneves would fill in for Askew at the Harvest Grand Prix.
Schedule The 17-race schedule for 2020 was initially announced on September 1, 2019; there was one change from the 2019 IndyCar Series calendar with Pocono Raceway being replaced by Richmond Raceway, the latter track returning to the series for the first time since 2009. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, ten races were cancelled (including the Detroit doubleheader and a makeshift second race at Laguna Seca), five rescheduled, and six replacement races added.
During the delay to start the season, many of the IndyCar series drivers participated in the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge.
Icon Legend Oval/Speedway Road course Street circuit
Rd. Date Race name Track City 1 June 6 Genesys 300 Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas 2 July 4 GMR Grand Prix Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Speedway, Indiana 3 July 11REV Group Grand Prix presented by AMR Doubleheader Road AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin 4 July 12 5 July 17 Iowa INDYCAR 250s Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa 6 July 18 7 August 23 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, Indiana 8 August 29 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline World Wide Technology Raceway Madison, Illinois 9 August 30 10 September 12 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 11 September 13 12 October 2INDYCAR Harvest GP Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road CourseSpeedway, Indiana 13 October 3 14 October 25 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida References:Latest official schedule updates from IndyCar
Schedule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic