2003 IndyCar Series

2003 IndyCar season
2003 IndyCar season
IndyCar Series
Season
Races	16
Start date	March 2
End date	October 17
Awards
Drivers' champion	Scott Dixon
Manufacturers' Cup	Toyota
Rookie of the Year	Dan Wheldon
Indianapolis 500 winner	Gil de Ferran
	← 2002 (IRL) 2004 →

Scott Dixon (left) won his first Drivers' Championship while Gil de Ferran (right) finished second in the championship while winning the 2003 Indianapolis 500.

The 2003 IRL IndyCar Series 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 after the season had officially ended.

2003 was also the first and only engine title for Toyota and also first Asian and Japanese car manufacturer to won IndyCar Series IRL-era engine manufacturer's title and thus ending seven-year American engine manufacturer's supremacy. As of 2024, 2003 was also the last chassis manufacturer title victory for G-Force Technologies to date.

Confirmed entries

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Rounds
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara G-Force^{[N 1]}	Toyota	5	Shigeaki Hattori	1–4
				Airton Daré^{[N 2]}	5
				Jaques Lazier	5–8
			14	A. J. Foyt IV	All
			41	Airton Daré	4
Access Motorsports	G-Force	Honda	13	Greg Ray	3–16
Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	7	Michael Andretti	1–4
			7	Dan Wheldon	16
			11	Tony Kanaan	All
			26	Dan Wheldon	4–15
			27	Dan Wheldon	3
				Dario Franchitti	1–2, 6
				Robby Gordon	4
				Bryan Herta	5, 7–16
Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Honda	54	Shinji Nakano	3–4
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	23	Sarah Fisher	All
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	24	Robbie Buhl	All
Fernández Racing	Dallara	Honda	55	Roger Yasukawa	All
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Buddy Lazier	2–14
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Richie Hearn	15–16
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Toyota	8	Scott Sharp	All
			31	Al Unser Jr.	All
			32	Tony Renna	4
Marlboro Team Penske	Dallara	Toyota	3	Hélio Castroneves	All
	Dallara		6	Gil de Ferran	1–2, 6–14, 16
	G-Force			Gil de Ferran	4–5, 15
	G-Force			Alex Barron	3
Mo Nunn Racing	Dallara	Toyota	12	Tora Takagi	11–12
	G-Force		12	Tora Takagi	1–10, 13–16
			20	Arie Luyendyk^{[N 3]}	4
			20	Alex Barron	4
			21	Felipe Giaffone	1–8, 14–16
			21	Alex Barron	9–13
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	Sam Hornish Jr.	All
			44	Robby McGehee	4
			98	Billy Boat	4
PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	18	Scott Mayer	1–3
				Jimmy Kite	4
				Ed Carpenter	14–16
Red Bull Cheever Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	52	Buddy Rice	1–13
Red Bull Cheever Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	52	Alex Barron	14–16
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	G-Force	Toyota	99	Richie Hearn	4
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Toyota	9	Scott Dixon	All
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Toyota	10	Tomas Scheckter	All
Team Menard	Dallara	Chevrolet	2	Jaques Lazier	1–4, 13
				Vítor Meira	5–12, 15–16
				Richie Hearn	14
			22	Vítor Meira	4
Team Rahal	Dallara	Honda	15	Kenny Bräck	All
Team Rahal	Dallara	Honda	19	Jimmy Vasser	4

Season Summary

Schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	City
1	March 2	Toyota Indy 300	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida
2	March 23	Purex Dial Indy 200	Phoenix International Raceway	Phoenix, Arizona
3	April 13	Indy Japan 300	Twin Ring Motegi	Motegi, Japan
4	May 25	87th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana
5	June 7	Bombardier 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas
6	June 15	Honda Indy 225	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Fountain, Colorado
7	June 28	SunTrust Indy Challenge	Richmond International Raceway	Richmond, Virginia
8	July 6	Kansas Indy 300	Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, Kansas
9	July 19	Firestone Indy 200	Nashville Superspeedway	Lebanon, Tennessee
10	July 27	Firestone Indy 400	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
11	August 10	Emerson Indy 250	Gateway International Raceway	Madison, Illinois
12	August 17	Belterra Casino Indy 300	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, Kentucky
13	August 24	Firestone Indy 225	Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania
14	September 7	Delphi Indy 300	Chicagoland Speedway	Joliet, Illinois
15	September 21	Toyota Indy 400	California Speedway	Fontana, California
16	October 12	Chevy 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas

BOLD indicates Superspeedways.

Race results

Rnd	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most Laps Led	Winner
1	Homestead-Miami	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan	Gil de Ferran	Scott Dixon
2	Phoenix	Tony Kanaan	Scott Dixon	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan
3	Twin Ring Motegi	Scott Dixon	Tomas Scheckter	Tony Kanaan	Scott Sharp
4	Indianapolis	Hélio Castroneves	Tony Kanaan	Tomas Scheckter	Gil de Ferran
5	Texas 1	Tomas Scheckter	Felipe Giaffone	Tomas Scheckter	Al Unser Jr.
6	Pikes Peak	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan	Scott Dixon	Scott Dixon
7	Richmond	Scott Dixon	Tomas Scheckter	Scott Dixon	Scott Dixon
8	Kansas	Scott Dixon	Tony Kanaan	Gil de Ferran	Bryan Herta
9	Nashville	Scott Dixon	Sam Hornish Jr.	Tony Kanaan	Gil de Ferran
10	Michigan	Tomas Scheckter	Bryan Herta	Sam Hornish Jr.	Alex Barron
11	Gateway	Hélio Castroneves	Scott Dixon	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves
12	Kentucky	Sam Hornish Jr.	Sarah Fisher	Sam Hornish Jr.	Sam Hornish Jr.
13	Nazareth	Scott Dixon	Sam Hornish Jr.	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves
14	Chicagoland	Richie Hearn	Bryan Herta	Tomas Scheckter	Sam Hornish Jr.
15	Fontana	Hélio Castroneves	Scott Dixon	Tomas Scheckter	Sam Hornish Jr.
16	Texas 2	Gil de Ferran	Tony Kanaan	Gil de Ferran	Gil de Ferran

Race summaries

Toyota Indy 300

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

Top ten results

Purex Dial Indy 200

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

Top ten results

Inaugural Indy Japan 300

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

Top ten results

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

Bombardier 500

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

Top ten results

Honda Indy 225

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

Top ten results

SunTrust Indy Challenge

This race was held June 28 at Richmond International Raceway. Scott Dixon won the pole.^[1] The race was originally scheduled for 250 laps, but shortened to 206 laps due to rain.^[2]

Top ten results

Kansas Indy 300

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

Top ten results

Firestone Indy 200

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

Top ten results

Firestone Indy 400

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

Top ten results

Emerson Indy 250

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

Top ten results

Belterra Casino Indy 300

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

Top ten results

Firestone Indy 225

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

Top ten results

Delphi Indy 300

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

Top ten results

Toyota Indy 400

This race was held September 21 at California Speedway. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.^[3] 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).^[4] This also makes it the de facto fastest ever 400 mile motor race beating the NASCAR record set during the 1999 Kmart 400.

Top ten results

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 end the race at lap 195 of 200. Because the race reached 1 lap past the halfway point the race was considered official. 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

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	Tora Takagi	12	22	8	5	3¹	6	13	18	7	6	7	18	14	9	18	7	317
11	Dan Wheldon RY			7	19	20	19	8	21	4	20	5	8	7	4	4	3	312
12	Roger Yasukawa R	14	17	21	10	9	17	11	7	15	8	18	12	8	8	7	10	301
13	Bryan Herta					5		14	1	12	19	21	3	3	3	22	5	277
14	Robbie 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	Wth	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 R	17	18	18	18	21	22	21	15	17	14	17	17	11	17	17	22	198
22	Vítor Meira				12	12	16	22	20	19	21	9	Wth			11	4	170
23	Jaques Lazier	20	6	12	29	19	21	16	10					Wth				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 R														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 R	21	19	24														26
32	Jimmy Kite				13													17
33	Robby Gordon				22													8
34	Airton Daré				24	Wth												6
35	Robby McGehee				25													5
36	Jimmy Vasser				26													4
37	Billy Boat				32													1
-	Arie Luyendyk				Wth													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)
Blank	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.
RY	Rookie of the Year
R	Rookie

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 Tora Takagi had 23 points deducted at Texas Motor Speedway due to unacceptable driving.

Footnotes

^ Used by Daré, by Hattori at Homestead and Motegi, and by Foyt IV in seven rounds: Motegi, Texas 1 and 2, Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky and Fontana.
^ Injured during a practice crash at Texas.
^ Injured during a practice crash at Indianapolis.

References

^ "Scott Dixon secures pole in Virginia". Taipei Times. Associated Press. June 29, 2003. p. 22. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
^ "Dixon wins rain-shortened race". ESPN. Associated Press. June 28, 2003. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
^ "Castroneves Races To Pole at California". WTHR. Associated Press. September 20, 2003. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
^ McGuire, Bill (September 21, 2003). "In With A Shout: California Victory Keeps Hornish In The Title Hunt". Autoweek. Retrieved April 2, 2024.

External links

[FoytGForce-1] Used by Daré, by Hattori at Homestead and Motegi, and by Foyt IV in seven rounds: Motegi, Texas 1 and 2, Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky and Fontana.

[Jaques-2] Injured during a practice crash at Texas.

[BarronArie-3] Injured during a practice crash at Indianapolis.

[4] "Scott Dixon secures pole in Virginia". Taipei Times. Associated Press. June 29, 2003. p. 22. Retrieved April 2, 2024.

[5] "Dixon wins rain-shortened race". ESPN. Associated Press. June 28, 2003. Retrieved April 2, 2024.

[6] "Castroneves Races To Pole at California". WTHR. Associated Press. September 20, 2003. Retrieved April 2, 2024.

[7] McGuire, Bill (September 21, 2003). "In With A Shout: California Victory Keeps Hornish In The Title Hunt". Autoweek. Retrieved April 2, 2024.

[N 1]

[N 2]

[N 3]

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[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e American Championship car racing (Indy car) seasons
AAA	1905 1906–1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955
USAC	1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95
CART	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
CCWS	2004 2005 2006 2007 ~~2008~~
IRL	1996 1996–97 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
IndyCar	2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Years marked in italics are not official championship years or upcoming seasons.

Confirmed entries

Season Summary

Schedule

Race results

Race summaries

Inaugural Indy Japan 300

Final driver standings

See also

Footnotes

References

External links