The 2005 IRL IndyCar Series began on Sunday, March 6 and ended on Sunday, October 16. The season, which consisted of 17 races, was the 10th season of the IRL IndyCar Series since it split from CART in 1995.
Dan Wheldon was the dominant driver in the series in 2005, winning six races, including the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500, setting the record for most victories in an IRL season. However, the big story of the season was that of Rahal Letterman Racing's Danica Patrick, the fourth woman to compete in the Indy 500 and the first to lead a lap. She would eventually wind up in fourth. Danica's presence was a boost to the IRL's television ratings. The Indy 500's ratings were up 40% from the year before and subsequent races also saw a boost in ratings. Dan Wheldon also became the first IndyCar driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series overall driver's title, respectively, in the same season since Jacques Villeneuve in the 1995 PPG IndyCar World Series season and also the first in the Indy Racing League era.
The season was the first to introduce road courses and street circuits when the series held races at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International, where the series was previously known to have held events exclusively on oval tracks since the IRL/CART split in 1996. Wheldon also became the series' first road/street course winner when he won in St. Petersburg.
The season was also the last for Chevrolet in the series, who confirmed in August that they would not return to the IRL (Chevrolet returned in 2012). At the start of the season, only Panther Racing's Tomas Scheckter and Tomáš Enge raced Chevrolet powered cars (although A. J. Foyt IV also started racing for Chevy beginning with the AMBER Alert Portal Indy 300 at Kentucky). The manufacturer situation within the IRL was the hot issue during the second half of the season and continued into the off-season. Toyota announced that they would leave the series shortly after the 2005 season ended, leaving Honda as the only remaining manufacturer in the IRL. Honda extended their engine supply contract through 2009, despite expressly saying that they did not wish to be IRL's only supplier. The IRL announced that they extended their chassis supply contract with Panoz and Dallara through 2006.
Rule changes for 2005 A mandated switch to the single-point re-fueling systems used by some teams in 2004. The IRL only approved one type of fueling probe and buckeye, and these only work as a single-point system. In the approved system, two hoses coming from the storage tank combined at the fueling mechanism, handled by the fueler. The crew member previously responsible for the operation of the vent and jack was now free to operate only the jack. Cars raced on all ovals in the same configuration introduced at the 88th Indianapolis 500 in May 2004 with minimal aerodynamic changes. The changes were limited to specific areas of the underwing and sidepods. The IRL required teams to use the same engine cover as the previous year without modifications.
Teams were allowed to change engines prior to qualifying without penalty at the following events, which were scheduled to be three-day events: Homestead, St. Petersburg, Motegi, Texas, Milwaukee, Infineon, Watkins Glen, and California. The amount of methanol that teams were allowed to have in their trackside tanks was changed. Teams were allowed to carry 85 gallons for 187.5-mile races, 90 gallons for 200-mile events, 100 gallons for 225-mile events, 125 gallons for 260-mile races, 135 gallons for 300-mile events, 175 gallons for 400-mile events and 225 gallons for 500-mile events. The mandatory minimum weight of cars was 1,600 pounds, 75 pounds heavier than the oval minimum weight. The additional weight was attributed to the brake system, which consisted of an aluminum brake caliper, steel rotor and pad as specified by the IRL, as well as the limited slip differential in the gearbox. For the first time Firestone introduced the treaded rain tires only for road and street courses races if in case of rain weather.
Confirmed entries TeamChassisEngineNoDriversRoundsA. J. Foyt EnterprisesDallaraPanozToyotaChevrolet14 A. J. Foyt IV1–13, 15, 17 Jeff Bucknum (R)14, 1641 Larry Foyt (R)548 Felipe Giaffone5Aguri-Fernández RacingDelphi Fernández RacingPanozHonda5 Adrián Fernández58 Scott SharpAll55 Kosuke MatsuuraAllAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda7 Bryan HertaAll11 Tony KanaanAll26 Dan WheldonAll27 Dario FranchittiAllCheever RacingDallaraToyota51 Alex BarronAll83 Patrick CarpentierAllCURB/Agajanian/Beck MotorsportsDallaraChevrolet98 Arie Luyendyk Jr. (R)5Dreyer & Reinbold RacingDallaraHonda24 Roger YasukawaAll44 Jeff Bucknum (R)4–5 Thiago Medeiros (R)17Hemelgarn RacingDallaraToyota91 Paul Dana (R)1–2, 4 Jimmy Kite5–13, 15, 17Marlboro Team PenskeDallaraToyota3 Hélio CastronevesAll6 Sam Hornish Jr.AllNewman/Haas RacingPanozHonda36 Bruno Junqueira537 Sébastien Bourdais5Panther RacingDallaraChevrolet 2 Tomáš Enge (R) 1–9, 12–17 Buddy Lazier 10 Townsend Bell 11 4 Tomas Scheckter All95 Buddy Lazier5, 9, 11–12, 15Playa del RacingPanozToyota21 Jaques Lazier5Rahal Letterman RacingPanozHonda 15 Buddy Rice 1–4, 6–17 Kenny Bräck 5 16 Danica Patrick (R) All 17 Vítor Meira AllRoth RacingDallaraChevrolet25 Marty Roth (R)5Sam Schmidt MotorsportsPanozChevrolet70 Richie Hearn5Target Chip Ganassi RacingDallaraToyota9 Scott Dixon4Panoz1–3, 5–1710 Darren Manning1–10 Jaques Lazier11–13, 15, 17 Giorgio Pantano (R)14, 1633 Ryan Briscoe (R)1–15Vision RacingDallaraToyota 20 Ed Carpenter All22 Jeff Ward5
Schedule Icon Legend Oval/Speedway Road course Street circuit
RndDateRace NameTrackLocation1March 6Toyota Indy 300 Homestead-Miami SpeedwayHomestead, Florida2March 19XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 Phoenix International RacewayPhoenix, Arizona3April 3Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Streets of St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg, Florida4April 30Indy Japan 300 Twin Ring MotegiMotegi, Japan5May 2989th Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana6June 11Bombardier Learjet 500 Texas Motor SpeedwayFort Worth, Texas7June 25SunTrust Indy Challenge Richmond International RacewayRichmond, Virginia8July 3Argent Mortgage Indy 300 Kansas SpeedwayKansas City, Kansas9July 16Firestone Indy 200 Nashville SuperspeedwayLebanon, Tennessee10July 24ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225 The Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin11July 31Firestone Indy 400 Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan12August 14AMBER Alert Portal Indy 300 Kentucky SpeedwaySparta, Kentucky13August 21Honda Indy 225 Pikes Peak International RacewayFountain, Colorado14August 28Argent Mortgage Indy Grand Prix Infineon RacewaySonoma, California15September 11Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Chicagoland SpeedwayJoliet, Illinois16September 25Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix Watkins Glen InternationalWatkins Glen, New York17October 16Toyota Indy 400 California SpeedwayFontana, CaliforniaSource:
Results Rd.RacePole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace winnerDriverTeamChassisEngine1Homestead Tomas Scheckter Buddy Rice Dan Wheldon Dan WheldonAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda2Phoenix Bryan Herta Dario Franchitti Dan Wheldon Sam Hornish Jr.Team PenskeDallaraToyota3St. Petersburg Bryan Herta Dario Franchitti Ryan Briscoe Dan WheldonAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda4Motegi Sam Hornish Jr. Dan Wheldon Dario Franchitti Dan WheldonAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda5Indianapolis Tony Kanaan Tony Kanaan Sam Hornish Jr. Dan WheldonAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda6Texas Tomas Scheckter Tomáš Enge Tomas Scheckter Tomas ScheckterPanther RacingDallaraChevrolet7Richmond Sam Hornish Jr. Kosuke Matsuura Hélio Castroneves Hélio CastronevesTeam PenskeDallaraToyota8Kansas Danica Patrick Ryan Briscoe Dan Wheldon Tony KanaanAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda9Nashville Tomas Scheckter Scott Sharp Tony Kanaan Dario FranchittiAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda10Milwaukee Sam Hornish Jr. Tomas Scheckter Sam Hornish Jr. Sam Hornish Jr.Team PenskeDallaraToyota11Michigan Bryan Herta Townsend Bell Bryan Herta Bryan HertaAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda12Kentucky Danica Patrick Danica Patrick Dan Wheldon Scott SharpFernández RacingPanozHonda13Pikes Peak Hélio Castroneves Dario Franchitti Sam Hornish Jr. Dan WheldonAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda14Sonoma Ryan Briscoe Tony Kanaan Tony Kanaan Tony KanaanAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda15Chicagoland Danica Patrick Dario Franchitti Dan Wheldon Dan WheldonAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda16Watkins Glen Hélio Castroneves Scott Dixon Scott Dixon Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingPanozToyota17California Dario Franchitti Dan Wheldon Tomas Scheckter Dario FranchittiAndretti Green RacingDallaraHonda
Race summaries
Toyota Indy 300 On March 6, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dan Wheldon led 158 of 200 laps to get the victory. Tomas Scheckter sat on the pole.
Top Ten Results 26- Dan Wheldon 6- Sam Hornish Jr. 11- Tony Kanaan 17- Vítor Meira 3- Hélio Castroneves 10- Darren Manning 83- Patrick Carpentier 51- Alex Barron 14- A. J. Foyt IV 91- Paul Dana
XM Satellite Radio Indy 200 On March 19, at Phoenix International Raceway, Sam Hornish Jr. won his first race of the season. Bryan Herta sat on the pole. This would be the last time IndyCar would compete at Phoenix until the race was revived in 2016.
Top Ten Results 6- Sam Hornish Jr. 3- Hélio Castroneves 11- Tony Kanaan 27- Dario Franchitti 8- Scott Sharp 26- Dan Wheldon 7- Bryan Herta 10- Darren Manning 83- Patrick Carpentier 55- Kosuke Matsuura
Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg On April 3, the Honda Grand Prix on the Streets of St. Petersburg (Florida) marked the first non-oval event for the IndyCar Series. Dan Wheldon won his second race of the year. Bryan Herta sat on the pole. Andretti Green Racing drivers swept the top 4 finishing positions.
Top Ten Results 26- Dan Wheldon 11- Tony Kanaan 27- Dario Franchitti 7- Bryan Herta 17- Vítor Meira 9- Scott Dixon 15- Buddy Rice 83- Patrick Carpentier 10- Darren Manning 51- Alex Barron
Indy Japan 300 On April 30, at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan, Dan Wheldon won his third race of the season. Sam Hornish Jr. sat on the pole.
Top Ten Results 26- Dan Wheldon 8- Scott Sharp 15- Buddy Rice 16- Danica Patrick 7- Bryan Herta 11- Tony Kanaan 6- Sam Hornish Jr. 10- Darren Manning 55- Kosuke Matsuura 4- Tomas Scheckter
89th Indianapolis 500 On May 29, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Dan Wheldon won his first Indy 500 and his fourth race of the season. However, the focus of the race was on Danica Patrick who led 19 laps, the first time a woman has ever led a lap at Indy. Tony Kanaan sat on the pole.
Top Ten Results 26- Dan Wheldon 17- Vítor Meira 7- Bryan Herta 16- Danica Patrick 95- Buddy Lazier 27- Dario Franchitti 8- Scott Sharp 11- Tony Kanaan 3- Hélio Castroneves 33- Ryan Briscoe
Bombardier Learjet 500 On June 11, at Texas Motor Speedway, Tomas Scheckter won his first race of the season, sitting on the pole and leading for 119 of 200 laps. This was the last victory for Chevrolet engine in the series before the temporary withdrawal until 2011.
Top Ten Results 4- Tomas Scheckter 6- Sam Hornish Jr. 11- Tony Kanaan 8- Scott Sharp 3- Hélio Castroneves 26- Dan Wheldon 55- Kosuke Matsuura 27- Dario Franchitti 17- Vítor Meira 7- Bryan Herta
SunTrust Indy Challenge On June 25, at Richmond International Raceway, Hélio Castroneves won his first race of the season. Sam Hornish Jr. sat on the pole.
Top Ten Results 3- Hélio Castroneves 27- Dario Franchitti 83- Patrick Carpentier 4- Tomas Scheckter 26- Dan Wheldon 51- Alex Barron 2- Tomáš Enge 7- Bryan Herta 55- Kosuke Matsuura 16- Danica Patrick
Argent Mortgage Indy 300 On July 3, at Kansas Speedway, Tony Kanaan won by a fraction of a second over Dan Wheldon and Vítor Meira. Danica Patrick won her first career IndyCar Series pole.
Top Ten Results 11- Tony Kanaan 26- Dan Wheldon 17- Vítor Meira 27- Dario Franchitti 4- Tomas Scheckter 8- Scott Sharp 10- Darren Manning