2009 Indy Car Series Season
The 2009 IndyCar Series season 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 seasons 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 a 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.
Read more about 2009 Indy Car Series Season: 2009 IndyCar Series Schedule, Team and Driver Chart, Series News, Team and Driver News, Testing, Race Results, Final Driver Standings
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