Seasons
Further information: American Championship Car Racing#National championsFollowing the merger of CART/Champ Car into the Indy Racing League in 2008, the IRL acquired all intellectual property and historic records.
| Season | Champion | Rookie of the Year | Most Popular Driver | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Team | Chassis | Engine | |||
| 19961 | Scott Sharp Buzz Calkins |
A. J. Foyt Enterprises Bradley Motorsports |
Lola Reynard |
Ford-Cosworth Ford-Cosworth |
not awarded | not awarded |
| 1996-97 | Tony Stewart | Team Menard | G-Force | Oldsmobile | Jim Guthrie | Arie Luyendyk |
| 1998 | Kenny Bräck | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Dallara | Oldsmobile | Robby Unser | Arie Luyendyk |
| 1999 | Greg Ray | Team Menard | Dallara | Oldsmobile | Scott Harrington | Scott Goodyear |
| 2000 | Buddy Lazier | Hemelgarn Racing | Dallara | Oldsmobile | Airton Daré | Al Unser, Jr. |
| 2001 | Sam Hornish, Jr. | Panther Racing | Dallara | Oldsmobile | Felipe Giaffone | Sarah Fisher |
| 2002 | Sam Hornish, Jr. | Panther Racing | Dallara | Chevrolet | Laurent Rédon | Sarah Fisher |
| 2003 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | G-Force | Toyota | Dan Wheldon2 | Sarah Fisher |
| 2004 | Tony Kanaan | Andretti Green Racing | Dallara | Honda | Kosuke Matsuura | Sam Hornish, Jr. |
| 2005 | Dan Wheldon | Andretti Green Racing | Dallara | Honda | Danica Patrick | Danica Patrick |
| 20063 | Sam Hornish, Jr. | Penske Racing | Dallara | Honda | Marco Andretti | Danica Patrick |
| 2007 | Dario Franchitti | Andretti Green Racing | Dallara | Honda | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Danica Patrick |
| 2008 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara | Honda | Hideki Mutoh | Danica Patrick4 |
| 2009 | Dario Franchitti | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara | Honda | Raphael Matos | Danica Patrick |
| 2010 | Dario Franchitti | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara | Honda | Alex Lloyd | Danica Patrick |
| 20115 | Dario Franchitti | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara | Honda | James Hinchcliffe | Dan Wheldon6 |
| 2012 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara | Chevrolet | Simon Pagenaud | James Hinchcliffe |
- ^ In 1996, Scott Sharp and Buzz Calkins were tied in the final standings and were declared co-champions. Calkins had one win, as opposed to Sharp being winless, but no tiebreakers were in place.
- ^ Although it was Dixon's first year in IndyCar and he won the championship, he was not considered a rookie because of earlier ChampCar experience.
- ^ In 2006, Sam Hornish, Jr. and Dan Wheldon tied in the final standings for first place. This time, IndyCar had tiebreakers, and Hornish clinched the championship by having more victories than Wheldon during the season.
- ^ Although no report was officially released about it in 2008, IndyCar.com confirmed in 2009 that Danica Patrick being named Most Popular Driver was her "fifth consecutive" win of the award.
- ^ The 2011 season was originally supposed to end at Las Vegas, but the death of Dan Wheldon in an early crash caused IndyCar to abandon the race. The points reset to the standings as of the scheduled penultimate race at Kentucky, with Franchitti winning the championship.
- ^ Posthumously awarded to Dan Wheldon by a vote of members on the official IndyCar Nation website. This marked the first time a part-time driver won the award.
Read more about this topic: Indy Car Series
Famous quotes containing the word seasons:
“Therefore all seasons shall be sweet to thee,
Whether the summer clothe the general earth
With greenness, or the redbreast sit and sing
Betwixt the tufts of snow on the bare branch
Of mossy apple-tree,”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)
“For winter’s rains and ruins are over,
And all the seasons of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.”
—A.C. (Algernon Charles)
“The seasons change their manners, as the year
Had found some months asleep and leapt them over.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)