2011 IndyCar Series (The Open-Wheel Revival)

The 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 16th season of the IndyCar Series and the 100th recognized season of American open-wheel motor racing. The season was sanctioned by IndyCar and was part of the Mazda Road to Indy. The season began in March and concluded in October, consisting of seventeen events.
It was the final season running the Dallara IR-05 spec cars, which had been the series' sole chassis supplier since 2007. It was also the final season running the Honda Indy V8 naturally-aspirated engines, which had been the series' sole engine supplier since 2006. The events took place in twelve states of the United States, as well Canada, Brazil, and Japan. The schedule featured ten street/road courses and eight on oval tracks. The premier event was the 95th Indianapolis 500, won by Dan Wheldon.
Dario Franchitti claimed his fourth IndyCar Series Championship title. He went into the final race of the season leading Will Power by 18 points. However, the race and the season were both marred by a 15-car pile-up early in the race that claimed Wheldon's life. The race was abandoned after 12 completed laps and the final points total reverted to the previous event, with Franchitti winning the title.
Rookie of the Year honors went to Canadian James Hinchcliffe, who led American J. R. Hildebrand in the rookie standings by 6 points going into the final race. Hildebrand's season was highlighted by a nearly winning the Indianapolis 500. His 2nd-place finish at Indy earned him top rookie honors for the race.
This season marked the end of several drivers' IndyCar careers. After 11-seasons, this season would mark the end of two-time series runner up Davey Hamilton's career. Hamilton would later partner with Sam Schmidt to form Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports a team that would last for two seasons, before changing to Schmidt Peterson Motorsports from 2014 onwards. Vítor Meira was another who made 2011 his final season. In his career, Meira set the record for the most podiums without a win, with 15. Paul Tracy would make an attempt to find a car for 2012, but was unsuccessful in doing so, making 2011 his final season in IndyCar also. Bertrand Baguette would shift his focus to sports cars for 2012, racing in the World Endurance Championship. Raphael Matos would only race until the Indy 500 and for 2012 he would switch to Stock Car Brasil. Danica Patrick would head to NASCAR for 2011 leaving an open seat at Andretti Autosport. Two-time race winner Tomas Scheckter would make his final starts of his career across several teams in 2011. Scheckter currently resides in the United Kingdom. Buddy Rice would be yet another to make 2011 his final season. Rice collected three wins in his IndyCar career. Finally 2005 Series Champion Dan Wheldon. Wheldon would sign a contract to race for Andretti Autosport for 2012 driving the number 27 car, replacing Danica Patrick. Unfortunately, Wheldon would be tragically killed in a horrific accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway that would also injure three other drivers, bringing an end to his 10-season career.
This would be the final season for Versus broadcasting IndyCar. Versus would be rebranded into NBC Sports for 2012, a name that has continued to this day (2024). ESPN would continue to also broadcast certain races as well.
== Series news ==
* The 95th Indianapolis 500 marked the third race of the three-year-long Centennial era, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 100th anniversary of the first Indianapolis 500-mile race.
* On January 11, the series made several announcements with regards to the upcoming season:
** The "restart zone" on ovals were moved from turn 3 to just before the start/finish line.
** Restart procedures would mimic those of NASCAR, including double-file restarts, separate pitting for lead lap and non-lead lap cars, and the waving around of lapped cars that did not pit. The "free pass" rule would not be implemented.
** Pit stall selection for each race would be determined by the qualifying order of the previous round at the track of the same type (e.g., road course or oval). Exceptions to this will be the season opener at St. Petersburg, which would be set by final entrants' points from 2010, and the Indy 500, which carries its own pit selection process.
* Firestone has signed an extension to remain as the series' sole tire supplier through 2013.
== Schedule ==
Rnd	Race Name 	Track 	Track Type 	Date 	TV
1 	Cafés do Brasil Indy 300 	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida 	Intermediate Oval	March 6 	Versus
2 	Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 	Streets of St. Petersburg, Florida 	Street Course 	March 27 	ABC
3 	Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy Credit Union	Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama 	Road Course 	April 10 	Versus
4 	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach 	Streets of Long Beach, California 	Street Course 	April 17 	Versus
5 	Jimmy Bryan Memorial 	Arizona State Raceway, Avondale, Arizona 	One-Mile Oval 	April 23 	Versus
6 	Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestlé 	Streets of São Paulo, Brazil 	Street Course 	May 1-2 	Versus
7 	95th Indianapolis 500 	Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana 	Superspeedway 	May 29 	ABC
8 	Firestone Twin 275s 	Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas 	Intermediate Oval	June 5 	Versus
9 	California 500 	California Speedway, Fontana, California 	Superspeedway 	June 12 	ABC
10 	The Milwaukee 225 	Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin 	One-Mile Oval 	June 19 	ABC
11 	Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer 	Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa 	Short Oval 	June 25 	Versus
12 	Michigan 500 	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan 	Superspeedway 	July 3 	ABC
13 	Honda Indy 225 	Pikes Peak International Raceway, Fountain, Colorado 	Intermediate Oval	July 10 	Versus
14 	Honda Indy Toronto 	Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 	Street Course 	July 18 	Versus
15 	Edmonton Indy 	Edmonton City Centre Airport, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 	Airport Course 	July 24 	Versus
16 	RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300 	Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas 	Intermediate Oval	July 30 	Versus
17 	Honda Indy 200 presented by Westfield Insurance 	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio 	Road Course 	August 7 	Versus
18 	MoveThatBlock.com Indy 225 	New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire 	One-Mile Oval 	August 14 	ABC
19 	Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 	Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois 	Intermediate Oval	August 21 	Versus
20 	Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma 	Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California 	Road Course 	August 28 	Versus
21 	Grand Prix of Baltimore 	Streets of Baltimore, Maryland 	Street Course 	September 4 	Versus
22 	GoDaddy.com 225 	Pennsylvania International Speedway, Nazareth, Pennsylvania	One-Mile Oval 	September 11	Versus
23 	Indy Japan Grand Prix 	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, Tochigi, Japan 	Road Course 	September 18	Versus
24 	Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen 	Watkins Glen International Raceway, Watkins Glen, New York 	Road Course 	September 26	Versus
25 	Kentucky Indy 300 	Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Kentucky 	Intermediate Oval	October 2 	Versus
26 	IZOD IndyCar World Championship presented by Honda 	Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada 	Intermediate Oval	October 16 	ABC
* The São Paulo Indy 300 was started on Sunday, May 1, and was completed on Monday, May 2 following torrential rain.
* The Indy Japan 300 was moved from the oval to the road course at Twin Ring Motegi following damage to the oval caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The oval would return in 2012.
=== Schedule development ===
==== Existing contracts ====
* The São Paulo Indy 300 has a contract through 2019.
* The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will continue through 2013. City officials look to extend the contract through 2014.
* Iowa Speedway has been finalized a two-year extension through 2011.
* Infineon Raceway signed an extension through the 2011 season.
* An agreement has been signed with the city of Long Beach to extend the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach to 2015 with an option through 2020.
* Barber Motorsports Park signed a three-year deal through 2012.
* Mid-Ohio has a contract through 2011.
* The Octane Racing Group, who promotes the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Canada and the NASCAR Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, will take over as promoters of the Honda Edmonton Indy, having agreed a three-year extension. The race was announced as "canceled" on November 3, 2010, due to an impasse in negotiations between the race promoters and the city of Edmonton. However, negotiations to revive the race restarted the next week. On November 26, 2010, the Edmonton, Alberta city council voted to restore the Honda Edmonton Indy using extra funding from private sources and new parking revenue. INDYCAR officially announced the race's return to the schedule on January 11, 2011.
==== New or returning races ====
* The Grand Prix of Baltimore made its debut on September 2–4, 2011. The event took place on a 2.4-mile street course around the Inner Harbor and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The contract runs through the 2015 season.
* A race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire returned on August 14, 2011, as an official announcement took place prior to the June 27, 2010 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at the facility. The track last held an IndyCar event in 1998 and has since been sold to Speedway Motorsports, which has IndyCar races at Texas, Kentucky, and Infineon. The original date was set for July 31, but was moved following the 2011 NASCAR schedule realignment.
* The Milwaukee Mile returned to the schedule in 2011.
* The season finale was held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The IZOD IndyCar World Championship would offer a cash prize of $5 million to any driver who wins the race from another racing discipline and/or is not an IndyCar Series regular.
== Confirmed entries ==
This chart reflects confirmed participants only. All drivers competed in identical Honda HI11R V8-powered, Firestone Firehawk-shod and Dallara IR-05 chassis.
Team 	No.	Drivers
A. J. Foyt Enterprises 	14 	Vítor Meira
A. J. Foyt Enterprises 	41 	Bruno Junqueira
A. J. Foyt Enterprises 	41 	Ryan Hunter-Reay
AFS Racing 	17 	Raphael Matos
AFS / Sam Schmidt Motorsports 	17 	Martin Plowman (R)
AFS / Sam Schmidt Motorsports 	17 	Hideki Mutoh
AFS / Sam Schmidt Motorsports 	17 	Wade Cunningham (R)
Andretti Autosport 	7 	Danica Patrick
Andretti Autosport 	26 	Marco Andretti
Andretti Autosport 	27 	Mike Conway
Andretti Autosport 	28 	Ryan Hunter-Reay
Andretti Autosport 	43 	John Andretti
Bryan Herta Autosport 	98 	Dan Wheldon
Bryan Herta Autosport 	98 	Alex Tagliani
Chip Ganassi Racing 	9 	Scott Dixon
Chip Ganassi Racing 	10 	Dario Franchitti
Chip Ganassi Racing 	38 	Graham Rahal
Chip Ganassi Racing 	83 	Charlie Kimball (R)
Conquest Racing 	34 	Sebastián Saavedra (R)
Conquest Racing 	34 	João Paulo de Oliveira (R)
Conquest Racing 	34 	Dillon Battistini (R)
Conquest Racing 	36 	Pippa Mann (R)
Dale Coyne Racing 	18 	James Jakes (R)
Dale Coyne Racing 	19 	Sébastien Bourdais
Dale Coyne Racing 	19 	Alex Lloyd
Dragon Racing 	8 	Paul Tracy
Dragon Racing 	8 	Ho-Pin Tung (R)
Dragon Racing 	88 	Ho-Pin Tung (R)
Dragon Racing 	20 	Scott Speed (R)
Dragon Racing 	20 	Patrick Carpentier
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	11 	Davey Hamilton
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	22 	Justin Wilson
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	22 	Simon Pagenaud (R)
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	22 	Tomas Scheckter
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	22 	Giorgio Pantano (R)
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	22 	Townsend Bell
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	23 	Paul Tracy
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	24 	Ana Beatriz (R)
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 	24 	Simon Pagenaud (R)
HVM Racing 	78 	Simona de Silvestro
HVM Racing 	78 	Simon Pagenaud (R)
KV Racing Technology—Lotus 	5 	Takuma Sato
KV Racing Technology—Lotus 	59 	E. J. Viso
KV Racing Technology—Lotus 	82 	Tony Kanaan
Newman/Haas Racing 	2 	Oriol Servià
Newman/Haas Racing 	06 	James Hinchcliffe (R)
Panther Racing 	4 	J. R. Hildebrand (R)
Panther Racing 	44 	Buddy Rice
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15 	Jay Howard
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	30 	Bertrand Baguette
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	30 	Pippa Mann (R)
Sam Schmidt Motorsports 	77 	Alex Tagliani
Sam Schmidt Motorsports 	77 	Dan Wheldon
Sam Schmidt Motorsports 	88 	Jay Howard
Sam Schmidt Motorsports 	99 	Townsend Bell
Sam Schmidt Motorsports 	99 	Wade Cunningham (R)
Sarah Fisher Racing 	57 	Tomas Scheckter
Sarah Fisher Racing 	67 	Ed Carpenter
SH Racing 	07 	Tomas Scheckter
Team Penske 	3 	Hélio Castroneves
Team Penske 	6 	Ryan Briscoe
Team Penske 	12 	Will Power
== Results ==
Rnd	Rnd	Race Name 	Pole position 	Fastest lap 	Most laps led 	Winning driver 	Winning team
1 	1 	Homestead 	Scott Dixon 	Marco Andretti 	Ryan Hunter-Reay 	Ryan Hunter-Reay 	Andretti Autosport
2 	2 	St. Petersburg	Will Power 	Hélio Castroneves 	Dario Franchitti 	Dario Franchitti 	Chip Ganassi Racing
3 	3 	Barber 	Will Power 	Scott Dixon 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Team Penske
4 	4 	Long Beach 	Will Power 	Dario Franchitti 	Ryan Briscoe 	Mike Conway 	Andretti Autosport
5 	5 	Phoenix 	Takuma Sato 	Marco Andretti 	Danica Patrick 	Danica Patrick 	Andretti Autosport
7 	7 	Indianapolis 	Alex Tagliani 	Dario Franchitti 	Scott Dixon 	Dan Wheldon 	Bryan Herta Autosport
8 	R1 	Texas 	Alex Tagliani 	E. J. Viso 	Dario Franchitti 	Dario Franchitti 	Chip Ganassi Racing
8 	R2 	Texas 	Tony Kanaan 	Scott Dixon 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Team Penske
9 	9 	California 	Dario Franchitti 	Paul Tracy 	Hélio Castroneves 	Hélio Castroneves 	Team Penske
10 	10 	Milwaukee 	Dario Franchitti 	Dario Franchitti 	Dario Franchitti 	Dario Franchitti 	Chip Ganassi Racing
11 	11 	Iowa 	Takuma Sato 	Alex Tagliani 	Dario Franchitti 	Marco Andretti 	Andretti Autosport
12 	12 	Michigan 	Paul Tracy 	Will Power 	Scott Dixon 	Graham Rahal 	Chip Ganassi Racing
13 	13 	Pikes Peak 	Hélio Castroneves	Danica Patrick 	Alex Tagliani 	Alex Tagliani 	Sam Schmidt Motorsports
14 	14 	Toronto 	Will Power 	Justin Wilson 	Will Power 	Dario Franchitti 	Chip Ganassi Racing
15 	15 	Edmonton 	Takuma Sato 	Sébastien Bourdais 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Team Penske
16 	16 	Kansas 	Marco Andretti 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Ryan Hunter-Reay 	Andretti Autosport
17 	17 	Mid-Ohio 	Scott Dixon 	Scott Dixon 	Scott Dixon 	Scott Dixon 	Chip Ganassi Racing
18 	18 	New Hampshire 	Dario Franchitti 	Scott Dixon 	Dario Franchitti 	Ryan Hunter-Reay 	Andretti Autosport
19 	19 	Chicagoland 	Takuma Sato 	J. R. Hildebrand 	Will Power 	Dario Franchitti 	Chip Ganassi Racing
20 	20 	Sonoma 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Team Penske
21 	21 	Baltimore 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Team Penske
22 	22 	Nazareth 	Will Power 	Takuma Sato 	Ryan Hunter-Reay 	Ryan Hunter-Reay 	Andretti Autosport
23 	23 	Motegi 	Scott Dixon 	Giorgio Pantano 	Scott Dixon 	Scott Dixon 	Chip Ganassi Racing
24 	24 	Watkins Glen 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Will Power 	Team Penske
25 	25 	Kentucky 	Will Power 	Ed Carpenter 	Dario Franchitti 	Ed Carpenter 	Sarah Fisher Racing
26 	26 	Las Vegas 	Tony Kanaan 	Race abandoned after 12 laps due to fatal crash of Dan Wheldon	Race abandoned after 12 laps due to fatal crash of Dan Wheldon	Race abandoned after 12 laps due to fatal crash of Dan Wheldon	Race abandoned after 12 laps due to fatal crash of Dan Wheldon
Category:The Open-Wheel Revival