2003 IndyCar Series
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 2022, 2003  was also the last chassis manufacturer title victory for Panoz G-Force Technologies to date. Season Summary. Schedule. BOLD indicates Superspeedways. 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. The race was originally scheduled for 250 laps, but shortened to 206 laps due to rain . 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. 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). 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. Note: Tora Takagi had 23 points deducted at Texas Motor Speedway due to unacceptable driving.