The 2008 IndyCar Series was the 13th season of the IndyCar Series. It was the 97th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. It began on March 29, 2008, and ended on September 7 after 17 point-scoring races, plus a non-championship event on October 26.
The season was historically significant, as IndyCar became the single major open wheel racing series in the United States. After 12 years of direct competition, the managements of Indy Racing League and Champ Car announced an agreement to become a single entity in February, which led to the cancellation of the 2008 Champ Car World Series. A number of teams, drivers and race events joined the series, bolstering numbers and signaling a new era for open wheel racing in the United States after years of sporting and financial hardship.
Scott Dixon, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, achieved his second championship and the first 'unified' title by winning six races, including his first victory at the Indianapolis 500, becoming the third driver in a row to complete the IndyCar–Indy 500 double in the same season. Hideki Mutoh, driving for Andretti Green Racing, won Rookie of the Year honors.
Background and series news Unification with Champ Car On January 23, 2008, Robin Miller reported that Tony George had offered to Champ Car management a proposal that included free cars and engine leases to Champ Car teams willing to run the entire 2008 IndyCar Series schedule in exchange for adding Champ Car's dates at Long Beach, Toronto, Edmonton, Mexico City, and Australia to the IndyCar Series schedule, effectively uniting American open wheel racing. The offer was initially made in November 2007. On February 10, 2008, Tony George, along with IRL representatives Terry Angstadt and Brian Barnhart, plus former Honda executive Robert Clarke, traveled to Japan to discuss moving the Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. Moving that race, or postponing it, would be required in order to accommodate the Long Beach Grand Prix, which was scheduled for the same weekend. Optimism following the meeting was high.
On February 19, 2008, Robin Miller reported on SPEED and Curt Cavin blogged on IndyStar.com that the managements of Indy Racing League and Champ Car had come to an agreement to become one entity. The move would effectively end a 12-year split and unite American Open Wheel racing. Meanwhile, Brian Barnhart announced that Tony George was negotiating the unification, and an inventory of available IndyCar chassis and equipment for the Champ Car teams was underway. On February 22, Cavin initially reported that no deal had been reached between the IRL and CCWS in a lengthy dinner meeting between George and CCWS president Kevin Kalkhoven the previous evening. Later in the day, however, the unification agreement was finally announced by IndyCar, with final details being provided in a press conference on February 27.
The new unified series was centered around IndyCar Series' existing schedule, car and engine/tires suppliers, signifying the end of the Champ Car World Series as a stand-alone series. It was also the end for the Panoz DP01 after just one year of service, and for Cosworth as an engine supplier in Indy car racing. Under the offer of free cars and engines, plus technical assistance from existing IndyCar teams, six of the nine teams scheduled to compete in Champ Car were able to continue operations in the series. The unification agreement enjoyed massive support from both sides of the Split and other racing competitors, though some criticism was levied over the late timing for Champ Car teams, the costly and forced obsolescence of the Panoz DP01, the loss of many staple Champ Car events and the perceived masquerading of a 'takeover' by IndyCar as a 'merger' deal.
Other news Prior to the unification, the bigger news surrounding IndyCar on the sporting side was the departure of its two most recent champions and Indianapolis 500 winners to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Reigning champion Dario Franchitti and three-time champion Sam Hornish Jr. elected to race in the popular stock car circuit, following in the steps of other former open-wheel drivers such as Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier, A. J. Allmendinger, Scott Speed and Max Papis. At the same time, four-time Champ Car champion Sébastien Bourdais had departed the rival series to join Formula 1, a year after Allmendinger went the NASCAR route that teammate Paul Tracy almost followed.
The field also lost Scott Sharp, the 1996 co-champion of the Indy Racing League, who departed the series after 12 seasons to drive in the American Le Mans Series after an acrimonious split with Rahal Letterman Racing. Franchitti, Hornish and Sharp combined for five championships, 46 wins and 36 pole positions during their open-wheel careers.
With the prospect of existing teams downsizing their full-time operations in an already thin field, IndyCar announced a revenue sharing plan entitled IndyCar TEAM (Team Enhancement and Allocation Matrix) for 2008. Teams would receive a minimum of US$1.2 million for each car competing in the full schedule. Race purses were eliminated for all events except for the Indianapolis 500. The top five finishers in each race were eligible for special cash bonuses. The total purse for the 2008 Indianapolis 500 increased with the winner receiving US$2.5 million, 33rd place paying no less than $270,000. Indy-only entries were eligible for the $270,000 minimum along with the full-season entries. The entire race purse totalled at least US$13.4 million, not including contingency awards. In 2007, race winner Dario Franchitti received $1,645,233, and last place Roberto Moreno won $224,805. The season champion won $1 million, as they had in earlier seasons. Second through fifth in the season championship were eligible for cash bonuses. During the off-season, IndyCar enlisted the services of Tony Cotman as Vice President of Competition, who had worked for Champ Car the previous three seasons as Vice President of Operations and race director.
Off the track, Hélio Castroneves became a massive sensation and attained celebrity status after participating and winning the fifth season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. An estimated audience of 24.90 million viewers saw Castroneves win the final show, with an average viewership of 21.67 million spectators over the season. Andretti Green Racing driver Danica Patrick, who already enjoyed major national recognition, further expanded her reach by prominently featuring in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Rule changes Semi-automatic paddle shifters became mandatory for full time series entrants, while remaining optional for Indianapolis 500-only entries. Cars were fitted with a "Zylon" synthetic-fiber intrusion barrier. Fuel mixture adjustment control was reinstated. For the oval track events, qualifying changed from a single-lap speed (over a two-lap attempt) to a four-lap speed, similar to the traditional method used at the Indianapolis 500 for most of its history. Due to the added cars brought by unification, the road and street course qualifying procedure was altered from a two-round format to a three-round 'knockout' qualifying format (similar to Formula One). Single-car qualifying was replaced by a pair of preliminary timed sessions, each composed of half of the field, where the six fastest drivers from each session would proceed to an additional timed session with 12 drivers. The six fastest drivers from that session would compete for the pole in the Firestone Fast Six.
Confirmed entries The following teams, entries, and drivers competed in the 2008 IndyCar Series season. TeamChassisEngineTireDriversRound(s)Ref(s) A. J. Foyt RacingDallaraHonda14 Darren Manning1-2, 3A, 4-17 Vítor MeiraNC41 Jeff Simmons5 Franck Perera 17 American Dream MotorsportsPanoz GF09CHonda88 Phil Giebler 5 Andretti Green RacingDallaraHonda7 Danica Patrick1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC11 Tony Kanaan1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC26 Marco Andretti1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC27 Hideki Mutoh 1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC Chip Ganassi RacingDallaraHonda9 Scott Dixon1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC10 Dan Wheldon1-2, 3A, 4-17 Dario FranchittiNC Conquest RacingDallaraPanoz DP011HondaCosworth1134 Franck Perera 1–2, 3B Jaime Camara 4–17, NC36 Enrique Bernoldi 1–2, 3B, 4-16 Alex Tagliani16–17, NC CURB/Agajanian/Beck MotorsportsDallaraHonda77 Roger Yasukawa3A985 Dale Coyne RacingDallaraPanoz DP011HondaCosworth1118 Bruno Junqueira1-2, 3B, 4-17, NC19 Mario Moraes 1-2, 3B, 4-17, NC Dreyer & Reinbold RacingDallaraHonda15 Buddy Rice1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC23 Milka Duno1, 4–5, 7–8, 10–12, 14, 16–17 Townsend Bell2, 3A, 6, 9, 13, 15, NC995 Hemelgarn Johnson RacingDallaraHonda91 Buddy Lazier5 HVM RacingDallaraPanoz DP011HondaCosworth1133 E. J. Viso 1–2, 3B, 4-10, 12–17, NC KV Racing TechnologyDallaraPanoz DP011HondaCosworth115 Oriol Servià1-2, 3B, 4-17, NC8 Will Power 1-2, 3B, 4-17, NC Luczo Dragon RacingDallaraHonda12 Tomas Scheckter4–5, 7, 15–17 Newman/Haas/Lanigan RacingDallaraPanoz DP011HondaCosworth1102 Justin Wilson 1-2, 3B, 4-17, NC06 Graham Rahal 2, 3B, 4–17, NC Pacific Coast MotorsportsPanoz DP011DallaraCosworth1Honda196 Mario Domínguez 3B, 5–7, 10, 12–13, 15 Panther RacingDallaraHonda4 Vítor Meira1-2, 3A, 4-17 Dan WheldonNC Rahal Letterman RacingDallaraHonda16 Alex Lloyd 517 Ryan Hunter-Reay1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC Roth RacingDallaraHonda24 Jay Howard 1–2, 3A, 4-5, 10 John Andretti5–925 Marty Roth1-2, 3A, 4–9, 11–17 Rubicon Race TeamDallaraHonda44 Max Papis5 Sarah Fisher RacingDallaraHonda67 Sarah Fisher5, 14, 17 Team PenskeDallaraHonda3 Hélio Castroneves1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC6 Ryan Briscoe1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC Vision RacingDallaraHonda2 A. J. Foyt IV1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC20 Ed Carpenter1-2, 3A, 4-17, NC22 Davey Hamilton5 Paul Tracy13Long Beach only entries Forsythe/Pettit RacingPanoz DP01Cosworth3 Paul Tracy3B7 Franck Montagny 3B37 David Martínez 3B KV Racing TechnologyPanoz DP01Cosworth12 Jimmy Vasser3B Minardi–HVM RacingPanoz DP01Cosworth4 Nelson Philippe 3B14 Roberto Moreno3B Pacific Coast MotorsportsPanoz DP01Cosworth29 Alex Figge 3B RocketsportsPanoz DP01Cosworth9 Antônio Pizzonia 3B10 Juho Annala 3B Walker RacingPanoz DP01Cosworth15 Alex Tagliani3B
1 The former Champ Car teams that transitioned to the IndyCar Series competed at the Grand Prix of Long Beach (round 3) instead of the Indy Japan 300 at Motegi, contested under Champ Car rules with the cars, engines and tires from the series.
Driver changes
Preseason
On October 3, 2007, reigning IndyCar champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti announced he would depart Andretti Green Racing to drive in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chip Ganassi Racing. On October 31, AGR announced rookie Hideki Mutoh would take his place in the No. 27 car. Honda-backed Mutoh switched from the Indy Pro Series, where he finished second in the standings with two wins. On November 8, 2007, Team Penske announced that Sam Hornish Jr. would move to Penske Racing to embark on a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series effort, effectively leaving the IndyCar Series after eight seasons. On November 13, Penske announced Ryan Briscoe as the new driver of the No. 6 car, returning to a full-time IndyCar seat after two seasons of part-time drives. Briscoe switched from Penske's LMP2 operation in the American Le Mans Series, where he scored two overall wins, and his Indianapolis 500 effort with Luczo Dragon Racing for 2007 was run on leased Penske equipment. On November 26, 2007, Roth Racing formalized its plans to expand to a full-time, two-car team. Team owner Marty Roth would return at the wheel of the No. 25 car, while the new No. 24 would be driven by rookie Jay Howard, who had competed in three Indy Pro Series starts that year after winning the championship in 2006. On December 18, 2007, A. J. Foyt Racing announced it had executed its option for a one-year contract extension with Darren Manning to remain as the driver of the No. 14 car.