The 2006 IRL IndyCar Series was an auto racing championship for American open-wheel cars that was sanctioned by the Indy Racing League (IRL). It was the 11th season of the IRL IndyCar Series and it encompassed the 95th national championship season with the rivaling Champ Car World Series' 2006 season. The season featured 14 races between March 26 and September 10. Sam Hornish Jr. of Team Penske won the series' premier event, the 90th Indianapolis 500, and the Drivers' Championship.
Dan Wheldon entered the season as the defending Drivers' Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner. In the off-season, Wheldon left Andretti Green Racing (AGR), the team with which he won the title in 2005, to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR). The season began under negative circumstances as three tracks (Phoenix International Raceway, California Speedway, and Pikes Peak International Raceway) were taken off the schedule and Honda was left as the series' sole engine provider. Additionally, rookie driver Paul Dana was killed in a crash during a warm-up session for the opening round at Homestead–Miami Speedway.
Castroneves quickly emerged as a championship contender, winning two of the first three races, but several crashes later in the season allowed Hornish Jr. to take the championship lead after the Kansas Lottery Indy 300 in July. Although CGR drivers Wheldon and Scott Dixon only won two races each, their consistency helped them continue their fight for the title. The four drivers' battle persisted into the season finale, the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at Chicagoland Speedway, which ended with Hornish Jr. and Wheldon tied for the championship. Wheldon led the most laps and won the race, but Hornish Jr. was awarded his third (and final) career championship on account of earning more wins in the season than Wheldon. Twelve of the 14 races in the season were won by either Team Penske or CGR.
Marco Andretti, Wheldon's replacement at AGR, was declared the Rookie of the Year for 2006, as he finished runner-up in the Indianapolis 500 and won the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, which made him the youngest winner of a major American open-wheel race until 2008.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers took part in the 2006 IndyCar Series. All entries competed with Honda engines and Firestone tires.
TeamChassisDrivers A. J. Foyt RacingDallara14 Felipe Giaffone1–8 Jeff Bucknum9–1441 Larry Foyt 4 Andretti Green RacingDallara1 Michael Andretti47 Bryan HertaAll11 Tony KanaanAll26 Marco Andretti All27 Dario Franchitti1–13 A. J. Foyt IV14 Cheever RacingDallara51 Eddie Cheever1–2, 4–8 Tomáš Enge352 Max Papis4 Chip Ganassi RacingDallaraPanoz 9 Scott Dixon All 10 Dan Wheldon All Dreyer & Reinbold RacingDallara5 Buddy Lazier1–4, 6–8, 11 Ryan Briscoe5, 9–10, 13 Sarah Fisher12, 1431 Al Unser Jr.4 Fernández RacingPanoz8 Scott Sharp2, 5, 13Dallara1, 3–4, 6–12, 1455 Kosuke MatsuuraAll Hemelgarn RacingDallara91 P. J. Chesson 1–492 Jeff Bucknum4 Luyendyk RacingPanoz61 Arie Luyendyk Jr. 4 Panther RacingDallara4 Vítor MeiraAll PDM RacingPanoz18 Thiago Medeiros 4 Playa del RacingPanoz12 Roger Yasukawa421 Jaques Lazier4 Rahal Letterman RacingPanozDallara15 Buddy RiceAll16 Danica PatrickAll17 Paul Dana 1 Jeff Simmons 3–14 Roth RacingDallara25 Marty Roth 4, 11–12, 14 Sam Schmidt MotorsportsPanoz88 Airton Daré4 Team Leader-Curb-Agajanian-Beck MotorsportsPanoz 97 Stéphan Grégoire 4 Curb-Agajanian-Beck Motorsports 98 P. J. Jones 4 Team PenskeDallara3 Hélio CastronevesAll6 Sam Hornish Jr.All Vision RacingDallara2 Tomas ScheckterAll20 Ed Carpenter1, 3–14 Roberto Moreno290 Townsend Bell4Source: Key Symbol Meaning Eligible for Rookie of the Year
Team changes Every time that competed full-time in the IndyCar Series in 2005 returned for the new season. Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) and Scott Sharp of Fernández Racing switched to the Dallara IR-05 chassis for the oval tracks and reverted to the Panoz GF09 chassis on road courses. Beginning with the Bombardier Learjet 500, Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) also began fielding Dallara chassis and only resorted to the Panoz chassis in the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. Sharp's teammate Kosuke Matsuura ran the Dallara chassis for the entire season.
Driver changes
Several significant driver changes occurred prior to the season. After winning the 89th Indianapolis 500 and Drivers' Championship in 2005, Dan Wheldon chose not to renew his contract with Andretti Green Racing (AGR), causing rumors to spread about his possible shift to Formula One. These rumors proved to be unfounded as Wheldon joined CGR for 2006. Wheldon was then replaced by Marco Andretti, a debutant in the IndyCar Series and the son of AGR co-owner Michael Andretti who had announced his one-off return from retirement in the 90th Indianapolis 500. Other American open-wheel car racing veterans who competed in the 90th Indianapolis 500 include two-time race winner Al Unser Jr. (with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing) and 1998 race winner Eddie Cheever (with Cheever Racing), the latter of whom also planned to participate in the first three races of the season leading up to the Indianapolis 500.
As famed actor Patrick Dempsey took on a co-owner role at Vision Racing, the team expanded to two full-time entries which were driven by the returning Ed Carpenter and former Panther Racing driver Tomas Scheckter. Conversely, Panther Racing was forced to scale back to a single full-time entry due to their tightening budget, let go Tomáš Enge in the process, and hired Vítor Meira to replace Scheckter for the season. Meira's seat at RLR was filled by Paul Dana, who raced for Hemelgarn Racing prior to his season-ending crash during practice for the 2005 Indianapolis 500. Hemelgarn Racing replaced Dana with P. J. Chesson, a popular driver in the World of Outlaws, and announced their partnership with NBA player Carmelo Anthony.
A. J. Foyt Racing replaced A. J. Foyt IV with Felipe Giaffone as Foyt IV set off to race in the NASCAR Busch Series. Giaffone had previously driven for A. J. Foyt in the 2005 Indianapolis 500. After an adverse season with Roger Yasukawa, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing replaced him with Buddy Lazier in their new 5 entry.
Mid-season changes Following Dana's death in a practice crash leading up to the Toyota Indy 300, Jeff Simmons filled his seat starting from the Indy Japan 300. Carpenter, who was also involved in the crash that killed Dana, was deemed medically unfit to run the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg; he was substituted by veteran open-wheel racing driver Roberto Moreno. During the Indy Japan 300, Enge—now a full-time driver in the A1 Grand Prix championship—drove in place of Cheever, who opted to compete in the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series race at Virginia International Raceway.
Hemelgarn Racing ceased operations for the remainder of the season after a second-lap crash in the 90th Indianapolis 500 destroyed both of their cars, driven by Chesson and Jeff Bucknum. While Chesson was unable to secure a ride afterward, Bucknum replaced Giaffone at A. J. Foyt Racing beginning with the Firestone Indy 200. Before that same race, Cheever (whose team completed eight races, four more than initially expected) was forced to shut down his IndyCar Series operations due to a lack of funding.
In the Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix, Ryan Briscoe returned to the IndyCar Series with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for the first time since his fiery crash at Chicagoland Speedway in 2005. An impressive third-place finish led to a continued partnership with the team in the Firestone Indy 200, the ABC Supply / A. J. Foyt Indy 225, and the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. For the final two oval races of the season, the Meijer Indy 300 and the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300, Lazier's seat was filled by Sarah Fisher in what marked her first career starts since the 2004 Indianapolis 500.
Roth Racing shut down their Indy Pro Series program in May and intended to run the final ten races of the season with owner-driver Marty Roth, beginning at the Indianapolis 500. The team's plans were sidelined, however, after Roth crashed in practice and failed to qualify for the race. Roth still managed to run in the last three oval races of the season, beginning with the Firestone Indy 400. For the Peak Antifreeze 300, Dario Franchitti was substituted by Foyt IV, whose venture into the Busch Series prematurely ended due to poor results, after Franchitti suffered a concussion following a crash in qualifying for the Goodwood Revival.
Schedule RoundDateRaceTrackLocationTV1March 26Toyota Indy 300 Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, FloridaABC2April 2Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FloridaESPN3April 22Indy Japan 300 Twin Ring Motegi Motegi, TochigiESPN4May 28Indianapolis 500 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, IndianaABC5June 4Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New YorkABC6June 10Bombardier Learjet 500 Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, TexasESPN7June 24SunTrust Indy Challenge Richmond International Raceway Richmond, VirginiaESPN8July 2Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Kansas Speedway Kansas City, KansasABC9July 15Firestone Indy 200 Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, TennesseeESPN10July 23ABC Supply / A. J. Foyt Indy 225 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, WisconsinESPN11July 30Firestone Indy 400 Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, MichiganABC12August 13Meijer Indy 300 Kentucky Speedway Sparta, KentuckyABC13August 27Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma Infineon Raceway Sonoma, CaliforniaESPN14September 10Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 Chicagoland Speedway Joliet, IllinoisABC Sources: Key Symbol Track type Oval track Road course Street circuit
Calendar changes
The 2006 schedule was notably compressed with a span of 25 weeks between the first and last races, eight weeks fewer than the previous season's schedule. Indy Racing League (IRL) president Brian Barnhart explained that the schedule was shortened to avoid conflicts with the National Football League and Major League Baseball and attain high television ratings. In response to the criticism of the schedule, Barnhart ensured that the IRL was working on hosting more races in the 2007 schedule, specifically in Canada and Mexico.
Three tracks—California Speedway, Phoenix International Raceway, and Pikes Peak International Raceway—were omitted from the 2006 schedule. Promoters of the former two tracks were unable to find an available weekend that suited their schedule and the condensed IndyCar Series schedule, while the latter track was sold to International Speedway Corporation and shut down in October 2005. With California left off the schedule, Chicagoland Speedway's Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 now played host to the IndyCar Series season finale. The Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix was also shifted up from its original September date to June, the weekend following the Indianapolis 500.
The IRL attempted to bring the Champ Car World Series (CCWS)-sanctioned Grand Prix of Long Beach to the IndyCar Series for 2006, but CCWS co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven bought out the event in June 2005 in order for the event to remain on his series' schedule. This reportedly angered sponsors of the IndyCar Series' teams because Tony George, founder of the IRL, had previously assured teams that the series would be racing in Long Beach and Canada in 2006.
Changes
Mechanical regulations One company, Honda, supplied engines in 2006, down from three companies the previous season. In November 2004, General Motors announced the withdrawal of Chevrolet from the IndyCar Series after 2005, citing escalating costs and their lack of competitiveness. With mounting rumors of Toyota's impending withdrawal, Honda committed to supplying engines and vowed to remain impartial towards every team in the series. Toyota eventually confirmed their departure from the series the day after Honda's announcement.