2011 IndyCar Series

Updated on Dec 19, 2024

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Races 17 Drivers' champion Dario Franchitti Oval champion Scott Dixon Start date 2011 Race 17		End date October 16 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon Road course champion Will Power Rookie of the year James Hinchcliffe

Similar 2010 IndyCar Series, 2009 IndyCar Series, 1996–97 Indy Racing L, 2007 Champ Car season, 2002 CART season

Indycar series 2011 round 1 st petersburg full race english

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 IR–05 Dallara spec cars, which had been the series' sole chassis supplier since 2007. It was also the final season running the Honda Indy V8 normally-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.

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.

Sunoco would become the official fuel of the series starting in 2011 and running through 2014. Sunoco would work with APEX–Brasil and UNICA to provide ethanol for the series.

On January 11, the series made several announcements with regards to the upcoming season:

The governing body adopted the doing business as name of INDYCAR (all capital letters). The legal entity remains Indy Racing League, LLC, and is specifically mentioned in the INDYCAR Rule Book.

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.

On March 6, the series announced that the maximum field size for every IndyCar event this season would be limited to 26 cars, except for the Indianapolis 500 (which remains at the traditional 33) and the Las Vegas finale (34 cars).

Firestone has signed an extension to remain as the series' sole tire supplier through 2013.

2011 IndyCar Series schedule

The series schedule was announced on September 10, 2010, with the season finale and start times released on February 22.

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 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.

Discontinued races

Chicagoland, Watkins Glen, Homestead, and Kansas—all tracks owned by ISC—would no longer host races this year.

Team and driver chart

This chart reflects confirmed participants only. All drivers competed in Honda HI11R V8-powered, Firestone Firehawk-shod and Dallara IR5 chassis. (R) reflects an IZOD IndyCar Series rookie.

Team and driver movements

Chip Ganassi Racing: Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon returned to the team for 2011. Graham Rahal and Charlie Kimball joined the group as part of a satellite team ran out of the raceshop of Don Prudhomme.

Team Penske: Shell would join the team as an associate sponsor for all three cars in 2011, replacing Mobil 1 and will sponsor the #3 car. Hélio Castroneves was signed to a multi-year contract that covers the 2011 season, and Will Power re-signed with Team Penske in September 2010. Roger Penske confirmed on November 12 that Ryan Briscoe would also be returning to the team. Izod was announced as being the primary sponsor on Ryan Briscoe's car and an associate sponsor on the other two cars.

Andretti Autosport: Tony Kanaan was signed to a multi-year deal with Andretti Autosport before the 2009 season, and his contract is supposed to run through to 2012. On the October 3 it was confirmed that sponsor 7-Eleven would not return in 2011, rendering Kanaan a free agent. Marco Andretti was in the second year of a four-year contract with the team in 2011 along with his sponsor Venom Energy. It was announced on October 29 that Ryan Hunter-Reay would return to Andretti Autosport through to the 2012 season. DHL has signed a multi-year deal to sponsor Hunter-Reay's #28 car. Mike Conway was announced on February 2 as the team's 4th full-season driver. The team has confirmed John Andretti in the #43 for the Indy 500.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports: Driver Alex Tagliani was in the second year of a four-year contract with the team. The team would also run cars for Townsend Bell and Jay Howard at the Indy 500, and for Wade Cunningham in three events. The team was committed to running a second full-time car in 2011, according to manager Rob Edwards. On March 1, 2011, it was announced that Sam Schmidt Motorsports had purchased the assets of FAZZT. Some FAZZT personnel would be retained for the 2011 season and Alex Tagliani will continue to contest all seventeen races.

Bryan Herta Autosport: The team confirmed Dan Wheldon for the Indy 500. Bryan Herta Autosport and Wheldon would carry out testing of the 2012 Dallara chassis in August and September 2011.

Dragon Racing: Tony Kanaan was announced as the new driver of the #2 car during a December 20 press conference in Brazil, however failure to secure sufficient sponsorship meant that Kanaan was unable to secure the drive. The team officially announced that they were shutting down on February 24, 2011; however following a restructuring, Jay Penske announced that Dragon Racing would continue with Paul Tracy for a limited schedule, as well as an Indy 500 entry. On May 3, 2011 the team confirmed Ho-Pin Tung would be the driver of the #8 Dragon-Schmidt Racing entry.

SH Racing: On July 28, 2010, VPX Sports announced a partnership with newly formed SH Racing, run by James Sullivan and T.J. Humphreys, for an entry into the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with the driver yet to be named. The team would be partnering with KV Racing Technology. On March 29. 2011 the team announced, South African veteran Tomas Scheckter will drive the #07 entry at the Indy 500.

Panther Racing: 2010 team driver Dan Wheldon confirmed in a Kentucky post-race interview that his contract expired after the 2010 season and he was unlikely to return to the team in 2011. 2009 Indy Lights champion J. R. Hildebrand signed a multi-year deal to drive the #4 National Guard car for the team. The team would field former Indy 500 winner Buddy Rice in a second car at Indy.

KV Racing Technology–Lotus: On September 28, 2010, it was announced that Lotus would provide sponsorship to two KV Racing Technology entries in 2011. On February 4, 2011, KV Racing confirmed that Takuma Sato and E. J. Viso would compete for the team for the 2011 IndyCar Series season. On March 21, 2011, it was reported that Tony Kanaan would join the team in a 3rd full-time entry.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: On November 11, Justin Wilson announced he would continue racing with the team in 2011. On March 3, 2011, the team announced Ana Beatriz would be joining Wilson full-time as the pilot of the #24 entry. The team also confirmed Paul Tracy for the Indy 500, prior to his signing to drive part-time for Dragon Racing.

Sarah Fisher Racing: SFR has signed Ed Carpenter for the 2011 season, who would compete in nine events. In addition, team owner Sarah Fisher has announced her retirement from driving to focus solely on team ownership.

HVM Racing: Team owner Keith Wiggins has secured sponsorship to return with Simona de Silvestro for the 2011 season. The team announced a three-year deal with Entergy Nuclear to sponsor an entry.

A. J. Foyt Enterprises: Driver Vitor Meira recently signed a two-year contract with the team through the 2012 season. The team would also field a car in the Indy 500 for Bruno Junqueira.

Dale Coyne Racing: The team announced two new drivers for the season: rookie Englishman James Jakes, who would run the full season; and Sébastien Bourdais, who would run at all road and street courses only owing to his Le Mans Series commitments. The team would still be fielding a second car at Indianapolis. On May 5, 2011, it was confirmed that Alex Lloyd would compete on all the oval races, as Bourdais won't.

Conquest Racing: On March 14, 2011, the team confirmed that Sebastián Saavedra would race for the team full-time during the 2011 season. On April 19, 2011, Conquest signed Indy Lights race-winner Pippa Mann to pilot the team's second car at Indianapolis.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Entrepreneur Mike Lanigan joined the ownership of the team on December 17, 2010, and the team was renamed Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team would run the Indy 500 in 2011 with Bertrand Baguette.

AFS Racing: On January 13, 2011, AFS Racing announced that Neil Micklewright would be joining the team as General Manager and Vice President of Operations. On March 12, 2011, the team announced that they would run an entry at St. Petersburg, and on March 17, announced that series veteran Raphael Matos will drive.

Newman/Haas Racing After the open test at Barber and months of speculation, Spaniard Oriol Servià revealed that he would race for the eight-time championship-winning team. Canadian James Hinchcliffe, runner-up in the 2010 Indy Lights championship standings to Jean-Karl Vernay was confirmed for the team's second car on April 5, 2011, for all remaining races.

Round 1: Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Sunday March 27, 2011 – 1:00 p.m. EDT

Streets of St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg, Florida; Temporary street circuit, 1.800 miles (2.897 km)

Distance: 100 laps / 180.000 miles (289.682 km)

Race weather: 85 °F (29 °C), partly cloudy

Television: ABC (Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, Vince Welch, Jamie Little, Rick DeBruhl)

Nielsen ratings: 1.2 rating, 1.840 million viewers (1.4 overnight)

Attendance: TBA

Pole position winner: #12 Will Power, 1:01.9625 sec, 104.579 mph (168.304 km/h)

Most laps led: #10 Dario Franchitti, 94

Summary: The first race featuring the new double-file restarts takes a toll on the field as drivers adjust. On the first lap, a big collision involving several cars saw Marco Andretti flip over in turn 1, a crash he blamed on Hélio Castroneves. Several other drivers experienced contact on restarts, thinning the field. Dario Franchitti stayed in front for most of the race and won the season opener. Simona de Silvestro garnered the most attention of the later stages of the race, as she hotly challenged Tony Kanaan. Kanaan, who had landed his ride with KV Racing just days earlier, held her off over the final few laps for a surprising third-place finish.

Race Report: 2011 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Round 2: Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by Legacy

Sunday April 10, 2011 – 2:45 p.m. CDT (3:45 p.m. EDT)

Barber Motorsports Park – Birmingham, Alabama; Permanent road course, 2.300 miles (3.701 km)

Distance: 90 laps / 207.000 miles (333.134 km)

Race weather: 84 °F (29 °C), clear skies

Television: Versus (Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis, Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Lindy Thackston, Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Robin Miller)

Nielsen ratings: 0.3

Attendance: 48,326 (race day), 79,811 (weekend)

Pole position winner: #12 Will Power, 1:11.4546 sec, 115.878 mph (186.488 km/h)

Most laps led: #12 Will Power, 90

Summary: Will Power led wire-to-wire to take the victory. Twice Ryan Briscoe was involved in contact, first with Dario Franchitti, and later with Ryan Hunter-Reay. Following the race, second-place finisher Scott Dixon complained about Power "crowding" him on the restarts, but no penalty was assessed.

Race Report: 2011 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Round 3: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Sunday April 17, 2011 – 1:30 p.m. PDT (4:30 p.m. EDT)

Streets of Long Beach – Long Beach, California; Temporary street circuit, 1.968 miles (3.167 km)

Distance: 85 laps / 167.280 miles (269.211 km)

Race weather: 66 °F (19 °C), partly cloudy

Television: Versus (Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis, Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Lindy Thackston, Marty Snider, Kevin Lee, Robin Miller)

Nielsen ratings: 0.28

Attendance: 70,000 (estimated raceday), 175,000+ (estimated weekend)

Pole position winner: #12 Will Power, 1:09.0649 sec, 102.582 mph (165.090 km/h)

Most laps led: #6 Ryan Briscoe, 35

Summary: With less than 20 laps to go, Mike Conway charged into third place on a restart. He quickly powered past Dario Franchitti and Will Power to take the lead. Conway pulled out to a six-second advantage, and led the final 14 laps en route to his first Indy car victory. For the second time this season, Hélio Castroneves was blamed for a collision, this time taking himself and teammate Will Power out of contention late in the race.

Race Report: 2011 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Round 4: Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle

Sunday May 1, 2011 – 1:20 p.m. BRT (12:20 p.m. EDT) & Monday May 2, 2011 – 9:05 a.m. BRT (8:05 a.m. EDT)

Streets of São Paulo – São Paulo, Brazil; Temporary street circuit, 2.536 miles (4.081 km)

Distance: 75 laps / 190.200 miles (306.097 km); reduced to 55 laps / 139.480 miles (224.471 km) due to rain and two-hour time limit.

Race weather: 93 °F (34 °C), scattered showers (Sunday); 79 °F (26 °C), scattered clouds (Monday)

Television: Versus (Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis, Wally Dallenbach, Jr., Robin Miller(May 1), Davey Hamilton(May 2), Kevin Lee

Nielsen ratings:

Attendance: 41,000 (Sunday)

Pole position winner: #12 Will Power, 1:21.8958 sec, 111.478 mph (179.406 km/h)

Most laps led: #12 Will Power, 32

Summary:

Race Report: 2011 São Paulo Indy 300

Summary: Rain forced a postponement of the race after 15 laps. On Monday morning, the race resumed. Leader Will Power pitted for fuel on lap 36, giving the lead to Takuma Sato. With rain soaking the course, Sato's team hoped to stretch out their fuel window in hopes of a caution, and the possibility of leading the race when the time limit expired. Sato was forced to pit on lap 48, and Power retook the lead. The race ended after 55 laps with Power the victor.

Round 5: 95th Indianapolis 500

Sunday May 29, 2011 – 12:15 p.m. EDT

Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, Indiana; Permanent racing facility, 2.500 miles (4.023 km)

Distance: 200 laps / 500.000 miles (804.672 km)

Race weather: 86 °F (30 °C), cloudy

Television: ABC (Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, Eddie Cheever, Brent Musburger, Vince Welch, Jamie Little, Rick DeBruhl, Jerry Punch)

Nielsen ratings: 4.0, 6.71 million viewers (4.3 overnight)

Attendance: 300,000

Pole position winner: #77 Alex Tagliani, 2:38.2613 sec, 227.790 mph (366.592 km/h) (4-lap)

Most laps led: #9 Scott Dixon, 73

Summary: Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti led 124 laps, but the race came down to the final few laps as several drivers pitted for fuel. Rookie J. R. Hildebrand took the lead with three laps to go, and led at the white flag. Coming out of the final turn on the final lap, Hildebrand hit the outside wall, and Dan Wheldon drove by to take the victory, which would turn out to be his last.

Race Report: 2011 Indianapolis 500

Round 6: Firestone Twin 275s

Saturday June 11, 2011 – 7:45 p.m. CDT (8:45 p.m. EDT)

Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, Texas; Permanent racing facility, 1.455 miles (2.342 km)

Distance: 2 races of 114 laps / 165.870 miles (266.942 km)

Race weather: 91 °F (33 °C), clear skies (Race 1); 87 °F (31 °C), clear skies (Race 2)

Television: Versus (Bob Jenkins, Jon Beekhuis, Dan Wheldon, Lindy Thackston, Robbie Floyd, Kevin Lee, Robin Miller)

Nielsen ratings: 0.55 rating, (0.38 overnight)

Attendance: 73,000 (announced crowd)

Pole position winner: #77 Alex Tagliani, 48.6834 sec, 215.186 mph (346.308 km/h) (Race 1, 2-lap qualifying); #82 Tony Kanaan (Race 2, draw)

Most laps led: #10 Dario Franchitti, 110 (Race 1); #12 Will Power, 68 (Race 2)

Race Report: 2011 Firestone Twin 275s

Summary: The popular "twin race" format from the 1970s and early 1980s returned to Indy car racing at Texas. Dario Franchitti dominated the first race, which saw only one caution. Wade Cunningham and Charlie Kimball crashed on lap 92, with Cunningham crashing Dan Wheldon's Indy 500 winning car from two weeks prior. At halftime, the drivers chose their starting positions for race #2 by a blind draw on a stage on the frontstretch. Tony Kanaan was the lucky driver who picked position number 1. Will Power picked starting position #3, but the winner of the first race, Franchitti, was mired back in 28th starting position. Controversy followed the race, as many in the paddock believed the blind draw was an unfair method to select the starting positions (many thought they should have simply inverted the field). The second race went without a caution, and Power went on to win. Franchitti was not a factor, but charged all the way to 7th at the finish.

References

2011 IndyCar Series Wikipedia

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