Scott Dixon (left) won his sixth series championship while Josef Newgarden (right) finished second in the championship.
The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series was the 25th season of the IndyCar Series and the 109th official championship season of American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 2020 Indianapolis 500. Josef Newgarden entered the season as the defending National Champion. Honda entered as defending Manufacturers' Cup champion for the second consecutive season. It was the first year under Penske management after they took over in late 2019.
Series news
On May 24, 2019, it was announced that the IndyCar Series would introduce cockpit protection, combining an Aeroscreen and the Halo used in Formula One, from the 2020 season onwards. The cockpit protection was built by Red Bull Advanced Technologies in a collaborative effort with Dallara. The combination of aeroscreen and halo is designed to improve safety standards by deflecting debris away from a driver's head and was originally developed for use in Formula One and IndyCar before its application was expanded to other open-wheel championships.[1]
On November 3, 2019, it was announced the Team Penske owner Roger Penske had purchased IndyCar, LLC and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Penske also announced he will step down as full-time race strategist.[2] On January 6, 2020, IndyCar announced the transactions were formally complete. Penske officially becomes just the fourth owner in Indianapolis Motor Speedway's history and marks the first time since 1945 where ownership of the Speedway has changed hands.[3]
Confirmed entries
The following teams, entries, and drivers have been announced to compete in the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season. All teams will use a specDallara DW12 chassis with UAK18 aero kit and Firestone tires.
Formula One team McLaren Racing announced on August 1, 2019 it would join the series in 2020 in partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports under the name Arrow McLaren Racing SP.[15] The team will field two full-time entries.[49] As a result of McLaren partnership, the team officially agreed to end its engine partner deal with Honda to allow Chevrolet to supply Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team as it was announced on August 9, 2019.[15] On October 25, 2019, the joint venture unveiled a new logo and confirmed the team's name as Arrow McLaren SP.[50]
On December 24, 2019, DragonSpeed released a schedule of six races for 2020, including the 104th Indianapolis 500. While 2019 driver Ben Hanley had previously been tipped to return,[53] the December announcement did not confirm any drivers.[26] On January 13, 2020, it was announced that Hanley would drive for DragonSpeed at the first round in St. Petersburg.[54] On May 20, 2020, David Malsher-Lopez from Motorsport.com reported that DragonSpeed were revising their IndyCar schedule to start at the Indianapolis 500, with additional races depending on their concurrent European Le Mans Series and WeatherTech SportsCar Championship commitments.[55]
On January 7, 2020, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing revealed to RACER that they would be expanding to a 4-race program in 2020. Team owner Dennis Reinbold revealed that Sage Karam would be back with the team in 2020, but did not specify how many rounds, or which rounds, Karam would be entering.[28] On January 10, 2020, in an interview with IndyStar, Reinbold clarified that Karam would be driving their car in the rounds at St. Petersburg, Indianapolis, and Toronto.[30]
On June 2, 2020, Carlin announced that its No. 31 entry would not race at Texas due to funding issues.[57]
Driver changes
On October 8, 2019 Chip Ganassi Racing announced that Marcus Ericsson would join the team, leaving Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to drive the revived No. 8 car in 2020.[58]
On November 15, 2019, Ed Carpenter Racing announced that Spencer Pigot would not be returning to the team in 2020.[59] On November 20, ECR announced Rinus VeeKay had been signed to drive the No. 21 full-time.[60]
On December 9, 2019, Ed Carpenter Racing announced that Conor Daly would contest the road and street circuit races in the team's No. 20 entry with sponsorship from the United States Air Force, and would pilot a third entry for the team in the Indianapolis 500.[35] He replaces Ed Jones, who will drive for Audi Sport Team WRT in the 2020 DTM season.[63] Daly will also compete the five other oval events in Carlin's No. 59, replacing Max Chilton who quit racing ovals in 2019.[64]
On January 22, 2020, A. J. Foyt Enterprises named Charlie Kimball the driver of their No. 4 entry, marking his return to full-time competition after running a partial schedule for Carlin in 2019.[4]
On January 29, 2020, Tony Kanaan announced that 2020 would be his final season as a primary driver in IndyCar. He will race in the six oval events in the No. 14 for A. J. Foyt Enterprises.[5] On February 4, 2020 A. J. Foyt Enterprises confirmed that driving duties for the No. 14 on the road and street tracks would be split between Sébastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett. Kellett will also drive the team's third entry in the Indianapolis 500.[65]
On February 5, 2020, Team Penske confirmed that defending Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin (a driver for the Supercars team Penske co-owned at the time) would make his IndyCar debut at the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis road course. Hélio Castroneves, who drove a fourth Penske car at both Indianapolis races in 2018 and 2019, will only race in the 2020 Indianapolis 500 for Penske.[66] On March 27, 2020, it was revealed that McLaughlin would no longer be making his IndyCar debut at the GMR Grand Prix due to the rescheduling of the race.[67] On September 17, it was confirmed that McLaughlin would make his debut in the final race of the season in St. Petersburg.[47]
On February 19, 2020, Andretti Autosport announced that James Hinchcliffe would race in three events in the team's No. 29 entry with sponsorship from Genesys. He will be driving at the GMR Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and the Genesys 600.[12]
On September 23, 2020, Andretti Autosport announced that Zach Veach would leave the team ahead of the Harvest Grand Prix.[8] On September 25, the team announced that James Hinchcliffe would take over the No. 26 entry for the remainder of the season.[9]
On September 24, 2020, Arrow McLaren SP announced that Oliver Askew has not been medically cleared to drive the Harvest Grand Prix after Askew reported balance and coordination issues after the round at Mid-Ohio. The team subsequently announced that Hélio Castroneves would fill in for Askew at the Harvest Grand Prix.[17]
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, and subsequent restrictions on public gatherings and non-essential business (which have affected all sports worldwide), led to the postponement of the IndyCar Series season to June, and the cancellation of several races.
On March 12, 2020, IndyCar announced that the opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg would be held with no spectators and essential personnel only.[83] However, the next day (March 13), IndyCar announced that the event, as well as all races through April, would be cancelled, citing widening closures and health risks of gatherings. The series announced an intent to begin with the two "Month of May" races in Indianapolis which would have been the first time since the 1957 season that IMS would begin the season.[84]
That did not occur however, because on March 26, IndyCar announced that it would postpone the GMR Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 to July 4 and August 23 respectively (with the former joining NASCAR's Brickyard 400 race weekend), marking the first time either event would be held outside of May. The Detroit Grand Prix was to serve as season opener, while plans were announced for the St. Petersburg race to possibly be reinstated.[85][86][87]
On April 6, IndyCar announced the cancellation of the Detroit Grand Prix, with organizers citing Michigan's stay-at-home order and other scheduled events at Belle Isle making it impossible to prepare for or reschedule the event.[88][89] To compensate for other cancelled races, IndyCar also announced the conversion of the Iowa 300 and Monterey Grand Prix races to double-header weekends, and added a third Indianapolis Motor Speedway race on October 3 as part of the USAC-sanctioned Intercontinental GT Challenge endurance race meeting on the road course.[90]
On May 7, it was announced that the season would commence with a condensed, one-day event format at Texas Motor Speedway, with no spectators in attendance.[91] The race, initially scheduled for 248 laps or around 600 kilometres (370 miles), was shortened to 200 laps or around 300 miles (480 kilometres). As well as this, extensive social distancing protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic were announced for team personnel, as well as provisions for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).[70] On May 27, it was announced that tire stints during the Genesys 300 would be limited to a maximum of 35 laps, as unused tires from the 2019 DXC Technology 600 were utilized for the race weekend.[92] This had occurred previously, during the final third of the 2017 Rainguard Water Sealers 600, where a 30-lap maximum was implemented with competition cautions.[93]
On May 13, IndyCar announced that the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg would be held as the season finale on October 25, eventually becoming the only street course race on the schedule.[94]
On May 15, the promoters of the Honda Indy Toronto announced that the race scheduled for July 12 would be postponed.[95]
On May 21, IndyCar announced further changes to the schedule. The round at Road America was moved to July and became a doubleheader weekend, the previously postponed Toronto race was cancelled, and the Richmond round was cancelled.[96]
On June 4, IMS announced that all events during the Brickyard 400 weekend, including the GMR Grand Prix, would be held with no spectators.[97]
On July 15, IndyCar announced a new qualifying format for the Iowa IndyCar 250s where the first lap would set the drivers starting spot for race 1 and the second lap would set the drivers starting spot for race 2.[98]
On July 22, it was announced that the Indianapolis 500 would be further capped at 25% capacity.[99][100]
On July 27, the round at Portland and double-header rounds at Laguna Seca were canceled. To fill the gaps in the schedule, the rounds at Mid-Ohio, Gateway, and the Harvest GP at the Indianapolis road course were converted into double-header rounds. The double-header road course qualifying format was announced to be utilized once more at Mid-Ohio and Indianapolis, while the double-header oval qualifying format used at Iowa would also be used at Gateway.[101]
On August 1, IndyCar officials, Mid-Ohio track officials, and the promoter of the race at Mid-Ohio announced that the doubleheader at Mid-Ohio would be postponed to later in the season due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Ohio.[102] On September 5, the series announced the race would go ahead as a doubleheader event on September 12–13.[82]
On August 4, citing increases in COVID-19 cases in Marion County, Indiana, it was announced that the Indianapolis 500 would be closed to the public.[103]
Ties are broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc.; then by finishing position in the previous race; then by random draw.[107]
Driver standings
At all races except the Indy 500, the pole position qualifier earned 1 point. The top nine Indy 500 qualifiers received points, descending from 9 points for the pole position. At double header races, the fastest qualifier of each qualifying group earned 1 point.
Drivers who lead at least one race lap were awarded 1 point. The driver who leads the most laps during a race scored an additional 2 points.
Entrant-initiated engine change-outs before the engine reaches their required distance run resulted in the loss of 10 points.
The usual double points for the season finale were suspended for this season.
All manufacturer points (including qualifying points, race finish points, and race win bonus points) can only be earned by full-season entrants,[N 14] and provided they are using an engine from their initial allocation, or have mileaged out all previously used engines.[N 15] Ineligible cars are removed from the finishing order used for race finish points,[N 16] and cannot score pole or win bonus points.[N 17][108]
The top two finishing entrants from each manufacturer in each race score points for their respective manufacturer. The manufacturer that wins each race will be awarded five additional points.
At all races except the Indy 500, the manufacturer who qualifies on pole earns one point. At the Indy 500, the fastest Saturday qualifier earns one point, while the pole position winner on Sunday earns two points.
^Fernando Alonso is considered a rookie in the IndyCar Series; however, he will not be a rookie in the 2020 Indianapolis 500 as he participated in the 2017 Indianapolis 500.
^The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. Newgarden set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Jack Harvey set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
^The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. O'Ward set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Colton Herta set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
^ abThe qualification format for this race was each car taking a 2 lap run, lap 1 would determine the first race's starting lineup while lap 2 would set the second race's starting lineup with lap 1's fastest lap setter getting 1 championship point for pole for race 1 while lap 2's fastest lap setter getting 1 championship point for pole for race 2. Conor Daly got 1 championship point for pole for race 1 while Josef Newgarden got 1 championship point for pole for race 2.
^ abThe qualification format for this race was each car taking a 2 lap run, lap 1 would determine the first race's starting lineup while lap 2 would set the second race's starting lineup with lap 1's fastest lap setter getting 1 championship point for pole for race 1 while lap 2's fastest lap setter getting 1 championship point for pole for race 2. Will Power got 1 championship point for pole for race 1 while Takuma Sato got 1 championship point for pole for race 2.
^The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. Power set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Ryan Hunter-Reay set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
^The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. Herta set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Santino Ferrucci set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
^The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. VeeKay set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Josef Newgarden set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
^The qualification format for this race features two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. Power set the fastest overall lap and was awarded the pole position. Colton Herta set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
^"2020: Latest Schedule Updates". IndyCar Series. Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved March 18, 2020. The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach today announced that it will not be able to conduct the 2020 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at a date later in the year.
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