2005 IndyCar season
IndyCar Series
Season
Races	17
Start date	March 6
End date	October 16
Awards
Drivers' champion	Dan Wheldon
Manufacturers' Cup	Honda
Rookie of the Year	Danica Patrick
Indianapolis 500 winner	Dan Wheldon
← 2004 2006 →

Dan Wheldon (left) won his first Indianapolis 500 and Drivers' Championship while Tony Kanaan (right) finished second in the championship.

The 2005 IRL IndyCar Series began on Sunday, March 6 and ended on Sunday, October 16. The season, which consisted of 17 races, was the 10th season of the IRL IndyCar Series since it split from CART in 1995.

Dan Wheldon was the dominant driver in the series in 2005, winning six races, including the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500, setting the record for most victories in an IRL season. However, the big story of the season was that of Rahal Letterman Racing's Danica Patrick, the fourth woman to compete in the Indy 500 and the first to lead a lap. She would eventually wind up in fourth. Danica's presence was a boost to the IRL's television ratings. The Indy 500's ratings were up 40% from the year before and subsequent races also saw a boost in ratings. Dan Wheldon was also became the first IndyCar driver to won the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar Series overall driver's title respectively in the same season since Jacques Villeneuve in 1995 PPG IndyCar World Series season and also first ever in the Indy Racing League era.

The season was the first ever to introduce road courses and street circuits when the series held races at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen International, where the series was previously known to have held events exclusively on oval tracks. Wheldon also became the series' first road/street course winner when he won in St. Petersburg.

The season was also the last for Chevrolet in the series, who confirmed in August that they would not return to the IRL (Chevrolet returned in 2012). At the start of the season, only Panther Racing's Tomas Scheckter and Tomáš Enge raced Chevrolet powered cars (although A. J. Foyt IV also started racing for Chevy beginning with the AMBER Alert Portal Indy 300 at Kentucky). The manufacturer situation within the IRL was the hot issue during the second half of the season and continued into the off-season. Toyota announced that they would leave the series shortly after the 2005 season ended, leaving Honda as the only remaining manufacturer in the IRL. Honda extended their engine supply contract through 2009 despite expressly saying that they did not wish to be the IRL's only supplier. The IRL announced that they extended their chassis supply contract with Panoz and Dallara through 2006.

Rule changes for 2005

• A mandated switch to the single-point re-fueling systems used by some teams in 2004. The IRL only approved one type of fueling probe and buckeye, and these only work as a single-point system. In the approved system, two hoses coming from the storage tank combined at the fueling mechanism handled by the fueler. The crew member previously responsible for the operation of the vent and jack was now free to operate only the jack.
• Cars raced on all ovals in the same configuration introduced at the 88th Indianapolis 500 in May 2004 with minimal aerodynamic changes. The changes were limited to specified areas of the underwing and sidepods. The IRL required teams to use the same engine cover as last year without modification.
• Teams were allowed to change engines prior to qualifying without penalty at the following events, which were scheduled to be three-day events: Homestead, St. Petersburg, Motegi, Texas, Milwaukee, Infineon, Watkins Glen and California.
• The amount of methanol teams may have in their trackside tanks was changed. Teams were allowed to carry 85 gallons for 187.5-mile races, 90 gallons for 200-mile events, 100 gallons for 225-mile events, 125 gallons for 260-mile races, 135 gallons for 300-mile events, 175 gallons for 400-mile events and 225 gallons for 500-mile events.
• The mandatory minimum weight of cars was 1,600 pounds, 75 pounds heavier than the oval minimum weight. The additional weight was attributed to the brake system, which consisted of an aluminum brake caliper, steel rotor and pad as specified by the IRL, as well as the limited slip differential in the gearbox.

Confirmed entries

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Rounds
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara Panoz[N 1]	Toyota Chevrolet[N 2]	14	A. J. Foyt IV	1–13, 15, 17
				Jeff Bucknum (R)	14, 16
			41	Larry Foyt (R)	5
			48	Felipe Giaffone[N 3]	5
Aguri-Fernández Racing Delphi Fernández Racing	Panoz	Honda	5	Adrián Fernández	5
			8	Scott Sharp	All
			55	Kosuke Matsuura	All
Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	7	Bryan Herta	All
			11	Tony Kanaan	All
			26	Dan Wheldon	All
			27	Dario Franchitti	All
Cheever Racing	Dallara	Toyota	51	Alex Barron	All
			83	Patrick Carpentier	All
CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	98	Arie Luyendyk Jr.	5
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Honda	24	Roger Yasukawa	All
			44	Jeff Bucknum (R)	4–5
				Thiago Medeiros (R)	17
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Toyota	91	Paul Dana (R)	1–2, 4
				Jimmy Kite	5–13, 15, 17
Marlboro Team Penske	Dallara	Toyota	3	Hélio Castroneves	All
			6	Sam Hornish Jr.	All
Newman/Haas Racing	Panoz	Honda	36	Bruno Junqueira	5
			37	Sébastien Bourdais	5
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	2	Tomáš Enge (R)	1–9, 12–17
				Buddy Lazier	10
				Townsend Bell	11
			4	Tomas Scheckter	All
			95	Buddy Lazier	5, 9, 11–12, 15
Playa del Racing	Panoz	Toyota	21	Jaques Lazier	5
Rahal Letterman Racing	Panoz	Honda	15	Buddy Rice	1–4, 6–17
				Kenny Bräck	5
			16	Danica Patrick (R)	All
			17	Vítor Meira	All
Roth Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	25	Marty Roth (R)	5
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Panoz	Chevrolet	70	Richie Hearn	5
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Dallara	Toyota	9	Scott Dixon	4
	Panoz				1–3, 5–17
			10	Darren Manning	1–10
				Jaques Lazier	11–13, 15, 17
				Giorgio Pantano	14, 16
			33	Ryan Briscoe (R)	1–15
Vision Racing	Dallara	Toyota	20	Ed Carpenter	All
			22	Jeff Ward	5

Race summaries

Toyota Indy 300

On March 6, at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Dan Wheldon led 158 of 200 laps to get the victory. Tomas Scheckter sat on the pole.

Top Ten Results

1. 26- Dan Wheldon
2. 6- Sam Hornish Jr.
3. 11- Tony Kanaan
4. 17- Vítor Meira
5. 3- Hélio Castroneves
6. 10- Darren Manning
7. 83- Patrick Carpentier
8. 51- Alex Barron
9. 14- A. J. Foyt IV
10. 91- Paul Dana

XM Satellite Radio Indy 200

On March 19, at Phoenix International Raceway, Sam Hornish Jr. won his first race of the season. Bryan Herta sat on the pole. This would be the last time IndyCar would compete at Phoenix until the race was revived in 2016.

Top Ten Results

1. 6- Sam Hornish Jr.
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves
3. 11- Tony Kanaan
4. 27- Dario Franchitti
5. 8- Scott Sharp
6. 26- Dan Wheldon
7. 7- Bryan Herta
8. 10- Darren Manning
9. 83- Patrick Carpentier
10. 55- Kosuke Matsuura

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

On April 3, the Honda Grand Prix on the Streets of St. Petersburg (Florida) marked the first non-oval event for the IndyCar Series. Dan Wheldon won his second race of the year. Bryan Herta sat on the pole. Andretti Green Racing drivers swept the top 4 finishing positions.

Top Ten Results

1. 26- Dan Wheldon
2. 11- Tony Kanaan
3. 27- Dario Franchitti
4. 7- Bryan Herta
5. 17- Vítor Meira
6. 9- Scott Dixon
7. 15- Buddy Rice
8. 83- Patrick Carpentier
9. 10- Darren Manning
10. 51- Alex Barron

Indy Japan 300

On April 30, at Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Tochigi, Japan, Dan Wheldon won his third race of the season. Sam Hornish Jr. sat on the pole.

Top Ten Results

1. 26- Dan Wheldon
2. 8- Scott Sharp
3. 15- Buddy Rice
4. 16- Danica Patrick
5. 7- Bryan Herta
6. 11- Tony Kanaan
7. 6- Sam Hornish Jr.
8. 10- Darren Manning
9. 55- Kosuke Matsuura
10. 4- Tomas Scheckter

89th Indianapolis 500

On May 29, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Dan Wheldon won his first Indy 500 and his fourth race of the season. However, the focus of the race was on Danica Patrick who led 19 laps, the first time a woman has ever led a lap at Indy. Tony Kanaan sat on the pole.

Top Ten Results

1. 26- Dan Wheldon
2. 17- Vítor Meira
3. 7- Bryan Herta
4. 16- Danica Patrick
5. 95- Buddy Lazier
6. 27- Dario Franchitti
7. 8- Scott Sharp
8. 11- Tony Kanaan
9. 3- Hélio Castroneves
10. 33- Ryan Briscoe

Bombardier Learjet 500

On June 11, at Texas Motor Speedway, Tomas Scheckter won his first race of the season, sitting on the pole and leading for 119 of 200 laps.

Top Ten Results

1. 4- Tomas Scheckter
2. 6- Sam Hornish Jr.
3. 11- Tony Kanaan
4. 8- Scott Sharp
5. 3- Hélio Castroneves
6. 26- Dan Wheldon
7. 55- Kosuke Matsuura
8. 27- Dario Franchitti
9. 17- Vítor Meira
10. 7- Bryan Herta

SunTrust Indy Challenge

On June 25, at Richmond International Raceway, Hélio Castroneves won his first race of the season. Sam Hornish Jr. sat on the pole.

Top Ten Results

1. 3- Hélio Castroneves
2. 27- Dario Franchitti
3. 83- Patrick Carpentier
4. 4- Tomas Scheckter
5. 26- Dan Wheldon
6. 51- Alex Barron
7. 2- Tomáš Enge
8. 7- Bryan Herta
9. 55- Kosuke Matsuura
10. 16- Danica Patrick

Argent Mortgage Indy 300

On July 3, at Kansas Speedway, Tony Kanaan won by a fraction of a second over Dan Wheldon and Vítor Meira. Danica Patrick won her first career IndyCar Series pole.

Top Ten Results

1. 11- Tony Kanaan
2. 26- Dan Wheldon
3. 17- Vítor Meira
4. 27- Dario Franchitti
5. 4- Tomas Scheckter
6. 8- Scott Sharp
7. 10- Darren Manning
Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=2005_IndyCar_Series
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