Indy Racing League IndyCar Series (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)

Lore & Background

An acrimonious schism (often referred to by many as "The Split") in 1994 between the primary series, CART, and Tony George led to the formation of the rival Indy Racing League in 1996, which launched the present-day IndyCar Series. From that point, the popularity of open wheel racing in the United States declined dramatically. The feud was settled in 2008 with an agreement to merge the two series under the IndyCar banner, but enormous damage had already been done to the sport. It would not be until the 2020 series purchase and re-organization under Roger Penske, along with the 2025 broadcast partnership with Fox Sports that IndyCar would begin to see an increase in viewership and interest again.

In Their Own Story

Hélio Castroneves, a young Brazilian with a wide grin, stood on the pit wall, watching his crew prepare the No. 3 Pennzoil car. When the checkered flag fell, Castroneves leaped from his car, scaling the fence in a now-iconic celebration—a moment that became the IRL's signature, a raw, joyful defiance of the critics who said the series would never matter. That victory marked the first of his four Indy 500 wins, a moment that defined the IRL's rise from a controversial split to a championship of global stature.

Reader's Guide

The IndyCar Series allows manufacturers to develop different types of engines, while every team uses the same chassis. Currently, Dallara provides a specification chassis to all teams, with Honda and Chevrolet providing teams different engines. In the series' first season (1996), 1992 to 1995 model year CART chassis built by Lola and Reynard were used. The first new Indycar came into being in 1997. Starting with the 2003 season, the series rules were changed to require chassis manufacturers to be approved by the league before they could build cars. In total, four manufacturers have built IndyCar chassis: Dallara, G Force (later Panoz), Riley & Scott, and Falcon Cars. In 2010, IndyCar announced that it would officially adopt a single-make chassis formula, beginning in 2012. In July 2010, IndyCar announced that Dallara had won the contract to remain as the series' single chassis supplier. In 2012 the series adopted the Dallara IR-12 chassis. After the events of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championships the chassis was nicknamed DW12 in honor of Dan Wheldon. In 2015, teams began running aero kits developed by their engine manufacturers as a first-ever Dallara DW12 facelift.

Did You Know?

• Sam Hornish Jr. won three championships (2001, 2002, 2006), not three consecutive championships from 2001 to 2003; he did not win in 2003, Scott Dixon won the 2003 title.
• The 2008 unification race at Long Beach was not the first time all top open-wheel teams competed together; the first such race after the merger was the 2008 Indianapolis 500, as the Long Beach Grand Prix in 2008 was stil