2003 IndyCar Series

The 2003 IndyCar Series was the 92nd official championship season of American open-wheel racing and the 8th season under Indy Racing League sanction. Its showcase event was the 87th running of the Indianapolis 500, which was won by Team Penske driver Gil de Ferran for his first and only time. Sam Hornish Jr. entered the season as the back-to-back defending champion.

Season summary

The 2003 IRL IndyCar Series brought some of the biggest changes in its history. The league adopted the name IndyCar Series, after a settlement with CART prohibiting its use had expired. Several former CART teams brought their full operations to the IRL, most notably major squads Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Green Racing, as well as former CART engine manufacturers Toyota and Honda, replacing Infiniti who shifted its efforts to the new feeder series Infiniti Pro Series. Many of the IRL's old guard including Robbie Buhl, Greg Ray, and Buddy Lazier had difficulty competing in this new manufacturer-driven landscape. The league also added its first international race this year, taking over the CART date at Twin Ring Motegi.
The season's most successful entrants were Ganassi and Team Penske that had made the switch already the year before. New Zealander Scott Dixon won the opening race of the season at Homestead and ran very consistently all year long to win his first title at the age of 23. Gil de Ferran won Penske's third consecutive Indianapolis 500 in May and finished second to Dixon in the title race. The finale however was marred by a severe incident that nearly killed former series' champion and Indy 500 winner Kenny Bräck. De Ferran won the race with Dixon in second being well enough to seal the title. Bräck would eventually recover; however, Tony Renna, a Ganassi development driver, lost his life in a test crash at Indianapolis after the season had officially ended.
2003 was also the first and only engine title for Toyota and also the first Asian and Japanese car manufacturer to win an IndyCar Series IRL-era engine manufacturer's title and thus ending a seven-year American engine manufacturer's supremacy. As of 2024, 2003 was also the last chassis manufacturer title victory for G-Force Technologies to date.

Confirmed entries

Team

Chassis

Engine

Drivers

Rounds

A. J. Foyt Enterprises

Dallara
G-Force

Toyota

refn|name=FoytGForce|group=N|Used by Daré, by Hattori at Homestead and Motegi, and by Foyt IV in seven rounds: Motegi, Texas 1 and 2, Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky and Fontana.

Race summaries

Toyota Indy 300">Homestead–Miami Indy 300">Toyota Indy 300

This race was held March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Tony Kanaan won the pole.
Top ten results

Purex Dial Indy 200">XM Satellite Radio Indy 200">Purex Dial Indy 200

This race was held March 23 at Phoenix International Raceway. Tony Kanaan won the pole.
Top ten results

Inaugural [Indy Japan 300]

This race was held April 13 at Twin Ring Motegi. Scott Dixon won the pole.
Top ten results

87th Indianapolis 500">2003 Indianapolis 500">87th Indianapolis 500

The 87th Indy 500 was held May 25 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Hélio Castroneves sat on pole.
Top ten results

Hélio Castroneves came up just short of the three-peat in the 500. He got hung up in lap traffic which enabled Gil de Ferran to get by and lead the final 30 laps for his only 500 triumph.

Bombardier 500">Firestone 550">Bombardier 500

This race was held June 7 at Texas Motor Speedway. Tomas Scheckter won the pole.
Top ten results

Honda Indy 225">Pikes Peak International Raceway">Honda Indy 225

This race was held June 15 at Pikes Peak International Raceway. Tony Kanaan won the pole.
Top ten results

[SunTrust Indy Challenge]

This race was held June 28 at Richmond International Raceway. Scott Dixon won the pole.
Top ten results

The race was originally scheduled for 250 laps, but shortened to 206 laps due to rain.

Kansas Indy 300">RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300">Kansas Indy 300

This race was held July 6 at Kansas Speedway. Scott Dixon won the pole.
Top ten results

Belterra Casino Indy 300">Kentucky Indy 300">Belterra Casino Indy 300

This race was held August 17 at Kentucky Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. won the pole.
Top ten results

[Firestone Indy 225]

This race was held August 24 at Nazareth Speedway. Scott Dixon won the pole.
Top ten results

Delphi Indy 300">Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300">Delphi Indy 300

This race was held September 7 at Chicagoland Speedway. Richie Hearn won the pole.
Top ten results

[Toyota Indy 400]

This race was held September 21 at California Speedway. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.
Top ten results

This race was the fastest circuit race ever in motorsport history, with an average speed of 207.151 mph over 400 miles. This also makes it the de facto fastest ever 400 mile motor race beating the NASCAR record set during the 1999 Kmart 400.

Chevy 500">Firestone 550">Chevy 500

This race was held October 12 at Texas Motor Speedway. Gil de Ferran won the pole.
Top ten results

The race was memorable for a five-way championship duel involving de Ferran, Scott Dixon, Hélio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, and two-time titlist Sam Hornish Jr.
The race was also notable for a frightening, but non-fatal, accident involving Tomas Scheckter and 1999 Indianapolis 500 champion Kenny Bräck. Scheckter was uninjured, but the Swede was launched into the air after wheel-to-wheel contact on the backstretch and violently clobbered the catch fencing. Debris was scattered across the track, and the already long period of yellow flag laps prompted IRL race control to end the race at lap 195 of 200. Because the race reached 1 lap past the halfway point the race was considered official. Gil de Ferran, Bräck's former title rival in CART, won in his final IndyCar race, joining Ray Harroun and Sam Hanks as drivers who retired from U.S. open wheel competition in the winner's circle.
Scott Dixon won the IRL title in his first season in the IndyCar Series and Englishman Dan Wheldon beat Roger Yasukawa for Bombardier Rookie of the Year honors.