2010 IndyCar Series
The 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series was the 15th season of the IndyCar Series, and the 99th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. It was the series' first of six planned seasons under Izod title sponsorship, a multimillion-dollar deal which was announced on November 5, 2009. Its premier event was the 94th Indianapolis 500, held on Sunday, May 30.
This season is notable for having the most women to compete in a season: Ana Beatriz, Milka Duno, Sarah Fisher, Danica Patrick, and Simona de Silvestro. They all competed in the Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 and the Cafés do Brasil Indy 300.
Chip Ganassi Racing's Dario Franchitti retained his title, to win his third in four seasons after defeating Team Penske driver Will Power in a championship battle that went to the final race of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Power had led the championship for most of the season, and led Franchitti by twelve into Homestead, but after hitting the wall during the race and finishing in 25th place, Franchitti's eighth-place finish with maximum bonus points gave him the championship by five points. Franchitti and Power each won one of the new-for-2010 sub-championships for oval tracks, and road courses. Franchitti won the oval championship with six top-five finishes from eight races, including victories at the Indianapolis 500 and Chicagoland, and also won the road course event at Mid-Ohio. Power was even more dominant in the road course championship, finishing each of the nine races in the top three, with five wins in São Paulo, St. Petersburg, Watkins Glen, Toronto and Sonoma.
After battling Franchitti for the title in 2009, Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe finished third and fifth in the championship standings with the third Penske car, piloted by Hélio Castroneves finished between the pair. Dixon won on the ovals at Kansas and Homestead-Miami, as well as a victory in Edmonton after Castroneves was penalised for blocking on a late-race restart. Dixon's victory in Florida helped him overhaul Castroneves for third place in the championship standings. Castroneves also took three victories during the season, winning the inaugural race at Barber Motorsports Park as well as back-to-back victories at Kentucky and Twin Ring Motegi, as he finished sixteen points behind Dixon. Briscoe finished over 100 points behind Franchitti, with a solitary victory at Texas. Andretti Autosport drivers Tony Kanaan and Ryan Hunter-Reay were the only other drivers to win a race, as they finished sixth and seventh respectively. Rookie of the Year went to Dale Coyne Racing driver Alex Lloyd who competed in his first full season, after three races over the previous two seasons. He finished 24 points ahead of Simona de Silvestro.
This was the last season that the winner of the Indianapolis 500 went on to also win the championship in the same season until Álex Palou achieved the feat in 2025.
Series news
- Announced in a press conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on November 5, 2009, clothier Izod signed on as the series' new title sponsor from 2010 to 2015, with an option for two additional years. According to Robin Miller, the deal was worth $10 million per year with at least $5 million toward promotions and marketing. It would additionally include a payout of $100,000 per car, per year to teams eligible for the TEAM revenue-sharing program, and possible partial funding for a full-time car for Ryan Hunter-Reay, whom received sponsorship backing from the brand in 2009. This was the third title sponsorship in the IndyCar Series' history; previous sponsorships were provided by Pep Boys and Northern Light.
- On September 23, 2009, it was confirmed that Honda would extended their role as a series's standard single engine supplier contract for another two years that in place until the end of 2011 season.
- On November 25, 2009, a season opening race in São Paulo, Brazil was confirmed by city authorities and an Indy Racing League press release. The race, the São Paulo Indy 300, took place on a temporary street course. Despite the long travel distance for the teams, the event was lucrative with Terry Angstadt claiming each participating team would receive a six-figure sum from the event promoters in addition to all expenses paid.
- The possibility was left open for a race at Milwaukee, however, ongoing issues involving unpaid sanctioning fees from the management put the race, and the future of the facility, at risk. In November, Historic Mile, LLC. announced they were going out of business. It was announced on December 16 that no national racing series would race at the Milwaukee Mile in 2010 due to the inability for Wisconsin State Fair Park officials to find a replacement promoter for the season.
- The July 25 race in Edmonton went ahead, despite event organizers losing $9.2 million on the race over the previous two seasons.
- 2010 rule changes were announced on January 12, 2010. The 4-position fuel mixture switch was removed so that cars were only able to run on "full rich" or "yellow" fuel settings. The Honda Overtake assist returned with an approximate doubling of bhp increase from last year's 5–20 bhp upon pressing the button. All cars had a reverse gear on the road and street courses and thus reintroduced in 2010.
- IRL founder and IMS board member, Tony George, resigned from the IMS effective immediately on January 19, 2010.
- Former chief executive officer of the Professional Bull Riders, Randy Bernard, was announced as the new IRL CEO on February 2, 2010.
- A carriage dispute between the Comcast Corporation and its Versus channel, and DirecTV that had been in place since August was resolved on March 15, 2010. This meant that Versus was restored to nearly sixteen million customers; returning to coverage that the channel offered before the dispute.
- Indianapolis 500 qualifying in 2010 awarded points to each of the 33 qualifying drivers. The polesitter received fifteen points, with the other drivers on the front row receiving 13 and 12 respectively. Each qualifying driver earned at least three points.
- Two additional titles were awarded starting with the 2010 season, with an oval champion and a road/street course champion being crowned. A trophy and prize money was awarded to the highest points finisher on the 9 road/street courses and 7 oval races. After a fan vote, the names of the championships were announced as the A. J. Foyt Oval Championship and the Mario Andretti Road Course Championship.
- The development freeze introduced for the 2009 season remains in place for the 2010 and 2011 seasons.
- Sunoco would become the official fuel of the series starting in mid-2010 and running through 2018. Sunoco would work with APEX–Brasil and UNICA to provide ethanol for the series.
Confirmed entries
All drivers competed in identical Honda HI10R V8-powered, Firestone Firehawk-shod, Dallara IR-05 chassis. reflects an IZOD IndyCar Series rookie.| Team | Drivers | Rounds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 14 | ![]() Team and driver news
ScheduleThe final 2010 schedule was announced on July 31, 2009, with revisions announced on August 26, 2009. New events included a season-opening street race in São Paulo, Brazil, and the new Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park. Richmond and Milwaukee did not return in 2010.
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