The 2006 IRL IndyCar Series began on March 26 and concluded on September 10.

Sam Hornish Jr. Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017. He began his top-tier raci ...

won his third IndyCar Series championship. Hornish also won the 90th Indianapolis 500, passing rookie

Marco Andretti Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an American auto racing driver who drives the No. 98 car for Bryan Herta Autosport, Andretti Herta Autosport part-time in the IndyCar Series. He is the third generation of the famous Andretti racin ...

on the final lap less than from the finish line. The title chase was very dramatic between Penske drivers Hornish and Hélio Castroneves battling Ganassi drivers Dan Wheldon and

Scott Dixon Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has won the IndyCar championship six times: in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 202 ...

. The four drivers occupied the first four positions in the final race at Chicagoland Speedway, with Wheldon leading Dixon home for a Ganassi 1–2, but Hornish finishing third, edging out reigning champion Wheldon on a tiebreak. Third would have been enough to catapult fourth-place finisher Castroneves to take the title, but he instead ended up two points behind Hornish and Wheldon. Dixon was also in strong title contention, finishing a mere 15 points adrift of the championship. The season was marred by the death of

Paul Dana Paul Dana (; April 15, 1975 – March 26, 2006) was an American racing driver in the IndyCar Series. Early life Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Dana graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Before becoming a race ...

during practice at Homestead. 2006 also the final season for Panoz chassis as an official chassis manufacturer in the series.

Commentators

The official commentators were

Marty Reid Martin Reid "Marty" Klingeman (born February 3, 1953), known professionally as Marty Reid, is an American television sportscaster who worked for ESPN from 1982 to 2013, covering motorsports for the network. Reid served as the network's lead Ind ...

Scott Goodyear Scott Goodyear (born December 20, 1959) is a Canadian former race car driver. He ran the Indy Racing League and Champ Car series during his career from 1987, winning the Michigan 500 in 1992 and 1994. Goodyear qualified for eleven runnings of th ...

, and Rusty Wallace, with pit reports from Jack Arute,

Jerry Punch Gerald Punch (born August 20, 1953) is an American auto racing and college football commentator working for ESPN, as well as a physician. Punch also does local radio spots in Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox Cou ...

, Vince Welch, and

Jamie Little Jamie Little (born April 9, 1978) is an American pit reporter for NASCAR coverage on Fox. Little is a former pit reporter for ESPN/ABC coverage of the Indy Racing League, although she returned to her pit reporting duty for the 2007 and 2008 In ...

, and pre race hosting from

Brent Musburger Brent Woody Musburger (born May 26, 1939) is an American sportscaster, currently the lead broadcaster and managing editor at Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN). With CBS Sports from 1973 until 1990, he was one of the original members ...

Off season changes

2006 for the Indy Racing League was much different from

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. The biggest change being the withdrawal of

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

- and Toyota-powered cars from the series, leaving Honda as the only engine manufacturer. There was much speculation after this announcement that because there would not be nearly as much money provided to teams by engine providers as in previous years, many of them would scale back. To some extent, this was true: Ganassi Racing pared its team from three to two cars and Panther Racing and Cheever Racing from two to one. However, Tony George and Patrick Dempsey's Vision Racing added a car for displaced Tomas Scheckter. Honda also reduced the costs of both year-long and Indy-only engine leases, promised that all teams would be provided with identical engines and technical support, and that engines would last two races between scheduled rebuilds—all significant cost-cutting measures compared to previous years. The

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

situation is little changed from 2005, the largest change being Ganassi Racing's switch from Panoz to Dallara for oval races. The full-season runners using the Panoz in 2006 were Rahal Letterman Racing's three cars and Delphi Fernandez Racing's Scott Sharp. 2006 also saw the elimination of three rounds of the championship from the 2005 season. The

Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. P ...

race was cancelled because of scheduling conflicts. The California Speedway round was not retained because the IRL wanted to move its date earlier in the season so as to not conflict with the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

season, but a date that was available for both the speedway and the league could not be found. Both the IRL and California Speedway hope that a race there will return for 2007. The Pikes Peak International Raceway was eliminated from the 2006 schedule as the track was sold by its owners and subsequently closed. Further explanation for this new schedule was given by the league as being more "compact" and "exciting" and as a method of avoiding lost television ratings and race attendance by finishing their race season before the NFL season. Many critics viewed this shortened schedule as a definite setback for the series, not an improvement. There were also a handful of significant driver moves, most important of which was 2005 series champion Dan Wheldon moving to Ganassi Racing from Andretti Green Racing, where he was replaced by

. Additionally, Tomas Scheckter moved from Panther Racing to a new car at Vision Racing and Vítor Meira moved from Rahal Letterman to Scheckter's seat at Panther.

and his personal sponsor filled Meira's spot at Rahal Letterman. Eddie Cheever announced that he would return to the role of owner-driver of his single car team for the first four races, including the Indianapolis 500, and Michael Andretti announced he would return to the cockpit to drive alongside his son in the "500".

A. J. Foyt IV Anthony Joseph Foyt IV (born May 25, 1984) is an American football scout and former racing driver. He is a scouting assistant for the Indianapolis Colts, and drove in the IndyCar Series and briefly the NASCAR Busch Series. He is the third gener ...

, who left for NASCAR, was replaced by Felipe Giaffone in Foyt Enterprises' car, while Buddy Lazier returned to a full-time ride in the series by replacing the struggling Roger Yasukawa at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Hemelgarn Racing signed

P. J. Chesson Peter Lawrence Chesson Jr. (born December 9, 1978 in Far Hills, New Jersey) is an American race car driver who most recently competed in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Chesson rode go-karts and motorbikes while growing up on a horse farm ...

late in the offseason with backing from Carmelo Anthony to replace the outgoing Paul Dana. There were also ongoing rumors during the offseason that Tony George and Champ Car principal

Kevin Kalkhoven Kevin Oscar Newton Kalkhoven (1944 – 4 January 2022) was an Australian venture capitalist and auto racing magnate based in California. He served as CEO of JDS Uniphase and was an investor in Cosworth Group Holdings Limited, an automotive tech ...

had been meeting and discussing a potential merger, or a new series that would re-unite open wheel racing in America. The two men have admitted to meeting and enjoying each other's company in skiing and golf, and in separate March 2006 interviews with the Los Angeles Times admitted that they were in fact discussing the prospects of combining the two serie

Mid-season changes

* Following Paul Dana's death in a crash before the first race, Rahal-Letterman hired Jeff Simmons (racing driver), Jeff Simmons to drive the #17 car two races later at Motegi. * Roberto Moreno replaced an injured Ed Carpenter for round 2 only. Carpenter returned for all the remaining races. * Following an Indy 500 where both Hemelgarn cars crashed into each other and finished in the last two positions, Hemelgarn Racing, which had been running full-time with P. J. Chesson, ceased operations. * After the Kansas Speedway race, Cheever Racing ceased operations due to lack of sponsorship. Also, Foyt Enterprises replaced Felipe Giaffone with Jeff Bucknum. * Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced that Ryan Briscoe, who drove their car to a third place at Watkins Glen, would drive their car in the remaining short oval and road course races instead of Buddy Lazier and that Sarah Fisher would race the car at the remaining tracks, Kentucky and Chicagoland. * Marty Roth returned to the series after crashing in Indy 500 practice and missing the race to drive his own Roth Racing machine in the final 3 oval races of the season (Michigan, Kentucky, and Chicagoland).

Confirmed entries

*All IndyCar Series entries utilized Honda Indy V8 HI6R engines

Race summaries

Toyota Indy 300

This race held at Homestead-Miami Speedway was run on March 26 and covered by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

won the pole. The race was marred by a violent crash in the final practice session.

was killed in the crash and teammates

Danica Patrick Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win by a woman ...

and Buddy Rice withdrew from the race to honor his memory. He was the third driver to lose his life in the IRL. Ed Carpenter was also injured and would miss this race plus the next race. Top ten results #10- Dan Wheldon 200 laps #3- Hélio Castroneves +0.0147 (9th closest finish in IRL history) #6-

+0.4744 #27-

Dario Franchitti George Dario Marino Franchitti, MBE (born 19 May 1973) is a British former racing driver and current motorsport commentator from Scotland. He is a four time IndyCar Series champion ( 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), a three-time winner of the Indiana ...

+0.9401 #9-

+1.1989 #55- Kosuke Matsuura +2 laps #8- Scott Sharp +2 laps #14- Felipe Giaffone +2 laps #2- Tomas Scheckter +3 laps #51- Eddie Cheever +4 laps IRL Video Synopsis of the Race
Annotated Video of Race Summary

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The

Streets of St. Petersburg The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually ...

race was held on April 2 and covered by ESPN.

won the pole, but was knocked out early due to mechanical failure. The race finished under the yellow flag after Tomas Scheckter and Buddy Rice hit the barrier with 4 laps to go. Roberto Moreno replaced Ed Carpenter for this race as Ed recovered from his injury's but finished 18th due to steering issues. Top ten results #3- Hélio Castroneves 100 laps #9-

+0.1386 #11- Tony Kanaan +0.6284 #7-

Bryan Herta Bryan John Herta (born May 23, 1970) is an American former race car driver. He currently runs his own team, Bryan Herta Autosport in the NTT IndyCar Series. His team won the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with driver Dan Wheldon and the 2016 Indianapol ...

+0.7813 #4- Vítor Meira +2.5995 #16-

+3.0433 #55- Kosuke Matsuura +52.7172 #6-

+1 lap #14- Felipe Giaffone +1 lap #8- Scott Sharp +1 lap

Indy Japan 300

The Twin Ring Motegi,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

race was run on April 22 and covered (via tape delay) by ESPN. Qualifying was rained out and the field was set by entrant points. As a result, Hélio Castroneves sat on pole, and for the second race running, Castroneves won the race. This race also saw the return of Ed Carpenter after the accident at Homestead. Rahal Letterman Racing also returned the #17 car to competition after sitting out a second race, as Indy Pro Series driver Jeff Simmons moved up to the seat. While Simmons has two IndyCar Series races to his experience (one the 2004 Indianapolis 500), he is eligible for the Bombardier series Rookie of the Year contest for 2006. However, on lap 42, Simmons was involved in a crash with Scott Sharp and P. J. Chesson which resulted in Simmons sliding along the track upside down. Simmons was uninjured. Top ten results #3- Hélio Castroneves 200 laps #10- Dan Wheldon +6.3851 #11- Tony Kanaan +8.6163 #6-

+9.0011 #15- Buddy Rice +9.7491 #7-

+13.8972 #55- Kosuke Matsuura +14.7633 #16-

+15.4456 #9-

+1 lap #4- Vítor Meira +1 lap

90th Indianapolis 500

The Indy 500 was run on May 28 and covered by ABC.

won the pole with a 4-lap average of 228.985 mph (2:37.2155). It was Hornish's 10th pole of his short, but yet outstanding career. Hornish then went on to win the race, beating

in the second-closest finish in Indy 500 history. Dan Wheldon led most laps with 148. Top ten results #6-

200 laps #26-

+0.0635 #1- Michael Andretti +1.0087 #10- Dan Wheldon +1.2692 #11- Tony Kanaan +1.6456 #9-

+3.0566 #27-

+5.6249 #16-

+5.7263 #8- Scott Sharp +11.1252 #4- Vítor Meira +17.9554

Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented by Tissot

The Watkins Glen International race was run on June 4 and covered by ABC. Qualifying was cancelled due to fog and the field was set based on Friday practice speeds. Hélio Castroneves sat on pole. The race was shortened to 55 laps from the scheduled 60 due to the 2 hour time limit. The race also made history as the first ever

IRL IRL may refer to: Places * Republic of Ireland (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code) * Irlam railway station (National Rail station code IRL), England Organizations * International Rugby League, the governing body for the sport of rugby league * I ...

race to be run in wet conditions. Scott Dixon won from Panther Racing's Vítor Meira and Australia's Ryan Briscoe, of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. As of 2020 it was the last-ever IndyCar Series victory for Panoz chassis to date.

Top ten results #9-

55 laps #4- Vítor Meira +2.3311 #5- Ryan Briscoe +2.7999 #15- Buddy Rice +9.2284 #14- Felipe Giaffone +11.4811 #20- Ed Carpenter +12.4427 #3- Hélio Castroneves +13.0455 #16-

+13.3289 #8- Scott Sharp +16.6462 #2- Tomas Scheckter +48.4872 Video Synopsis of Race
Annotated Version of IRL Race Summary

Bombardier Learjet 500 The race last ran as XPEL 375 is an NTT IndyCar Series event held at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, Texas since 1997. The races have had a variety of different entitlement sponsors and distances over the years and therefore has had many di ...

The Texas race was run on June 10 and covered by ESPN.

won the pole. Hélio Castroneves captured his second Texas win and third win of the season. Dan Wheldon had led most of the race and looked in control only for a short delay on his final pit stop to drop him back to third. Top ten results #3- Hélio Castroneves 200 laps #9-

+0.2402 #10- Dan Wheldon +0.2981 #6-

+14.5389 #8- Scott Sharp +14.5895 #4- Vítor Meira +15.9294 #11- Tony Kanaan +16.1398 #55- Kosuke Matsuura +22.3327 #20- Ed Carpenter +22.9791 #2- Tomas Scheckter +1 lap IRL Race Summary #
Annotated Race Summary Video

SunTrust Indy Challenge

The Richmond International Raceway race was run on June 24 and covered by ESPN. Qualifying was rained out and Hélio Castroneves won the pole based on combined practice speeds.

has won the race, leading 212 of 250 laps. The race finished in yellow flag at 4 laps to go due a blown tire from Hélio Castroneves which dropped him to 10th place. Top Ten Results #6-

250 laps #4- Vítor Meira +0.3907 #27-

+1.5895 #26-

+6.5400 #8- Scott Sharp +6.6677 #7-

+10.9217 #2- Tomas Scheckter +1 lap #20- Ed Carpenter +1 lap #10- Dan Wheldon +1 lap #3- Hélio Castroneves +1 lap

Kansas Lottery Indy 300

The Kansas Speedway race was run on July 2 and covered by ABC. Dan Wheldon won the pole.

won the race taking the lead from Wheldon with two laps to go. This was the 50th IRL race where 1st and 2nd were separated by less than a second. Top ten results #6-

200 laps #10- Dan Wheldon +0.0793 #4- Vítor Meira +5.3892 #9-

+5.5158 #11- Tony Kanaan +5.7762 #3- Hélio Castroneves +7.0432 #2- Tomas Scheckter +9.6925 #55- Kosuke Matsuura +9.9881 #26-

+1 lap #17- Jeff Simmons (racing driver), Jeff Simmons +1 lap

Firestone Indy 200

The Nashville Superspeedway race was run on July 15 and covered by ESPN. Dan Wheldon won the pole.

won his second race of the season and captured his first win on an oval since 2003. Top ten results: #9-

200 laps #10- Dan Wheldon +0.1176 #4- Vítor Meira +1.2756 #16-

+2.5019 #3- Hélio Castroneves +3.5647 #27-

+11.9449 #17- Jeff Simmons (racing driver), Jeff Simmons +1 lap #26-

+1 lap #5- Ryan Briscoe +1 lap #20- Ed Carpenter +2 laps

ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225 The ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers was an IndyCar Series race held at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. History Open wheel racing at the track dates back to 1937. AAA sa ...

The Milwaukee Mile race was run on July 23 and covered by ESPN. Hélio Castroneves won the pole. Tony Kanaan led most of the race and gave Andretti Green Racing its first win of the season. Top ten results #11- Tony Kanaan 225 laps #6-

+1.8276 #2- Tomas Scheckter +2.0114 #16-

+8.4708 #26-

+10.2611 #27-

+11.2373 #7-

+14.1195 #10- Dan Wheldon +1 lap #17- Jeff Simmons (racing driver), Jeff Simmons +2 laps #9-

+2 laps

Firestone Indy 400

The Michigan International Speedway race was run on July 30 and covered by ABC. The race start was delayed almost 3 hours and the race was aired tape delayed on ESPN2. Hélio Castroneves got his fourth race win of the season from the pole. Top ten results: #3- Hélio Castroneves 200 laps #4- Vítor Meira +1.6229 #10- Dan Wheldon +6.2259 #11- Tony Kanaan +6.9874 #2- Tomas Scheckter +27.9005 #8- Scott Sharp +28.5560 #20- Ed Carpenter +1 lap #26-

+1 lap #55- Kosuke Matsuura +1 lap #17- Jeff Simmons (racing driver), Jeff Simmons +1 lap

Meijer Indy 300 presented by Coca-Cola and Secret

The

Kentucky Speedway Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Before 2008 J ...

race was run on August 13 and covered by ABC. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.

captured his 4th win of the year and re-took the points lead. This was also the second IRL race with two female drivers in the field, the first was the

2000 Indianapolis 500 The 84th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 28, 2000. After four years of an ongoing organizational dispute and "split" in Indy car racing, Chip Ganassi Racing became the first major CA ...

. Top ten results: #6-

200 laps #9-

+0.5866 #3- Hélio Castroneves +0.6511 #10- Dan Wheldon +1.8913 #11- Tony Kanaan +2.3049 #4- Vítor Meira +2.5191 #2- Tomas Scheckter +2.8124 #16-

+3.2408 #27-

+4.7070 #7-

+4.7966

Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma The Indycar Grand Prix of Sonoma was an IndyCar Series race held at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The USAC Championship Car circuit raced at the circuit in 1970. In 2005, American open wheel racing returned to the circuit with an IndyCar ...

The Infineon Raceway race was run on August 27 and covered by ESPN.

won the pole.

became the youngest winner of a major open wheel race and the first new IRL winner since Adrian Fernandez in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. Top ten results: #26-

80 laps #27-

+0.6557 #4- Vítor Meira +10.6535 #9-

+11.1867 #3- Hélio Castroneves +12.5049 #10- Dan Wheldon +13.4493 #17- Jeff Simmons (racing driver), Jeff Simmons +13.8754 #16-

+15.7417 #6-

+16.3369 #7-

+18.5571

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean

The Chicagoland Speedway race was run on September 10 and covered by ABC.

won the pole and clinched the championship by finishing third. Dan Wheldon won the race and tied Hornish in season points, but lost the title due to the tiebreaker (most wins). Top ten results: #10- Dan Wheldon 200 laps #9-

+0.1897 #6-

+0.2323 #3- Hélio Castroneves +2.6913 #20- Ed Carpenter +1 lap #4- Vítor Meira +1 lap #11- Tony Kanaan +1 lap #17- Jeff Simmons (racing driver), Jeff Simmons +1 lap #8- Scott Sharp +1 lap #2- Tomas Scheckter +1 lap

Season summary

Schedule

Oval/Speedway
Road course
Temporary street circuit
BOLD indicates Superspeedways.

Race results

Final driver standings

* Ties in points broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc., and then by number of pole positions, followed by number of times qualified 2nd, etc. *

collided with Ed Carpenter's disabled car in the practice session at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Dana was transported to a hospital, where he died due to complications from his injuries sustained in the crash. He was 30 years old.

Footnotes

External links

IndyCar.com – official siteIndianapolis 500 – official site
{{Indy Racing League Seasons IndyCar Series seasons Indycar Series Season, 2006 IndyCar Series