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2020 IndyCar Series

25th season of the IndyCar Series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2020 IndyCar Series
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The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series was the 25th season of the IndyCar Series and the 109th official championship season of American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 2020 Indianapolis 500. Josef Newgarden entered the season as the defending National Champion. Honda entered as defending Manufacturers' Cup champion for the second consecutive season. It was the first year under Penske management after they took over in late 2019.

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Scott Dixon (left) won his sixth series championship while Josef Newgarden (right) finished second in the championship.
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Series news

  • On May 24, 2019, it was announced that the IndyCar Series would introduce cockpit protection, combining an Aeroscreen and the Halo used in Formula One, from the 2020 season onwards. The cockpit protection was built by Red Bull Advanced Technologies in a collaborative effort with Dallara. The combination of aeroscreen and halo is designed to improve safety standards by deflecting debris away from a driver's head and was originally developed for use in Formula One and IndyCar before its application was expanded to other open-wheel championships.[1]
  • On November 3, 2019, it was announced the Team Penske owner Roger Penske had purchased IndyCar, LLC and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Penske also announced he will step down as full-time race strategist.[2] On January 6, 2020, IndyCar announced the transactions were formally complete. Penske officially becomes just the fourth owner in Indianapolis Motor Speedway's history and marks the first time since 1945 where ownership of the Speedway has changed hands.[3]
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Confirmed entries

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The following teams, entries, and drivers have been announced to compete in the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season. All teams will use a spec Dallara DW12 chassis with UAK18 aero kit and Firestone tires.

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R Eligible for Rookie of the Year

Team changes

Driver changes

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Schedule

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The 17-race schedule for 2020 was initially announced on September 1, 2019; there was one change from the 2019 IndyCar Series calendar with Pocono Raceway being replaced by Richmond Raceway, the latter track returning to the series for the first time since 2009.[69] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, ten races were cancelled (including the Detroit doubleheader and a makeshift second race at Laguna Seca), five rescheduled, and six replacement races added.

During the delay to start the season, many of the IndyCar series drivers participated in the INDYCAR iRacing Challenge.

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road course
 S  Street circuit

Schedule changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in North America, and subsequent restrictions on public gatherings and non-essential business (which have affected all sports worldwide), led to the postponement of the IndyCar Series season to June, and the cancellation of several races.

On March 12, 2020, IndyCar announced that the opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg would be held with no spectators and essential personnel only.[83] However, the next day (March 13), IndyCar announced that the event, as well as all races through April, would be cancelled, citing widening closures and health risks of gatherings. The series announced an intent to begin with the two "Month of May" races in Indianapolis which would have been the first time since the 1957 season that IMS would begin the season.[84]

That did not occur however, because on March 26, IndyCar announced that it would postpone the GMR Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 to July 4 and August 23 respectively (with the former joining NASCAR's Brickyard 400 race weekend), marking the first time either event would be held outside of May. The Detroit Grand Prix was to serve as season opener, while plans were announced for the St. Petersburg race to possibly be reinstated.[85][86][87]

On April 6, IndyCar announced the cancellation of the Detroit Grand Prix, with organizers citing Michigan's stay-at-home order and other scheduled events at Belle Isle making it impossible to prepare for or reschedule the event.[88][89] To compensate for other cancelled races, IndyCar also announced the conversion of the Iowa 300 and Monterey Grand Prix races to double-header weekends, and added a third Indianapolis Motor Speedway race on October 3 as part of the USAC-sanctioned Intercontinental GT Challenge endurance race meeting on the road course.[90]

On May 7, it was announced that the season would commence with a condensed, one-day event format at Texas Motor Speedway, with no spectators in attendance.[91] The race, initially scheduled for 248 laps or around 600 kilometres (370 miles), was shortened to 200 laps or around 300 miles (480 kilometres). As well as this, extensive social distancing protocols related to the COVID-19 pandemic were announced for team personnel, as well as provisions for the use of personal protective equipment (PPE).[70] On May 27, it was announced that tire stints during the Genesys 300 would be limited to a maximum of 35 laps, as unused tires from the 2019 DXC Technology 600 were utilized for the race weekend.[92] This had occurred previously, during the final third of the 2017 Rainguard Water Sealers 600, where a 30-lap maximum was implemented with competition cautions.[93]

On May 13, IndyCar announced that the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg would be held as the season finale on October 25, eventually becoming the only street course race on the schedule.[94]

On May 15, the promoters of the Honda Indy Toronto announced that the race scheduled for July 12 would be postponed.[95]

On May 21, IndyCar announced further changes to the schedule. The round at Road America was moved to July and became a doubleheader weekend, the previously postponed Toronto race was cancelled, and the Richmond round was cancelled.[96]

On June 4, IMS announced that all events during the Brickyard 400 weekend, including the GMR Grand Prix, would be held with no spectators.[97]

On July 15, IndyCar announced a new qualifying format for the Iowa IndyCar 250s where the first lap would set the drivers starting spot for race 1 and the second lap would set the drivers starting spot for race 2.[98]

On July 22, it was announced that the Indianapolis 500 would be further capped at 25% capacity.[99][100]

On July 27, the round at Portland and double-header rounds at Laguna Seca were canceled. To fill the gaps in the schedule, the rounds at Mid-Ohio, Gateway, and the Harvest GP at the Indianapolis road course were converted into double-header rounds. The double-header road course qualifying format was announced to be utilized once more at Mid-Ohio and Indianapolis, while the double-header oval qualifying format used at Iowa would also be used at Gateway.[101]

On August 1, IndyCar officials, Mid-Ohio track officials, and the promoter of the race at Mid-Ohio announced that the doubleheader at Mid-Ohio would be postponed to later in the season due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Ohio.[102] On September 5, the series announced the race would go ahead as a doubleheader event on September 12–13.[82]

On August 4, citing increases in COVID-19 cases in Marion County, Indiana, it was announced that the Indianapolis 500 would be closed to the public.[103]

Cancelled events

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road course
 S  Street circuit

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Results

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Points standings

  • Ties are broken by number of wins, followed by number of 2nds, 3rds, etc.; then by finishing position in the previous race; then by random draw.[107]

Driver standings

  • At all races except the Indy 500, the pole position qualifier earned 1 point. The top nine Indy 500 qualifiers received points, descending from 9 points for the pole position. At double header races, the fastest qualifier of each qualifying group earned 1 point.
  • Drivers who lead at least one race lap were awarded 1 point. The driver who leads the most laps during a race scored an additional 2 points.
  • Entrant-initiated engine change-outs before the engine reaches their required distance run resulted in the loss of 10 points.
  • The usual double points for the season finale were suspended for this season.
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Entrant standings

  • Based on the entrant, used for oval qualifications order, and starting grids when qualifying is cancelled.
  • Only full-time entrants, and at-large part-time entrants shown.
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Manufacturer standings

  • All manufacturer points (including qualifying points, race finish points, and race win bonus points) can only be earned by full-season entrants,[N 14] and provided they are using an engine from their initial allocation, or have mileaged out all previously used engines.[N 15] Ineligible cars are removed from the finishing order used for race finish points,[N 16] and cannot score pole or win bonus points.[N 17][108]
  • The top two finishing entrants from each manufacturer in each race score points for their respective manufacturer. The manufacturer that wins each race will be awarded five additional points.
  • At all races except the Indy 500, the manufacturer who qualifies on pole earns one point. At the Indy 500, the fastest Saturday qualifier earns one point, while the pole position winner on Sunday earns two points.
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See also

Footnotes

  1. Fernando Alonso is considered a rookie in the IndyCar Series; however, he will not be a rookie in the 2020 Indianapolis 500 as he participated in the 2017 Indianapolis 500.
  2. James Davison is considered a rookie in the IndyCar Series; however, he will not be a rookie in the 2020 Indianapolis 500 as he participated in the 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019 Indianapolis 500.
  3. Ben Hanley is considered a rookie in the IndyCar Series; however, he will not be a rookie in the 2020 Indianapolis 500 as he participated in the 2019 Indianapolis 500.
  4. Dreyer and Reinbold have previously used the No. 48, but that number was bought by Arrow McLaren SP on March 5, 2020.
  5. Technical partnership with Andretti Autosport.
  6. The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. Newgarden set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Jack Harvey set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
  7. The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. O'Ward set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Colton Herta set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
  8. The qualification format for this race was each car taking a 2 lap run, lap 1 would determine the first race's starting lineup while lap 2 would set the second race's starting lineup with lap 1's fastest lap setter getting 1 championship point for pole for race 1 while lap 2's fastest lap setter getting 1 championship point for pole for race 2. Conor Daly got 1 championship point for pole for race 1 while Josef Newgarden got 1 championship point for pole for race 2.
  9. The qualification format for this race was each car taking a 2 lap run, lap 1 would determine the first race's starting lineup while lap 2 would set the second race's starting lineup with lap 1's fastest lap setter getting 1 championship point for pole for race 1 while lap 2's fastest lap setter getting 1 championship point for pole for race 2. Will Power got 1 championship point for pole for race 1 while Takuma Sato got 1 championship point for pole for race 2.
  10. The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. Power set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Ryan Hunter-Reay set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
  11. The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. Herta set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Santino Ferrucci set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
  12. The qualification format for this race featured two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. VeeKay set the fastest overall lap, and was awarded the pole position. Josef Newgarden set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
  13. The qualification format for this race features two separate qualification groups, with the fastest qualifier in each group earning a championship point; the faster of the two group fastest qualifiers would then start on pole, while the other would start from the outside of the front row. Power set the fastest overall lap and was awarded the pole position. Colton Herta set the fastest lap in the other qualifying group, and was also awarded a championship point.
  14. Rule 12.6.5.
  15. Rule 16.2.3.2.
  16. Rule 16.2.3.3.
  17. Rule 12.6.5.1.5.
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References

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