The 2009 IndyCar Series was the 14th season of the IndyCar Series. The 17-race season began on April 5, and its premier event, the 93rd Indianapolis 500 was held May 24. All races were broadcast on ABC or Versus in high-definition. It represented the 98th recognized season of top-level American open wheel racing. On July 30, 2008, the 2009 schedule for the IndyCar Series was officially released. New to the schedule were Long Beach and Toronto, with Nashville having been removed to make way for the new events. Dario Franchitti won his second IndyCar Series championship, putting a disappointing foray into NASCAR in 2008 behind him. Franchitti took his Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda to victory at Long Beach, Iowa Speedway, Toronto and Infineon Raceway in a season long battle with his Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon and Team Penske driver Ryan Briscoe. Dixon led the series heading into the final round, but Franchitti's win at the series finale at Homestead pushed the British driver eleven points clear at season's end. Dixon, who took five wins, held second place by a solitary point over Briscoe. Briscoe, with three wins, had his best ever season leading Team Penske after Hélio Castroneves's abbreviated start to the season from his tax-evasion trial. The Brazilian recovered by winning his third Indianapolis 500 before taking a win at Texas Motor Speedway a month later. The Ganassi and Penske teams dominated the season, only two race victories were taken by drivers other than the four regulars from these two teams, and one of them, at Edmonton, was claimed by part-time Penske driver Will Power. The only other winner was Justin Wilson, scoring Dale Coyne Racing's first victory at Watkins Glen. The Andretti Green Racing team had their first ever season without a win. Drivers Danica Patrick, Tony Kanaan and Hideki Mutoh each scored podium finishes, and Patrick finished fifth in the season points, setting a new record for highest points finish by a female driver. Brazilian racer Raphael Matos claimed rookie of the year honors for the Luczo-Dragon Racing team, finishing thirteenth in the season point score, 29 points clear of Robert Doornbos with a season best result of sixth at Milwaukee. Originally Honda was supposed to end their IndyCar Series single engine supplier after 2009. But on September 23, 2009, it was confirmed that Honda renewed their single engine supplier until the 2011 season.

2009 IndyCar Series schedule

Oval speedway Road course Street circuit

Schedule details

Confirmed entries

All entrants competed in Dallara IR-05 chassis, powered by Honda HI9R V8 engines, and utilize Firestone Firehawk tires.

Series news

Team and driver news

Testing

The following open tests were held.

Race summaries

Round 1: Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Round 2: 35th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

Round 3: RoadRunner Turbo Indy 300

Round 4: 93rd Indianapolis 500

Round 5: ABC Supply Company A. J. Foyt 225

Round 6: Bombardier Learjet 550

Round 7: Iowa Corn Indy 250

Round 8: SunTrust Indy Challenge

Round 9: Camping World Grand Prix at The Glen

Round 10: Honda Indy Toronto

Round 11: Rexall Edmonton Indy

Round 12: Meijer Indy 300

Round 13: Honda 200

Round 14: Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

Round 15: Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300

Round 16: Indy Japan 300

Round 17: Firestone Indy 300

Season Summary

Race results

Final driver standings