2006 IndyCar Series season

2006 American Championship Car season
Series  : IndyCar
Champion : Sam Hornish, Jr.
Previous: 2005	Next: 2007

The 2006 IRL IndyCar Series season began on March 26 and concluded on September 10. Sam Hornish, Jr. won his third IndyCar Series championship. Hornish also won the 90th Indianapolis 500, passing rookie Marco Andretti on the final lap less than 500 feet ( m) from the finish line. The season was marred by the death of Paul Dana during practice at Homestead.

Commentators

The official commentators were Marty Reid, Scott Goodyear, and Rusty Wallace, with pit reports from Jack Arute, Jerry Punch, Vince Welch, and Jamie Little, and pre race hosting from Brent Musburger.

ABC Television
Booth Announcers	Pit/garage reporters
Host: Brent Musburger Announcer: Marty Reid Color: Scott Goodyear Color: Rusty Wallace	Jack Arute Jerry Punch Vince Welch Jamie Little

2006 IndyCar Series schedule

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Track	Location	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most Laps Led	Winner
1	March 26	Toyota Indy 300	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Scott Dixon	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Dan Wheldon
2	April 2	Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg	Streets of St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg, Florida	Dario Franchitti	Tony Kanaan	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves
3	April 22	Indy Japan 300	Twin Ring Motegi	Motegi, Japan	Hélio Castroneves	Scott Dixon	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves
4	May 28	90th Indianapolis 500	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Speedway, Indiana	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Scott Dixon	Dan Wheldon	Sam Hornish, Jr.
5	June 4	Watkins Glen Indy Grand Prix presented by Tissot	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	Hélio Castroneves	Marco Andretti	Dan Wheldon	Scott Dixon
6	June 10	Bombardier Learjet 500	Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth, Texas	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Dan Wheldon	Dan Wheldon	Hélio Castroneves
7	June 24	SunTrust Indy Challenge	Richmond International Raceway	Richmond, Virginia	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.
8	July 2	Kansas Lottery Indy 300	Kansas Speedway	Kansas City, Kansas	Dan Wheldon	Hélio Castroneves	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.
9	July 15	Firestone Indy 200	Nashville Superspeedway	Lebanon, Tennessee	Dan Wheldon	Dan Wheldon	Dan Wheldon	Scott Dixon
10	July 23	ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225	The Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin	Hélio Castroneves	Tomas Scheckter	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan
11	July 30	Firestone Indy 400	Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan	Hélio Castroneves	Kosuke Matsuura	Vitor Meira	Hélio Castroneves
12	August 13	Meijer Indy 300 presented by Coca-Cola and Secret	Kentucky Speedway	Sparta, Kentucky	Hélio Castroneves	Bryan Herta	Dan Wheldon	Sam Hornish, Jr.
13	August 27	Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma	Infineon Raceway	Sonoma, California	Scott Dixon	Tony Kanaan	Scott Dixon	Marco Andretti
14	September 10	Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean	Chicagoland Speedway	Joliet, Illinois	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Dan Wheldon	Dan Wheldon

  Oval/Speedway

  Road Course/Street Circuit

Off season changes

2006 for the Indy Racing League was much different from 2005. The biggest change being the withdrawal of Chevrolet- 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 situation is little changed from 2005, the largest change being Ganassi Racing's switch from Panoz to Dallara. The full-season runners using the Panoz in 2006 are Rahal Letterman Racing's three cars and Delphi Fernandez Racing's Scott Sharp.

2006 also sees the elimination of three rounds of the championship from the 2005 season. The Phoenix International Raceway 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 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. 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 Marco Andretti. Additionally, Tomas Scheckter moved from Panther Racing to a new car at Vision Racing and Vitor Meira moved from Rahal Letterman to Scheckter's seat at Panther. Paul Dana 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, 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 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 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 series [1].

Mid-Season changes

Following Paul Dana's death in a crash before the first race, Rahal-Letterman hired Jeff Simmons to drive the #17 car two races later at Motegi. 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 and Foyt Enterprises replaced Felipe Giaffone with Jeff Bucknum. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing also 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 1.5-mile (Template:Convert/( 1.5 )*1609.344) 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).

Team and Driver Chart

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Sponsor(s)	Notes
Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	1	Michael Andretti	Jim Beam/Vonage	Indy 500 Only
			7	Bryan Herta	XM Satellite Radio
			11	Tony Kanaan	7-Eleven
			26	Marco Andretti	NYSE Group
			27	Dario Franchitti	Klein Tools/Jim Beam/Canadian Club	Injured before Chicagoland
				A. J. Foyt IV	Klein Tools/Canadian Club	Stood in for Franchitti at Chicagoland
Vision Racing	Dallara	Honda	2	Tomas Scheckter
			20	Ed Carpenter		Injured at Homestead; missed St. Petersburg
				Roberto Moreno		Stood in for Carpenter at St. Petersburg
			90	Townsend Bell	Rock & Republic	Indy 500 only
Marlboro Team Penske	Dallara	Honda	3	Hélio Castroneves	Marlboro/Mobil 1
			6	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Marlboro/Mobil 1
Panther Racing	Dallara	Honda	4	Vitor Meira	Econova/Lincoln Tech/Revive
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Honda	5	Buddy Lazier	Escort Radar Detectors	Left team after Michigan
				Ryan Briscoe		Watkins Glen, Nashville, Milwaukee, & Infineon
				Sarah Fisher	Fastenal/iZon	Kentucky and Chicagoland only
			31	Al Unser, Jr.	A1 Team USA	Indy 500 Only
/ Aguri-Fernández Racing	Dallara	Honda	8	Scott Sharp	Delphi Corporation	Panoz chassis used Road Courses
			55	Kosuke Matsuura	Panasonic/ARTA
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	Dallara	Honda	9	Scott Dixon	Target	Panoz chassis used Road Courses
			10	Dan Wheldon	Target	Panoz chassis used Road Courses
Playa del Racing	Panoz	Honda	12	Roger Yasukawa		Indy 500 Only
			21	Jaques Lazier		Indy 500 Only
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Honda	14	Felipe Giaffone	ABC Supply Company	Released after 8 races
				Jeff Bucknum		Replaced Giaffone for remaining races
			41	Larry Foyt	ABC Supply Company	Indy 500 Only
Rahal Letterman Racing	Panoz/Dallara	Honda	15	Buddy Rice	Argent Mortgage	Panoz chassis used the first 5 races and Sonoma
			16	Danica Patrick	Argent Mortgage	Panoz chassis used the first 5 races and Sonoma
			17	Paul Dana	Ethanol Promotion and Information Council	Killed in practice at Homestead
				Jeff Simmons		Replaced Dana from Motegi onwards. Panoz chassis used Motegi to Watkins Glen and Sonoma.
PDM Racing	Panoz	Honda	18	Thiago Medeiros		Indy 500 Only
Roth Racing	Dallara	Honda	25	Marty Roth	Barabco	Indy 500, Michigan, Kentucky, and Chicagoland only
Cheever Racing	Dallara	Honda	51	Eddie Cheever	Circle K/Geico	Team shut down after Kansas
				Tomáš Enge		Motegi Only
			52	Max Papis	Sport Clips	Indy 500 Only
Luyendyk Racing	Panoz	Honda	61	Arie Luyendyk, Jr.		Indy 500 Only
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	Panoz	Honda	88	Airton Daré	OCTANE Motors/Sanitec	Indy 500 Only
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Honda	91	P. J. Chesson	Carmelo	Team shut down after Indy 500
			92	Jeff Bucknum	Life Fitness	Indy 500 Only
Team Leader Motorsports	Panoz	Honda	97	Stéphan Grégoire	Effen Vodka	Indy 500 Only
			98	P. J. Jones	CURB Records	Indy 500 Only

Race summaries

Toyota Indy 300

Main article: 2006 Toyota Indy 300

This race held at Homestead-Miami Speedway was run on March 26 and covered by ABC. Sam Hornish, Jr. won the pole.

The race was marred by a violent crash in the final practice session. Paul Dana was killed in the crash and teammates Danica Patrick 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.

Top ten results

1. 10- Dan Wheldon 200 laps
2. 3- Hélio Castroneves +0.0147 (9th closest finish in IRL history)
3. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. +0.4744
4. 27- Dario Franchitti +0.9401
5. 9- Scott Dixon +1.1989
6. 55- Kosuke Matsuura +2 laps
7. 8- Scott Sharp +2 laps
8. 14- Felipe Giaffone +2 laps
9. 2- Tomas Scheckter +3 laps
10. 51- Eddie Cheever +4 laps

IRL Video Synopsis of the Race

Annotated Video of Race Summary

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Main article: 2006 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The Streets of St. Petersburg race was held on April 2 and covered by ESPN. Dario Franchitti 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.

Top ten results

1. 3- Hélio Castroneves 100 laps
2. 9- Scott Dixon +0.1386
3. 11- Tony Kanaan +0.6284
4. 7- Bryan Herta +0.7813
5. 4- Vitor Meira +2.5995
6. 16- Danica Patrick +3.0433
7. 55- Kosuke Matsuura +52.7172
8. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. +1 lap
9. 14- Felipe Giaffone +1 lap
10. 8- Scott Sharp +1 lap

Indy Japan 300

The Twin Ring Motegi, Japan 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.

Top ten results

1. 3- Hélio Castroneves 200 laps
2. 10- Dan Wheldon +6.3851
3. 11- Tony Kanaan +8.6163
4. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. +9.0011
5. 15- Buddy Rice +9.7491
6. 7- Bryan Herta +13.8972
7. 55- Kosuke Matsuura +14.7633
8. 16- Danica Patrick +15.4456
9. 9- Scott Dixon +1 lap
10. 4- Vitor Meira +1 lap

90th Indianapolis 500

Main article: 2006 Indianapolis 500

The Indy 500 was run on May 28 and covered by ABC. Sam Hornish, Jr. 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 Marco Andretti in the second-closest finish in Indy 500 history. Dan Wheldon led most laps with 148.

Top ten results

1. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. 200 laps
2. 26- Marco Andretti +0.0635
3. 1- Michael Andretti +1.0087
4. 10- Dan Wheldon +1.2692
5. 11- Tony Kanaan +1.6456
6. 9- Scott Dixon +3.0566
7. 27- Dario Franchitti +5.6249
8. 16- Danica Patrick +5.7263
9. 8- Scott Sharp +11.1252
10. 4- Vitor 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 race to be run in wet conditions. Scott Dixon won from Panther Racing's Vitor Meira and Australia's Ryan Briscoe, of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Top ten results

1. 9- Scott Dixon 55 laps
2. 4- Vitor Meira +2.3311
3. 5- Ryan Briscoe +2.7999
4. 15- Buddy Rice +9.2284
5. 14- Felipe Giaffone +11.4811
6. 20- Ed Carpenter +12.4427
7. 3- Hélio Castroneves +13.0455
8. 16- Danica Patrick +13.3289
9. 8- Scott Sharp +16.6462
10. 2- Tomas Scheckter +48.4872

Video Synopsis of Race

1. Annotated Version of IRL Race Summary

Bombardier Learjet 500

The Texas race was run on June 10 and covered by ESPN. Sam Hornish, Jr. 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

1. 3- Hélio Castroneves 200 laps
2. 9- Scott Dixon +0.2402
3. 10- Dan Wheldon +0.2981
4. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. +14.5389
5. 8- Scott Sharp +14.5895
6. 4- Vitor Meira +15.9294
7. 11- Tony Kanaan +16.1398
8. 55- Kosuke Matsuura +22.3327
9. 20- Ed Carpenter +22.9791
10. 2- Tomas Scheckter +1 lap

IRL Race Summary

1. 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. Sam Hornish, Jr. 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

1. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. 250 laps
2. 4- Vitor Meira +0.3907
3. 27- Dario Franchitti +1.5895
4. 26- Marco Andretti +6.5400
5. 8- Scott Sharp +6.6677
6. 7- Bryan Herta +10.9217
7. 2- Tomas Scheckter +1 lap
8. 20- Ed Carpenter +1 lap
9. 10- Dan Wheldon +1 lap
10. 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. Sam Hornish, Jr. 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

1. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. 200 laps
2. 10- Dan Wheldon +0.0793
3. 4- Vitor Meira +5.3892
4. 9- Scott Dixon +5.5158
5. 11- Tony Kanaan +5.7762
6. 3- Hélio Castroneves +7.0432
7. 2- Tomas Scheckter +9.6925
8. 55- Kosuke Matsuura +9.9881
9. 26- Marco Andretti +1 lap
10. 17- 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. Scott Dixon won his second race of the season and captured his first win on an oval since 2003.

Top ten results:

1. 9- Scott Dixon 200 laps
2. 10- Dan Wheldon +0.1176
3. 4- Vitor Meira +1.2756
4. 16- Danica Patrick +2.5019
5. 3- Hélio Castroneves +3.5647
6. 27- Dario Franchitti +11.9449
7. 17- Jeff Simmons +1 lap
8. 26- Marco Andretti +1 lap
9. 5- Ryan Briscoe +1 lap
10. 20- Ed Carpenter +2 laps

ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225

The 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

1. 11- Tony Kanaan 225 laps
2. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. +1.8276
3. 2- Tomas Scheckter +2.0114
4. 16- Danica Patrick +8.4708
5. 26- Marco Andretti +10.2611
6. 27- Dario Franchitti +11.2373
7. 7- Bryan Herta +14.1195
8. 10- Dan Wheldon +1 lap
9. 17- Jeff Simmons +2 laps
10. 9- Scott Dixon +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:

1. 3- Hélio Castroneves 200 laps
2. 4- Vitor Meira +1.6229
3. 10- Dan Wheldon +6.2259
4. 11- Tony Kanaan +6.9874
5. 2- Tomas Scheckter +27.9005
6. 8- Scott Sharp +28.5560
7. 20- Ed Carpenter +1 lap
8. 26- Marco Andretti +1 lap
9. 55- Kosuke Matsuura +1 lap
10. 17- Jeff Simmons +1 lap

Meijer Indy 300 presented by Coca-Cola and Secret

The Kentucky Speedway race was run on August 13 and covered by ABC. Hélio Castroneves won the pole. Sam Hornish, Jr. 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.

Top ten results:

1. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. 200 laps
2. 9- Scott Dixon +0.5866
3. 3- Hélio Castroneves +0.6511
4. 10- Dan Wheldon +1.8913
5. 11- Tony Kanaan +2.3049
6. 4- Vitor Meira +2.5191
7. 2- Tomas Scheckter +2.8124
8. 16- Danica Patrick +3.2408
9. 27- Dario Franchitti +4.7070
10. 7- Bryan Herta +4.7966

Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma

The Infineon Raceway race was run on August 27 and covered by ESPN. Scott Dixon won the pole. Marco Andretti became the youngest winner of a major open wheel race and the first new IRL winner since Adrian Fernandez in 2004.

Top ten results:

1. 26- Marco Andretti 80 laps
2. 27- Dario Franchitti +0.6557
3. 4- Vitor Meira +10.6535
4. 9- Scott Dixon +11.1867
5. 3- Hélio Castroneves +12.5049
6. 10- Dan Wheldon +13.4493
7. 17- Jeff Simmons +13.8754
8. 16- Danica Patrick +15.7417
9. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. +16.3369
10. 7- Bryan Herta +18.5571

Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 presented by Mr. Clean

The Chicagoland Speedway race was run on September 10 and covered by ABC. Sam Hornish, Jr. 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:

1. 10- Dan Wheldon 200 laps
2. 9- Scott Dixon +0.1897
3. 6- Sam Hornish, Jr. +0.2323
4. 3- Hélio Castroneves +2.6913
5. 20- Ed Carpenter +1 lap
6. 4- Vitor Meira +1 lap
7. 11- Tony Kanaan +1 lap
8. 17- Jeff Simmons +1 lap
9. 8- Scott Sharp +1 lap
10. 2- Tomas Scheckter +1 lap

Final driver standings

Pos Driver HMS STP MOT INDY WGL TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY SNM CHI Pts 1 Sam Hornish, Jr. 3* 8 4 1 12 4 1* 1* 14 2 19 1 9 3 475 2 Dan Wheldon 1 16 2 4* 15* 3* 9 2 2* 8 3 4* 6 1* 475 3 Hélio Castroneves 2 1* 1* 25 7 1 10 6 5 14 1 3 5 4 473 4 Scott Dixon 5 2 9 6 1 2 11 4 1 10 16 2 4* 2 460 5 Vitor Meira 16 5 10 10 2 6 2 3 3 15 2* 6 3 6 411 6 Tony Kanaan 11 3 3 5 11 7 18 5 12 1* 4 5 11 7 384 7 Marco Andretti 15 15 12 2 16 14 4 9 8 5 8 17 1 18 325 8 Dario Franchitti 4 19 11 7 14 13 3 12 6 6 12 9 2 311 9 Danica Patrick DNS 6 8 8 8 12 15 11 4 4 17 8 8 12 302 10 Tomas Scheckter 9 12 13 27 10 10 7 7 15 3 5 7 17 10 298 11 Bryan Herta 13 4 6 20 13 11 6 13 11 7 11 10 10 15 289 12 Scott Sharp 7 10 16 9 9 5 5 18 17 12 6 16 14 9 287 13 Kosuke Matsuura 6 7 7 15 18 8 12 8 13 17 9 19 13 11 273 14 Ed Carpenter DNS 20 11 6 9 8 16 10 16 7 11 12 5 252 15 Buddy Rice DNS 13 5 26 4 18 13 17 16 11 13 15 15 13 234 16 Jeff Simmons 18 23 19 15 19 10 7 9 10 14 7 8 217 17 Felipe Giaffone 8 9 15 21 5 16 17 19 142 18 Buddy Lazier 14 14 14 12 19 16 15 15 122 19 Eddie Cheever 10 11 13 17 17 14 14 114 20 Jeff Bucknum 32 18 13 14 13 18 17 97 21 Ryan Briscoe 3 9 18 16 83 22 P. J. Chesson 12 17 17 33 54 23 Marty Roth DNQ 18 18 19 36 24 Michael Andretti 3 35 25 Sarah Fisher 12 16 32 26 A. J. Foyt IV 14 16 27 Max Papis 14 16 28 Roger Yasukawa 16 14 29 Jaques Lazier 17 13 30 Roberto Moreno 18 12 31 Airton Daré 18 12 32 Tomáš Enge 19 12 33 P. J. Jones 19 12 34 Townsend Bell 22 12 35 Al Unser, Jr. 24 12 36 Arie Luyendyk, Jr. 28 10 37 Stéphan Grégoire 29 10 38 Larry Foyt 30 10 39 Thiago Medeiros 31 10 40 Paul Dana DNS 1 6 Pos Driver HMS STP MOT INDY WGL TXS RIR KAN NSH MIL MIS KTY SNM CHI Pts

Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th-10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing In-line notation Bold Pole position Italics Ran fastest race lap * Led most race laps (3 points) DNS Any driver who qualifies but does not start (DNS), earns half the points had they taken part. Rookie of the Year Rookie

In every race, points are awarded to drivers on the following basis:

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33
Points	50	40	35	32	30	28	26	24	22	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	10

• 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.

Note

1. - Paul Dana 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.

See also

• 2006 Indianapolis 500
• 2006 Indy Pro Series season
• 2006 Champ Car season
• 2006 Champ Car Atlantic season

External links

• IndyCar.com - official site
• Indianapolis 500 - official site

Template:Indy Racing League Seasons