2004 IRL IndyCar Series season
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The 2004 Indy Racing League IndyCar Series season was dominated by two teams, Andretti Green Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing. While there was great parity in 2003 between Honda and Toyota powered teams, in 2004 Honda began to outshine Toyota bringing their teams Penske Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing down with it, leaving Scott Dixon winless and in 10th place in his attempt to defend his 2003 championship.

Contents 1 Calendar 2 Team & Driver Chart 3 Race Summaries 3.1 Toyota Indy 300 3.2 Copper World Indy 200 3.3 Indy Japan 300 3.4 88th Indianapolis 500 3.5 Bombardier 500 3.6 SunTrust Indy Challenge 3.7 Argent Mortgage 300 3.8 Firestone Indy 200 3.9 Menards A.J. Foyt 225 3.10 Michigan Indy 400 3.11 Belterra Casino Indy 300 3.12 Honda Indy 225 3.13 Firestone Indy 225 3.14 Delphi Indy 300 3.15 Toyota Indy 400 3.16 Chevy 500 4 Final Point Standings 4.1 Driver

[edit] Calendar

Race No	Track	State	Date	Laps	Distance	Time	Speed	Winner	Pole Position	Most Leading Laps	Fastest Race Lap
1	Homestead-Miami Speedway	Florida	February 29, 2004	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'57:56.3961	243.156 km/h	Sam Hornish, Jr.	Buddy Rice	Hélio Castroneves	Sam Hornish, Jr.
2	Phoenix International Raceway	Arizona	March 21, 2004	200	1.6093=321.86 km	1'33:45.8490	205.960 km/h	Tony Kanaan	Dan Wheldon	Tony Kanaan	Darren Manning
3	Motegi	Japan	April 17, 2004	200	2.4928057=498.56114 km	1'49:48.2611	263.809 km/h	Dan Wheldon	Dan Wheldon	Dan Wheldon	Dan Wheldon
4	Indianapolis Motor Speedway	Indiana	May 30, 2004	180	4.02325=724.185 km	3'14:55.2395	222.917 km/h	Buddy Rice	Buddy Rice	Buddy Rice	Vitor Meira
5	Texas Motor Speedway	Texas	June 12, 2004	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'53:24.1239	247.776 km/h	Tony Kanaan	Dario Franchitti	Tony Kanaan	Vitor Meira
6	Richmond International Raceway	Virginia	June 28, 2004	250	1.206975=301.74375 km	1'38:10.6077	184.408 km/h	Dan Wheldon	Hélio Castroneves	Dario Franchitti	Sam Hornish, Jr.
7	Kansas Speedway	Kansas	July 4, 2004	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'42:56.6727	281.388 km/h	Buddy Rice	Buddy Rice	Buddy Rice	Tomas Scheckter
8	Nashville Superspeedway	Tennessee	July 17, 2004	200	2.1451969=429.03938 km	1'55:34.6367	222.729 km/h	Tony Kanaan	Buddy Rice	Vitor Meira	Vitor Meira
9	Milwaukee Mile	Wisconsin	July 25, 2004	225	1.6607976=373.67946 km	1'46:49.4110	209.886 km/h	Dario Franchitti	Vitor Meira	Dario Franchitti	Dario Franchitti
10	Michigan International Speedway	Michigan	August 1, 2004	200	3.2186=643.72 km	2'11:46.7517	293.091 km/h	Buddy Rice	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan	Sam Hornish, Jr.
11	Kentucky Speedway	Kentucky	August 15, 2004	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'38:20.7207	294.548 km/h	Adrian Fernández	Buddy Rice	Tony Kanaan	Vitor Meira
12	Pikes Peak International Raceway	Colorado	August 22, 2004	225	1.6093=362.0925 km	1'34:56.9156	228.813 km/h	Dario Franchitti	Tony Kanaan	Dario Franchitti	Dan Wheldon
13	Nazareth Speedway	Pennsylvania	August 29, 2004	225	1.5223978=342.539505 km	1'46:11.0277	191.304 km/h	Dan Wheldon	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Sam Hornish, Jr.
14	Chicagoland Speedway	Illinois	September 12, 2004	200	2.41395=482.79 km	2'09:31.3301	223.648 km/h	Adrian Fernández	Hélio Castroneves	Adrian Fernández	Hélio Castroneves
15	California Speedway	California	October 3, 2004	200	3.2186=643.72 km	2'14:12.5029	287.785 km/h	Adrian Fernández	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Vitor Meira
16	Texas Motor Speedway	Texas	October 17, 2004	200	2.41395=482.79 km	1'49:32.2547	264.451 km/h	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves	Hélio Castroneves

[edit] Team & Driver Chart

Team	Chassis	Engine	No	Drivers	Sponsor(s)	Notes
Target Chip Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Toyota	1	Scott Dixon	Target
			10	Darren Manning	Target	Did not Start at California and missed Texas due to injury
Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	2	Mark Taylor	Menards/Johns-Manville
				Townsend Bell		Replaced Taylor from Kansas onwards
			4	Tomas Scheckter	Pennzoil
Marlboro Team Penske	Dallara	Toyota	3	Helio Castroneves	Marlboro
			6	Sam Hornish Jr	Marlboro
/ Aguri-Fernández Racing	G-Force	Honda	5	Adrian Fernández	Quaker State/Telmex/Tecate	Missed opener at Homestead
			55	Kosuke Matsuura	ARTA/Panasonic
Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	7	Bryan Herta	XM Satellite Radio
			11	Tony Kanaan	7-Eleven
			26	Dan Wheldon	Klein Tools/Jim Beam
			27	Dario Franchitti	ArcaEx/Alpine
Kelley Racing	Dallara	Toyota	8	Scott Sharp	Delphi Corporation
			39	Sarah Fisher	Bryant Heating & Cooling	Indy 500 Only
Mo Nunn Racing	Dallara	Toyota	12	Toranosuke Takagi	Pioneer Corporation
			21	Jeff Simmons	Pioneer Corporation	Indy 500 Only
Access Motorsports	G-Force	Honda	13	Greg Ray	Renovac
				Mark Taylor		Replaced Ray from Nashville onwards
A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Dallara	Toyota	14	A. J. Foyt IV	Conseco
	G-Force		41	Larry Foyt		Indy 500 Only
Rahal Letterman Racing	G-Force	Honda	15	Buddy Rice	Argent Mortgage/Pioneer Corporation
			16	Roger Yasukawa	Sammy	Motegi & Indy 500 Only
			17	Vitor Meira	Bea Systems/Centrix	Missed first two rounds
PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	18	Robby McGehee	Burger King	Indy 500 Only
Patrick Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	20	Al Unser, Jr.		Indy 500, Texas & Richmond Only
				Jeff Simmons		Kansas Only
				Jaques Lazier		Raced from Nashville to Chicagoland
				Tomáš Enge		California & Texas2 Only
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	24	Robby Buhl	Purex
				Felipe Giaffone	Purex	Replaced Buhl from Indy 500 onwards
Roth Racing	Dallara	Toyota	25	Marty Roth		Indy 500 Only
Sam Schmidt Motorsports	G-Force	Toyota	33	Richie Hearn	Lucas Oil	Indy 500 Only
Newman/Haas Racing	G-Force	Honda	36	Bruno Junqueira	PacifiCare/Secure Horizons	Indy 500 Only
Cheever Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	51	Alex Barron	Red Bull
			52	Ed Carpenter	Red Bull
Robby Gordon Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	70	Robby Gordon	Meijer/Coca-Cola	Indy 500 Only; Lazier replaced Gordon after the Rain Delay
				Jaques Lazier	Meijer/Coca-Cola
Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	91	Buddy Lazier	LifeFitness	Indy 500 Only
CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	98	P.J. Jones	Curb Records	Indy 500 Only

[edit] Race Summaries

[edit] Toyota Indy 300

This race was held and Homestead-Miami Speedway on February 29. Buddy Rice won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Sam Hornish Jr.
2. Hélio Castroneves
3. Dan Wheldon
4. Tora Takagi
5. Tomas Scheckter
6. Darren Manning
7. Buddy Rice
8. Tony Kanaan
9. Scott Sharp
10. Robbie Buhl

[edit] Copper World Indy 200

This race was held and Phoenix International Raceway on March 21. Dan Wheldon won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Tony Kanaan
2. Scott Dixon
3. Dan Wheldon
4. Alex Barron
5. Darren Manning
6. Hélio Castroneves
7. Bryan Herta
8. Tora Takagi
9. Buddy Rice
10. Greg Ray

[edit] Indy Japan 300

This race was held and Twin Ring Motegi on April 17. This was Honda's first win in the annual oval race held at their own track. Dan Wheldon won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Dan Wheldon
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Hélio Castroneves
4. Darren Manning
5. Scott Dixon
6. Buddy Rice
7. Dario Franchitti
8. Kosuke Matsuura
9. Scott Sharp
10. Tora Takagi

[edit] 88th Indianapolis 500

The 88th Indianapolis 500-mile (800 km) race was held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 30. Buddy Rice sat on pole. The race was shortened to 180 laps (450 miles) due to rain.

Top ten results

1. Buddy Rice
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Dan Wheldon
4. Bryan Herta
5. Bruno Junqueira
6. Vitor Meira
7. Adrian Fernández
8. Scott Dixon
9. Hélio Castroneves
10. Roger Yasukawa

[edit] Bombardier 500

This race was held and Texas Motor Speedway on June 12. Dario Franchitti won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Tony Kanaan
2. Dario Franchitti
3. Alex Barron
4. Sam Hornish Jr.
5. Adrian Fernández
6. Vitor Meira
7. Greg Ray
8. Darren Manning
9. Felipe Giaffone
10. Tora Takagi

[edit] SunTrust Indy Challenge

This race was held and Richmond International Raceway on June 26. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Dan Wheldon
2. Vitor Meira
3. Hélio Castroneves
4. Bryan Herta
5. Tony Kanaan
6. Buddy Rice
7. Adrian Fernández
8. Scott Dixon
9. Scott Sharp
10. Felipe Giaffone

[edit] Argent Mortgage 300

This race was held and Kansas Speedway on July 4. Buddy Rice won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Buddy Rice
2. Vitor Meira
3. Tony Kanaan
4. Dario Franchitti
5. Bryan Herta
6. Adrian Fernández
7. Hélio Castroneves
8. Sam Hornish Jr.
9. Dan Wheldon
10. Alex Barron

[edit] Firestone Indy 200

This race was held and Nashville Superspeedway on July 17. Buddy Rice won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Tony Kanaan
2. Sam Hornish Jr.
3. Hélio Castroneves
4. Darren Manning
5. Townsend Bell
6. Buddy Rice
7. Mark Taylor
8. Scott Dixon
9. Kosuke Matsuura
10. Adrian Fernández

[edit] Menards A.J. Foyt 225

This race was held and the Milwaukee Mile on July 25. Vitor Meira won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Dario Franchitti
2. Buddy Rice
3. Sam Hornish Jr.
4. Tony Kanaan
5. Vitor Meira
6. Townsend Bell
7. Alex Barron
8. Adrian Fernández
9. Bryan Herta
10. Kosuke Matsuura

[edit] Michigan Indy 400

This race was held and Michigan International Speedway on August 1. Tony Kanaan won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Buddy Rice
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Dan Wheldon
4. Sam Hornish Jr.
5. Vitor Meira
6. Bryan Herta
7. Scott Dixon
8. Townsend Bell
9. Scott Sharp
10. Hélio Castroneves

[edit] Belterra Casino Indy 300

This race was held and Kentucky Speedway on August 15. Buddy Rice won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Adrian Fernández
2. Buddy Rice
3. Dan Wheldon
4. Kosuke Matsuura
5. Tony Kanaan
6. Dario Franchitti
7. Vitor Meira
8. Ed Carpenter
9. Bryan Herta
10. Darren Manning

[edit] Honda Indy 225

This race was held and Pikes Peak International Raceway on August 22. Tony Kanaan won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Dario Franchitti
2. Adrian Fernández
3. Dan Wheldon
4. Darren Manning
5. Tony Kanaan
6. Hélio Castroneves
7. Vitor Meira
8. Jaques Lazier
9. Bryan Herta
10. Alex Barron

[edit] Firestone Indy 225

This race was held and Nazareth Speedway on August 29. Hélio Castroneves won the pole. The race was heralded as the series' 100th event.

Top ten results

1. Dan Wheldon
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Dario Franchitti
4. Buddy Rice
5. Hélio Castroneves
6. Darren Manning
7. Adrian Fernández
8. Bryan Herta
9. Scott Dixon
10. Vitor Meira

[edit] Delphi Indy 300

This race was held and Chicagoland Speedway on September 12. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Adrian Fernández 200 laps in 2:09:31.3301
2. Bryan Herta +0.0716
3. Tony Kanaan +0.1239
4. Dan Wheldon +0.2464
5. Vitor Meira +0.4873
6. Sam Hornish Jr. +0.5402
7. Scott Dixon +0.6109
8. Felipe Giaffone +1.1137
9. Scott Sharp +1.1878
10. Hélio Castroneves +1.2595

[edit] Toyota Indy 400

This race was held and California Speedway on October 3. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Adrian Fernández
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Dan Wheldon
4. Sam Hornish Jr.
5. Buddy Rice
6. Dario Franchitti
7. Hélio Castroneves
8. Scott Dixon
9. Townsend Bell
10. Mark Taylor

[edit] Chevy 500

This race was held and Texas Motor Speedway on October 17. Hélio Castroneves won the pole.

Top ten results

1. Hélio Castroneves
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Dan Wheldon
4. Vitor Meira
5. Adrian Fernández
6. Scott Dixon
7. Mark Taylor
8. Scott Sharp
9. Townsend Bell
10. A.J. Foyt IV

[edit] Final Point Standings

[edit] Driver

For every race points were awarded to all starters: 50 points to the winner, 40 for runner up, 35 for third place, 32 for fourth place, 30 for fifth place, 28 for sixth place, 26 seventh place, 24 eighth place, 22 for ninth place, 20 for tenth place, winding down to 12 points for 18th place. From 18th place to 24th place each driver was awarded with 12 points. Starting with 25th place every lower placed driver was awarded with 10 point. Additional points were awarded to the driver leading the most laps (3 points). No additional points were awarded for the qualifying.

Place	Name	Country	Team	Chassis	Engine	Total Points
1	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	618	24	53	40	40	53	30	35	50	32	43	33	30	40	35	40	40
2	Dan Wheldon	United Kingdom	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	533	35	35	53	35	17	50	22	17	12	35	35	35	50	32	35	35
3	Buddy Rice	United States	Rahal Letterman Racing	G-Force	Honda	485	26	22	28	53	15	28	53	28	40	50	40	12	32	16	30	12
4	Hélio Castroneves	Brazil	Penske Racing	Dallara	Toyota	461	43	28	35	22	18	35	26	35	18	20	18	28	33	20	29	53
5	Adrian Fernández	Mexico	Fernández Racing	G-Force	Honda	445	-	12	12	26	30	26	28	20	24	18	50	40	26	53	50	30
6	Dario Franchitti	United Kingdom	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	409	13	13	26	16	40	21	32	12	53	12	28	53	35	12	28	15
7	Sam Hornish, Jr.	United States	Penske Racing	Dallara	Toyota	387	50	15		10	32	17	24	40	35	32	16	12	19	28	32	13
			Penske Racing	G-Force	Toyota				12
8	Vitor Meira	Brazil	Rahal Letterman Racing	G-Force	Honda	376	-	-	13	28	28	40	40	21	30	30	26	26	20	30	12	32
9	Bryan Herta	United States	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	362	17	26	16	32	12	32	30	12	22	28	22	22	24	40	13	14
10	Scott Dixon	New Zealand	Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Toyota	355	12	40	30	24	16	24	18	24	12	26	17	12	22	26	24	28
11	Darren Manning	United Kingdom	Ganassi Racing	G-Force	Toyota	323	28	30	32	10	24	12	19	32	12	17	20	32	28	15	12	-
12	Alex Barron	United States	Cheever Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	310	14	32	18	18	35	12	20	13	26	19	19	20	18	18	12	16
13	Scott Sharp	United States	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Toyota	282	22	17	22	17	12	22	12	16	15	22	13	15	12	22	19	24
14	Kosuke Matsuura	Japan	Super Aguri Fernández Racing	G-Force	Honda	280	19	19	24	19	14	16	12	22	20	13	32	17	12	12	17	12
15	Toranosuke Takagi	Japan	Mo Nunn Racing	Dallara	Toyota	263	32	24	20	12	20	12	12	19	12	12	12	12	13	17	16	18
16	Ed Carpenter	United States	Cheever Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	245	18	12	12	10	12	14	16	12	19	16	24	19	12	19	18	12
17	Mark Taylor	United Kingdom	Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	232	12	18	14	10	13	12	-
			Access Motorsports	G-Force	Honda									26	16	12	12	16	12	13	20	26
	A. J. Foyt IV	United States	A. J. Foyt Racing	Dallara	Toyota	232	15	16	15	10	12	19	17	14	14	15	12	12	15	14	12	20
19	Tomas Scheckter	South Africa	Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	230	30	14	17	12	12	13	15	12	12	12	12	13	17	12	15	12
20	Felipe Giaffone	Brazil	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	214	-	-	-	15	22	20	14	15	17	14	14	14	14	24	12	19
21	Townsend Bell	United States	Panther Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	193	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	30	28	24	12	18	12	12	22	22
22	Jaques Lazier	United States	Patrick Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	104	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12	13	12	15	24	16	12	-	-
23	Greg Ray	United States	Access Motorsports	G-Force	Honda	99	16	20	12	10	26	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
24	Robby Buhl	United States	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	44	20	12	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Al Unser, Jr.	United States	Patrick Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	44	-	-	-	13	19	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
26	Roger Yasukawa	United States	Rahal Letterman Racing	G-Force	Honda	39	-	-	19	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
27	Tomáš Enge	Czech Republic	Patrick Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	31	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	17
28	Bruno Junqueira	Brazil	Newman/Haas Racing	G-Force	Honda	30	-	-	-	30	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
29	Jeff Simmons	United States	Mo Nunn Racing	Dallara	Toyota	26	-	-	-	14	-	-
			Patrick Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet								12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
30	Richie Hearn	United States	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	G-Force	Toyota	12	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Sarah Fisher	United States	Kelley Racing	Dallara	Toyota	12	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Robby McGehee	United States	PDM Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	12	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Buddy Lazier	United States	Hemelgarn Racing	Dallara	Chevrolet	12	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Marty Roth	Canada	Roth Racing	Dallara	Toyota	12	-	-	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
35	P. J. Jones	United States	CURB/Agajanian/Beck Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	10	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Robby Gordon	United States	Robby Gordon Motorsports	Dallara	Chevrolet	10	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Larry Foyt	United States	A. J. Foyt Racing	G-Force	Toyota	10	-	-	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note:

Race 4 After a red flag for rain Jaques Lazier replaced Robby Gordon, but all points were awarded to Robby Gordon.

Race 14 Hélio Castroneves had 15 points deduction due to a premature start after the final caution.

All drivers were awarded with points.

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