The season consists of a series of races held variously on permanent road courses, closed city streets and oval tracks, usually in the United States and in a few cases abroad.[5][9] The Drivers' Championship is presented to the most successful open-wheel driver over the course of the season through a points system based on individual race results.[5][10] The Drivers' Championship is won when it is no longer mathematically possible for another competitor to overtake their points total regardless of the outcome of the remaining races, although is not officially awarded until the Victory Lap Celebration banquet that takes place after the season has ended.[11] The winning driver and team owner are presented with a replica of the sterling silver Astor Cup and the driver's name is laser-etched into three black granite bases that support the permanent trophy on display in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.[12]
As of 2023[update], 67 drivers from 11 different countries have won a national American open-wheel championship.[a][15] The first national American open-wheel champion was Barney Oldfield in the 1905 AAA Championship Car season, and the current national title holder is Álex Palou in the 2023 IndyCar Series. A. J. Foyt holds the record for the most Drivers' Championships, having won the title on seven occasions. Scott Dixon is second with six titles, and Mario Andretti, Sébastien Bourdais, and Dario Franchitti are joint third with four titles each.[15] Bourdais also holds the record for the most consecutive Drivers' Championships with four CCWS championships won between the 2004 and 2007 seasons,[16] which is also the record for the most overall CART/CCWS titles.[17]Louis Meyer and Ted Horn hold the record for the most AAA titles, having won the sanctioning body's championship three times. Foyt was the most successful competitor of the USAC era with seven series titles.[18] Dixon is the most successful driver in the IndyCar Series with six series championships.[19]
Key
By season
By driver
Drivers in bold are entered in the 2023 IndyCar Series.
By driver nationality
Records
Consecutive championships
15 drivers have won consecutive National Championships. Only A. J. Foyt has achieved the feat on two separate occasions.[3]
Drivers in bold were entered in the 2022 IndyCar Series.
Notes
^In 1927, AAA Contest Board members Arthur Means and Val Haresnape retrospectively named Bert Dingley (1909), Ray Harroun (1910), Ralph Mulford (1911), Ralph DePalma (1912), Earl Cooper (1913), DePalma (1914), Cooper (1915), Cooper (1917), Mulford (1918), and Howdy Wilcox (1919) as AAA national champions. Means and Haresnape also attempted to retroactively add six events to the five-race 1920 season, and declared that Tommy Milton, instead of Gaston Chevrolet, was the 1920 AAA champion. In 1951, sportswriter Russ Caitlin deemed Harry Harkness (1902), Barney Oldfield (1903), George Heath (1904), Victor Hémery (1905), Joe Tracy (1906), Eddie Bald (1907), and Lewis Strang (1908) as AAA national champions. Disagreeing with Means and Haresnape, Catlin named George Robertson instead of Dingley to have been the 1909 champion. Catlin is not believed to have been aware Oldfield's official 1905 AAA national championship. Accredited historians and statisticians do not consider the changes made by Means, Haresnape, and Catlin to be official.[13][14]
^ a bCalkins and Sharp share the 1996 Indy Racing League title as the series had no tiebreaker rule in effect at the time.[21]
^Montoya and Dario Franchitti ended the 1999 CART season with the same number of points but Montoya was declared champion because he had won seven races to Franchitti's three.[22]
^Hornish and Wheldon ended the 2006 IndyCar Series with the same number of points but Hornish won the title by virtue of him having won four races to Wheldon's two.[23]
^Dixon and Montoya finished the 2015 IndyCar Series with the same number of points with Dixon winning the title by virtue of achieving three victories to Montoya's two.[24]
References
^Taube 1996, pp. 17–18, 20–25.
^Davidson, Donald; Van Allen, Elizabeth J. (February 2021) [1994]. "United States Auto Club". Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^ a b c"All-Time Indy Car Season Champions 1909–2014" (PDF). IndyCar Series. 2014. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^Whitaker 2015, pp. 9–11.
^ a b cGifford 2006, pp. 18–19.
^Kirby, Gordon (2004). "Explaining modern sports' most self-destructive act". GordonKirby.com. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^Evans, Simon (February 23, 2008). "Champ Car and Indy Car agree unification". Reuters. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^Caldwell, Dave (February 28, 2008). "Moving Forward Quickly After the Unification of Open-Wheel Racing". The New York Times. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^Wilson 2013, pp. 380–381.
^Perkins 1993, pp. 43, 112.
^Martin, Bruce (September 24, 2022). "IndyCar champion Will Power completes 'Victory Lap' at ceremony in Indianapolis". NBC Sports. Retrieved April 19, 2023. "Dixon Honored During IndyCar Banquet". Performance Racing Industry. September 1, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^Wilson, Philip B. (September 18, 2019). "Wednesday's Words: Describing IndyCar's title trophy". IndyCar Series. Retrieved April 19, 2023. Lewandoski, Dave (January 14, 2014). "Winter meetings 'like coming back to school'". IndyCar Series. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^Higham 1995, pp. 318–320.
^Capps, H. Donald (February–March 2010). "John Glenn Printz and the Struggle for the Past: The A.A.A. Catastrophe - Arthur Means, Val Haresnape, Russ Catlin, and Bob Russo" (PDF). Rear View Mirror. 7 (6): 21–38.
^ a b c d e"Through The Years". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on September 3, 2011. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
^ a bSullivan, Tim; Shunck, Steve (2011). IZOD IndyCar Series 2011 Historical Record Book (PDF). IndyCar Series. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 17, 2012. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^"CART/CCWS Page". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
^"AAA / USAC Champ Car Series Page". Racing-Reference. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
^"Indy Car Series Records: Drivers: Championships". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
^Bonkowski, Jerry (May 29, 2021). "How Buzz Calkins, Davy Jones Found Their Way to the Middle of the IRL/CART War for IndyCar Supremacy". Autoweek. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
^Kirby, Gordon (January 2000). "CART: Montoya? Franchitti? Or both?". Road & Track. 51 (5): 122. Retrieved May 15, 2023 – via EBSCO.
^"Dan's race, Sam's title". Eurosport. 10 September 2006. Archived from the original on 18 December 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
^"Dixon claims fourth Indy Car title". Radio New Zealand. September 3, 2015. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
Higham, Peter (1995). "IndyCar Championship". The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. London, England: Motorbooks International. ISBN 978-0-7603-0152-4 – via Internet Archive.
Gifford, Clive (2006). "Champ Cars and Indy Racing League". The Kingfisher Motorsports Encyclopedia. London, England: Kingfisher. ISBN 978-0-7534-1382-1 – via Internet Archive.
Wilson, Ed, ed. (2013). "Indy Car Racing". The Sports Book: The Sports, The Rules, The Tactics, The Techniques (4th ed.). London, England: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 978-1-4093-3508-5 – via Internet Archive.
Whitaker, Sigur E. (2015). The Indy Car Wars: The 30 Year Fight for Control of American Open-Wheel Racing. North Carolina: McFarland and Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-1980-4.