The results after nineteen races on sixteen weekends determined the 2013 IndyCar Champion. The series opened in late-March at St. Petersburg and ended at Auto Club Speedway in mid-October. The Championship had a good mix of ovals, temporary street circuit and road courses.

The series continued to use the Dallara DW-12 which was introduced in 2012 to replace the Dallara IR5. The philosophy behind a spec car was to control costs ($349,000/chassis). The DW-12 also incorporated many new safety features – most noticeable was the bodywork surrounding the rear tires. The DW designation was in honour of the late Dan Wheldon, who had performed much of the testing on the new car.

There were two manufacturers providing engines for the season – Chevrolet and Honda. The twin-turbocharged engines produced approximately the same horsepower – 550-700-hp depending on the turbo boost.

There were some changes for 2013:

  • A point was awarded for leading a lap and two points were given to the driver leading the most laps
  • Points earned for positions nineteen through twenty-five were no longer flat – there would be a one-point difference between each of these finishing positions
  • The season included a return to Pocono Raceway and Houston’s Reliant Park
  • Also, returning was the Triple Crown which paid a $1-million bonus to a driver that won at Indianapolis, Pocono and Auto Club Speedway
  • Three venues would host doubleheader race weekends – Detroit, Toronto and Houston

    In a first, the IndyCar Series held a doubleheader weekend at Detroit’s Belle Isle. Competitors would race around the fourteen-turn 2.350-miles temporary street circuit on Belle Isle for seventy laps. Rounds six and seven were called the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit.

    • A week before the Detroit event, Mike Conway received a call from Dale Coyne Racing to drive the No. 18 Sonny’s Real Pit BBQ Dallara DW-12. Conway adapted quickly and qualified second fastest for race one. He passed the pole-sitter, E.J. Viso, on the opening lap. Conway would lose first place during the pit stops but took the lead for the final time on lap-56 for the win. On Sunday, he started first and finished third.
    Sunday’s race was won by Simon Pagenaud in the No. 77 Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Dallara DW-12. The previous day, Pagenaud started eighth and was never a factor, crossing the finish line in twelfth. In round seven, he was gridded sixth. By lap-49, Pagenaud had moved into contention and with two circuits remaining, he grabbed the lead for his first series victory. The result moved him from ninth to fifth in the standings.
    The series defending champion was Ryan Hunter-Reay, who drove the No. 1 Dallara DW-12. He entered the Detroit weekend with a victory at Alabama and a fourth in the standings. Hunter-Reay qualified fourth for Saturday’s contest and moved into second place early. But, he was no match for Mike Conway and finished second by 12.9707-seconds. The next day, Hunter-Reay finished eighteenth but was now third in points.
    James Jakes drove the No. 16 Dallara DW-12 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. His fortunes appeared to improve at Detroit when he started third in race one. His best result to date was a twelfth place at Long Beach. Unfortunately, an off-course excursion left him with a tenth-place finish. On Sunday, Jakes qualified second fastest and redeemed himself by capturing the runner-up position by a margin of 5.6274-seconds.
    With a win and third place result at the Dual in Detroit, Mike Conway left the event with the most points, but perhaps the biggest winner was Helio Castroneves. Castroneves entered the weekend behind Marco Andretti and Takuma Sato in the standings. However, the two-point leaders had a miserable event while Castroneves collected fifth and eighth place finishes, which tied him for the championship lead.
    The primary Dale Coyne Racing entry was the No. 19 Dallara DW-12 driven by Justin Wilson. The former Formula One driver gave the Coyne team its first IndyCar victory after 558 attempts in 2009 at Watkins Glen International. Wilson qualified a disappointing sixteenth fastest in round six at Detroit but charged through the field to finish third. The next day, Wilson was involved in a restart incident and finished twenty-second.
    After the first five races of the season, Marco Andretti had earned five top-ten finishes, of which two were podium results. This combination gave him the championship lead. However, that would change in Detroit. After qualifying eighteenth, Andretti had contact with Charlie Kimball and finished twentieth. In the finale, he bounced back with a sixth place result but was now tied with Helio Castroneves in the title chase.

    FIN.STARTDRIVERCARENTRANTLAPSRETIREMENTS
    12Mike ConwayDallara DW-12 / HondaSonny's BBQ70-
    24Ryan Hunter-ReayDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDHL / Sun Drop Citrus Soda70-
    316Justin WilsonDallara DW-12 / HondaDale Coyne Racing70-
    415Scott DixonDallara DW-12 / HondaTarget Chip Ganassi Racing70-
    512Helio CastronevesDallara DW-12 / ChevroletPPG Team Penske70-
    611Dario FranchittiDallara DW-12 / HondaGE Reveal Chip Ganassi Racing70-
    724Josef NewgardenDallara DW-12 / HondaSarah Fisher Hartman Racing70-
    89Will PowerDallara DW-12 / ChevroletVerizon Team Penske70-
    923Graham RahalDallara DW-12 / HondaMidas/Big-O Tires70-
    103James JakesDallara DW-12 / HondaAcorn Stairlifts70-
    116Tristan VautierDallara DW-12 / HondaAngie's List Schmidt Peterson70-
    128Simon PagenaudDallara DW-12 / HondaSchmidt Hamilton HP70-
    1319Tony KanaanDallara DW-12 / ChevroletKV Racing Technology70-
    1425Charlie KimballDallara DW-12 / HondaNovoLog FlexPen70-
    1520James HinchcliffeDallara DW-12 / ChevroletGoDaddy70-
    1617Simona De SilvestroDallara DW-12 / ChevroletNuclear Entergy Areva KVRT70-
    171E.J. VisoDallara DW-12 / ChevroletTeam Venezuela-CITGO-PDVSA70-
    1822Ed CarpenterDallara DW-12 / ChevroletFuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter69-
    197Takuma SatoDallara DW-12 / HondaABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Racing68-
    2018Marco AndrettiDallara DW-12 / ChevroletRC Cola / Live United67-
    2121Ryan BriscoeDallara DW-12 / ChevroletPanter Racing66Accident
    2210Sebastian SaavedraDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDragon Racing32Accident
    235Alex TaglianiDallara DW-12 / HondaBarracuda Networks28Accident
    2414Sebastien BourdaisDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDragon Racing19Throttle
    2513A.J. AllmendingerDallara DW-12 / ChevroletTeam Penske0Accident

    FIN.STARTDRIVERCARENTRANTLAPSRETIREMENTS
    16Simon PagenaudDallara DW-12 / HondaSchmidt Hamilton HP70-
    22James JakesDallara DW-12 / HondaAcorn Stairlifts70-
    31Mike ConwayDallara DW-12 / HondaSonny's BBQ70-
    47Scott DixonDallara DW-12 / HondaTarget Chip Ganassi Racing70-
    516Dario FranchittiDallara DW-12 / HondaGE Reveal Chip Ganassi Racing70-
    614Marco AndrettiDallara DW-12 / ChevroletRC Cola / Live United70-
    718Charlie KimballDallara DW-12 / HondaNovoLog FlexPen70-
    89Helio CastronevesDallara DW-12 / ChevroletPPG Team Penske70-
    915Graham RahalDallara DW-12 / HondaMidas/Big-O Tires70-
    1011Sebastian SaavedraDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDragon Racing70-
    1122Sebastien BourdaisDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDragon Racing70-
    1219Tony KanaanDallara DW-12 / ChevroletKV Racing Technology70-
    1313Ryan BriscoeDallara DW-12 / ChevroletPanter Racing69-
    1420Tristan VautierDallara DW-12 / HondaAngie's List Schmidt Peterson69-
    1522Ed CarpenterDallara DW-12 / ChevroletFuzzy's Vodka/Ed Carpenter66-
    1624Josef NewgardenDallara DW-12 / HondaSarah Fisher Hartman Racing64-
    175E.J. VisoDallara DW-12 / ChevroletTeam Venezuela-CITGO-PDVSA61-
    184Ryan Hunter-ReayDallara DW-12 / ChevroletDHL / Sun Drop Citrus Soda59-
    1910James HinchcliffeDallara DW-12 / ChevroletGoDaddy57-
    203Will PowerDallara DW-12 / ChevroletVerizon Team Penske53-
    2125Alex TaglianiDallara DW-12 / HondaBarracuda Networks27Accident
    228Justin WilsonDallara DW-12 / HondaDale Coyne Racing27Accident
    2321Takuma SatoDallara DW-12 / HondaABC Supply/A.J. Foyt Racing23Accident
    2417Simona De SilvestroDallara DW-12 / ChevroletNuclear Entergy Areva KVRT8Accident
    2512A.J. AllmendingerDallara DW-12 / ChevroletTeam Penske0Accident

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