2015 marked the twentieth season for the IndyCar series. As in recent years, the season opened in March at Saint Petersburg and ended in late August at Sonoma, California. There was a total fifteen race weekends and only one double-header event (Detroit).

The series used the fourth generation Dallara IR-12 which was introduced in 2012 to replace the Dallara IR5. Chevrolet (Chevy IndyCar V6) and Honda (Honda HI14TT Indy-V6) were still providing 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engines for the series.

Some of the rule changes for 2015 included:

  • Standing starts were eliminated

  • Qualifying groups on road and street circuits would be determined based on times in the final practice session

  • Double points would only be awarded for the Indianapolis 500 and Sonoma finale

  • The change that drew that most interest was the new aero kits designed by Honda and Chevrolet

    Round ten took place at Toronto’s 1.755-miles eleven-turn Exhibition Place. The event was moved to June - this was required as the traditional date in July conflicted with the Pan American games.

    • At Toronto, Josef Newgarden scored his second IndyCar victory of his career and of the season – his first came in round-four at Barber Motorsports Park. Based on his eleventh place qualifying spot Newgarden did not appear to be a threat for the win. A steady drive during the race and an excellent pit strategy allowed him to take the lead on lap-72 of 85.
    Finishing just 1.4485-seconds by Newgarden was his Carpenter Fisher Hartman teammate Luca Filippi in the No. 20 Chevrolet powered Dallara. Team partner, Ed Carpenter, continued competing on the ovals but Filippi was brought in to replace Mike Conway on the street courses – Conway moved to the Word Endurance Championship.
    Helio Castroneves qualified seventh behind his Penske teammates – Will Power, Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud. Castroneves used a strategy that required fuel conservation mid-race but a caution period prevented him from pitting - upsetting the team’s plans. He had the speed at the end of the race but not enough time to catch Newgarden and Filippi – Castroneves finished third which closed the point’s gap on Montoya.
    Local driver, James Hinchcliffe was severely injured during practice for the Indy 500 and had to sit out the remainder of the 2015 season. In Hinchcliffe’s absence, his seat was filled by Ryan Briscoe and Conor Daly. At Toronto, rookie Daly was recruited to drive the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara. He qualified nineteenth and finished twelfth.
    Defending IndyCar Series champion, Will Power, started from the pole position. Power entered the Toronto event with a win at the Indianapolis GP and second in points behind his teammate Juan Pablo Montoya. Power would lead the first thirty-laps and finish fourth. This result closed the gap on Montoya’s points lead.
    The 2014 winner of race-one in Toronto, Sebastien Bourdais qualified fifth on the grid. While Bourdais’ competitors moved up and down the race order, he was mainly in or around the fifth position. At the checkered flag, Bourdais finished where he started – fifth.
    With four podium finishes in 2015 which included victories at the season opener in St. Petersburg and the Indianapolis 500, Juan Pablo Montoya was the point’s leader. He started from the third position on the grid and was seventh at the checkered flag.
    Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud qualified second just 0.1815-seconds behind his teammate – Will Power. At the start of the race, Pagenaud followed Power and attempted to take the lead on a couple of occasions but settled for second. The changing weather conditions and some poorly timed pit-stops meant he was eleventh at the finish.
    During the 2015 season, Chevrolet powered cars were dominating the results – both qualifying and the races. The best qualifying effort for a Honda entry at Toronto was A.J. Foyt’s No. 14 driven by Takuma Sato. Sato started the car eighth and was tenth at the checkered flag.
    The usually dependable No. 9 Ganassi Chevrolet, driven by Scott Dixon, stopped on track during the practice. With the problems sorted, the 2013 winner of two events in Toronto qualified fourth. But like some of his fellow competitors the changing weather conditions worked against him. Dixon was in the eighth position when the checkered flag fell.
    Tony Kanaan drove the No. 10 Dallara for Chip Ganassi. Kanaan qualified ninth and early in the race maintained this position. As the weather changed and the teams cycled through their pit-stops, Kanaan moved up the order. Lap-60 to 62 he led the race but would drop to sixth at the checkered flag.

    FIN.STARTDRIVERCARENTRANTLAPSRETIREMENTS
    111Josef NewgardenDallara DW12 / ChevroletCFH Racing85-
    26Luca FilippiDallara DW12 / ChevroletCFH Racing85-
    37Helio CastronevesDallara DW12 / ChevroletRoger Penske85-
    41Will PowerDallara DW12 / ChevroletRoger Penske85-
    55Sebastien BourdaisDallara DW12 / ChevroletKVSH Racing85-
    69Tony KanaanDallara DW12 / ChevroletChip Ganassi85-
    73Juan Pablo MontoyaDallara DW12 / ChevroletRoger Penske85-
    84Scott DixonDallara DW12 / ChevroletChip Ganassi85-
    910Graham RahalDallara DW12 / HondaRahal Letterman Lanigan Racing85-
    108Takuma SatoDallara DW12 / HondaA.J. Foyt85-
    112Simon PagenaudDallara DW12 / ChevroletRoger Penske85-
    1219Conor DalyDallara DW12 / HondaSchmidt Peterson Motorsports85-
    1318Marco AndrettiDallara DW12 / HondaAndretti Autosport85-
    1414Jack HawksworthDallara DW12 / HondaA.J. Foyt85-
    1522Gabby ChavesDallara DW12 / HondaBHA with Curb-Agajanian85-
    1617Sebastian SaavedraDallara DW12 / ChevroletChip Ganassi85-
    1721Tristan VautierDallara DW12 / HondaDale Coyne85-
    1823Rodolfo GonzalezDallara DW12 / HondaDale Coyne85-
    1916Ryan Hunter-ReayDallara DW12 / HondaAndretti Autosport84Brakes
    2015Charlie KimballDallara DW12 / ChevroletChip Ganassi84-
    2112James JakesDallara DW12 / HondaSchmidt Peterson Motorsports84-
    2213Carlos MunozDallara DW12 / HondaAndretti Autosport69Engine
    2320Stefano ColettiDallara DW12 / ChevroletKV Racing Technology40Accident

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