Breaking Down American Drivers in IndyCar

With the announcements of three American Drivers this week in the IZOD IndyCar Series, IndyCar Garage took some time to break down the past 15 years of open wheel racing based off of American drivers who had full time rides.





If you start in 1995, the last year before the open wheel split, IndyCar had nine drivers that competed full time. Al Unser Jr, Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Robby Gordon, and Jimmy Vasser were among the notable drivers that represented the U.S.A. The late 90’s saw the Indy Racing League take its concept of American drivers and oval racing, and hit record highs of 16 in 1998, 17 in 1999 and peak at 19 in 2000. CART on the other hand, made it through 1999 with core group of American’s lead by Michael Andretti and Jimmy Vasser, but saw their total free fall in 2000 to just Andretti and Vasser. You could say that 2001 was the beginning of the end for CART American drivers, because between 2001 and 2007 just eight different American drivers participated full time in the CART/Champ Car Series. The IRL peak of 19 in 2000 didn’t last very long as 13 Americans had full time rides in 2001 and that bottomed out at three just this past year. 2011 appears to have some light at the end of the tunnel for Americans, as five men and one women appear to have full time rides and a seventh (Ed Carpenter) working toward a full season.

Media types such as Curt Cavin and Robin Miller have often said that IndyCar needs a mix of international flavor, but a strong American base with drivers on teams that can win races and championships. IndyCar CEO Randy Bernard has gone on the record and said that IndyCar needs the best drivers in the world. IndyCar Garage agrees with Bernard on having the best drivers in the world, and also agrees with Cavin and Miller that Americans need a strong base. If IndyCar has 24 full-time entries like 2010, then you would think you need at least 10 full time Americans, that’s 40%. You could even go to 50% and that puts you at 12 full time American’s.


The chart below breaks down American’s from 1995 – 2010 and 2011 is tentative.

IndyCar PPG World Series - 1995 - (9) – Al Unser Jr, Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti, Robby Gordon, Scott Pruett, Jimmy Vasser, Eddie Cheever, Danny Sullivan, Bryan Herta,


IRL - 1996 – (13) – Scott Sharp, Buzz Calkins, Robbie Buhl, Richie Hearn, Mike Groff, Tony Stewart, Davey Hamilton, Johnny O’Connell, Lyn St. James, Buddy Lazier, John Paul Jr. , Eddie Cheever, Johnny Parsons
CART – 1996 (8) – Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti, Al Unser Jr, Bobby Rahal, Bryan Herta, Scott Pruett, Parker Johnstone, Robby Gordon,


IRL – 1996-1997 (10) – Tony Stewart, Davey Hamilton, Eddie Cheever, Buddy Lazier, Buzz Calkins, Jim Guthrie, Robbie Buhl, Mike Groff, John Paul Jr, Mark Dismore
CART – 1997 (9) – Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti, Scott Pruett, Bryan Herta, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr, Parker Johnstone, Richie Hearn, P.J. Jones,

IRL – 1998 (16) – Davey Hamilton, Tony Stewart, Scott Sharp, Buddy Lazier, Jeff Ward, Eddie Cheever, John Paul Jr, Billy Boat, Sam Schmidt, Mark Dismore, Robby Unser, Robbie Buhl, Brian Tyler, Buzz Calkins, Greg Ray, Dr. Jack Miller,
CART – 1998 (10) – Jimmy Vasser, Scott Pruett, Michael Andretti, Bryan Herta, Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr, Richie Hearn, Robby Gordon, P.J. Jones, Alex Barron


IRL – 1999 (17) – Greg Ray, Mark Dismore, Davey Hamilton, Sam Schmidt, Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever, Scott Sharp, Robby Unser, Jeff Ward, Billy Boat, Buzz Calkins, Scott Harrington, Robby McGehee, John Hollansworth Jr, Jaques Lazier, Tyce Carlson, Donnie Beechler,
CART – 1999 (8) – Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Bryan Herta, P.J. Jones, Scott Pruett, Robby Gordon, Al Unser Jr, Richie Hearn,

IRL – 2000 (19) – Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever, Donnie Beechler, Mark Dismore, Scott Sharp, Robbie Buhl, Al Unser Jr, Billy Boat, Jeff Ward, Robby McGehee, Greg Ray, Buzz Calkins, Jeret Schroeder, Sarah Fisher, Tyce Carlson, Jaques Lazier, Sam Hornish Jr, Davey Hamilton, Jimmy Kite,
CART – 2000 (2) – Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti,

IRL – 2001 (13) – Sam Hornish Jr, Buddy Lazier, Scott Sharp, Billy Boat, Al Unser Jr, Eddie Cheever, Buzz Calkins, Jeff Ward, Robbie Buhl, Mark Dismore, Robbie McGehee, Greg Ray, Sarah Fisher,
CART – 2001 (4) – Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Memo Gidley, Bryan Herta

IRL – 2002 (12) – Sam Hornish Jr, Alex Barron, Scott Sharp, Al Unser Jr, Buddy Lazier, Eddie Cheever, Jeff Ward, Billy Boat, Richie Hearn, George Mack, Robbie Buhl, Sarah Fisher
CART – 2002 (2) – Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti

IRL – 2003 (11) – Sam Hornish Jr, Al Unser Jr, Scott Sharp, Roger Yasukawa, Bryan Herta, Robbie Buhl, Greg Ray, Buddy Rice, Sarah Fisher, Buddy Lazier, A.J. Foyt IV
CART – 2003 (2) – Jimmy Vasser, Ryan Hunter-Reay

IRL – 2004 (7) – Buddy Rice, Sam Hornish Jr, Bryan Herta, Alex Barron, Scott Sharp, Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV,
Champ Car – 2004 (3) – A.J. Allmendinger, Jimmy Vasser, Ryan Hunter-Reay

IRL – 2005 (9) – Scott Sharp, Bryan Herta, Alex Barron, Danica Patrick, Buddy Rice, Roger Yasukawa, Ed Carpenter, A.J. Foyt IV
Champ Car – 2005 (3) – A.J. Allmendinger, Jimmy Vasser, Ryan Hunter-Reay

IRL – 2006 (8) – Sam Hornish Jr, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, Bryan Herta, Scott Sharp, Ed Carpenter, Buddy Rice, Jeff Simmons,
Champ Car – 2006 (1) – A.J. Allmendinger

IRL – 2007 (9) – Sam Hornish Jr, Danica Patrick, Scott Sharp, Buddy Rice, Marco Andretti, A.J. Foyt IV, Ed Carpenter, Sarah Fisher, Jeff Simmons/Ryan Hunter-Reay
Champ Car – 2007 (2) – Graham Rahal, Alex Figge

INDYCAR – 2008 (7) – Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter, Buddy Rice, Graham Rahal, A.J. Foyt IV,

INDYCAR – 2009 (5) – Danica Patrick, Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti, Ed Carpenter, Ryan Hunter-Reay

INDYCAR – 2010 (3) – Ryan Hunter-Reay, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick

INDYCAR – 2011 (?) – Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal, Charlie Kimball, J.R. Hildebrand,

TOTAL NUMBER OF AMERICAN’S IN OPEN WHEEL RACING

THROUGH THE YEARS:
1995 - PPG IndyCar World Series – 9
1996 – CART – 8 IRL – 13
1997 – CART – 9 IRL – 10
1998 – CART – 10 IRL – 16
1999 – CART – 8 IRL – 17
2000 – CART – 2 IRL – 19
2001 – CART – 4 IRL – 13
2002 – CART – 2 IRL – 12
2003 – CART – 2 IRL – 11
2004 – CCWS– 3 IRL – 7
2005 – CCWS – 3 IRL – 9
2006 – CCWS – 1 IRL – 8
2007 – CCWS – 2 IRL – 9
2008 – INDYCAR – 7
2009 – INDYCAR – 5
2010 – INDYCAR – 3
2011 – INDYCAR – ?