The 2023 NTT IndyCar Series was the 112th official championship season of American open wheel racing and the 28th season under IndyCar Series sanction. The showcase event was the 107th Indianapolis 500, which was won by Josef Newgarden.
Álex Palou, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, won his second championship, with his first coming in 2021. The victory was also the 15th for Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou secured the championship at the penultimate round of the season, the first time a driver had won the championship before the season finale since Sébastien Bourdais' championship victory in the 2007 Champ Car World Series.
Background and series news
Will Power of Team Penske entered the season as the reigning drivers' champion, having won the title at the final round in Laguna Seca by 16 points over his teammate Josef Newgarden. Defending Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson entered 2023 in a contract year for Chip Ganassi Racing. In February 2023, 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner and 2004 IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan announced that he would retire from IndyCar after the Indianapolis 500.
The 2023 season saw several marketing changes intended to increase domestic viewership of the series. On December 8, 2022, the CW Network announced a reality documentary series titled 100 Days to Indy, which would premiere on April 27, 2023. Produced by Vice Media, Penske Entertainment president Mark Miles noted that Penske Entertainment would receive some monetary compensation in return for facilitating behind-the-scenes access. In February 2023, it was confirmed that the series organizer, Penske Entertainment Corp., planned for a marketing budget of approximately US$17 million focusing on 20 markets deemed important by series leadership. In February 2023, it was reported by Marshall Pruett of Racer.com that the annual Leader's Circle contracts earned by entries which compete in the full season would be reduced by $150,000 each to a value of $910,000. The money was allocated towards the Series' marketing budget.
In addition to these changes by the series, new sponsorships were announced including that Shell USA would replace Speedway LLC as an official fuel partner and supplier, with the series introducing a 100% renewable fuel.
On February 2, 2023, the championship's sanctioning body announced that the Indianapolis 500 would no longer be a double points-paying race, ending a rule that was first established in 2014.
In addition to criticism about series marketing faced after the 2022 season, Penske Entertainment faced criticism when 2022 Indy Lights champion Linus Lundqvist was unable to obtain a seat for the 2023 IndyCar season. In response to this, PEC added $350,000 to the champions advancement prize for the now-renamed 2023 Indy NXT. Lundqvist would later make his IndyCar debut as a mid-season injury substitute at Nashville.
The series' tire supplier Firestone announced the expanded use of tires made from guayule rubber as the "alternate" tire (which must be used for at least two green-flag laps every race) for all street circuit races, and introduced alternate tires on an oval for the first time at WWTR.
The 2023 season was scheduled to be the final season using the current 2.2-liter V6 twin-turbocharged engine formula that made its debut in the 2012 season. A new 2.4-liter V6 twin-turbocharged hybrid engine formula was meant to debut in the series from 2024 onwards. However, on December 6, 2022, it was announced that these plans would be put on hold and the hybrid technology will instead be implemented on the current 2.2-liter engines for 2024.
Confirmed entries
The following teams, entries, and drivers competed in the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season. All teams used a spec Dallara IR18 chassis with universal aero kit and Firestone tires.