Now that the explanations are out of the way beforehand, here are the preseason top-10 driver rankings and why they're in the order that they're in.
NOTE---feel free to comment on anything here, positive or negative, good or bad, whatever comes to mind.....post it. Just keep the comments clean, ok?
Dan Wheldon, Target/Ganassi Racing. To say that Wheldon had a career year in 2005 is an understatement of gigantic proportions. Driving for the juggernaut a/k/a Andretti-Green Racing, he won four of the first five races(including Indy) en route to a 6-win season(breaking Sam Hornish, Jr.'s record of 5 set in 2002) beating back all comers to the championship. Now he gets the chance to do it again, albeit with a different team this year, moving from AGR to Ganassi, where he'll partner w/2003 series champion Scott Dixon, who gave TGR a well-needed win at the Glen last Sept. Although the field is essentially leveled out with everyone running Honda-powered cars this year, Wheldon is still the driver to beat. 
Sam Hornish, Jr., Marlboro-Team Penske. It's said that the mark of a great racer is the ability to take even the worst cars and make em' into title-contenders. 2005 was an example of that, as Hornish, driving a TRD-powered Dallara, won 2 races(Phoenix, Milwaukee) and was competitive for most of the year, finishing third in the pts. and spoiling an AGR 1-2-3 podium. It was the second time Hornish has had to use an underpowered car; back in 2003, he drove a very underpowered Chevy Indy V8 for Panther Racing and still got a few top-5's(4th at Richmond, 5th at Pikes Peak) before being rescued via. Cosworth. He's a legitimate contender for the series title in 2006, but has two stumbling blocks in his way......his so-so road/street course record, and the fact that, in 6 visits to the Brickyard, he's finished better than 15th once(14th-2001) and has had three cons. DNF's(2003-engine failure, 2004-crash w/Greg Ray and Darren Manning, and 2005-crash after contact w/Sebastien Bourdais). 
Tony Kanaan, Andretti-Green Racing. After a year in which TK scored wins at Kansas and Infineon, he was the only other serious contender then-teammate Wheldon had in 2005. This year, he'll lead the four-headed AGR juggernaut as they adapt to not having the(in the words of Robin Miller) "cheeky little b------" around. His 2005 season wasn't too bad, by AGR standards.......besides the two wins, TK won the pole at Indy, along with 12 top-5 finishes. 4th: Dario Franchitti, Andretti-Green Racing. It was another decent season for the affable, dour Scotsman, as he posted wins at Fontana and his "adoptive" home track, Nashville, along with a pole at Fontana as well. In 2006, he'll have a new livery, as he slots into the #27 Jim Beam/Klein Tools Dallara that was Wheldon's in 2005, but all things considered, he's another top contender for series honors in 2006.
5th: Bryan Herta, Andretti-Green Racing. The "quiet man" of Andretti-Green Racing, Herta's as steady a veteran driver as you will find in NA motorsports.....nothing fazes him. He was part of an AGR 1-2-3-4 finish at St. Petersburg, where he became the first driver to win a pole at a non-oval track. He also scored poles at Michigan and Phoenix, and backed up the pole at Michigan with a win there. I consider him a sleeper candidate for series honors, but if any of the first four slip up...watch out.
6th: Helio Castroneves, Marlboro-Team Penske. For the 2-time Indy 500 winner, 2005 was not the best of years. Yes, he did win at the bullring of Richmond, and scored poles at Pikes Peak and the Glen, but it wasn't as good a year as a Penske driver should have. His only salvation of sorts, is this....both he and Hornish have, for now, long-term contracts, so all they have to worry is trying to bring the Captain a reocrd 14th AOWR title.
7th: Tomas Scheckter, Vision Racing. Last year was a good year for the South African.....a win on the "Texas Supercollider", poles at Texas, Homestead and Nashville, but there was one other thing I noticed about him last year.....he finally "grew up". By that, I mean he stopped trying to banzai his way to Victory Lane and started focusing on finishing races, which had plagued him out of rides w/Cheever and Ganassi. He also gave the departing Chevy camp a well-earned last season, as the Chevy-Cosworth engine was the most powerful engine around. This year, he joins Tony George's team and will partner third-year driver Ed Carpenter. He's another sleeper candidate for series honors, and if drives this year as he did last year, he'll be around at season's end.
8th: Scott Sharp, Aguri-Fernandez Racing. 2005 was a breath of fresh air for the Connecticut native. After two dismal, retriement-thought provoking seasons, he moved from Kelley Racing over to Aguri-Fernandez, and found the ole' mojo again, scoring a victory at Kentucky and proving that the old lion still had the fire again. Although he hasn't won a series title since 1996(co-champion w/Buzz Calkins), he still can't be overlooked on anyone's short list of contenders.
9th: Danica Patrick, Rahal-Letterman Racing. There's an old saying..."rookies should be seen and not heard." Somehow, that memo that didn't get to Ms. Patrick. Although she failed to score a win in 2005, she did score three poles(Kansas, Kentucky, and Chicagoland), led 19 laps at the Brickyard, had the fastest lap of the race at Kentucky, and won rookie-of-the-year honors. While her and the rest of RLR had to deal w/mechanical woes, seemingly snakebit luck and the other vagaries of racing, 2006 is a new year. While she'll have familiar company in 2004 Indy 500 champion Buddy Rice, she'll also have a new face alongside in 2006 Bombardier ROY contender Paul Dana. She, too, is someone that could, if the circumstance are right, could be in the title fight this year.
10th: Vitor Meira, Panther Racing. There were three big driver changes in 2005, and Meira's was the most controversial, in that, he had the best season of Rahal-Letterman's three drivers, and yet he found himself on the proverbial curb at season's end. Well, he gets a chance to show them that they were wrong to drop him, as he moves from the Ohio-based squad to Indy-based Panther Racing. Although he has yet to win a race in IndyCar Series competition, it isn't for lack of effort. Given the opportunity and circumstance, he could also be a surprise title contender.
