Indy Lights

Indy Lights
Category Open wheel cars
Country United States United States
Inaugural season 1986 (original)
2002 (IndyCar sanctioned)
Constructors Dallara
Engine suppliers Mazda-AER
Tyre suppliers Cooper Tires
Drivers' champion Colombia Gabby Chaves
Teams' champion United States Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Official website indylights.com
Current season

Indy Lights is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, formerly known as Firestone Indy Lights for sponsorship reasons. Previously, another series named Indy Lights filled the same role for CART and ran from 1986 to 1993 as the American Racing Series and Dayton Indy Lights from 1991 to 2001. The IndyCar sanctioned current series was founded in 2002 as the Infiniti Pro Series as a way to introduce new talent to IndyCar and coincided with Infiniti's departure from IndyCar's premier IndyCar Series.

Early origins

During the early 1960s, open wheel cars were front engined roadsters. The primary ladder series included sprints and midgets. By the end of the decade, and into the 1970s, the cars evolved into rear-engine formula-style machines. Likewise, the feeder series began to follow the same mold. When USAC became the primary sanctioning body for top-level Indy car racing, the ladder of progression began to change.

USAC Mini Indy Series

The SCCA Super Vee and Formula Atlantic series were among the first formula-based ladder series. However, neither had any direct tie to USAC. In 1977, USAC started the "Mini-Indy" series, using Super Vee machines. The series ended after 1980 when USAC stopped sanctioning Indy car races outside of Indianapolis.

Following the end of the "Mini Indy" series, the driver pool in the early 1980s to CART and the Indy 500 was drawn in a largely unorganized fashion amongst Super Vees, Atlantics, SCCA, former Can-Am drivers, sprints, midgets, and even stock cars and off-road racing.

Original series (1986 to 2001)

After a void of an official ladder series for over five years, CART decided to take the effort in-house. The original Indy Lights series was formed as an open-wheeled racing series that acted as a developmental circuit for CART from 1986 to 2001. It was founded in 1986 as the American Racing Series (ARS). The series was renamed Indy Lights in 1991. The CART-sanctioned series became widely popular and secured the title sponsorship of Firestone. Later, Firestone's subsidiary Dayton Tires took over as tire supplier and title sponsor.

Mark Smith racing an Indy Lights car at Phoenix International Raceway in 1991.

The Indy Lights schedule closely followed that of the CART series, with the noteworthy exception of Indianapolis. The series typically had a gap of up to a month while the primary CART teams raced at the Indy 500. The races were usually held the morning of the CART series races, as an undercard, support event. In early years, the Indy Lights series skipped superspeedway races such as Michigan, but eventually found its way to race there.

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, CART was suffering from financial problems. Meanwhile in 1996, the rival Indy Racing League was formed. CART canceled the minor league outright after the 2001 season. By this time, the Toyota Atlantic series was equally effective in providing CART with new drivers. In addition, the Atlantics served as a springboard for such drivers as Greg Ray, Sam Hornish, Jr. and Richie Hearn to enter the IRL. The Atlantics effectively became CART's primary feeder system, and later became Champ Car World Series' official in-house feeder championship for a time.

The ARS/Indy Lights series' championship winners included two CART champions, two IndyCar Series champions, seven CCWS race-winners and two Formula One drivers.

A spec-series, CART Indy Lights used March chassis (essentially a modified 85B Formula 3000 chassis, renamed to Wildcat) from 1986 to 1992. Lola provided chassis from 1993 to 2001. Buick V6 engines were used for its entire existence.

Around the same time period, an unrelated minor-league open wheel series, the American Indycar Series was also founded, using older CART chassis.

Current series (2002 to present)

The current series was founded by the Indy Racing League and began racing in 2002, the year after the original series' demise. Prior to the series' inception, the Indy Racing League had no in-house developmental league. It is a spec series using a TWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) developed 3.5L version of the V8 engine used in the Infiniti Q45 combined with Dallara chassis producing 420 horsepower (310 kW). The series initially struggled to attract drivers and some races have had fewer than 10 entrants. However, with the introduction of a number of road-course races to the schedule in 2005, many of America's top prospects like Marco Andretti and Phil Giebler were attracted to the series to run part-time schedules on road courses. In 2006, a boost in prize money even further increased car counts to 16 or more, with an even six oval and six road course mix. The selected races being double races, and a stand-alone race (independent of the IndyCar Series) were scheduled on the USGP weekend.

Green flag for the 2008 Miami 100 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The series was called the Menards Infiniti Pro Series (MIPS) until 2006 when both Menards and Nissan dropped their sponsorship of the series. It was then known as the Indy Pro Series. 2007 car counts improved further with 20 or more cars in every race. On March 26, 2008, the series announced a changing of names. The historical records and proprietary information of Champ Car were acquired by the IRL. The series then became known as Firestone Indy Lights. The name reflects the heritage of the original Indy Lights series, which has been merged into the current series' official history.

The centerpiece of the Indy Lights schedule is the Firestone Freedom 100, contested at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the Friday prior to the Indianapolis 500. The series also held a support race for the U.S. Grand Prix, the Liberty Challenge, from 2005 to 2007. It was the series' only event that was not a support race to an IndyCar event.

On September 9, 2007, during the Chicagoland 100, Logan Gomez beat Alex Lloyd by 0.0005 seconds (approximately 1.65 inches (42 mm) at 188 mph) which reflects the closest recognized finish in the over century-long history of organized automobile racing throughout the world.[1] In 2008, the margin was established by the Guinness Book of World Records as the closest finish ever in a car race.[2]
On May 24, 2013, Peter Dempsey captured his first Indy Lights win in the Freedom 100 in the closest finish in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history (0.0026 secs) in a four-wide finish.[3]

In June 2013, it was announced that the series would be promoted by Andersen Promotions beginning in 2014.[4] INDYCAR sanctioning will remain. In August it was announced that Cooper Tire would replace Firestone as the official tire of the series in 2014.[5] The result being that all three levels of the Road to Indy leading up to the IndyCar Series will be promoted by Andersen and feature Cooper tires, beginning in 2014. The Andersen team is implementing a number of cost-reducing updates to the chassis and engine package in 2014 and will be introducing a new chassis and engine combination in 2015. On October 31, 2013, the series announced that Dallara would be the manufacturer of the fourth-generation Indy Lights chassis and it would be named the Dallara IL-15.[6] On November 1, 2013 a new logo was unveiled for the Indy Lights series[7] On November 26 it was announced that the engine for the new package would be a 2.0L turbocharged AER P07 four cylinder engine, tuned to last a full season of competition and producing 450 horsepower, with push-to-pass offering an additional 50 horsepower.[8]

Specifications (2002-2014)

2008 Firestone Indy Lights car during testing at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Chassis

Engine

Tyres

Champions

USAC Mini-Indy Series

Season Driver Chassis Engine
1977 United States Tom Bagley Zink Z11 Volkswagen
United States Herm Johnson Lola T324 Volkswagen
1978 United States Bill Alsup Argo JM2 Volkswagen
1979 Australia Dennis Firestone March Volkswagen
1980 United States Peter Kuhn Ralt RT1/RT5 Volkswagen

Indy Lights

Season Driver Team Chassis Engine
CART American Racing Series
1986 Italy Fabrizio Barbazza Arciero Racing March Buick
1987 Belgium Didier Theys Truesports March Buick
1988 Switzerland Jon Beekhuis Enterprise Racing March Buick
1989 United States Mike Groff Leading Edge Motorsport March Buick
1990 Canada Paul Tracy Landford Racing March Buick
CART Firestone/PPG/Dayton Indy Lights Series
1991 Belgium Eric Bachelart Landford Racing March Buick
1992 United States Robbie Buhl Leading Edge Motorsport March Buick
1993 United States Bryan Herta Tasman Motorsports Lola Buick
1994 United Kingdom Steve Robertson Tasman Motorsports Lola Buick
1995 Canada Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Lola Buick
1996 Canada David Empringham Forsythe Racing Lola Buick
1997 Brazil Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports Lola Buick
1998 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports Lola Buick
1999 Spain Oriol Servià Dorricott Racing Lola Buick
2000 New Zealand Scott Dixon PacWest Lights Lola Buick
2001 United States Townsend Bell Dorricott Racing Lola Buick
IRL Infiniti Pro Series
2002 United States A.J. Foyt IV A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara Infiniti
2003 United Kingdom Mark Taylor Panther Racing Dallara Infiniti
2004 Brazil Thiago Medeiros Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Infiniti
2005 New Zealand Wade Cunningham Brian Stewart Racing Dallara Infiniti
IRL Indy Pro Series
2006 United Kingdom Jay Howard Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Nissan VRH
2007 United Kingdom Alex Lloyd Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Nissan VRH
INDYCAR Firestone Indy Lights
2008 Brazil Raphael Matos AGR–AFS Racing Dallara Nissan VRH
2009 United States J. R. Hildebrand AGR–AFS Racing Dallara Nissan VRH
2010 France Jean-Karl Vernay Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Nissan VRH
2011 United States Josef Newgarden Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Nissan VRH
2012 France Tristan Vautier Sam Schmidt Motorsports Dallara Nissan VRH
2013 United States Sage Karam Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Dallara Nissan VRH
2014 Colombia Gabby Chaves 1 Belardi Auto Racing Dallara Nissan VRH

1 Chaves and United Kingdom Jack Harvey (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports were tied in points and wins (4 each). Chaves won the title based on more second-place finishes (5 vs 1).

Drivers

Current drivers

The following drivers have signed to compete in the 2015 Indy Lights season:

Indy Lights Graduates who have competed in the IndyCar Series

a denotes driver who has won an IndyCar Series event.
b denotes driver who has won an IndyCar Series championship.
c denotes driver who has won an Indianapolis 500.

Other notable ARS & Indy Lights alumni

See also

References

  1. ↑ "To the fourth degree". IndyCar.com. 2007-09-13. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
  2. ↑ "Closest finish recognized as world record". IndyCar.com. 2008-03-04. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  3. ↑ Marot, Michael. Indianapolis Motor Speedway With Historic Final Lap, Huffington Post, 24 May 2013, Retrieved 2013-05-24
  4. ↑ Andersen Promotions to take over Indy Lights, Racer, June 20, 2013, Retrieved 2013-10-22
  5. ↑ Cooper Tires Named Official Tire Of New Indy Lights Series, Performance Racing Industry, August 22, 2013, Retrieved 2013-10-22
  6. ↑ DiZinno, Tony. No surprise: Indy Lights confirms Dallara for new 2015 chassis, NBC Sports, October 31, 2013, Retrieved 2013-10-31
  7. ↑ http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BX8YmQMCYAA0iIV.png:large
  8. ↑ Pruett, Marshall. Indy Lights series selects 2015 engine supplier, Racer, November 26, 2013, Retrieved 2013-11-26
  9. ↑ Firestone Indy Lights Tech

External links