Indy Lights Category

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor NEWTON, Iowa — Patricio O’Ward entered Iowa Speedway in need of a strong run to close back up to Colton Herta in the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship. He emerged with one of the most dominant drives of his Mazda Road to Indy career. O’Ward led all 100 laps from pole to soar to a dominant win in Sunday’s Mazda Iowa 100, beating out Herta by 2.826 seconds as he took the checkered flag. The triumph was O’Ward’s fourth victory of the 2018Read More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – July is likely to be crucial to the outcome of this year’s Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires title-chase. Five races will be held during the month – on three markedly different tracks – starting with Sunday’s Mazda Iowa 100 Presented by Cooper Tires at the fast and challenging 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway oval in Newton, Iowa. This will mark the second of three oval events during the 17-race season. Up for grabs is a scholarship valued at $1 million to guarantee the season’sRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Colton Herta has been on an absolute tear in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires. The Californian won four races in a row, the first to do so since Alex Lloyd in 2007 and hasn’t finished off the podium at all this season except in the second race in St. Petersburg. In seeking the Indy Lights championship and with it the Mazdaspeed scholarship to help propel him into the Verizon IndyCar Series, Herta still has aspirations of racing in some of the great open wheelRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor Colton Herta’s winning ways continued on to Road America. Herta charged to the front from third in the opening laps and held off a mid-race challenge from Andretti Autosport Patricio O’Ward to secure his fourth-consecutive Indy Lights victory for Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing. “This is the fourth race we’ve won in a row, so we obviously have a package working,” Herta said afterward. “It’s been fun. These cars race amazingly – we don’t have a lot of aero understeer, so you can stay behind a car closely,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The Mazda Road to Indy heads to Road America for the third year in a row as each of the three championships are coming off of their first oval race weekend of the season supporting the Verizon IndyCar Series. Let’s take a look at each championship heading into Road America after each series tested at the 4.048 mile natural terrain road course. Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Seven cars will greet Road America for rounds eight and nine of the Indy Lights championship. Belardi AutoRead More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – Almost 50 drivers representing 15 different nationalities from around the globe will convene this week in rural Wisconsin, where all three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel development ladder will feature a pair of races in support of the Verizon IndyCar Series’ Kohler Grand Prix at the historic Road America facility in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The challenging and undulating 4.014-mile road course marks the halfway point in the season for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, theRead More

By Road to Indy ELKHART LAKE, Wis. – A total of 48 drivers representing 14 nations this afternoon completed a two-day Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open test at Road America in rural Wisconsin. All three levels of the acclaimed open-wheel development ladder, which offers scholarships for drivers to progress all the way from the grassroots of the sport to the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500, saw action on the scenic and challenging 4.014-mile natural terrain road course. Perfect weather conditions proved conducive to fastRead More

By Road to Indy SPEEDWAY, Ind. – What a month it has been for second-generation Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires racer Colton Herta. The teenager from Valencia, Calif., driving for the team co-owned by George Michael Steinbrenner IV and former IndyCar star Michael Andretti, followed up his two-race sweep at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix circuit two weeks ago by holding off primary title rival Patricio O’Ward in a nail-biting finish to this afternoon’s 16th Annual Freedom 100 – the crown jewel in the Mazda Road to IndyRead More

By Road to Indy SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Dalton Kellett has developed quite an affinity for the ovals, and especially the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After finishing third in each of his two previous starts in the biggest event of the year for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Indianapolis-based Canadian this afternoon secured his first-ever Mazda Road to Indy pole position when he posted the fastest two-lap average of 195.027 mph for Andretti Autosport during qualifying for tomorrow’s Freedom 100. Kellett, 24, who hails originally from Toronto, Ont., has workedRead More

By Road to Indy SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Memorial Day weekend is steeped in tradition, especially in Indianapolis where the annual federal holiday held in remembrance of the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces coincides with the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” – the Indianapolis 500. The Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires – a unique open-wheel development ladder which offers scholarship-funded opportunities for drivers to progress all the way from the grassroots of the sport to the Indy 500 – pays its own tribute toRead More