Road to Indy Category

By Road to Indy BROWNSBURG, Ind. – For many competitors in both the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda and even the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, tomorrow at Lucas Oil Raceway will mark their very first competitive outing on an oval track. To aid them with the transition from road racing, reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden and last year’s Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires champion Kyle Kaiser, along with six-time Indianapolis 500 starter Johnny Unser and Gerardo Bonilla, Director of Competition for theRead 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

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — USAC racer Chris Windom will not participate in Friday’s Freedom 100 after an incident damaged his car beyond repair with the time available before Friday. The No. 33 Belardi Auto Racing entry was in Turn 2 when Windom lost control and barely collided with teammate Santi Urrutia. The damage Windom’s car sustained would not be repairable to the teams’ satisfaction for Friday’s 40 lap race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “He got a little loose in Turn 2 and obviously hit the wall,” saidRead More

By Road to Indy INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – When qualifying begins tomorrow for the 102nd Running of the Indianapolis 500, a record 27 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires alumni will be among the field of 35 drivers vying for a coveted spot on the 33-car starting grid. Now more than ever, the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires and its moniker “there’s nothing like it in the world” has underscored its relevance as a clear scholarship-funded path to the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer I really am a glutton for punishment, I admit it. Much to my own detriment, I read online comments and there was a central one that I saw quite often during the INDYCAR Grand Prix weekend: “Why are there only seven cars in Indy Lights? What happened to Indy Lights?” There were various people calling for outrageous suggestions such as shutting Indy Lights down or merging various championships on the Mazda Road to Indy to avoid this situation. Folks, Indy Lights is going to be fine,Read More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer One day removed from a pair of podiums in the first Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, title hopefuls Rinus Veekay and Harrison Scott entered Saturday’s second event hoping for more of the same. They would instead be met with early problems. Scott and Veekay both failed to reach the checkered flag in the second Royal Purple Synthetic Motor Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis, finishing outside of the top 10 and losing ground in the championship battle. Veekay didn’t makeRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS — Despite another start that left Colton Herta mid-pack, another comeback was in the cards as Herta won the second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race of the weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, doubling up on his win on Friday. Polesitter Pato O’Ward led the first lap but Santi Urrutia would grab the lead on Lap 2. Meanwhile, Herta’s No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing machine was fighting to get to the lead. Herta was fourth on the opening lap and tried toRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Parker Thompson and Exclusive Autosport had their breakout performance in a dominant Barber Motorsports Park drive. Sunday’s triumph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) felt even sweeter. “I think this one feels even better, because at Barber the crew and I expected to win with starting on pole and having as strong of a car as we did,” Thompson told Motorsports Tribune. “Here with a tough start yesterday, we had a mechanical part failure at no part to Elite Engines or Exclusive Autosport, that set us back. ItRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Contributing Writer Kyle Kirkwood ended his first Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the place young drivers dream of reaching. Victory lane. Kirkwood dominated early and held on through two late restarts to claim a wire-to-wire win in Sunday’s Royal Purple Synthetic Motor Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The result was his second victory in four 2018 starts, allowing him to keep the points lead. Despite leading from start to finish, the Cape Motorsports star claimed the race was moreRead More

By Road to Indy SPEEDWAY, Ind. – English rookie Harrison Scott secured a hard-earned victory in this afternoon’s Royal Purple Synthetic Motor Oil Grand Prix of Indianapolis supporting the Lupus Foundation of America at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course. Last year’s runaway Euroformula Open champion fought his way to the front, then held off a determined challenge from polesitter Oliver Askew (Cape Motorsports) to claim his second successive checkered flag in Round Five of an extremely competitive Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. Askew, from Jupiter,Read More