Indy Lights

By Road to Indy PORTLAND, Ore. – There was a bittersweet element to last night’s Mazda Road to Indy Championship Celebration as over 200 members of the racing community, including drivers, families, teams and sponsors, gathered for their traditional end-of-season banquet. Following a cocktail reception on a glorious summer’s evening overlooking the Columbia River and with Mt. Hood looming in the distance, over $2.6M was distributed in the Mount St. Helens Ballroom at the Red Lion On The River, Jantzen Beach, just a mile or so away from Portland InternationalRead More

By Road to Indy PORTLAND, Ore. – After yesterday clinching the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship – and a scholarship valued at $1M to step up to the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2019 – Patricio O’Ward said this morning he was planning to have some fun in today’s Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Portland Powered by Mazda. Indeed he did. The 19-year-old rookie from Monterey, Mexico, profited from an opening lap melee at the Festival Curves chicane to move from seventh on the grid to third,Read More

By Road to Indy PORTLAND, Ore. – Patricio O’Ward, from Monterey, Mexico, concluded a topsy-turvy day at Portland International Raceway by claiming a well-earned victory for Andretti Autosport in this afternoon’s Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Portland Powered by Mazda. It was enough to clinch this year’s Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire title – and a scholarship valued at $1M to guarantee entry into three Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2019, including the Indianapolis 500 – with one race remaining. Colton Herta, from Valencia, Calif., tried hisRead More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – The Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires season will conclude this weekend in the Pacific Northwest when all three feeder categories for the Verizon IndyCar Series – Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires, the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires and the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda – return to Portland International Raceway after a lengthy hiatus. Two races for each series will be held on the 1.967-mile, 12-turn road course situated just a few miles from downtownRead More

By Road to Indy MADISON, Ill. – This afternoon’s Mazda St. Louis Indy Lights Oval Challenge Presented by Cooper Tires at Gateway Motorsports Park might have attracted only seven starters, but it provided a thrilling 75-lap race as Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Norman came from behind to claim a magnificent first-ever Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires victory over Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing stablemate Colton Herta. Championship leader Patricio O’Ward was unable to quite match his two teammates, but his disappointment was tempered by the fact that his sixth consecutive podium finish meantRead More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – The two highest rungs on the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel development ladder will return to action this weekend at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Ill. The unique, egg-shaped 1.25-mile oval situated just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Mo., will host one race apiece on Saturday for Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires. The events will take on a little more significance with additional points on offer forRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Juncos Racing has confirmed that Heamin Choi will join the team for the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires finale weekend at Portland International Raceway. The Korean driver tested for Ricardo Juncos’s team at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course last September and will be making his first start in Indy Lights since the 2016 finale weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. “I’m very excited to come back to the Indy Lights Championship with Juncos Racing,” said Choi inRead More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – The 2019 Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel driver development program will kick off another exciting season of racing for all three levels as Andersen Promotions today confirmed that the traditional Spring Training Open Test will return to Homestead-Miami Speedway, in Homestead, Fla., on March 2-4, 2019. The proven ladder system, which offers a series of scholarships to assist young drivers in progressing all the way from the grassroots of the sport to the Verizon IndyCar Series, will continue for aRead More

By Pato O’Ward, Driver Columnist Editor’s note: Pato O’Ward will be contributing to Motorsports Tribune selectively throughout the 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires season. The 18-year-old Texas-based Mexican racer pilots the No. 27 Mazda/Dallara IL-15 for Andretti Autosport. A Rolex 24 at Daytona winner and series champion in the Prototype Challenge class a season ago in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, O’Ward will be looking for similar success during his rookie campaign in the top rung of the Mazda Road to Indy. Drive, Determination and Hunger. Those three things are whatRead More