Road to Indy Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The step up to the next level of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder can sometimes be steeper than expected. Oliver Askew has been learning that firsthand this year during his inaugural campaign in the Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. After capturing staggering seven wins, 11 podiums and eight poles in 14 starts en route to the 2017 title in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship powered by Mazda – the first rung of the MRTI ladder – with Cape Motorsports, the outside expectations ofRead 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 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

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Mazda announced today that the automaker will conclude their involvement in the Mazda Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires at the conclusion of the 2018 season. After announcing their involvement on the Road to Indy in late 2010, Mazda has handed out over $12 million in scholarships to drivers advancing their careers in motorsports, including Spencer Pigot (twice), Josef Newgarden, Kyle Kaiser, Oliver Askew (twice) and Victor Franzoni. This announcement comes at a critical time for the Road to Indy. The top two steps onRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor LEXINGTON, Ohio — With the 2018 Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda title already secured, Kyle Kirkwood returned to the field on Saturday and continued the systematic beatdown that netted him the title midway through the summer. Kirkwood led every lap after starting second to claim his eighth-consecutive USF2000 victory in Saturday’s Cooper Tires Mid-Ohio GP Race 2. Pabst Racing’s Lucas Kohl followed in second, with Exclusive Autosport’s Igor Fraga completing the podium. Rasmus Lindh and Calvin Ming rounded out the top five,Read More

By Road to Indy LEXINGTON, Ohio – Kyle Kirkwood needed only a modest few results from this weekend’s Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship Powered by Mazda triple-header at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to put the championship crown beyond the reach of his rivals. The 19-year-old from Jupiter, Fla., did rather better than that. Kirkwood qualified comfortably on pole position – for the fourth time this season – and was never remotely under threat as he cruised to a dominant seventh consecutive victory for Cape Motorsports to lock up the $325,000Read More

By Road to Indy PALMETTO, Fla. – It’s coming down to crunch-time for all three tiers of the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires open-wheel development ladder, which collectively offers scholarships and prizes valued at more than $3.5 million to assist drivers in their progression from the grassroots of the sport to the Verizon IndyCar Series. The title-chases for both Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires and the Pro Mazda Championship Presented by Cooper Tires are finely poised heading into this weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course,Read More

By Road to Indy CARMEL, Ind. – Prominent karting and junior formula team Jay Howard Driver Development (JHDD) today announced it will join the Mazda Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires on a full-time basis in 2019. Led by Verizon IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500 veteran Jay Howard, who himself has won championships in both USF2000 and Indy Lights, the team’s expansion furthers its mission of advancing drivers from the karting ranks to junior open-wheel categories en route to the Verizon IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500. After foundingRead More

By Road to Indy TORONTO, Ont., Canada – Santiago “Santi” Urrutia came into this season as a hot favorite to win the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires championship crown – and a scholarship valued at $1 million to advance to the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2019. After all, he had finished a close second in the each of the last two years and was continuing with the same Belardi Auto Racing team with which he had won two of the final four races in 2017. But prior to thisRead More