 | |
| Category | Open wheel cars |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Inaugural season | 1977 (predecessor) 1986 (original) 2002 (IndyCar sanctioned) |
| Chassis suppliers | Dallara |
| Engine suppliers | Mazda–AER (2015–2018) AER (2019–present) |
| Tire suppliers | Firestone |
| Drivers' champion |  Louis Foster |
| Teams' champion |  Andretti Global |
| Official website | Indycar.com/INDYNXT |
 Current season | |
Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previouslyIndy Lights, is an Americandevelopmental automobile racing series sanctioned byIndyCar, currently known asINDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on theRoad to Indy, a program of racing series leading up to theIndyCar Series.
A similar series named Indy Lights filled the developmental role for theCART series, and ran from 1986 to 1993 as theAmerican Racing Series andDayton Indy Lights from 1991 to 2001. The current IndyCar sanctioned series was founded in2002 as theInfiniti Pro Series as a way to introduce new talent to IndyCar, with the moniker Indy Lights returning in 2008 when CART and IndyCar unified. The Indy Lights champion was awarded a $1M scholarship toward the IndyCar Series, and guaranteed three races including the Indianapolis 500 during this time. For 2023,Penske Entertainment announced a rebranding to the name Indy NXT.
In the post-WWII era, through the early 1960s,American open-wheel racing cars were almost exclusively front-engined "roadsters". The primary ladder series includedsprints andmidgets. By the end of the 1960s, the cars evolved into rear-engineformula-style machines. Likewise, the feeder series began to follow the same mold. WhenUnited States Automobile Club (USAC) became the primary sanctioning body for top-level open-wheel racing, the ladder of progression began to change.
TheSports Car Club of America (SCCA)Super Vee andFormula 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 the Indianapolis 500.
Following the end of the "Mini Indy" series, the driver pool in the early 1980s forCART and the Indy 500 was drawn in a somewhat unorganized fashion among Super Vees, Atlantics, formerCan-Am drivers, sprint cars, midgets, and evenstock cars andoff-road racing. In addition, a number of CART series drivers during the 1980s and early 1990s were formerFormula 1 competitors, most of whom had climbed the European-based ladder series.
The original Indy Lights series was an open-wheeled racing series that acted as a developmental circuit forCART from 1986 to 2001. It was founded in 1986 as theAmerican Racing Series (ARS). CART became the sanctioning body for the series in 1988, and it was renamed asIndy Lights in 1991, with title sponsorship byFirestone. Later, Firestone's subsidiary Dayton Tires took over as tire supplier and title sponsor.
Aspec-series, CART Indy Lights usedMarch chassis (essentially a modified85BFormula 3000 chassis, renamed to Wildcat) from 1986 to 1992. In 1992Lola became the primary chassis constructor to the series, using a modified F3000 chassis. In 1997, a newly updated and modern-looking chassis was introduced based on an F3000 design. It would remain through 2001.Buick V6 engines were used for its entire existence.
The ARS/Indy Lights series' championship winners included two CART champions, twoIndyCar Series champions, sevenChamp Car World Series race-winners and twoFormula One drivers.
The Indy Lights schedule closely followed that of the CART series, and typically had a gap of up to a month while the primary CART teams raced at theIndy 500. The races were usually held the morning of the CART series races, as anundercard event. In early years, the Indy Lights series skipped superspeedway races such asMichigan, but eventually found its way to race there. In some rare occasions, the Indy Lights ran at non-CART tracks, generally as a support race to a series other than CART. In 2001 Indy Lights ran atRoad Atlanta the weekend of thePetit Le Mans, and ran atKansas with theIRL.
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, CART was suffering from financial problems. Meanwhile, in 1996, the rivalIndy Racing League was formed. CART canceled the minor league outright after the 2001 season. By this time, theToyota Atlantic series was equally effective in providing CART with new drivers. In addition, the Atlantics served as a springboard for such drivers asGreg Ray,Sam Hornish Jr. andRichie Hearn to enter theIRL. 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 Infiniti Pro Series was re-founded by the Indy Racing League and began racing in 2002, the year after the CART-sanctioned Indy Lights series' demise. It was a spec series using aTWR (Tom Walkinshaw Racing) developed 3.5L version of the V8 engine used in theInfiniti Q45 combined withDallara 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 in2005, many of America's top prospects likeMarco Andretti andPhil Giebler were attracted to the series to run part-time schedules on road courses. In2006, 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.
The series was called theMenards Infiniti Pro Series (MIPS) until 2006 when bothMenards andNissan dropped their sponsorship of the series. It was then known as theIndy Pro Series. On March 26, 2008, the series announced a changing of names, when the historical records and proprietary information ofChamp Car were acquired by the IRL. The series then became known asFirestone Indy Lights.
The centerpiece of the Indy Lights schedule was theFreedom 100, contested atIndianapolis Motor Speedway on the Friday prior to theIndianapolis 500. The series also held a support race for theU.S. Grand Prix, theLiberty Challenge, from 2005 to 2007. It was the series' first event that was not a support race to an IndyCar event.
On September 9, 2007, during theChicagoland 100,Logan Gomez beatAlex Lloyd by 0.0005 seconds (approximately 1.65 inches (42 mm) at 188 mph) which reflects what was the closest recognized finish in the over century-long history of organized automobile racing throughout the world, until the2018 Powershares QQQ 300.[1] In 2008, the margin was established by theGuinness 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 theFreedom 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 in2014.[4] with IndyCar sanctioning remaining. In August it was announced thatCooper Tire would replace Firestone as the official tire of the series in 2014.[5] This resulted in all three levels of theRoad to Indy leading up to the IndyCar Series being promoted by Andersen and feature Cooper tires, beginning in 2014. The Andersen team implemented a number of cost-reducing updates to the chassis and engine package in 2014 and introduced 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 2.0LturbochargedMZR-R 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]
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The 2020 season was canceled through a combination of low grid numbers and theCOVID-19 pandemic.
As of 2021, the Dallara IL-15 continues to be the chassis employed by the series, but engines are now provided by AER, Advanced Engines Research, modifying and tuning base 2.0 liter I-4 Mazda power plants turbocharged to provide the same power and push-to-pass capability of the former engines, with the added capability of longevity: the engines are designed and fabricated to run an entire season without a rebuild. Ahalo was added to the IL-15 for the 2021 season.[9]
Andretti Autosport's Kyle Kirkwood captured the 2021 series championship, while HMD Motorsports' David Malukas finished second and Global Racing Group w/HMD Motorsports' Linus Lundqvist was third. HMD Motorsports/Global Racing Group secured their first Road to Indy team championship.
Firestone returned as the official tire supplier for the 2023 season. That season saw the series name changed to Indy NXT, and IndyCar assume direct operation of the series from Andersen Promotions, which continues to operate the affiliated lower-tierUSF Championships under IndyCar sanctioning.
| Team | Base | Founding Year |
|---|---|---|
| Andretti Global | Indianapolis, Indiana | 2008 |
| HMD Motorsports | Brownsburg, Indiana | 2019 |
| Juncos Hollinger Racing | Indianapolis, Indiana | 2012 |
| Season | Driver | Chassis | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Tom Bagley | Zink Z11 | Volkswagen |
| Herm Johnson | Lola T324 | Volkswagen | |
| 1978 | Bill Alsup | Argo JM2 | Volkswagen |
| 1979 |  Dennis Firestone | March 79V | Volkswagen |
| 1980 | Peter Kuhn | Ralt RT1/RT5 | Volkswagen |
1 Chaves andJack 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).
Jacob Abel
Didier AndréJeff AndrettiMarco Andretti[a]Richard AntinucciIan AshleyOliver Askew
Éric Bachelart
Fabrizio BarbazzaDillon Battistini
Ana BeatrizJon BeekhuisTownsend BellBilly Boat[a]Brian BonnerGeoff Boss
Claude BourbonnaisMatthew BrabhamSteve BrenJason BrightRobbie Buhl[a]Buzz Calkins[a][b]Jaime Camara
Juan Carlos CarbonellEd Carpenter[a]Patrick Carpentier[c]Hélio Castroneves[a][d][c]
Alfonso Celis Jr.
Gabby ChavesRoss CheeverP. J. ChessonMax ChiltonZachary Claman DeMeloBryan Clauson
Wade CunninghamGuido DaccòWally Dallenbach Jr.Conor DalyCristiano da Matta[c][e]Paul DanaAirton Daré[a]James DavisonLuis DíazMark Dismore[a]Scott Dixon[a][b][d][c]Mario Domínguez[c]
Fredrik EkblomRC EnersonWim Eyckmans
Juan Manuel Fangio IIAdrián Fernández[a]Louis FosterStan FoxA. J. Foyt IVFranck FréonLuiz Garcia Jr.Affonso GiaffoneFelipe Giaffone[a]Phil GieblerJorge GoetersMarco GrecoMichael GreenfieldMike GroffRobbie GroffDean HallMatt HallidayScott HarringtonJack Harvey
Naoki HattoriShigeaki HattoriJack HawksworthJon HerbBryan Herta[a][c]Colton Herta[a]J. R. HildebrandJames Hinchcliffe[a]Jay HowardKen JohnsonDavy Jones
Ed JonesP. J. JonesNiclas JönssonKyle KaiserTony Kanaan[a][b][d][c]Sage KaramDalton KellettCharlie Kimball[a]Kyle Kirkwood[a]David KudraveRodolfo LavínEddie LawsonJaques Lazier[a]Matheus LeistAlex LloydLinus Lundqvist
Arie Luyendyk Jr.David MalukasPippa MannRaphael MatosHiro MatsushitaHunter McElreaCasey MearsThiago MedeirosChris MenningaDr. Jack MillerGreg Moore[c]Carlos Muñoz[a]Brad MurpheyHideki MutohJosef Newgarden[a][b][d]Hideki NodaRyan NormanJohnny O'ConnellPatricio O'Ward[a]
Benjamin PedersenFranck PereraSpencer PigotMartin PlowmanTed PrappasGraham Rahal[a]Christian RasmussenGreg Ray[a][b]Tony RennaAndré Ribeiro[c]Sting Ray RobbBilly RoeMario RomanciniFelix Rosenqvist[a]Marty RothSebastián SaavedraGualter SallesVinicio SalmiFranco Scapini
Oriol Servià[c]Nolan SiegelJeff Simmons
Kyffin SimpsonGuy SmithMark SmithToby SowerySammy SwindellMark TaylorDidier TheysBrian TillPaul Tracy[c][e]Robby UnserJimmy Vasser[c][e]Tristan VautierZach VeachRinus Veekay[a]Jeff Ward[a]Dan Wheldon[a][b][d]Stefan WilsonCory Witherill
Media related toIndy NXT at Wikimedia Commons