The2014 Indy Lights season was a season ofopen wheelmotor racing. It was the 29th season of theIndy Lights series and the 13th sanctioned byIndyCar, acting as the primary support series for theIndyCar Series. It began March 30, 2014 inSt. Petersburg.[1] The 2014 season was the first promoted by Andersen Promotions, who also promotes the other steps on theMazda Road to Indy.
It was the final season for the Dallara IPS/Infiniti V8 chassis and engine package that debuted in 2002. A new chassis, to be built by Dallara, will be introduced for 2015[2] along with anAER turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. 2014 was also the first season withCooper Tire as the sole tire supplier, replacingFirestone who had supplied tires to the series for its entire previous existence.[3]
Early on, the season appeared to be a two-horse race between Chaves andAndretti Autosport'sZach Veach. However, a late-season charge by Harvey put him within striking distance of the championship. Harvey did not capture his first win until the tenth race of the season. However, Chaves managed a second-place finish in the final race of the season behind Harvey in first. Chaves and Harvey tied on points and on the first tie-breaker number of wins with four each. Chaves captured the championship by having five second-place finishes to Harvey's one.[4] Despite a season of low car-counts where only eight drivers competed in all 14 races, six different drivers captured victories. In addition to Chaves, Harvey, and Veach, other winners includedMatthew Brabham andLuiz Razia who each captured their first and only wins of the season on theIndianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Belardi'sAlexandre Baron – a race-winner in Toronto – who was in the championship hunt until reported visa issues forced him to leave the series.[5]
Andersen Promotions announced the 2014 Indy Lights schedule on October 24, 2013.[1] The season consisted of 14 races held over 10 race weekends, consisting of three street circuits, three ovals, and four permanent road courses. All race weekends on permanent road courses were double-race weekends. The series returned toSonoma Raceway for the first time since 2010. It also raced on theIndianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the first time since 2007 in support of the newGrand Prix of Indianapolis, although the track was in a different configuration than the one raced in 2007. The series did not return toIowa Speedway,Auto Club Speedway, orHouston despite IndyCar returning to those tracks in 2014 and did not race at theBaltimore Grand Prix as that race was cancelled for 2014.
Gabby Chaves
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
Jack Harvey
Matthew Brabham[7]
Alexandre Baron[8]
Axcil Jefferies
Matthew Di Leo
Luiz Razia[13]
Juan Pablo García[14]
Vittorio Ghirelli[13]