The2002IRLInfiniti Pro Series was the first season of an official development series to the then-namedIndy Racing League, and is considered as the 17th season of theIndy NXTopen wheelauto racing series. The Infiniti Pro Series is officially considered a direct continuation ofthe original CART-owned Indy Lights series, which was created in 1986 as the American Racing Series and operated for 16 years.[1] While the formation of the Pro Series was independent,CART announced shortly after that Indy Lights would fold after the 2001 season.[2] The Pro Series would adopt the Indy Lights name in 2008 when IndyCar bought the intellectual property from CART, and was subsequently renamed Indy NXT in 2023.
A. J. Foyt IV, the youngest driver in the field, won the championship at the final race while taking his fourth race win of the season, in a car owned by his legendary grandfatherA. J. Foyt. As of 2023, Foyt IV holds the record as the youngest Indy NXT champion of all time dating back to 1986, at 18 years and three months of age.
The Infiniti Pro Series was first announced on August 31, 2001, with the aim to streamline the path into IRL competition and provide a training ground for aspiring drivers. This was particularly aimed at addressing competitors from theUSAC ranks that were having a harder time transitioning directly into the IRL in previous years. The season started halfway through the IRL season in the summer of 2002, with a reduced all-oval seven race schedule over two months before embarking on an extended calendar in 2003.[3]
The series had a target budget of $750,000 per season and per car for a full 12-race season, featuring a spec chassis and a racing version of the V8 engine used in theInfiniti Q45, which produced 420 horsepower (310 kW).[3] Shortly before the start of the season, the Japanese brand announced in June it would concentrate its efforts on the Infiniti Pro Series from 2003, signalling the end of their engine program in the Indy Racing League after 2002.[4] Purses for the series were allocated at $100,000 per race, with $25,000 for the winner, all the way down to 20th place.[5]
All teams usedDallara IPS cars with aTWR producedInfiniti sourced 3.5 litre engine andFirestone tires. The following drivers and teams competed in the series.
On November 29, 2001, former Indy Racing League championsHemelgarn Racing became the first team to publicly commit to the Infiniti Pro Series in partnership with Roger Johnson, who also owned RE Technologies in the USAC Silver Crown series. The team was branded as Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports.[26]
On December 18, 2001,Genoa Racing entered the Infiniti Pro Series by announcing it had placed an order on a Dallara IPS chassis. Genoa had last competed in theIndy Lights series in 2000, and had also run the Knapp Motorsports operation in the Indy Racing League. Despite their early entry, the team would fail to enter the first two races of the season.[22]
On January 15, 2002, longtime motorsports team provider Sinden Racing Service announced it would field a car. Headed by team owner Jeff Sinden since 1987, the team had provided the workforce, engineering or operational efforts for various small Indy car teams, sometimes running the cars under their own banner.[6]
On January 24, 2002,Ed Carpenter became the first driver to be announced for the Infiniti Pro Series, driving for Sinden Racing Service with the support of long-time backerJohn Menard, owner of the championship-winningTeam Menard. Carpenter stepped up from the USAC ranks, having finished 9th in his second season of full-timeUSAC Silver Crown competition.[7]
On February 11, 2002,Roquin Motorsports announced a two-car effort for the Infiniti Pro Series. However, the team would only field one car eventually throughout the course of the year. Owned by the Quintanilla racing family, Roquin was the first team to make the switch from the folded Indy Lights series.[18]
On February 13, 2002, Brian Stewart Racing announced a one-car program. The team had been a successful mainstay of the original Indy Lights series from 1988, although it had sat out most of the 2001 season due to a lack of funding.[8]
On March 3, 2002, former Indy Lights team Mexpro Racing announced its participation in the Infiniti Pro Series. However, the program stalled and the team did not take part at all during the season.[29]
On March 15, 2002,Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports announced their first driver to beAaron Fike. He made the step up from USAC, where he had finished 5th in the Midget series and became the youngest ever race winner in Silver Crown history at the age of 19.[26]
On March 23, 2002,Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports completed its lineup withCory Witherill, who had finished 12th in his fourth season of Indy Lights competition. Witherill had also driven in the Indy Racing League andIndianapolis 500 in 2001, with two starts to his name.[28]
On April 1, 2002, Brian Stewart Racing announcedMarty Roth as the driver of their one-car team, reuniting 15 years after their joint venture in the Canadian Formula 2000 series. Aged 44, Roth was a former Indy Lights driver with 16 previous starts until 1991, before focusing on his real estate career.[9]
On April 12, 2002, Bowes Seal Fast Racing entered the series with a two-car operation, and announced Mike Koss as their first driver. Bowes Seal Fast had been involved in the Indianapolis 500 in multiple capacities since the 1930s, while Koss had been a sprint car driver at regional dirt tracks and the Little 500 before racing in a handful ofUnited States Speedway Series events with an oldLola-Buick Indy car.[24]
On April 16, 2002,Kelley Racing became the second Indy Racing League team to field a car in the Infiniti Pro Series, by enteringJason Priestley. The Canadian, an actor-turned driver, had previous background in rallying and circuit racing at an amateur level, having driven in theMotorola Cup and the24 Hours of Daytona in 1998.[11]
On May 25, 2002,A. J. Foyt Racing announced it would enter the Infiniti Pro Series withA. J. Foyt IV, who turned 18 on that day. The grandson of team owner A. J. Foyt came from theSCCA Formula Continental, where he had finished third in the Southwest Regional division with six wins.[20]
On June 18, 2002, driver-owner Gary Peterson committed to the series through the Automatic Fire Sprinklers team. With a background in off-road racing, Peterson had been a regular competitor during the first half of the 1990s in theAtlantic Championship, where he had made two further starts in previous years.
On June 28, 2002, former Indy Racing League driverRonnie Johncox entered the series with his own newly formed team, REV 1 Racing. After eight starts in the IRL and failing to qualify for his first Indianapolis 500 in 2000, Johncox had gone back to his roots in a handful of midget racing events.
On July 2, 2002, the announcement of the entry list for the inaugural race atKansas Speedway featured three previously unannounced drivers and one previously unconfirmed team.[17]
Bowes Seal Fast Racing fielded its second car forMatt Halliday, who had finished 6th in Indy Lights competition the previous year despite missing the first three races, with two podium finishes.
Roquin Motorsports co-ownerRolando Quintanilla became the driver of the team's lone entry and reprised his role from 2001, when he finished 10th in his second Indy Lights season. Unlike Mennen or Halliday, Quintanilla did not take part in pre-season testing atGateway Motorsports Park orChicagoland Speedway in June, and elected to withdraw from the Kansas event before official practice.
On July 15, 2002, Beardsley Motorsports announced it would enter the Infiniti Pro Series from the second round of the season atNashville with driver Matt Beardsley, who had raced for the family team since karting.[31] Beardsley had driven since 1998 in the SCCAFormula Mazda Series, winning the Oval Series championship twice.[19]
On July 24, 2002, the newly rebranded Conti-Genoa-Frost Racing announcedRyan Hampton as its first driver of the season, making his debut at the third round inMichigan. Hampton had finished second inUSF2000 competition in 1998 and had raced since inGrand-Am sports cars, winning the title in the SRPII class in 2000.[23]
On July 25, 2002,Sam Schmidt Motorsports entered a second car for theMichigan event for driver Jeff Tillman, a veteran ofSCCA and Grand-Am sports car racing who had finished 3rd in the Grand-Am standings of the SRPII class in 2001.[14]
On July 26, 2002, after the first practice session atMichigan, Bowes Seal Fast Racing announcedDave Steele as the driver of the renumbered No. 43 car in place of the injuredMatt Halliday, who had suffered a broken wrist, a concussion, a fractured right ankle and bruised lungs in a hard crash at the Kansas race, and would miss three races. Steele had driven in a handful of Indy Racing League events in the late 1990s, having gone back since to regular title contention in the USAC Silver Crown Series.[25]
On August 8, 2002, the entry list for theKentucky round featured Tom Wood in the No. 9Sam Schmidt Motorsports car, previously driven by Jeff Tillman, while Bowes Seal Fast Racing entered Tony Turco in the No. 43 car. Wood had four years of USF2000 experience and had contested three races in theAtlantic Championship in 2001, while Turco was a veteran of theAmerican Indycar Series, having famously failed to compete in the inaugural Indy Racing League event in 1996 due to a lack of funds.[15]
On August 16, 2002,Kelley Racing announced its withdrawal from the Infiniti Pro Series, five days afterJason Priestley suffered serious injuries after two head-on collisions atKentucky Speedway during a warm-up crash.[30] Priestley had surgeries for fractures in his back and both feet, as well as a concussion and extensive facial injuries. Eventually, the crash signalled the end of his open-wheel career.[32]
On August 20, 2002,Sam Schmidt Motorsports announced its third driver in as many races for the No. 9 car, with hometown driver Curtis Francois driving atGateway. Francois had been teammates earlier that year with Jeff Tillman, another driver of the No. 9, in the SRPII class of theGrand-Am Series, and had previous experience in SCCA Formula Ford and Sports 2000 competition.[16]
For the fifth round atGateway,Matt Halliday returned to Bowes Seal Fast Racing after recovering from his injuries. Instead of the renumbered No. 43 car, Halliday drove the No. 37 in place of full-time driver Mike Koss. The arrangement was scheduled to remain as such for theChicagoland race, but Halliday was withdrawn and replaced by Koss prior to the start of practice. Koss was also the only driver of the team at the Texas finale.[33]
The initial schedule for the Infiniti Pro Series was announced on February 2, 2002.[34] Competition started halfway through theIndy Racing League season, which the Infiniti Pro Series accompanied at all of its final seven events, with all events being held on ovals. Kansas, Gateway and Texas had all been featured inthe last season of Indy Lights competition, which had last visited Michigan in 2000, while Nashville, Kentucky and Chicagoland held an open-wheel feeder series race for the first time.
A. J. Foyt IV, the youngest driver in the field, was the inaugural champion in a car owned by his legendary, grandfatherA. J. Foyt. As of 2023, Foyt IV holds the record as the youngest Indy NXT champion of all time dating back to 1986, at 18 years and three months of age. Foyt IV won four of the seven races, including the inaugural event at Kansas, and was crowned at the final race in Texas against the American-born Dutch driverArie Luyendyk Jr. The son of two-timeIndianapolis 500 winnerArie Luyendyk had four second-place finishes, but no wins, finishing behindCory Witherill at Nashville,Ryan Hampton at Gateway andAaron Fike at Chicagoland.
Former IRL driversCory Witherill,Ronnie Johncox, andDave Steele participated in the championship, alongside full-time IRL teamsA. J. Foyt Enterprises,Kelley Racing,Hemelgarn Racing andSam Schmidt Motorsports, although Kelley Racing withdrew from the championship after actor-turned-driverJason Priestley was seriously injured in a warm-up crash atKentucky Speedway. The series started with 12 cars at its first round, and the field was up to 16 drivers for the events at Michigan and Kentucky. Eight drivers took part in every round, with three others contesting all but one event.
A. J. Foyt IV
Marty Roth[9]
Arie Luyendyk Jr.[10]
Rolando Quintanilla[17]
Matt Halliday[17]