It’s been far too long since we’ve talked about the Firestone Indy Lights series. The first quarter of the 2012 season is over and the championship battle is tight! There were three different winners over the first three events, creating a situation where the top three in the championship are separated by one point each! Andretti Autosport’s Sebastian Saavedra leads the way with 129 points after finishing 3rd at the season opener in St. Petersburg, scooping Barber by winning from pole, leading the most laps, and setting the fastest race…
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news and commentary on the direct feeder series to the IndyCar Series.
MRTI – St. Pete Qualifications Summary
As Mr. Bob Varsha is famous for saying during the Formula 1 broadcasts on SpeedTV, “Before you can race, you must qualify!” As of this morning, all three of the Mazda Road to Indy series have qualified for their respective races on the Streets of St. Petersburg. The USF2000 National Championship and the Star Mazda Championship both qualified yesterday afternoon, and the Firestone Indy Lights series just finished their qualifying session this morning. Let’s take a look at the results series-by-series. Cooper Tires Presents the USF2000 National Championship Powered by…
Read MoreIndy Lights – St. Pete Entry List and Preview
Not too long ago, we were looking at a mere seven confirmed car-driver combinations for the 2012 Firestone Indy Lights grid. When we talked with the King of the Mazda Road to Indy, Jason Penix, he reassured us that there would be at least 16 cars by time the first race on the Streets of St. Petersburg came around, and he turns out to have been absolutely right. Seventeen cars have been entered for this weekend’s race, including some cars from familiar teams and some from some newcomers. The juggernaut…
Read MoreIndyCar – Graduates Talk About their Mazda Road to Indy Experience
Mazda Road to Indy – Juncos Racing Showing the Way
A few years ago, Tony George, Jr. and Jason Penix worked on building a clear and proper ladder system, the Mazda Road to Indy, that would enable young drivers to move up through the formula car ranks in the US and Canada, and eventually become one of the lucky 33 drivers to compete in the Greatest Spectacle In Racing. Once a young driver is in the Mazda Road to Indy program, talent combined with business acumen (an unfortunate necessity in motorsports today) have allowed many to rise up through the…
Read MoreInside The Helmet – Jason Penix, King of the Mazda Road to Indy
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe had the opportunity to speak with INDYCAR’s Jason Penix. Jason was instrumental in the development of the Mazda Road to Indy Program which has grown by leaps and bounds, both in participation and in popularity. Now Jason serves as Director of Grassroots Initiatives, formally, but has been dubbed by Anders Krohn as the “Mazda Road to Indy King” during this year’s WinterFest. He gives us some insight into the history of the program, how it got started, and who the major players were…
Read MoreMazda Road to Indy – Juncos Racing and the Chilean Connection
The way into the Mazda Road to Indy program was broadened this week by Juncos Racing team principal Ricardo Juncos. In a recent trip to Chile, he was able to secure a deal that will give the Chilean Formula 3 champion the opportunity to come to the US, fully supported, and race for Juncos Racing in the Mazda Road to Indy program. As of now, Juncos Racing participates in the Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear and the Firestone Indy Lights series, and presumably the incoming driver would be placed…
Read MoreIndyLights – Goncalvez and Yacaman On The Podium at Daytona
Last weekend, Firestone Indy Lights journeyman Gustavo Yacaman and rookie Jorge Goncalvez teamed up with stock car veteran Michael McDowell and British Formula Three Champion Felipe Nasr in the #6 Michael Shank Racing Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype. McDowell qualified the car in 8th, but the squad quickly advanced and kept the car in the top-5 for much of the 24-hour race. One would expect with racers unaccustomed to multi-class endurance racing, that there would have been a mistake or three that would jeopardize the teams success. As it turned out, the…
Read MoreIndy Lights – Juncos Racing Joins Forces with Davey Hamilton Racing
Juncos Racing, joined the Star Mazda Championship in 2009 and instantly became one of the powerhouse teams fielding the winningest driver in Star Mazda history, Peter Dempsey, and in their second season they won the championship with Conor Daly. Last season they were 2nd in the team championship for the second year in a row. Not too shabby for a relatively new race team! Now, Juncos Racing is set to expand yet again and go racing in the Firestone Indy Lights series in 2012 fielding two cars for the full-season.…
Read MoreInside The Helmet – Josef Newgarden
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadWe had the great pleasure of speaking with the 2011 Firestone Indy Lights Champion, Josef Newgarden. Josef speaks with us about his decision to transition from European racing, where he was very successful in Formula Ford and competed in the GP3 series and was offered a spot in the FIA Young Drivers Academy, to American open-wheel racing in the Firestone Indy Lights series with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. The 2011 season had its ups and downs for Newgarden, and he shares his thoughts of the…
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