Matheus Leist, winner of the 2017 Freedom 100 The 2017 Indy Lights season was the 32nd season of the Indy Lights open wheel motor racing series and the 16th sanctioned by IndyCar , acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series . A 16-race schedule was announced on September 14, 2016.[1] The schedule included a stop at Gateway Motorsports Park for the first time since 2003. This replaced the race at Phoenix International Raceway after it returned to the schedule for only a single season. The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round to end the season was omitted, as it was for the other Road to Indy series.
American Kyle Kaiser driving for Juncos Racing led a steady campaign where he finished every lap of the season in a season where no particular team or driver was dominant and in doing so essentially clinched the championship with one round remaining (he only had to start the final round). Kaiser won three races with an additional three podium finishes. Santiago Urrutia struggled during the first half of the season but logged six podium finishes in the last seven races, including two wins, to vault his way to second in the championship. Colton Herta won six poles, but was only able to convert that to two wins and he finished third in the championship. Brazilian rookie Matheus Leist had a brilliant stretch of races in the middle of the season, capturing three wins, but was otherwise unremarkable and wound up fourth. Zachary Claman DeMelo won a single race and finished fifth in points while 2016 Pro Mazda Championship winner Aaron Telitz bookended the season with his only two wins and finished sixth. Nico Jamin won three races but also suffered four DNFs and fell to seventh in points. Juan Piedrahita captured his first Indy Lights pole at Gateway Motorsports Park, his 57th Indy Lights start.
Team and driver chart [ edit ] Schedule [ edit ] Rd. Date Race name Track Location 1 March 11 St. Petersburg 100 Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida 2 March 12 3 April 22 Legacy Indy Lights 100 Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama 4 April 23 5 May 12 Grand Prix of Indianapolis Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Speedway, Indiana 6 May 13 7 May 26 Freedom 100 Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval Speedway, Indiana 8 June 24 Grand Prix of Road America Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 9 June 25 10 July 9 Mazda Iowa 100 Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa 11 July 15 Grand Prix of Toronto Exhibition Place Toronto , Ontario , Canada 12 July 16 13 July 29 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 14 July 30 15 August 26 Illinois 100 Gateway Motorsports Park Madison, Illinois 16 September 3 Grand Prix of Watkins Glen Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York
Race results [ edit ] 1 Qualifying canceled due to weather and grid was set on points Championship standings [ edit ] Drivers' championship [ edit ] Scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th Points 30 25 22 19 17 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The driver who qualified on pole was awarded one additional point. An additional point was awarded to the driver who led the most laps in a race. The driver who obtained the fastest lap in a race was awarded one additional point. Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th & 5th place Light Blue 6th–10th place Dark Blue Finished (Outside Top 10) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Brown Withdrawn (Wth) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Not competing
In-line notation Bold Pole position (1 point) Italics Ran fastest race lap (1 point) * Led most race laps (1 point) 1 Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded Rookie
Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes. Teams' championship [ edit ] References [ edit ] ^ "2017 Mazda Road to Indy schedules revealed" . September 14, 2016. ^ "Andretti Autosport | JAMIN TO JOIN ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT 2017 INDY LIGHTS LINE UP" . November 29, 2016. ^ "Kellett Returns to Andretti Autosport for 2017" . Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2016 . ^ "Andretti Autosport | RYAN NORMAN NAMED THIRD DRIVER TO ANDRETTI INDY LIGHTS ROSTER" . December 5, 2016. ^ "Colton Herta quits Europe to race Indy Lights in 2017" . ^ a b c d "Mazda Road to Indy Teams, Drivers to Gain Head Start on 2017 Season" . Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2016 . ^ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop" . ^ "Belardi signs Pro Mazda champ Telitz for 2017" . Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016 . ^ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop" . ^ "Rickards moves up to Indy Lights with Carlin - Carlin" . Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2017 . ^ "Claman DeMelo ready for Indy Lights assault" . February 6, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2017 . ^ "Alberico returns with Carlin for 2017 season" . February 14, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2017 . ^ "Leist joins Carlin for Indy Lights" . February 3, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2017 . ^ "American Kyle Kaiser Looks to Lead Juncos Racing in 2017 Indy Lights Championship" . December 10, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016 . ^ "Dapero graduates with Juncos to Indy Lights" . www.motorsport.com . ^ "Piedrahita to Rejoin Team Pelfrey IL in 2017" . Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2017 . ^ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop" . External links [ edit ]
USAC Mini-Indy SeriesCART American Racing SeriesCART Firestone/Dayton Indy LightsIRL Infiniti/Indy Pro SeriesFirestone Indy Lights Series Indy Lights Series presented by Cooper Tire Firestone Indy NXT Series