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Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course – Indy Lights preview

Posted by  on Wednesday, May 10th 2017     

Ten different drivers have stood on the top step of the podium in the ten different races occurring on two different iterations of the road course at the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With exactly zero of the 14 drivers entered into the twin-bill INDY LIGHTS Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation having won in Indy Lights machinery, that streak of different winners is set to extend to 11.

Also, since the introduction of the IL-15 in 2015, four different drivers representing four different teams have visited victory lane after taking the checkered flag at the Start/Finish line of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Andretti Autosport (Dean Stoneman), Carlin (Ed Jones), Team Pelfrey/8Star Motorsports (Sean Rayhall), and Jack Harvey (Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) have all produced winners on the 2.439-mile, 14 Turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in the last two years, putting the pressure on Juncos Racing and Belardi Auto Racing to produce the fifth (and possibly) sixth different winning team in as many races.

Indy Lights winners on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway:

Year Driver Team
2016 Race #2 Dean Stoneman Andretti Autosport
2016 Race #1 Ed Jones Carlin
2015 Race #2 Sean Rayhall 8Star Motorsports
2015 Race #1 Jack Harvey Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2014 Race #2 Luiz Razia Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
2014 Race #1 Matthew Brabham Andretti Autosport
2007 Race #2 Bobby Wilson Brian Stewart Racing
2007 Race #1 Hideki Mutoh Panther Racing
2006 Alex Lloyd AFS Racing
2005 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport

Alex Lloyd celebrates his Liberty Challenge win during the 2006 United States Grand Prix (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

What to expect…

With two wins in the Deltro Energy sponsored No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing entry, rookie Colton Herta currently holds a 15 point championship advantage over veteran Kyle Kaiser after four races.

Herta will be making his first Indy Lights appearance on the IMS road course, but the second-generation driver did contest two USF2000 races during the inaugural event in 2014, including an impressive 22nd to fifth run in the first race, and the quickest race lap in the second race.

Kaiser, who drives for Juncos Racing (who’s new 40,0000 square foot shop is just over 3,900 feet due south of the Pagoda), is taking the slow and steady approach to the championship. The 21 year-old, who has two podiums, three top-fives and not finished outside of the top six this year, will need to hope that the form showed in second Indy Lights race at IMS carries over to the 2017 event. In six previous starts on the IMS road course, Kaiser’s average finish is 7.5, and last year’s third place in the second race is his best result.

Nico Jamin and reigning Pro Mazda champion Aaron Telitz are currently within striking distance of the top two, 26 and 27 points respectively afield. Both drivers will be looking to past successes AND experience at IMS, in an effort to cut into Herta’s lead.

Jamin and Herta tested in Indy Lights equipment at IMS during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in October 2016.

Jamin, who had the second quickest lap time, tested with Andretti Autosport, turning a total of 134 laps. Splitting his test between the now defunct Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and his current team Belardi Auto Racing, Telitz had the third quickest of the two day test while driving for the Brownsburg, Ind. based Belardi.

In six starts on the IMS road course, Jamin, a 21 year-old Frenchman has collected two wins, two poles, led 25 laps, and finished in the top 10 five times.

“I am extremely excited heading into the month of May,” said Jamin. “I feel like the team and I are in the best shape we’ve ever been in, and we’re bringing momentum from Barber (Motorsports Park) with us! We had an amazing pace when we tested in September at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test at IMS. I know we’ll have a strong car on both the road and oval courses, and I’m very excited to represent the DuraMAX Team in pursuit of victory lane.”

Telitz is still looking for his first win at IMS, but the 25 year-old does have experience running at the front of the field on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, collecting four podiums in six race starts. The average finish for Telitz, from Rice Lake, Wis., on the IMS road course is 4.7, which is better than the 7.5 average finish by Jamin.

Holding down the fifth and sixth place championship positions are MRTI veterans Neil Alberico and Shelby Blackstock. Combined, the two drivers have a total of four podiums in 13 starts at IMS, and will need to have good weekends to stay in touch with the four drivers ahead of them in the chase for the $1 million Mazda Motorsports Advancement Scholarship.

Take away a last place finish at in the second race at the season opening event in St. Petersburg, Fla., and Alberico, would handily find himself in the top three in points. Whether it’s a switch to Geoff Fickling as his engineer, working with two-time Indy Lights vice-champion Jack Harvey as his driver coach, or a combination of things (most likely), it’s clear that the Rising Star Racing sponsored, Los Gatos, Calif. born driver has rediscovered the mojo that saw him finish third in the 2013 USF2000 championship, third in the 2014 Pro Mazda Championship, and second in the 2015 Pro Mazda Championship.

Current Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire points through the first four events

RANK DRIVER TOTAL
1 Colton Herta 101
2 Kyle Kaiser 86
3 Nico Jamin 75
4 Aaron Telitz 74
5 Neil Alberico 69
6 Shelby Blackstock 61
7 Pato O’Ward 58
8 Nicolas Dapero 52
9 Zachary Claman DeMelo 51
10 Matheus Leist 49
11 Santiago Urrutia 48
12 Dalton Kellett 44
13 Ryan Norman 44
14 Juan Piedrahita 38
15 Garth Rickards 34

Other drivers TSO is keeping an eye on:

  • Juan Piedrahita – The popular Colombian will making his 100th Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire start on Friday (watch for an separate article highlighting his career tomorrow.)
  • Nicolas Dapero – Through four races, the 19 year-old average of 5.5 ranks second, behind only Herta on the quickest race lap average chart.  Dapero has also raced well, making up a total of 16 spots from his qualifying position. Now, the Buenos Aires, Argentina needs to qualify better, and maybe having tested an Indy Lights car during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in October of 2016 will help him in that regard.
  • Pato O’Ward – Unfortunately, the Mexican driver, who won his third straight WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge race at Circuit of the Americas over the weekend, is not entered in the second Team Pelfrey car this weekend.

Feeling the heat?

Combine Colton Herta’s last name to a 15 point championship lead and the result is a 17 year-old who is garnering significant attention from fans and media. How the Valencia, Calif. native performs with and reacts to the additional pressure and attention that comes with leading the championship will certainly bear monitoring.

“I think I’m better now because I have crashed a lot in Europe trying to win championships and it didn’t work out,” explained the Herta, who finished third in both the 2015 MSA Formula Championship and 2016 Euroformula Open Championship, when asked about whether he thinks about the points when he’s on track. “I think I kind of know what to do now.”

Herta’s father Bryan, who calmly guided Alexander Rossi to Victory Lane in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500, told TSO that he has stepped back quite a bit from Colton’s career, and will let his son come to him before dispensing advice.

“I think it’s more (team owner) Michael (Andretti) that’s always worried. He always says “Get the points, just get the points,” said Herta. “My Dad is pretty laid back about it. He has confidence in me.”

The two Ps… 

With two long and wide straights, followed by heaving braking zones, passing on the 2.439 mile, 14-Turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course is common. Showing patience when you are passing or being passed by a competitor can go along way to determine whether you end the day on the podium or on the hook.

The start of Indy Lights race #1 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2016 shows that a driver will need to have poise and patience to make the end of the race. (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

For example, the box score for Indy Lights race #1 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course from last year shows that winner Ed Jones led the 30 lap race from start to finish, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. By the time the field had got to Turn 7, Jones, Dean Stoneman, and Santiago Urrutia had all taken a turn at the front of the field. But, it was the patience and poise of Jones, who didn’t get flustered after getting passed into Turn 1, that allowed him to capitalize on mistakes by his two competitors.

“It’s a long run into Turn One so it was next to impossible not to let someone get a run on me, and Dean did,” explained eventual Indy Lights champion Jones. “We were right next to each other, with only just enough room to get through. We were pretty close to going off. I felt pretty badly, going down to third, but I could see the two guys ahead of me going at it and I knew something was going to happen. I just kept calm and picked up the pieces. It’s an amazing feeling to win at Indianapolis; it’s another thing to tick off the box! Hopefully next year, I’ll be in IndyCar and tick that off the box as well.”

Andretti Autosport resurgence

During the first two seasons of IL-15 competition, drivers from the Andretti Autosport stable were able to only win two races and stand on the podium a total nine times during difficult 2015, and 2016 seasons.

However, with three wins and five podiums through only four races in 2017, the Don Lambert led squad has seen a resurgence to form that saw them win driver championships with Raphael Matos in 2008 and J.R. Hildebrand in 2009.

That race name though…

May is Lupus Awareness Month, and Royal Purple Synthetic Oil and the Mazda Road to Indy have joined forces to help bring attention to this mysterious chronic autoimmune disease which sees 16,000 new cases reported each year. All 50-plus cars across the three series will carry a decal in support of the Lupus Foundation of America, and a special hashtag – #RaceToEndLupus – will be utilized throughout the event. Fans can show their support by donating on behalf of their favorite drivers via a special page on the national Lupus Foundation website.
Belardi Auto Racing, spearheaded by team owner Brian Belardi and team manager John Brunner, has been a staunch supporter of the Lupus Foundation of America.
“When close friends of our team, Emilee Hunt and Addie, were diagnosed with lupus, we decided to put the Lupus Foundation of America decals on our Indy Lights cars to help raise awareness each May,” said Brunner. “That was 2014, and when we heard many other competitors commenting about how lupus affected someone in their lives as well, we at Belardi Racing contacted our partners at the Mazda Road to Indy to propose a much bigger campaign that highlights this disease during the Indy Grand Prix weekend. Since the official color of Lupus Awareness is purple, the folks at Royal Purple Synthetic Oil saw an opportunity and stepped up to share their sponsorship of the [MRTI Indy GP] with the Lupus Foundation of America.”

 

INDY LIGHTS Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Royal Purple Supporting the Lupus Foundation schedule:

Thursday, May 11, 2017 (closed to the public)

10:30am – 11:30am  –> Test Session #1
3:45pm – 4:45pm –> Test Session #2

Friday, May 12, 2017

10:15am – 11am –> Practice Session #1
noon – 12:30pm –> Autograph Session
1:45pm – 2:15pm –> Qualifying Session #1
5:50pm – 6:50pm –> Indy Lights Race #1

Saturday, May 13, 2017

9:20am – 9:50am –> Qualifying Session #2
1:15pm – 2:25pm –> Indy Lights Race #2

Recapping the 2016 event

TSO Leader Recap of Indy Ligths Race #1 

In 2013, Indy Lights staged one of the most dramatic finishes in racing history at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a four-wide photo finish to the Freedom 100, won by Peter Dempsey.

In 2016, the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires made a Kodak moment on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with arguably one of the most dramatic restarts in recent memory in the closing laps of the Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis, won by Ed Jones.

Watch the 2016 Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires Race #1

TSO Ladder Recap of Indy Lights race #2

There’s no shortage of talent in the 2016 Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires series and another of those drivers who seemed on the verge of a victory, Andretti Autosport’s Dean Stoneman, broke through Saturday to become the sixth winner in seven races to start the year.

Watch 2016 Mazda Indy Lights Grand Prix of Indianapolis Presented by Cooper Tires Race #2

Don’t miss any of the action:

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Barber – Sunday – Race #2 – recap and results – Herta wins 400th Indy Lights race and solidifies championship lead

Posted by  on Sunday, April 23rd 2017     

The 400th Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire race was won by second generation Indy Lights competitor Colton Herta. The Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing rookie, who’s Dad Bryan won the 1993 Indy Lights title, led all 35 laps and cruised to a comfortable 9.145 second win over Kyle Kaiser.

Herta also received a unique trophy for winning the 400th race.

The second place finish was the second in a row for Kaiser, who solidified his spot directly behind Herta in the championship.

After winning Saturday, Jamin stood two steps lower on the podium, but did move into third place in the season long chase for the $1 Million Mazda Motorsports Scholarship and a guaranteed seat in three Verizon IndyCar Series including the 102nd Indianapolis 500.

Colton Herta, Kyle Kaiser, and Nico Jamin celebrate on the 400th Indy Lights podium (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Herta, who started on pole after qualifying was cancelled due to rain and the grid was set by points, beat yesterday’s pole sitter Kaiser to Turn 1. The 15 drivers were able to get through the first two corners cleanly before Zachary Claman DeMelo pushed wide in Turn 3 and made contact with the No. 3 Team Pelfrey car of Pato O’Ward. The two cars got hooked together and found themselves in the gravel trap. DeMelo was able to keep his No. 13 Mazda powered Dallara rolling, but, O’Ward need help from the Holmatro Safety Team to get re-fired and back on track. DeMelo was forced to come for repairs but ended up retiring after one lap. The car of O’Ward was also forced to retire with damage.

With qualifying cancelled this morning, 14 of the15 entries Mazda Indy Lights Grad Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tire all started on sticker Cooper Tire slicks. The drivers were afforded an extra warm-up lap to allow them to get some extra heat into their tires.

The top 10 when they crossed the line were: Colton Herta, Kyle Kaiser, Nico Jamin, Aaron Telitz, Neil Alberico, Nicolas Dapero, Dalton Kellett, Matheus Leist, Shelby Blackstock, and Santiago Urrutia.

The 35 lap race restarted on Lap 4 and Herta was able to jump out to a big lead as the cars rolled through the “Alabama Roller Coaster” single file.

On the Lap 5, Urrutia’s front wing just touched the rear of the Belardi Auto Racing red No. 51 of Blackstock while fighting for ninth. Urrutia looped the car, but was able to keep it fired, falling back to 13th. The striking black and gold ARROW sponsored No. 5 was forced to pit for that damaged front wing, falling a lap behind and finishing the race in a disappointing 13th.

Alberico, who gained one spot on the first lap was able to pass the 2016 Pro Mazda Champion Telitz for the fourth spot.

By Lap 10, Herta’s lead over Kaiser was a comfortable 2.3 seconds, while Jamin was another 1.5 seconds back.

Nearing the half-way point of the race, Dapero and Leist, a pair of rookies were putting extreme pressure on veteran Andretti Autosport pilot Kellet for sixth. Dapero, who’s sixth place finish was the best of his short four race career, was able to get by Kellet on Lap 17, and Leist was able get by Kellett on the very next lap.

With 10 laps remaining, Herta’s lead had grown to 5.2 seconds over Kaiser, who had Jamin three seconds behind him. Alberico, who was looking for his third podium on four races, was running quicker laps than Jamin. Alberico was able to close to within half-a-second of Saturday’s winner Jamin, but the American was not able to get by the Frenchman.

Jamin did tell TSO that he knew Alberico was coming, but was managing the gap and his tires just in case their was a late race yellow flag and restart.

Mazda Indy Lights Grad Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires Race #2 – recap and results.

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 98 Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 1:14.731 35 laps
2 18 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing 1:15.099 9.1465
3 27 Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport 1:15.269 11.1006
4 22 Neil Alberico Carlin 1:15.015 11.7478
5 9 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing 1:15.404 18.3005
6 31 Nicolas Dapero Juncos Racing 1:15.175 21.1618
7 26 Matheus Leist Carlin 1:15.305 23.7575
8 51 Shelby Blackstock Belardi Auto Racing 1:15.442 33.1064
9 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 1:15.739 35.4034
10 28 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport 1:15.613 36.5591
11 2 Juan Piedrahita Team Pelfrey 1:15.666 40.2940
12 11 Garth Rickards Carlin 1:15.860 40.6538
13 5 Santi Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing 1:14.577 69.8029
14 13 Zachary Claman De Melo Carlin 2:06.743 -32 laps
15 3 Pato O’Ward Team Pelfrey 2:10.140 -33 laps

The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire Series has the next two weekends off before a double header on the 2.439-mile, 14-Turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 12 and May 13, 2017.

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Barber – Sunday – Qualifying cancelled Colton Herta will start on pole for 400th Indy Lights race

Posted by  on Sunday, April 23rd 2017     

After a downpour right before Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire qualifying was set to begin at 8am, the series decided to cancel qualifying, and the 15 drivers will line up via Championship Standings, meaning Colton Herta will start the race on pole for the 400th Indy Lights Race.

Herta will attempt to emulate the pole winners of the 200th and 300th Indy Lights races, and not the pole winners of the 1st and 100th races.

  • Kim Campbell won the inaugural Indy Lights pole at Phoenix International Raceway in 1986 and finished 11th.
  • Pedro Chaves won the 100th Indy Lights pole at Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport and finished 3rd.
  • A.J. Foyt IV won the 200th Indy Lights race from pole at Texas Motor Speedwa
  • James Hinchcliffe won the 300th Indy Lights race from pole at Long Beach

The 400th Indy Lights race, the 40 lap Mazda Indy Lights Grad Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires Race #2, rolls off at 11:45am.

Championship Standings and line-up for Mazda Indy Lights Grad Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires Race #2

Starting Spot Driver Current Points
1 Colton Herta – R 70
2 Kyle Kaiser 60
3 Aaron Telitz – R 57
4 Nico Jamin – R 53
5 Pato O’Ward – R 52
6 Neil Alberico 50
7 Shelby Blackstock 48
8 Zachary Claman De Melo 44
9 Santiago Urrutia 39
10 Nicolas Dapero – R 37
11 Matheus Leist – R 35
12 Dalton Kellett 33
13 Ryan Norman – R 32
14 Juan Piedrahita 28
15 Garth Rickards – R 25
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Barber – Saturday – Indy Lights Race #1 – report and results – Jamin gets maiden win

Posted by  on Saturday, April 22nd 2017     

The Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire series 399th race began with chaos and ended with calm when Nico Jamin won his first Indy Lights race, becoming the third different rookie to win in the first three races of the 2017 season.

Aaron Telitz, who qualified a disappointing 13th after having power plant issues in qualifying, started the chaos by driving into the back of teammate Shelby Blackstock, forcing the starter to abort the start and throw the yellow flag, causing multiple incidents with the outside row.

Aaron Telitz gets out of line at the start of Barber Motorsports Park race #1 causing a yellow flag and aborted start (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

Herta, who had ducked in behind Kaiser from his outside front row starting spot in an attempt to try and get a run on him into Turn 1, hit the back of the No. 18 Juncos Racing Mazda/Dallara when Kaiser got off the gas for the aborted start. The contact damaged the right front wing, forcing the 17 year-old second generation driver to pit for a new front wing.

“Barely,” explained pole-sitter Kaiser when asked if he felt Herta hit him. “I thought that maybe I felt a nudge.”

Further back the chaos intensified when sixth place qualifier Pato O’Ward ran up and over the back of Santiago Urrutia, the driver who started immediately in front of him on the outside of the front row. The Team Pelfrey rookie’s No. 3 rode the back of the black and gold Arrow Electronics sponsored No. 5 before dismounting and taking Urrutia’s rear wing with him as they went off course at the exit of Turn 1.

Herta, Urrutia, O’Ward, and Urrutia were all forced to pit road with varying levels of damage.

Kaiser led for the first four corners after a Lap 3 single file start, but lost the lead to Jamin, who slotted into second when Herta pitted, in “Charlotte’s Web” (Turn 5). Jamin, the 2015 Cooper Tires USF2000 Powered by Mazda champion got a great run out of the “Alabama Roller Coaster” and was able out brake Kaiser on the inside and complete the pass as they exited the corner.

“Absolutely, especially around this fast and flowing track,” explained Jamin when asked if he knew he had to get a pass done on the start. “If you spend four or five laps close to another driver, you are going to damage your tires quite a bit. So, I wanted to get it done really early to not overheat my tires, and I was able to get it done in Turn 5 with a good run and push-to-pass.”

I let my guard down, I thought I had more room behind me than I did,” said Kaiser, explaining the Jamin’s pass for the lead. “I’ve seen guys go to the inside and get a ton of rubber and lock it up and make that mistake of defending so much when they didn’t have to. I did a lazy middle of the road defend to discourage him from making a move, but he had a good run on me and he was closer than I thought and he made a nice clean pass. I need to be more committed in that situation. Now I’m looking back and saying I wish I would have moved my car over. It’s my mistake, I’ll learn from it, I’ll grow and won’t make it again.”

The top 10 at the end of the first green flag lap were: Nico Jamin, Kyle Kaiser, Neil Alberico, Matheus Leist, Dalton Kellett, Zachary Claman DeMelo, Shelby Blackstock, Juan Piedrahita, Nicolas Dapero, and Pato O’Ward.

Lap 10 marked the one-third mark of the 30 lap race. Jamin held a 2.6 second lead over Kasier, who had a one second advantage over third place Alberico. Alberico’s Carlin teammates Leist and Claman De Melo rounded out the top five.

The race settled in after the hectic start, with some good battles back in the pack. Carlin teammates Leist, and Claman de Melo were never separated by more than a second while fighting for fourth place. Further back Blackstock, O’Ward, Dapero, Herta and Piedrahtia remained nose to tail from seventh through 11th.

Herta who made a pass of teammate Ryan Norman on lap 8 and a struggling Juan Piedrahita with three laps left, was able to recover to finish 10th. With Teltiz’s struggles, the Valencia, Calif. native was able to maintain his 10 point championship lead, with Kaiser taking Telitz’s place as his closest chaser.

Urrutia was able to rejoin the field 3 laps down, and turned four off the pace laps before coming returning to the Belardi Auto Racing pits to repair suspension damage. Urrutia was able to head back out on track, but returned to pit-lane and retired after turning 17 laps.

Jamin joins Sage Karam, Spencer Pigot, Matthew Brabham, and Aaron Telitz as the fifth driver to win on all three rungs of the Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire ladder since it was founded in 2010.

Nico Jamin celebrates his first of what he hopes is many Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire races (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The same 15 drivers are back on track bright and early at 8am on Sunday morning to qualify for the second Mazda Indy Lights Grad Prix of Alabama Presented by Cooper Tires of the weekend.

Full results of Indy Lights race #1

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 27 Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport 1:16.846 30 laps
2 18 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing 1:16.388 2.6525
3 22 Neil Alberico Carlin 1:16.066 3.5386
4 26 Matheus Leist Carlin 1:16.489 6.8921
5 13 Zachary Claman De Melo Carlin 1:16.693 7.9310
6 28 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport 1:16.918 11.6353
7 51 Shelby Blackstock Belardi Auto Racing 1:17.484 23.4746
8 3 Pato O’Ward Team Pelfrey 1:17.532 23.6997
9 31 Nicolas Dapero Juncos Racing 1:16.802 24.2379
10 98 Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 1:16.814 25.0465
11 2 Juan Piedrahita Team Pelfrey 1:16.693 26.1200
12 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 1:16.776 26.9117
13 9 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing 1:16.821 27.5634
14 11 Garth Rickards Carlin 1:17.417 31.5943
15 5 Santi Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing 1:28.322 -13 LAPS
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO

Barber – Saturday – Indy Lights qualifying for race #1 – report and results

Posted by  on Saturday, April 22nd 2017     

There is one thing that all race car drivers are looking for – a car that feels perfect.

With only three minutes remaining in Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire qualfying, Juncos Racing veteran Kyle Kaiser found exactly what he was looking for. The Santa Clara, Calif. blistered the 2.3-mile 17-Turn Barber Motorsports Park road course in a time of 1 minute, 13.285 seconds and was able to withstand a last second double barrel Andretti Autosport attack to score his fourth career Indy Lights pole.

“The car felt perfect for that one lap, so I’m glad we put it together,” proclaimed Kaiser after climbing out of his No. 18. “I knew it was really close, but he tires came in perfectly – earlier than I thought – I thought it would get quicker and quicker, but after I did my fast lap the car got a little too free and I couldn’t get back down to that time.”

“This is one of those tracks where you have to hit it when the tires are perfect, and after that it’s really hard to get back to that time.”

The first shot in the Andretti arsenal came from Nico Jamim, who had just been knock of the top spot by the 21 year-old Kaiser a minute earlier. Rookie Jamin came across the timing line only eight-hundredths off Kaiser’s lap, and will start the race on the inside of the second row, his best career Indy Lights shot.

“It was a really good qualifying effort for the team, with Colton in P2 and me in P3,” said a happy Jamin. “I really feel I had that pole in my hands, and it was in the car as well. On that last set, I made a really good first run. On the second, which I think would’ve been the golden lap, we caught a slow car. It diminished my lap time, so I had to back up and go again. I think the peak of the tires were gone at that point, but I was still able to put it in P3 after running P1 in the session. Overall, it was a great qualifying run by the No. 27 Synova Mazda team. We’ll go get them in the race!”

The second shot that Kaiser withstood came from Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing’s Colton Herta. The current points leader spent most of the first-half of the session at the top of the time sheet, but was mired down in eighth when he started his final lap of qualifying. The 16 year-old, who started on pole in the second race at St. Petersburg, just missed out on his second career pole by a minuscule three-hundredths of a second.

The extremely tight field had the top nine drivers covered by only a half-second.

The lone red flag came out with eight minutes expired in the half-hour session when Carlin rookie Garth Rickards spun in the final corner and came to rest dangerously in the racing line. A number of trailing cars just missed the 24 year-old’s stricken No. 11, before the track went red.

At that point in the session, Herta’s 1 minute, 14.201 second circuit was the quickest of the session. Jamin, Santiago Urrutia (Belardi Auto Racing), Kaiser, Dalton Kellett (Andretti Autosport) and Pato O’Ward (Team Pelfrey) were all within one second of Herta when the track went back green with just under 20 minutes left in the qualifying session.

Just as the session passed the half-way point, Jamin moved to the point when the Rouen, France native threw down an impressive lap of 1 minute, 13.5767 seconds.

Jamin’s lap held-up for most of the second-half of the session, even as drivers put on fresh Cooper Tire rubber in an attempt to improve on their times.

Jamin was finally knocked off the top of the timing pylon that towers over the 1,595 foot Barber Motorsports Park front straight when Kaiser turned in his quickest lap.

Qualifying results for Indy Lights race #1

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 18 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing 1:13.285 —
2 98 Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 1:13.316 0.0307
3 27 Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport 1:13.369 0.0835
4 5 Santi Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing 1:13.455 0.1699
5 22 Neil Alberico Carlin 1:13.551 0.2656
6 3 Pato O’Ward Team Pelfrey 1:13.580 0.2951
7 26 Matheus Leist Carlin 1:13.620 0.3349
8 28 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport 1:13.656 0.3705
9 13 Zachary Claman De Melo Carlin 1:13.825 0.5399
10 2 Juan Piedrahita Team Pelfrey 1:13.995 0.7094
11 51 Shelby Blackstock Belardi Auto Racing 1:14.170 0.8848
12 31 Nicolas Dapero Juncos Racing 1:14.372 1.0869
13 9 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing 1:14.377 1.0923
14 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 1:14.388 1.1024
15 11 Garth Rickards Carlin 1:15.043 1.7580
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: 

Barber – Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire Friday notebook

Posted by  on Friday, April 21st 2017     

Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire Friday notebook

  • The three quickest drivers of this afternoon’s Indy Lights practice session – Shelby Blackstock, Garth Rickards, and Zachary Claman DeMelo – all set their quickest lap times on sticker Cooper Tires. Rickards told us that him (and his three Carlin teammates) are all suffering from understeer.
  • The No. 51 Belardi Auto Racing entry was undergoing an engine change when we walked though the Indy Lights paddock after practice.
  • Current points leader Colton Herta turned the fifth quickest time in Indy Lights practice (only 0.2920 seconds behind leader Blackstock), but DID NOT put on a set of sticker tires. The second-generation driver told TSO that he is quite happy with the balance of his Deltro Energy sponsored No. 98 Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing car.
  • A pretty common refrain from drivers from both MRTI series that have competed at Barber Motorsports Park before is that the track is more difficult, especially during the afternoon sessions, then they can ever remember experiencing.
  • USF2000 veteran Luke Gabin told us that the Exclusive Autosport team is suffering the exact opposite problem that Carlin is facing in Indy Lights, oversteer. The problem has the Canadian based three-car team completely perplexed. Gabin has one podium and one top five at Barber Motorsports Park, and his teammate Parker Thompson has two wins and five top five finish. Exclusive Autosport engineer Daryl Bear has also had success at this track, working with Gabin and winning three times as race engineer for RC Enerson.
  • The 39 Mazda Road To Indy presented by Cooper Tire entries are not the only Mazda powered cars in attendance at Barber Motorsports Park this weekend. When you add the 31 MX-5 Cup cars and the 13 Mazda powered Prototype Challenge entries, you get a grand total of 83 cars that are powered by various iterations of Mazda 2.0-liter power plants.
  • Road To Indy TV rolled out an Official App for Xbox One this weekend giving MRTI fans another option (along with the mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, Apple TV, Amazon Fire and Roku.) “With the launch of our Xbox App, we’re not only spearheading a new medium that provides free accessibility to viewers worldwide, but we’re delivering an experience into the heart of their home,” said Manterola. “In the U.S. alone, 65 percent of households own a video game console, so we are excited to witness how this will impact the next generation of racing fans.”
  • Team Pelfrey rookie Indy Lights driver Pato O’Ward now has his own app that allows you to find his schedule, photographs, social media, post and other content. You can get the app for iOS and Android.

 

category: Cooper Tires USF2000 powered by Mazda - TSO, Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO, USF2000 News/Results

Barber – Indy Lights practice #1 – notes and results – Blackstock leads tight field

Posted by  on Friday, April 21st 2017     

The first, and only practice for the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tire series was led by Belardi Auto Racing veteran driver Shelby Blackstock. The Barber Motorsports Park event is “home race” of sorts for Blackstock, who is originally from Nashville, Tenn., and also spends a lot of time at the 2.3-mile, 17 Turn road course as instructor for the Barber based Porsche Sport Driving School.

Rounding out the top five in practice were Garth Rickards (Carlin), Zachary Claman DeMelo (Carlin), Kyle Kaiser (Juncos Racing) and points leader Colton Herta (Andretti-Steinbrenner Racing).

All 15 drivers were within one-second of Blackstock, in a session that saw varying tire strategies. (We’ll try and find these out and send them out in a notebook a little later this afternoon.)

Full practice results

RANK CAR # DRIVER TEAM QUICK LAP GAP
1 51 Shelby Blackstock Belardi Auto Racing 1:15.150 —
2 11 Garth Rickards Carlin 1:15.203 0.0532
3 13 Zachary Claman De Melo Carlin 1:15.308 0.1585
4 18 Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing 1:15.424 0.2737
5 98 Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 1:15.442 0.2920
6 22 Neil Alberico Carlin 1:15.548 0.3979
7 26 Matheus Leist Carlin 1:15.570 0.4204
8 27 Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport 1:15.573 0.4233
9 3 Pato O’Ward Team Pelfrey 1:15.636 0.4867
10 5 Santi Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing 1:15.725 0.5755
11 9 Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing 1:15.759 0.6093
12 28 Dalton Kellett Andretti Autosport 1:15.767 0.6169
13 31 Nicolas Dapero Juncos Racing 1:15.852 0.7020
14 48 Ryan Norman Andretti Autosport 1:16.117 0.9668
15 2 Juan Piedrahita Team Pelfrey 1:16.264 1.1140

Qualifying for the first Indy Lights race is scheduled for an early 8:40am start on Saturday morning, and Race #1 will roll off at 2pm.

category: Indy Lights News/Results, Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire - TSO
tags: , , , , , , ,

St. Petersburg Sunday – Indy Lights Race #2 – Results and Notes

Posted by  on Sunday, March 12th 2017     
By Patrick Stephan (TSO_Patrick)
Thanks everyone for your patience. I wasn’t able to actually “watch” Indy Lights Race #2 – due to some other duties that kept me away from the media center while the race was running. But, I had long time motorsports writer Bruce Martin cover this one for me, and his report is below.
Before I get to that, I wanted to provide a bit of the background stuff again from here in St. Pete. As you can guess, I’m just a wee bit busy this weekend as TSOLadder.com covers all three rungs of the Mazda Road to Indy ladder and over at TrackSideOnline.com we’re also of course covering the Verizon IndyCar Series.
This morning’s duties included playing tour guide for some sponsor groups – something I really enjoy doing. Oh, and if you ever need someone to give a tour or play MC or “Host” of an event, I’m always looking to expand that part of my racing business (yep, that means it’s not free – but it’s FUN!).
Anyway, lets go back in time. Last night it took a while to get everything wrapped up here at the track, and I left around 8:30pm. Went over to the hotel, cleaned up a little bit and then took a walk near the Hilton Hotel to find something to eat.
Wound up heading in to a restaurant called, Z-Grille It’s a couple blocks from the Hilton, and I’ve walked by it dozens of times over the years. But, I was usually staying elsewhere so I was just getting to the car for the ride home. This time though I went inside and found a pretty cool atmosphere (a bunch of skateboard decks adorn the wall) and really good food.
I grabbed a seat at the bar, and wound up sitting between some racing folks, so that was great. Heck, an hour later I was chatting with the owner/chef Zach. He really likes having the race in town, both for what it does for his restaurant and for what it does for St. Pete in general. The marketing of the area is good for him he said.
Oh, the food! I wasn’t starving, so I went with several appetizers. Had the soup (Tomato, Bacon, and some other stuff – really good). Also had the deviled eggs. There are three kinds, including “Buffalo” (yep, like the wing sauce), and the California (avocado based), and one other kind that I can’t recall.  All were really good.
The highlight though was the Scallop Tostada – that was really yummy. Also got the Brussel Sprouts – they were pretty good, though I like them a bit crispier.
All in all a nice meal, in a fun atmosphere. The food is “upscale modern” (I’m making up terms here – really don’t know squat about food), so it’s not cheap. And the decor is like noted, kind of like eating in a really fancy skate shop – but cool. Service was really good.
After dinner I went back to the hotel to finish working and eventually I was able to set my alarm – which said I would be waking up in 5 hours – ouch!!
So, after the nap, headed for the track and it was off to work.
——
And here is Bruce’s story from the Indy Light’s race:
BY BRUCE MARTIN — @BruceMartin_500
 
It took just two races in one weekend for 16-year-old Colton Herta to become the youngest driver in history to win in the Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires Series. Herta, the son of former IndyCar driver and current IndyCar Series team owner Bryan Herta, defeated Santi Urrutia by 1.797 seconds in a race where Herta started on the pole and led flag to flag to win Sunday’s morning’s Indy Lights Race No. 2.
 
Aaron Telitz won Race No. 1 on Saturday, but thanks to a bad qual run for Race #2 – he’s starting this one 10th. 
 
Herta’s father is the 1993 Indy Lights Series champion and had tears in his eyes after the checkered flag dropped.
 
“I’m so proud of him,” Bryan Herta said. “He’s doing a great job. I don’t have the words for it. I’m so proud…and to see him doing really well it’s really something.”
 
Colton Herta drives for a team co-owned by Michael Andretti and George Michael Steinbrenner of the famed Steinbrenner family – owners of the New York Yankees among other ventures.
 
“It’s amazing to come back from Europe and into the IndyCar paddock and win right away,” Herta said. “We want to keep it going. Santi is probably the toughest person out here because he knows we are rookies but we held him off today and it was all good.
 
“I was pushing harder than anything and my heart rate is really up but it’s great to win.”

Colton Herta celebrates his first Indy Lights win in Race #2 at St. Pete (IMS Photo)

 
Urrutia bounced back from a 13th place finish on Saturday to finish second.
 
“It was really good for the championship after what happened on Saturday,” he said. “I have the same goal from last year and that is to win the championship. We had great cars all weekend and the team is working really good. We need to stay on the podium and get points.”
 
Pato O’Ward was third, Kyle Kaiser fourth and Telitz was fifth in the 15-car field.
 
Today’s race wasn’t as clean as yesterday’s – as often seems to be the case with two-race weekends. Just after the green flag waved to start the race, Nico Jamin and Neil Alberico crashed into each other just out of Turn 2.  The two cars pinned each other against the wall just before Turn 3 to bring out a full-course caution.
Said Jamin, “I got through Turn 1 nice and clean, and then I went through Turn 2 and I had the advantage. I was in front of [Alberico] and there was just no room for two cars there. We touched which sent me into the wall and ended my race. I am okay. It was not big contact, I mean I just clipped the wall and ended my day. The Synova crew gave me a good car and now we’ll just have to fight to earn points in Barber.”
When the green flag dropped on Lap 6 to restart the race, a car spun off the final turn back in the pack as Juan Piedrahita lost control of his car and drove into the grass but it did not bring out a yellow flag.
Herta began to feel pressure from Santi Urrutia, who had closed onto the back of Herta’s car. Herta’s car, however, was much better down the straight between Turns 3 and 4.
 
Aaron Telitz, the rookie who won Saturday’ race, started 10th and was on his way through the field up to seventh place when he passed Shelby Blackstock around this same time. 
 
Telitz then passed Matheus Leist inside of Turn 10 to take over sixth place and began to close in on Dalton Kellett as Herta continued to fend off Urrutia at the front of the field.
 
After 15 laps of 45, the top five was Herta, Urrutia, Pato O’Ward, Kyle Kaiser and Kellett with Telitz just out of the top five.
 
Kellett’s charge to the front ended abruptly when he was exiting Turn 7 and lost control in Turn 8, where a crown in the road causes a handling issue for the cars in that area. He quickly spun out and stopped and the second yellow flag of the race waved. Kellett was battling with Telitz for fifth position on Lap 22.
“Frustrating end to our day. We started third and thought we had a good car and our brakes were good during the race. I need to look at the video and data to see what happened when I lost it out of Turn 9, I’m really disappointed with that,” said Kellett.
 Kellett made his way back to pit lane as the field drove by to take the green flag on Lap 24 with Herta remaining in the lead over Urrutia, O’Ward, Kaiser and Telitz. Kaiser passed O’Ward for third place and Herta raced away from Urrutia.
 
But on Lap 26, Garth Rickards slammed hard into the newly configured Turn 3 area – the second Carlin Racing car to have in issue in that turn. That was caution No. 3 and slowed the field with Herta ahead of Urrutia.
 
“All good,” Rickards said. “The cars are really safe and it held up. I’m really disappointed. I just locked up the brakes in Turn 3 there. I’ve been struggling in that corner all weekend but I’m getting more and more confidence. I’ve always struggled on the street courses so once I get to the natural terrain road courses I always seem to do better so I can’t wait to get to Barber Motorsports Park.”
 
With 15 laps to go and the field under caution it was Herta, Urrutia, Kaiser, O’Ward and Telitz.
 
The green flag was back and racing resumed on Lap 32 with Herta trying to fight off Urrutia’s charge. Because of the three cautions it looked like this might be a timed race, but the field was getting very close to making the scheduled 45-lap distance, and when said and done, they got the laps in at a time of just over one hour (1:00:24.3956). 
 
Here is the final order for Indy Lights Race #2 in St. Pete:
P No Name Laps Diff ST Team
1 98 Colton Herta 45 0.0000 1 Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
2 5 Santi Urrutia 45 1.7797 Active Belardi Auto Racing
3 3 Pato O’Ward 45 3.9729 Active Team Pelfrey
4 18 Kyle Kaiser 45 5.6051 Active Juncos Racing
5 9 Aaron Telitz 45 7.0662 Active Belardi Auto Racing
6 51 Shelby Blackstock 45 10.4495 Active Belardi
7 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 45 11.1066 Active Carlin
8 31 Nicolas Dapero 45 13.4821 Active Juncos Racing
9 48 Ryan Norman 45 19.7311 Active Andretti Autosport
10 2 Juan Piedrahita 45 21.8159 Active Team Pelfrey
11 26 Matheus Leist 45 29.5880 Active Carlin
12 28 Dalton Kellett 44 1L Active Andretti Autosport
13 11 Garth Rickards 25 19L Contact Carlin
14 27 Nico Jamin — 44L Contact Andretti Autosport
15 22 Neil Alberico — 44L Contact Carlin

Next up for the Road to Indy is the final race of the event, the Pro Mazda Race #2 – scheduled to run after the IndyCar Series at 4:30pm.

category: Indy Lights News/Results

More Notes from USF2000 Race #2 and Indy Lights Race #1 Report and Results

Posted by  on Saturday, March 11th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (TSO_Patrick)

Well, this is the final report for today – and wow, what a day!  Some great racing in Lights and USF2000. Pro Mazda wasn’t quite up to the same level, but there was still some action – or at least the potential for some 🙂

The podium finishers from today’s USF2000 race came in to the media center for a bit. This is always a tough one for these kids because they have to come in right smack in the middle of Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying. No one wants to disturb the coverage of that, but the USF2000 racers do deserve some love for finishing up front.

Instead of a more formal press conference, the drivers did one on ones with the media. That let me chat with Oliver Askew, winner of his first ever USF2000 race – in his debut weekend.

He was still pretty shocked, saying of the defining restart, “I was just reacting to whatever happens and Parker seemed to lock up and overshot in to Turn 1 and I just went right underneath him and in to the lead. The guy came on the radio and told me not to look back and to keep pushing, so that’s what I did.”

“It’s huge, this is the best day of my racing career by far,” said Askew. “I’m pretty speechless I don’t think it’s even sunk in!”

When asked if he even thought of winning coming in to the weekend he said, “No, I was just coming in to this weekend to get points, so this is a big plus!”  He noted that tomorrow, he’ll be here watching the Verizon IndyCar Series race – just the second he’s ever gotten the chance to see in person.

TSO also talked to Parker Thompson and he started off saying that “Exclusive Autosport gave me a great car today, a winning car.”

On the restart he said, “My game plan was to cool down the tires, because already 10 minutes in the tires were starting to overheat and fall off. So I thought if I cooled down the tires as much as I could they would be good on the restart. I warmed them up on that last lap, but obviously not enough. They kind of just got greasy. Went in and I broke about 50 – 75 feet earlier than I usually do, and all four corners locked up and I knew I was big, big trouble right away.”

On getting back to the podium, he said, “red mist!”

“Nothing was going to stop me from getting a podium for the boys. I threw away getting them their first USF2000 win, but nothing was going to stop me from getting them their first podium.”

Ok, let’s go to the Lights race that finished up this long day at the track.

Aaron Telitz started Indy Lights Race #1 from the pole, and kept that lead through Turn 1. He said later that he didn’t use the push to pass, while everyone else did, but it still worked out for him.

Didn’t see a replay of the start, but Dalton Kellett got spun out of 12th and was facing the wrong way on the track.

Unfortunately his teammate, Santi Urrutia picked up damage in the initial start when things got crazy and he had wall contact with right front corner of his car.

With five laps completed, the Top -5 were Telitz, Mattheus Leist, Neil Alberico, and Shelby Blackstock.

But that wouldn’t last long, Telitz kept the lead, but Alberico got around Leist, and we had battling back a little further between the Team Pelfrey duo of Nico Jamin and Pato O’Ward. They were fighting for the 6th spot and got side by side a couple times.

When we got to lap 8, O’Ward was able to make the move, and we had a Top 10 of Telitz, Alberico, Blackstock, Herta, Kaiser, Piedrahita, O’Ward, Jamin, Claman de Melo, and Dapero.

Leist would pull off about this same time after dropping through the field. His car clearly had a mechanical issue (down on power), sending him to pit lane. He got out of the car and started walking away before being called back. He got back in the car and rejoined the race about 7 laps down before retiring for good after 20 laps completed.

Urrutia had also rejoined the race, though he was 4 laps down, after his Belardi crew got the right front repaired.

On lap 14, Telitz had a 6.4 second lead over Alberico.

The best battle on the track was for third at this time. Blackstock had Herta all over him, with Kyle Kaiser about a second behind them in fifth.

Colton Herta made a dive inside of Blackstock on lap 20 in Turn 1. They didn’t touch, but it was very close and Blackstock had to change his line or there would have been contact. In a couple of laps, Blackstock was slipping back to other drivers with Kyle Kaiser taking the fourth spot in Turn 1. Shelby didn’t give him as much room as he did Herta, with Kaiser and Blackstock going wheel to wheel through Turn 1. May have been some contact, but they both continued.

Kaiser didn’t run away from Blackstock who quickly had Piedrahita and O’Ward right behind him.

With those cars nose to tail, we’re presuming a lot of these guys were getting on the push to pass. Recall that can be engaged if you are within one second of the car in front of you.

Lap 25 of 35 and Telitz still leads by 9 seconds over Alberico, with Herta right on his gearbox. Four seconds behind them is the battle between Kaiser, Blackstock, O’Ward and Claman de Melo. Piedrahita pulled to pit lane. Rob Howden from INDYCAR radio noticed the car had all the marking of wall contact on the left side.

Back up front, Herta was still pressing Alberico for second. They were 11 seconds behind the leader Telitz, but Herta was just two car lengths out of second place. On lap 31, Herta gets on the push to pass and goes by Alberico in Turn 1 to take the second position.

Positions 5-9 were really battling as Kaiser was clearly getting loose in the 5th spot. He had Pato O’Ward looking inside and out to try and get around. O’Ward was also getting pressure again from Claman de Melo, who Jamin just behind him.

With 3 laps to go, O’Ward slides inside of Kaiser in Turn 1.

The final lap we had a three car battle as Kaiser tried to hold off Claman De Melo and Jamin and Dapero was also looking for a chance to get by. That would get dicey, but they all made it to the checkered flag, although not quite in that order as Jamin moved to 7th.

Quick summary of this one – good race for everything except the lead.

After the race, the Top-3 came in to the media center.

Neil Alberico said of his weekend so far “The Carlin guys did a good job working with me in the offseason, after a tough season last year. Working well with my engineer and so far so good. As long as we can stay clean tomorrow and come out of here with some good points, we should be good coming out of here.”

Colton Herta said that push to pass helped him a ton. “It worked it got me good runs on Kaiser and Shelby.”  He also noted that the track felt “really similar to this morning.” He said the times were a little quicker than he expected but the track wasn’t that different.

Aaron Telitz said, “I was seriously expecting to do well this year, but not to come in and win the pole and the win,” he noted while also saying, “this is a really deep field, especially with some of these guys coming back for their second season.”

Aaron was asked about tires, and he said his held really well and he did his fastest lap as the fuel burned off toward the end.

After winning today, he said, “It all just feels a little unreal honestly. I had no idea I would even make it Indy Lights when I started in car racing, let alone actually win an Indy Lights race in my first go. I can’t thank Mazda enough for creating this ladder system where driver’s like me, or anybody, can get in to it and work their way up.”

He spent much of the race just trying to hit his marks and be consistent. He said he was a little mad that no one told him he didn’t have fastest lap – he might have pushed a little more for that – to get the extra point.

After the race, TSO talked more with Telitz on his path to Indy Lights.

“Go karting was just something I did for fun on weekends with my family. I went to college, and when I was a freshman I decided to go give the Skip Barber Scholarship shoot-out a try. And I ended up winning a scholarship to even start racing cars.”

“My whole road in to car racing has been through doing well and winning scholarships basically. I have won Skip Barber scholarships, Team USA scholarships, two Mazda Speed scholarships, and I have an incredible home state partner in Rice Lake Weighing Systems. They have helped me out in between and continues to help me to this day. On the off seasons when I haven’t had championships or scholarships to run on, when they’ve been able to back me, that’s been a serious help in allowing me to move up.”

He talked about some of the “new blood” coming to the sport, mentioning Colton’s new team co-owner George Steinbrenner, and their sponsor Deltro Energy. “It’s an incredible time right now and I think INDYCAR is seriously on the upswing, and the racing out there is great!”

Aaron Telitz had a good day today in St. Petersburg. INDYCAR Photo

Ok, here are the unofficial results:

Pos Car # Driver Laps Diff Status Team
1 9 Aaron Telitz 35 0.0000 1 Belardi Auto Racing
2 98 Colton Herta 35 11.0330 Active Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
3 22 Neil Alberico 35 13.9925 Active Carlin
4 51 Shelby Blackstock 35 15.6642 Active Belardi Auto Racing
5 3 Pato O’Ward 35 19.1813 Active Team Pelfrey
6 18 Kyle Kaiser 35 25.4788 Active Juncos Racing
7 27 Nico Jamin 35 25.7737 Active Andretti Autosport
8 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 35 25.9800 Active Carlin
9 31 Nicolas Dapero 35 26.4283 Active Juncos Racing
10 48 Ryan Norman 35 37.7830 Active Andretti Autosport
11 11 Garth Rickards 34 1L Active Carlin
12 28 Dalton Kellett 33 1L Off Andretti Autosport
13 5 Santi Urrutia 30 4L Pit Belardi Auto Racing
14 2 Juan Piedrahita 27 7L Contact Team Pelfrey
15 26 Matheus Leist 15 19L Mechanical Carlin
category: Indy Lights News/Results, USF2000 News/Results

Welcome to Race Day #1 in St. Pete – ProMazda and IndyLights Race #2 Qual Results

Posted by  on Saturday, March 11th 2017     

By Patrick Stephan (@TSO_Patrick)

Good morning from St. Petersburg, Florida where it is currently 61 degrees with 66% humidity under bright and sunny skies. We’ve got some light wind blowing in off the bay, keeping it “chilly” to the locals – but pretty nice for those of us from much colder climates.  The track temp around 8:30am was 74 degrees.

After spending Thursday night in Brandon, Florida (45 minutes away on the other side of Tampa), I stayed last night at the Hilton in St. Pete – 5 minutes of walking to reach a gate. Heck the track runs by the normal front door of the track.

More on last night’s activities around this event a bit later, but lets get started with today’s early action.

Things got started with Pro Mazda Race #2 qualifying, which I actually watched from the hotel. Kinda wanted to see/hear what it was like from outside the track. And well, it was nice! If I wasn’t a race fan, the sound wasn’t too much (at least from the 10th floor), but since I AM a race fan – it sounded nice.

Down on the track, it was again Anthony Martin and Victor Franzoni battling for P1, and again it was the Australian taking the pole position. Martin this time turned a lap of 1:13.569 seconds to take the pole over Victor Franzoni, this time the gap being 0.0790 seconds. Yesterday in qualifying for Race #1 – the gap was 0.012 seconds.

Carlos Cunha qualified third, followed by his Team Pelfrey teammate TJ Fischer. and Phillippe Denes from World Speed Motorsports rounded out the Top 5.

Race #2 will run tomorrow after the Verizon IndyCar Series event at 4:30pm ET. Today’s Race #1 will start at 11:50am ET.

P No Name FTime Diff Laps FL
1 8 Anthony Martin 1:13.569 0.000 13 11 Cape Motorsports
2 23 Victor Franzoni 1:13.648 0.0790 14 14 Juncos Racing
3 81 Carlos Cunha 1:14.025 0.4556 15 8 Team Pelfrey
4 82 TJ Fischer 1:14.188 0.6195 15 15 Team Pelfrey
5 15 Phillippe Denes 1:14.851 1.2818 15 15 World Speed Motorsports
6 80 Nikita Lastochkin 1:14.900 1.3314 15 14 Team Pelfrey
7 14 Sting Ray 1:15.185 1.6164 15 11 World Speed Motorsports
8 13 Bobby Eberle 1:15.957 2.3883 11 11 World Speed Motorsports
9 3 Matt Machiko 1:16.983 3.4141 14 11 FatBoy Racing
10 31 Brendan Puderbach 1:17.976 4.4072 12 11 FatBoy Racing
11 60 Jeff Green 1:18.304 4.7349 13 9 Juncos
12 44 Kevin Davis 1:18.920 5.3510 12 10 Kevin Davis Racing
13 83 Charles Finelli 1:23.731 10.1623 9 9 FatBoy Racing
14 6 Max Hanratty 1:47.641 34.0721 1 1 ArmsUp Motorsports

We also got a pretty interesting Indy Lights qualifying session for Race #2.

As the ProMazda session finished up, I walked over to 5th Ave South to enter the track, where I found a nice long line, filled mostly with people coming to work at the track. This included race team people, media, and hospitality workers. All of us now freaking out because the line was moving VERY slow. I’m guessing the track staff wasn’t expecting to see so many people at 8:00am.

But, I got in, and with Indy Lights now on track for their 30 minute qualifying session, I decided to head to Honda’s hospitality tent for some breakfast and to watch quals.

When I caught the first glimpse of a time sheet (about 10 minutes in), the Colton Herta was in P1, but then got bumped down by Aaron Telitz and then Pato OWard took the top spot.

A little later we saw Nico Jamin on top, and then Kyle Kaiser as things got more and more competitive.

As the session wound down, Herta retook the top spot with a lap in the 1:06’s, and he’d have to lower than again to keep the pole as Santi Urrutia was also now sub 1:07 seconds.

When the checkered flew, Herta, (who told us yesterday he was hoping for Top-5’s during the early part of the season) had his first career Indy Light’s pole position in just his second qualifying session.

Here are the results of that session.  I’ll be back shortly with the report from a really good USF2000 race!

P No Name FTime Diff Laps FL Team
1 98 Colton Herta 1:06.546 0.000 23 23 Andretti Steinbrenner
2 5 Santi Urrutia 1:06.739 0.1926 22 22 Belardi
3 28 Dalton Kellett 1:07.018 0.4713 21 21 Andretti Autosport
4 3 Pato O’Ward 1:07.076 0.5290 21 19 Team Pelfrey
5 18 Kyle Kaiser 1:07.274 0.7277 18 16 Juncos
6 27 Nico Jamin 1:07.288 0.7414 19 18 Andretti Autosport
7 22 Neil Alberico 1:07.344 0.7977 22 19 Carlin
8 2 Juan Piedrahita 1:07.355 0.8081 21 21 Team Pelfrey
9 13 Zachary Claman De Melo 1:07.420 0.8732 21 20 Carlin
10 9 Aaron Telitz 1:07.471 0.9247 19 18 Belardi
11 51 Shelby Blackstock 1:07.510 0.9633 21 21 Belardi
12 26 Matheus Leist 1:07.528 0.9820 21 20 Carlin
13 31 Nicolas Dapero 1:07.705 1.1587 19 19 Juncos Racing
14 48 Ryan Norman 1:08.243 1.6969 19 19 Andretti Autosport
15 11 Garth Rickards 1:08.762 2.2157 19 19 Carlin
category: Indy Lights News/Results, Pro Mazda News/Results
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