From a competitive motocross rider to an Indy Lights race winner in only five years. Ryan Norman’s path to four-wheeled motorsports has not been conventional but has still been impressive.

Only three seasons ago the 20-year-old from Aurora, Ohio was competing in SCCA Formula Enterprise competition.

Norman’s first win came at the expense of his teammate Colton Herta who led the first 69 laps of the 75 lap race before settling for second place.

Herta did finish ahead of fellow Andretti Autosport rookie Patricio O’Ward, cutting the Mexican drivers lead to 25 points and pushing the championship to Portland International Raceway in one weeks time.

The Andretti Autosport front row of Herta and Norman brought the field to the green flag after a pair of pace laps.

Herta and Norman quickly fell into line, but behind them, they went three wide.

Urrutia, who started in seventh was the big mover when the green flag came out, using the outside line to move up to third.

Championship leader O’Ward was cautious at the start, falling back to fifth.

The running order at the end of the first lap was: Herta, Norman, Santi Urrutia, Aaron Telitz, Patricio O’Ward, Victor Franzoni and Dalton Kellett.

It didn’t take long for O’Ward to start to move forward, getting around Telitz on Lap 3 and setting after the No. 5 Belardi Auto Racing machine of Urrutia.

On Lap 7, O’Ward peeked to the outside of Urrutia going down the front straight before diving inside in Turn 1. He was forced to back out of the move and regroup.

The next lap, O’Ward made a brave move around the outside of the Uruguayan in Turn 1 and Turn 2, completing the pass on the run to Turn 3.

That battle allowed Telitz to get back up under the rear wing of his teammate. Urrutia got high and loose in Turn 1 but was able to keep control after getting sideways and hold his teammate behind him.

The lead for Herta over Norman when Lap 10 of 75 began was 0.9861 seconds. Another 2.88 seconds afield of Norman was teammate Norman. Urrutia, Telitz, Franzoni, and Kellett rounded out the running order.

On lap 30, Herta’s lead had dropped to 0.5 seconds. The pair of leaders had pulled almost five seconds ahead of O’Ward.

At the crossed flags, Herta’s lead was only 0.2980 seconds and over the second half of the race that lead was never more than 0.6 seconds.

Further back Belardi Auto Racing teammates Urrutia and Telitz waged a back and forth battle 10-lap battle for fourth with the spot officially changing hands five times between Lap 46 and Lap 53.

Things that make a team owner nervous – Telitz gets around teammate Urrutia for fourth. The next lap, Urrutia takes it back @BelardiRacing#MRTI I #TeamCooperTire pic.twitter.com/RcKYKukKbo

— Indy Lights (@IndyLights) August 25, 2018

With 20 laps to go, Norman was still in the tire tracks of Herta only 0.3491 seconds back.

Behind them, the Belardi Auto Racing teammates were still battling for position.

With 15 laps remaining, Norman started trying different lines in Turn 1 to see if he could get a run on his second generation teammate.

After the race, Norman mentioned that because they had 10 seconds over O’Ward, he felt comfortable trying different lines, knowing that he’d be able to hang on to the spot if he made a mistake.

On Lap 62 Herta turned his quickest lap of the race, but couldn’t shake Norman.

With ten laps left the leading duo caught teammate Kellett, who graciously pulled to the inside to let them continue the battle.

On Lap 68 and 69, Norman made a high entry into Turn 1 going to the outside of Herta but was unable to complete the pass.

On the next lap, Norman made the same move, tucking right in behind Herta before popping low late into Turn 3. The two drivers were close to making contact but raced cleanly. Norman pulled ahead to lead lap 70.

Norman takes the lead and makes it stick! #MRTI #TeamCooperTire pic.twitter.com/7MAgVa2F1N

— Indy Lights (@IndyLights) August 25, 2018

Two laps later, Herta went to the inside of his teammate. Once again, the two were close but didn’t make contact. Herta took one more look underneath Norman after taking the white flag, but Norman’s car was better in Turn 1.

Mazda St. Louis Indy Lights Oval Challenge Presented by Cooper Tires race results

The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series championship fight heads to Portland International Raceway next weekend.

Colton Herta put together the only two-lap qualifying effort quicker than 140mph to grab a single bonus point and the upper hand in his attempt to stave off elimination from the chase for the $1 million Indy Lights Advancement scholarship.

The 75-lap race will be the third time that Herta will start on pole in 2018 and the tenth of his Indy Lights career, moving him into a tie with Townsend Bell for fourth on the career list.

Herta told TSO that he was relatively conservative on his qualifying run because he was concerned by what happened to Patricio O’Ward on his first of two qualifying laps.

O’Ward, who led the practice just before qualifying had a moment at the exit of Turn 2 on his first lap which resulted in a lap at 157.311 mph was the slowest of the fourteen qualifying laps. O’Ward almost made up for his mistake by turning the fastest of the fourteen qualifying laps at 159.988mph.

There goes my pole for today☠️… anyways, starting 3rd for the race. Going green at 4:40PM pic.twitter.com/ujkoe4q6gp

— Patricio O'Ward (@PatricioOWard) August 25, 2018

The two extreme laps equated to a two-lap average of 158.638mph. The points leader will start on the inside of the second row, directly behind Herta.

The qualifying session began immediately after the Pro Mazda session when the K-Line Insulators sponsored No. 28 of Dalton Kellett took to the 1.25-mile oval for the Canadian’s two-lap qualifying run. Kellet’s two-lap average of 158.277 mph means he will start on the inside of row three.

For the third straight Indy Lights oval race, Ryan Norman will start inside of the first two rows. His second place starting spot matches the best of his Indy Lights career for the Andretti Autosport sophomore.

Only a stout qualifying effort by Aaron Telitz prevented an Andretti Autosport lockout of the two front rows by slotting between O’Ward and Kellet.

The seven cars two-lap qualifying averages were separated by a scant 1mph.

The single point for winning the pole moves Herta to within 31 points of O’Ward.

Mazda St. Louis Indy Lights Oval Challenge Presented by Cooper Tires qualifying results

The 75-lap race rolls off at 4:45 pm.

By Steve Wittich

For the second time this year, and eighth time in his Indy Lights career Santi Urrutia ended up on the top step of the podium.

“We’ve been struggling, so I’m very happy to get this win, especially for the Belardi guys who have worked so hard,” said the two-time Indy Lights vice-champion. “It was super physical today. Pato was quicker than me early but once the grip came in, I was quicker. I’m happy, we needed this. It’s been frustrating lately and it’s been tough to be behind the Andretti cars but we never give up. The engineers and mechanics did a great job to give me the best car today. I made some mistakes early and nearly hit the wall in Turn Five late in the race to let Pato catch up but, other than that, there was no pressure.”

Belardi Auto Racing team owner Brian Belardi looks on as a throng of Uruguayan fans celebrates Santi Urrutia’s Race #2 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires win in Toronto (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

He was followed across the finish line by Patricio O’Ward and his Belardi Auto Racing teammate Aaron Telitz.

Urrutia’s win was the fourth time that a Belardi Auto Racing driver traveled to victory lane at Exhibition Place, tying them with Juncos Racing and Brian Stewart/Landford Racing.

Colton Herta was once again cleared to race after this morning’s T11 impact at the end of qualifying for Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race #2.

But, Herta sat on pit lane after the field pulled away, which was reportedly an intentional move to keep him out of the potential first lap carnage. He would depart pit lane after the field went by for a start.

When the green flag waved, pole sitter Santi Urritia got out to a clean start and led the field cleanly through Turn 1. They also stayed pretty clean through Turn 3 and everyone filed in, making the order at the end of the first lap Urrutia, O’Ward, Telitz, Norman, Kellett, Franzoni, and Herta.

Herta would bring the car back to pit lane after turning a single lap.

By Lap 3, Urrutia was slowly getting away from O’Ward, leading now by 0.7987 seconds.

After the race, the three podium finishers said that the track was like ice during the first five laps.

“That was the most physical weekend I think we’ll have this season,” explained O’Ward. “It tested your mental and physical ability. I have never felt this track so slippery. The first four or five laps, it was like ice. Santi was all over the place and I knew Aaron was struggling. You could see the rubber on the track but there was no grip. But as the tires came in, the grip got better.”

Victor Franzoni brought his machine to pit lane after two laps slotting him in the 6th position for now.

“I’m having the worst weekend of my life, I think,” said the emotional Brazilian to the ADVANCE Auto Parts Yesterday I had a crash and I couldn’t crash this year. I didn’t have the money to pay the crash damage yesterday, Today in the qualifying I tried to push, but I was just thinking about crashing again and if I crash again I am going to be broke for the rest of my life, I don’t have the money to pay for the crash so I stopped it in the qualy. Same thing in the race. I tried it again. I’m not feeling good in the car. My mind is not good for the weekend. My best option was for me to stop. I’ll keep racing. I’ll keep going for the week and for the year, but we need to find some money. This was a difficult situation. We knew what to expect for the year, but it was not happening and this time, unfortunately, I had the crash. It is what it is, life sometimes life is not good for us, I had my weekend.

“It’s difficult because I wanted to be racing. I knew even starting from last I could race. But at the same time, I can break my life and I would be owing Rick and the team for the rest of my life. And sometimes you need to be smart. If I was extremely fast and I was with a really good mind I would keep racing. But I wasn’t feeling well and I was thinking about the crash and I couldn’t focus on the right thing. And I stopped!”

He finished up that emotional interview with Dave Furst with comments on how this is how racing and life both work. One day business is good and another it’s not. And today “my business is down,”

He did say he would be at Mid-Ohio and racing again, but he is still looking for money for this year and to go to IndyCar next year, but this was just the best decision for today.

On the track, the front three stayed reasonably close together with Urrutia having a 2.1 second lead over O’Ward and Telitz was closely in third. Ryan Norman was further back, 13.9 seconds off the lead with Dalton Kellett 42 seconds further behind as the last car on the track in fifth place.

Colton Herta got back in the car and made a couple more laps to pass Franzoni and pick up 6th place. That will score him additional points, which may be huge as the season winds down.

Bryan Herta told Jake Query that he decided not to let Colton run hard in the race today and just to park the car. They will get him to the best doctors after this weekend and get that thumb working. He couldn’t hold the steering wheel on the track.

Colton Herta before the start of the second Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires race in Toronto with the brace for a fractured thumb visible on his left hand (Photo courtesy of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, LLC Photography)

The lead stayed steady on the track, with Urrutia 2.4 seconds up on Lap 27. O’Ward was a little busier with Telitz for most of the race, but on Lap 28 we started to see O’Ward start getting closer as the lead was down to just 1.4 seconds. Perhaps a mistake we didn’t see cost Urrutia that second, but he would open his lead back up to 1.6 seconds on Lap 29.

Lap 32 and the lead is back to 2.4 seconds again, and Telitz is slipping to 2.1 behind O’Ward for second place.

At the white flag, Urrutia was 2.65 ahead and would take the checkered flag a comfy 1.2708 seconds ahead of O’Ward, Telitz, Norman, Kellett, Herta, and Franzoni.

With this finish, Herta now trails O’Ward by 18 points as the series heads to Mid-Ohio in a little less than two weeks.

Race #2 Results:

The Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires series is back on track for testing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for testing next week in preparation for their race weekend on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit on July 27th – 29th.

Don’t miss any of the action:

• live timing – Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, USF2000, and IndyCar Race Control
• on twitter –Indy Lights, Pro Mazda, USF2000, Cooper Tire, Mazda Racing and TSO Ladder
• via the Road To Indy TV app – Android or Apple iOS
• on all social media channels via the #TeamCooperTire and #MRTI hashtags

By Steve Wittich

The combination of overcast skies and cooler temperatures meant that the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit was extremely quick on Saturday morning. The USF2000 track record fell by more then a full second in the first session of the morning, and Colton Herta’s pole lap of 63.685 seconds was 1.5 seconds quicker then the track record lap record the second generation set last year.

For the ninth time in his Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires career, the Andretti Steinbrenner Racing sophomore will begin a race from pole. It’s the 18-year-olds second straight pole on the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit and moves him into a tie for fifth with Thiago Mederios, Wade Cunningham, and Greg Moore on the career Indy Lights pole list.

Herta’s lap was over two-tenths of a second quicker than his teammate Patricio O’Ward. Only 0.0006 seconds behind the Mexican rookie was Santi Urrutia, who will start inside his Belardi Auto Racing teammate Aaron Telitz on the second row.

The qualifying session began promptly at 8:35 AM and Herta was the first driver to take to the 1.786-mile, 11-turn Exhibition Place street circuit.

At the one third point of the session, it was Patricio O’Ward on the provisional pole ahead of O’Ward, Urrutia, Telitz, Ryan Norman, Victor Franzoni and Dalton Kellett.

Franzoni, Herta and Kellett were the first cars to pit road for adjustment and fresh Cooper Tire rubber, and within the next two laps, the entire field visited pit roads.

All seven cars were on track in the final 10 minutes and Urrutia was the first driver to go to the top of the timesheet.

In the final four minutes, Herta moved ahead of Urrutia, but that only lasted until O’Ward went two-hundreths faster when he crossed the timing line.

Herta went quicker the next lap across the timing line (located between Turn 8 and Turn 9) and again the next lap.

None of the remaining drivers could best the Andretti Steinbrenner Racing driver who was still pushing on his final lap ended up in the tire barriers

Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Toronto Presented by Allied Building Products qualifying #1

The first Indy Lights race of the weekend rolls off at 1:50 PM.

You can watch the Indy Lights action on NBCSN at 6 PM on Monday.