The 2003 IRL Infiniti Pro Series was the second season of the series under the Indy Racing League ownership, and the 18th in Indy NXT combined history, as officially recognized by IndyCar. All teams used Dallara IL-02 chassis and Infiniti engines.
British rookie Mark Taylor won the series with a total of 7 wins in 12 races, driving for a newly formed program by IndyCar team Panther Racing, who then signed him to drive for the team's main programme in 2004. Taylor's last win at Fontana crowned him as the champion with one race to spare over Indy Lights returnee Jeff Simmons, who won two races at Gateway and Kentucky for another new team, Keith Duesenberg Racing.
The season was notable for the first running of the Freedom 100 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, this being the first time that a support race was included in the Indianapolis 500 program. Ed Carpenter, driving for reining champions A. J. Foyt Enterprises, won the race over Cory Witherill from pole position, his lone win of the year in route to a 3rd place finish in the standings. Thiago Medeiros won the final race at Texas and finished a mere six points behind Carpenter.
Aaron Fike was also a winner at Pikes Peak, but he missed the Phoenix race early in the season for a DUI offence and didn't score another podium during the year, losing fifth place in the points to Witherill. Fike still finished ahead of 2002 runner-up Arie Luyendyk Jr., who missed out again on race wins with a best finish of third, and would not win a race in the series until 2008. Among former IndyCar competitors Witherill and Brandon Erwin competed full-time in the series, while Billy Roe, Scott Harrington and Ronnie Johncox also took part in the Freedom 100, and Dave Steele in the Nashville race.
As well as Panther and Duesenberg, Kenn Hardley Racing also joined the field. Luyendyk Racing left the series after the 2002 season, while Roquin Motorsports and Bowes Seal Fast Racing only contested a handful of races and REV1 Racing withdrew after the Freedom 100. The series had at least 13 drivers at each round, with 19 competitors at the Freedom 100 and 17 at the season finale in Texas. However, only seven drivers competed in every race, with three more contesting all but one race.2003 IRL Infiniti Pro Series , Champ Car Stats, Retrieved 2018-10-30
Team and driver chart
Team Drivers RoundsBrian Stewart Racing3 Marty Roth 1–2, 10–12 Jonathan Urlin 3–733 1–2 Craig Dollansky 3 Dave Steele 6 Marty Roth 7 Paul Dana 8–11 Tony Turco 12Panther Racing 4 Mark Taylor All 41 Dane Carter 12 Sinden Racing Service 5 Arie Luyendyk Jr. AllSam Schmidt Motorsports 6 Lloyd Mack 1 Marco Cioci 3 Ross Fonferko 6–7 9 Tom Wood 1–9 Taylor Fletcher 10–12 99 Brandon Erwin 1–9 Marco Cioci 10 Brad Pollard 11–12 REV 1 Racing 8 Ronnie Johncox 1–3 Roquin Motorsports11 Rolando Quintanilla 12Bowes Seal Fast Racing 3 37 Billy Roe 3 Beardsley Motorsports 12 Matt Beardsley 1–7, 11–12 A. J. Foyt Enterprises 14 Ed Carpenter All Keith Duesenberg Racing 20 Jeff Simmons AllKenn Hardley Racing24 Paul Dana 1–7 Moses Smith 8 Billy Roe 9–12AFS Racing25 Scott Harrington 3 G. J. Mennen 5, 7–12 27 Gary Peterson 1–5, 7–12 Genoa Racing 36 Thiago Medeiros All Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports 91 Aaron Fike 1, 3–12 Tony Ave 2 92 Cory Witherill All
Schedule All seven rounds contested in the 2002 season were retained in the schedule, which now supported the IRL IndyCar Series from the beginning of the season and was expanded to 12 races, all held on ovals. For the first time, a racing series would hold a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a support event for the Indianapolis 500 with the first running of the Freedom 100, followed by the series' first visit to Pikes Peak. New rounds were also added at former Indy Lights venues like Homestead (last featured in 1999), Phoenix (absent since 1995) and Fontana, which hosted the last race of the original Indy Lights series in 2001. Rd.DateRace nameTrackLocation1March 2Western Union 100Homestead–Miami SpeedwayHomestead, Florida2March 22Phoenix 100Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, Arizona3May 18Freedom 100Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana4June 14Pikes Peak 100Pikes Peak International RacewayFountain, Colorado5July 6Aventis Racing for Kids 100Kansas SpeedwayKansas City, Kansas6July 18Cleanevent 100Nashville SuperspeedwayLebanon, Tennessee7July 27Michigan 100Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan8August 9St. Louis 100Gateway International RacewayMadison, Illinois9August 16Kentucky 100Kentucky SpeedwaySparta, Kentucky10September 6Chicago 100Chicagoland SpeedwayJoliet, Illinois11September 20California 100California SpeedwayFontana, California12October 11dreamerscandles.com 100Texas Motor SpeedwayFort Worth, Texas
Race results RoundRacePole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace WinnerDriverTeam1Homestead–Miami Speedway Thiago Medeiros Mark Taylor Mark Taylor Mark TaylorPanther Racing2Phoenix International Raceway Mark Taylor Mark Taylor Mark Taylor Mark TaylorPanther Racing3Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Ed CarpenterA. J. Foyt Enterprises4Pikes Peak International Raceway Jeff Simmons Cory Witherill Aaron Fike Aaron FikeHemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports5Kansas Speedway Ed Carpenter Aaron Fike Ed Carpenter Mark TaylorPanther Racing6Nashville Superspeedway Mark Taylor Brandon Erwin Mark Taylor Mark TaylorPanther Racing7Michigan International Speedway Arie Luyendyk Jr. Matt Beardsley Mark Taylor Mark TaylorPanther Racing8Gateway International Raceway Brandon Erwin Mark Taylor Mark Taylor Jeff SimmonsKeith Duesenberg Racing9Kentucky Speedway Jeff Simmons Ed Carpenter Jeff Simmons Jeff SimmonsKeith Duesenberg Racing10Chicagoland Speedway Ed Carpenter G. J. Mennen Ed Carpenter Mark TaylorPanther Racing11California Speedway Mark Taylor Ed Carpenter Mark Taylor Mark TaylorPanther Racing12Texas Motor Speedway Arie Luyendyk Jr. Marty Roth Arie Luyendyk Jr. Thiago MedeirosGenoa Racing
Championship standings
Drivers' Championship
Scoring system
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th Points50403532302826242220191817161514131211
The driver who leads the most laps in a race is awarded two additional points.
PosDriverHOMPHXINDYPIKKANNSHMISGATKENCHIFONTXSPoints1 Mark Taylor 1*1*3511*1*9*1311*144822 Jeff Simmons14542144211*3824073 Ed Carpenter15131*42*137452*243774221967531139313715 Cory Witherill1292125615226933366 Aaron Fike861*4144665653287 Arie Luyendyk Jr.410153129113441013*2998 Tom Wood61513103255102359 Paul Dana 1367131371078131423410 Gary Peterson11141681191278151021711 Brandon Erwin 3411116101210921312 Matt Beardsley781899816 71618413 G. J. Mennen8881174717514 Jonathan Urlin 575710121416615 Marty Roth911610131212416 Billy Roe1412115810717 Ronnie Johncox101286218 Ross Fonferko 3135219 Rolando Quintanilla1064820 Taylor Fletcher 1412174721 Marco Cioci 9124022 Tony Ave 33523 Brad Pollard 11153424 Dane Carter 92225 Dave Steele 111926 Tony Turco 111927 Scott Harrington 121828 Moses Smith 131729 Lloyd Mack 161430 Craig Dollansky 1713PosDriverHOMPHXINDYPIKKANNSHMISGATKENCHIFONTXSPointsColorResultGoldWinnerSilver2nd placeBronze3rd placeGreen4th & 5th placeLight Blue6th–10th placeDark BlueFinished (Outside Top 10)PurpleDid not finishRedDid not qualify (DNQ)BrownWithdrawn (Wth)BlackDisqualified (DSQ)WhiteDid not start (DNS)BlankDid not participate (DNP)Not competing In-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps (2 point)1Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded
Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.
References