The 2004 Menards IRL Infiniti Pro Series season was the third season of the series under the Indy Racing League ownership, and the 19th in Indy NXT combined history, as officially recognized by IndyCar. All teams used Dallara IL-02 chassis and Infiniti engines.
In his second year of Pro Series competition, Thiago Medeiros won the championship convincingly, giving Sam Schmidt Motorsports its first title. He won six wins, including the second running of the Freedom 100 from pole position, scored seven pole positions and led the most laps in all but two of the 12 races. Medeiros became champion by taking the green flag at the penultimate round in Chicagoland, and finished with a 134-point lead over Paul Dana, who scored his lone Infiniti Pro Series win at Milwaukee.
Despite joining the Infiniti Pro Series at the fourth round in Kansas, rookie P. J. Chesson rallied to a fourth place in the standings, including a three-win streak with newcomers Mo Nunn Racing, an effort instigated and managed by Nunn's wife Kathryn. Despite a penalty at the last round that demoted him behind Arie Luyendyk Jr. in the standings, Chesson won Rookie of the Year over Leonardo Maia by 25 points.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises and Panther Racing, the champions of the previous two editions, left the series, although Foyt entered a car for Jeff Simmons at the Freedom 100, finishing second behind Medeiros. Simmons and Marty Roth became the first drivers to contest the Indianapolis 500 and the Freedom 100 in the same year. Sinden Racing Service and Genoa Racing also left the series entirely, while the privateer effort by Matt Beardsley ceased to be after the Freedom 100. On the other hand, Roquin Motorsports re-expanded to a full time effort, Roth Racing, Racing Professionals and Bullet-Team Motorsports made their debut with partial seasons, apart from Mo Nunn joining the championship at the fourth round.
While the Freedom 100 attracted 17 competitors, the Infiniti Pro Series struggled with entries throughout much of 2004, especially during the summer stretch, with only nine cars and just three finishers at the Milwaukee round. Grid sizes improved over the last three races, with 15 drivers in each round. Only the top 3 drivers in the standings contested the full season, with two others missing one round. Former IndyCar drivers that competed during the season were Billy Roe, Jon Herb, Cory Witherill and Scott Mayer.
Team and driver chart TeamDriversRoundsKeith Duesenberg Racing2 Phil Giebler1–3, 11 Alfred Unser4–10, 1222 Ross Fonferko5 Phil Giebler7–9 P. J. Abbott12Brian Stewart Racing3 Jesse Mason1–10 Marty Roth11 Ryan Hampton1233 Tony Turco1 Leonardo Maia2–12Roth Racing4 Marty Roth1–3Sam Schmidt Motorsports5 Arie Luyendyk Jr.1–7 Travis Gregg8, 10, 12 Shinji Kashima1111 Thiago MedeirosAll64 Brad Pollard4–6 Scott Mayer10, 12 P. J. Abbott11Racing Professionals6 Jon Herb3, 11–12Roquin Motorsports9 Matt Beardsley910 Rolando Quintanilla1–5, 7–12Beardsley Motorsports12 Matt Beardsley1–3A. J. Foyt Enterprises14 Jeff Simmons3Bullet-Team Motorsports21 Taylor Fletcher3, 10–11Kenn Hardley Racing24 Brad Pollard1–3 Jeff Simmons9–12 Billy Roe4–8422–3AFS Racing25 Jay Drake3 Arie Luyendyk Jr.10–12278–9 Gary Peterson2–3, 7, 10–12Mo Nunn Racing67 James Chesson10–1276 P. J. Chesson4–12Hemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports91 Paul DanaAll92 Cory Witherill3, 10
Schedule The schedule for 2004 stayed at 12 rounds with minor date changes over 2003. Mirroring the IRL IndyCar Series, the series left Gateway International Raceway and visited the storied Milwaukee Mile, who had featured in the last season of the original Indy Lights championship in 2001. This would be the last all-oval season for the series, as the IRL-managed championship would introduce road course racing from 2005 onwards. Rd.DateRace nameTrackLocation1February 29Homestead-Miami 100Homestead–Miami SpeedwayHomestead, Florida2March 20Phoenix 100Phoenix International RacewayAvondale, Arizona3May 22Futaba Freedom 100Indianapolis Motor SpeedwaySpeedway, Indiana4July 3Aventis Racing for Kids 100Kansas SpeedwayKansas City, Kansas5July 17Cleanevent 100Nashville SuperspeedwayLebanon, Tennessee6July 25Milwaukee 100Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin7August 1Paramount Health Insurance 100Michigan International SpeedwayBrooklyn, Michigan8August 14Kentucky 100Kentucky SpeedwaySparta, Kentucky9August 22Pikes Peak 100Pikes Peak International RacewayFountain, Colorado10September 11Chicago 100Chicagoland SpeedwayJoliet, Illinois11October 2California 100California SpeedwayFontana, California12October 16Texas 100Texas Motor SpeedwayFort Worth, Texas
Race results RoundRacePole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace WinnerDriverTeam1Homestead–Miami Speedway Phil Giebler Thiago Medeiros Thiago Medeiros Phil GieblerKeith Duesenberg Racing2Phoenix International Raceway Thiago Medeiros Thiago Medeiros Thiago Medeiros Thiago MedeirosSam Schmidt Motorsports3Indianapolis Motor Speedway Thiago Medeiros Thiago Medeiros Thiago Medeiros Thiago MedeirosSam Schmidt Motorsports4Kansas Speedway Thiago Medeiros Alfred Unser Thiago Medeiros Thiago MedeirosSam Schmidt Motorsports5Nashville Superspeedway Thiago Medeiros Paul Dana Thiago Medeiros Thiago MedeirosSam Schmidt Motorsports6Milwaukee Mile Thiago Medeiros Thiago Medeiros Thiago Medeiros Paul DanaHemelgarn 91/Johnson Motorsports7Michigan International Speedway Alfred Unser Alfred Unser Thiago Medeiros P. J. ChessonMo Nunn Racing8Kentucky Speedway Travis Gregg Phil Giebler Travis Gregg P. J. ChessonMo Nunn Racing9Pikes Peak International Raceway Jeff Simmons Paul Dana Paul Dana P. J. ChessonMo Nunn Racing10Chicagoland Speedway Thiago Medeiros Travis Gregg Thiago Medeiros Thiago MedeirosSam Schmidt Motorsports11California Speedway Thiago Medeiros James Chesson Thiago Medeiros James ChessonMo Nunn Racing12Texas Motor Speedway Thiago Medeiros P. J. Chesson Thiago Medeiros Thiago MedeirosSam Schmidt Motorsports
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.
PosDriverHOMPHXINDYKANNSHMILMISKENPIKCHIFONTXSPoints1 Thiago Medeiros2*1*1*1*11*6*2*631*9*1*5132 Paul Dana8510221422*812113793 Arie Luyendyk Jr.923711984541443304 P. J. Chesson 8621115253175 Leonardo Maia 361010773774122926 Jesse Mason 341563468492837 Rolando Quintanilla6614491171110582648 Alfred Unser 3533116332529 Phil Giebler 175 5108321510 Billy Roe99948109 16411 Brad Pollard 51111585 15212 Jeff Simmons 2 9210615013 Gary Peterson12139 148151121461139515 Travis Gregg 5* 1328916 Matt Beardsley1088 10 8817 Marty Roth71016117918 Jon Herb 17676719 Taylor Fletcher 1211155220 P. J. Abbott 794821 Cory Witherill7154122 Scott Mayer 12103823 Tony Turco43224 Jay Drake 43225 Ross Fonferko 72626 Shinji Kashima 131727 Ryan Hampton1416PosDriverHOMPHXINDYKANNSHMILMISKENPIKCHIFONTXSPointsColorResultGoldWinnerSilver2nd 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 points)1Qualifying cancelled
Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.
Footnotes
References