The 2011 Indy Lights season was a season of open wheel motor racing. It was the 26th season of the series and the tenth sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IZOD IndyCar Series. It began March 27, 2011 in St. Petersburg and ended on October 16 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and featured thirteen events: six on ovals, one on a permanent road course, and six on temporary street courses. The series was won by American driver Josef Newgarden, driving for Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Newgarden won the title by 94 points over teammate and fellow rookie Esteban Guerrieri of Argentina.
The season featured the series' first non-IndyCar Series support race since the 2007 Liberty Challenge (at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) when it was the main event at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. It was Indy Lights' first event at Trois-Rivières since 1998. The series also race at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the first time since 1995 and the new Baltimore street circuit in support of the IndyCars.
Team and driver chart All drivers will compete in Firestone Firehawk–shod, Dallara chassis.
Team # Drivers Rounds Sam Schmidt Motorsports 3 Victor CarboneAll 7 Esteban GuerrieriAll 11 Josef NewgardenAll 77 Conor Daly1-3, 9, 11 Bryan ClausonNewgarden Returns to North American Racing with Sam Schmidt Motorsports , eFormulaCarNews, March 9, 2011, Retrieved 2011-03-094-6, 10, 12–13 Daniel Herrington7-8 Team Moore Racing 2 Gustavo YacamánAll 22 Víctor GarcíaJuanarena, Pablo. Víctor García hace las Américas, Marca, February 17, 2011, Retrieved 2011-02-171-7 Daniel Morad8Howden, Rob. The Insider , eFormulaCarNews, July 20, 2011, Retrieved 2011-07-20 Mikaël Grenier9 Brandon Wagner10, 12–13 Tõnis Kasemets11 Andretti Autosport 5 Stefan WilsonAll 26 James Winslow1-4,Winslow back with Andretti Autosport , IndyCar, April 5, 2011, Retrieved 2011-04-05 Peter Dempsey7-9, 11 Indy Lights – Dempsey Joins Andretti Autosports Line-Up At Toronto, The Auto Channel, July 5, 2011, Retrieved 2011-07-05 Bryan Herta Autosport 28 Duarte FerreiraBryan Herta Autosport Signs Ferreira , eFormulaCarNews, March 21, 2011, Retrieved 2011-03-21All 29 Bruno Andrade7-9, 11 Davey Hamilton Racing 32 Brandon Wagner4-6 Stefan RzadzinskiIreland, Joanne. Edmonton Indy will have some local Razzle Dazzle , Edmonton Journal, July 14, 2011, Retrieved 2011-07-158 O2 Racing Technology 36 Peter Dempsey1-5 63 Mikaël Grenier1-4 Team E 17 Joel MillerTeam E Racing Announces Miller for Season-Opener , eFormulaCarNews, March 21, 2011, Retrieved 2011-03-211 Rusty MitchellMitchell Joins Team E on Streets of Long Beach , eFormulaCarNews, April 12, 2011, Retrieved 2011-04-12 3–4, 11-13Team E Returns to Series Action with Mitchell , eFormulaCarNews, July 27, 2011, retrieved 2011-07-27 Belardi Auto Racing 4 Jorge GoncalvezGoncalvez completes Belardi lineup , IndyCar, February 24, 2011, Retrieved 2011-02-24All 9 Anders KrohnAll 19 Jacob Wilson12-13Belardi adds Wilson, third entry for final two Indy Lights races , Racer, September 23, 2011, Retrieved 2011-09-24 Jensen MotorSport 12 Juan Pablo Garcia1-4 Eric Jensen7 Oliver Webb8, 11, 13Webb returns to Jensen for BGP, Vegas, IndyCar, August 29, 2011, Retrieved 2011-08-29 16 David OstellaAll Brooks Associates Racing 8 Ryan Phinny3 Willy T. Ribbs Racing 32 Willy T. Ribbs11 75 Chase Austin4, 6 Goree Multisports 44 Tyler Dueck8
Schedule Rnd Date Race Name Track Location 1 March 27 Firestone Indy Lights Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, FL 2 April 10 Firestone Indy Lights Grand Prix of Alabama Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, AL 3 April 17 Long Beach 100 Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, CA 4 May 27 Firestone Freedom 100 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Speedway, IN 5 June 19 David Hobbs 100 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, WI 6 June 25 Sukup 100 Iowa Speedway Newton, IA 7 July 10 Toronto 100 Streets of Toronto Toronto, ON 8A July 23 Edmonton Twin 100s Race 1 Edmonton City Centre Airport Edmonton, Alberta 8B July 24 Edmonton Twin 100s Race 2 9 August 7 Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières Circuit Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières, QC 10 August 14 New Hampshire 100 New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, NH 11 September 4 Baltimore 100 Streets of Baltimore Baltimore, MD 12 October 2 Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 100 Kentucky Speedway Sparta, KY 13 October 16 Las Vegas 100 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada
Race results Rd. Race Pole position Fastest lap Most laps led Winning driver Winning team 1 St. Petersburg Esteban Guerrieri Conor Daly Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden Sam Schmidt Motorsports 2 Barber Víctor García Víctor García Víctor García Víctor García Team Moore Racing 3 Long Beach Esteban Guerrieri Conor Daly Josef Newgarden Conor Daly Sam Schmidt Motorsports 4 Indianapolis Bryan Clauson Brandon Wagner Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden Sam Schmidt Motorsports 5 Milwaukee Esteban Guerrieri Josef Newgarden Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri Sam Schmidt Motorsports 6 Iowa Esteban Guerrieri Bryan Clauson Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden Sam Schmidt Motorsports 7 Toronto Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri Stefan Wilson Stefan Wilson Andretti Autosport 8A Edmonton Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri Sam Schmidt Motorsports 8B Josef Newgarden Esteban Guerrieri Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden Sam Schmidt Motorsports 9 Trois-Rivières Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri Sam Schmidt Motorsports 10 Loudon Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden Josef Newgarden Sam Schmidt Motorsports 11 Baltimore Conor Daly Josef Newgarden Conor Daly Gustavo Yacamán Team Moore Racing 12 Kentucky Stefan Wilson Duarte Ferreira Stefan Wilson Stefan Wilson Andretti Autosport 13 Las Vegas Victor Carbone Stefan Wilson Josef Newgarden Victor Carbone Sam Schmidt Motorsports
Race summaries
Round 1: Streets of St. Petersburg Sunday March 27, 2011 – 10:30 a.m. EDT Streets of St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg, Florida; Temporary street circuit, Distance: 45 laps / Race weather: , partly cloudy Pole position winner: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 1:07.6903 sec, Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 34 Race Report:
Podium Finishers Driver Team Laps Time 1 3 11 Josef Newgarden Sam Schmidt Motorsports 45 56:11.0037 34 2 2 77 Conor Daly Sam Schmidt Motorsports 45 +0.8552 0 3 5 36 Peter Dempsey O2 Racing Technology 45 +3.1351 11Race average speed: Lead changes: 1 between 2 driversCautions: 1 for 5 laps
Round 2: Barber Motorsports Park Sunday April 10, 2011 – 12:15 p.m. CDT (1:15 p.m. EDT) Barber Motorsports Park – Birmingham, Alabama; Permanent road course, Distance: 40 laps / Race weather: , partly cloudy Pole position winner: #22 Víctor García, 1:17.2793 sec, Most laps led: #22 Víctor García, 40 Race Report: Víctor García took the first victory of his open-wheel racing career after taking a flag-to-flag to victory despite pressure from Stefan Wilson for the majority of the race, seeing his lead twice dwindled by caution periods. Peter Dempsey took his second placing of third in as many races as he moved into second place in the championship standings. Championship leader Josef Newgarden held on to his championship lead despite having to make a pit-stop to replace a flat front tire, but recovered to finish in sixth position in the race. The race was punctuated by three caution periods, the first of which being on the first lap after Newgarden made contact with Esteban Guerrieri which sent Guerrieri into contact with teammate Victor Carbone, eliminating Guerrieri on the spot and Carbone in the pits. The other two periods were caused by drivers running off track; Gustavo Yacamán ran off-track on lap four, but managed to restart several laps down, but the other period caused by David Ostella, did not see Ostella restart.
Podium Finishers Driver Team Laps Time 1 1 22 Víctor García Team Moore Racing 401:00:06.5806 40 2 3 5 Stefan Wilson Andretti Autosport 40 +0.3125 0 3 8 36 Peter Dempsey O2 Racing Technology 40 +16.3249 0Race average speed: Lead changes: NoneCautions: 3 for 7 laps
Round 3: Long Beach 100 Sunday April 17, 2011 – 11:05 a.m. PDT (2:05 p.m. EDT) Streets of Long Beach – Long Beach, California; Temporary street circuit, Distance: 45 laps / ; reduced to 43 laps / due to 1-hour time limit Race weather: , cloudy Pole position winner: #7 Esteban Guerrieri, 1:13.6957 sec, Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 31 Race Report: Conor Daly became the series' third different winner in the 2011 season, after taking advantage of a late-race mistake by team-mate and championship leader Josef Newgarden. After a waved off start to the race, Esteban Guerrieri in another Sam Schmidt car led the field from pole, but did not lead the race beyond that after being passed by Peter Dempsey at Turn 9. Dempsey held the lead until lap ten when he hit the wall at the same corner, knocking himself out of the race. Newgarden then picked up the lead from Guerrieri and Daly; Daly overhauling Guerrieri at the restart, and started to hunt down Newgarden. With a few minutes remaining, Newgarden's car hopped under the bumps, snatched a brake and ended up in the turn eight tire wall. Daly led the field under the caution to the timed ending of the race which curtailed the race two laps early. Guerrieri finished second ahead of Stefan Wilson, who finished third despite a trip down an escape road.
Podium Finishers Driver Team Laps Time 1 4 77 Conor Daly Sam Schmidt Motorsports 431:00:35.2947 3 2 1 7 Esteban Guerrieri Sam Schmidt Motorsports 43 +0.9302* 1 3 6 5 Stefan Wilson Andretti Autosport 43 +1.3880 0 * Under cautionRace average speed: Lead changes: 3 between 4 driversCautions: 4 for 8 laps
Round 4: Firestone Freedom 100 Friday May 27, 2011 – 12:30 p.m. EDT Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, Indiana; Permanent racing facility, Distance: 40 laps / Race weather: , overcast Pole position winner: #77 Bryan Clauson (qualifying cancelled; field set by owner points) Most laps led: #11 Josef Newgarden, 30 Race Report: Josef Newgarden took his second series victory, and with erstwhile championship leader Conor Daly not contesting the oval events of the championship, Newgarden assumed the championship lead. Newgarden's Sam Schmidt Motorsports teammate, Bryan Clauson dropped back from his début pole, with Newgarden and Víctor García each leading part of the first lap before Newgarden assumed it at the line. Stefan Wilson, Anders Krohn and Esteban Guerrieri also led the race at stages prior to Newgarden taking the lead for good on lap 15. Krohn had undone his work to advance to the front by spinning under caution – after Victor Carbone's crash – which put him to the rear of the field, but pitted for new tires, and eventually made his way back up the field. The second caution period was caused by Gustavo Yacamán spinning into the wall and was eventually collected by Juan Pablo Garcia and James Winslow. Yacamán was transferred to Methodist Hospital with neck pain.