The Infiniti / Indy Pro Series made its debut in mid-2002 with an inaugural season of seven races run in conjunction with the Indy Car Racing Series. In 2008 the championship was renamed the Firestone Indy Lights Series when Firestone tires became the primary sponsor.

The sixteen-race schedule kicked off at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March and concluded in September at Chicago Speedway.

  • Miami 100 - Homestead-Miami Speedway
  • Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - 1 - Streets of St. Petersburg
  • Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - 2 - Streets of St. Petersburg
  • Hard Rock 100 - Kansas Speedway
  • Freedom 100 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway
  • Milwaukee 100 - Milwaukee Mile
  • Jeld-Wen 100 - Iowa Speedway
  • Corning Duels Race 1 - Watkins Glen International
  • Corning Duels Race 2 - Watkins Glen International
  • Sun Belt Rentals 100 - Nashville Superspeedway
  • Mid-Ohio Race 1 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
  • Mid-Ohio Race 2 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
  • Kentucky 100 - Kentucky Speedway
  • Carneros 100 - Infineon Raceway
  • Valley of the Moon 100 - Infineon Raceway
  • Chicagoland 100 - Chicagoland Speedway

Drivers compete in the Dallara IPS, designed and manufactured for the Infiniti Pro Series. The open-wheel, single-seat racer is equipped with a ground-effect underbody and outboard wings front and rear. The monocoque chassis is constructed using carbon fiber and composites. The Dallara has a minimum weight of 1,430 pounds, which includes all lubricants and coolants used during the event, but does not include fuel or the driver.

Firestone Firehawk racing tires are mounted on 15-inch diameter x 10 front and 15-inch diameter x 14 rear wheels.

The car is powered by an Infiniti Q45 engine which produces approximately 450 horsepower and is fitted to a Ricardo six forward gear transmission with a sequential shifter.

Infiniti Pro Series costs are tightly controlled by the Indy Racing League, with the Dallara IPS costing $137,900 (including the data acquisition system).

Rounds eleven and twelve of the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Series were held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Drivers would compete in two forty-lap races around the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course. However, Sunday’s contest was delayed due to heavy rain. Officials shorted the race by implementing a forty-minute time limit.

Raphael Matos was victorious in race one at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car course. Driving the No. 27 Automatic Fire Sprinklers sponsored Dallara IPS, he went flag to flag from the pole for his third win of the season. Sunday did not go as well. Matos was gridded fourth, but like many other competitors, he spun in the challenging conditions and damaged the car. Matos was able to continue and finished eighteenth.
In qualifying for the weekend’s first race at Mid-Ohio, James Davison was tenth fastest driving the No. 11 Lifelock Dallara IPS and finished in the seventh position. The rain on Sunday worked to Davison’s advantage. He was in second place when there was a full course caution. The leader, Jonny Reid, followed the pace car into pit lane, giving Davison first and when the race ended under yellow, he inherited the victory.
Franck Perera didn’t make his first series start until round seven at Iowa Speedway. Before the Mid-Ohio weekend, his best result was a seventh-place at Nashville Superspeedway. Perera put the No. 55 CJ Consulting Dallara IPS second on the grid for Saturday’s race. He chased the winner, Raphael Matos, to a runner-up result. The next day, he started third but crashed on lap-9 and was credited with a twentieth-place finish.
The No. 24 Natural Spring Dallara IPS was piloted by Wade Cunningham. 2008 was Cunningham’s fourth season in the Firestone Indy Lights Series and he had collected four victories during this period. He was seventh fastest during the qualifying session for race one at Mid-Ohio but finished twelfth. On Sunday, Cunningham started seventh. As his fellow competitors spun on the wet track, he moved up the racer order and finished second.
Entering round eleven at Mid-Ohio, Richard Antinucci led the title chase by fifteen points over Raphael Matos. A third-place finish in Saturday’s race to Matos’ victory dropped Antinucci to second in the championship by three markers. In the finale, he started second but finished fourteenth. However, Matos damaged his car and was classified with an eighteenth place result. Antinucci now led the series by one point.
Chile’s Pablo Donoso started the season with Team SWE but left them after round four to join Team Moore in the No. 22 Xtreme Coil Drilling Dallara IPS. His results improved; Donoso qualified on the pole at Milwaukee and collected fifth place results at Iowa and Watkins Glen. In race one at Mid-Ohio, Donoso finished tenth. On Sunday, he benefitted from the wet conditions to collect his first podium result – a third place.

FINISHSTARTDRIVERCARLAPSRETIREMENTS
11Raphael MatosDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
22Franck PereraDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
34Richard AntinucciDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
43Jonny ReidDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
59J.R. HildebrandDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
612Jeff SimmonsDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
710James DavisonDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
85Arie Luyendyk, Jr.Dallara IPS / Infiniti40-
913Andrew PrendevilleDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
1016Pablo DonosoDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
116Bobby WilsonDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
127Wade CunninghamDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
1317Sean GuthrieDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
1419Ana BeatrizDallara IPS / Infiniti40-
1520Mitch CunninghamDallara IPS / Infiniti39-
1621Brent ShermanDallara IPS / Infiniti39-
1718Cyndie AllemannDallara IPS / Infiniti38-
1815Dillon BattistiniDallara IPS / Infiniti38-
1922Mark OlsonDallara IPS / Infiniti37-
2014Logan GomezDallara IPS / Infiniti26Mechanical
218Daniel HerringtonDallara IPS / Infiniti15-
2211Robbie PecorariDallara IPS / Infiniti4Mechanical

FINISHSTARTDRIVERCARLAPSRETIREMENTS
17James DavisonDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
212Wade CunninghamDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
310Pablo DonosoDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
417Cyndie AllemannDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
514Ana BeatrizDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
65J.R. HildebrandDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
713Sean GuthrieDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
89Andrew PrendevilleDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
91Jonny ReidDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
1016Brent ShermanDallara IPS / Infiniti20-
118Arie Luyendyk, Jr.Dallara IPS / Infiniti19-
1215Mitch CunninghamDallara IPS / Infiniti18Accident
1322Robbie PecorariDallara IPS / Infiniti18Accident
142Richard AntinucciDallara IPS / Infiniti18Accident
1521Daniel HerringtonDallara IPS / Infiniti18-
1620Logan GomezDallara IPS / Infiniti17Accident
1719Mark OlsonDallara IPS / Infiniti13Accident
184Raphael MatosDallara IPS / Infiniti12-
1918Dillon BattistiniDallara IPS / Infiniti10Accident
203Franck PereraDallara IPS / Infiniti9Accident
2112Jeff SimmonsDallara IPS / Infiniti4Accident
226Bobby WilsonDallara IPS / Infiniti4Accident

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