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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 series is the third and final step on the Mazda Road to Indy.
The Mazda Road to Indy is the only driver development program in the world to feature a champion’s scholarship at every level to advance to the next step on the ladder. The Indy Lights champion is awarded a scholarship package of nearly $1 million to assist in the ascent to the IndyCar Series. In addition, to the healthy prize fund, competitors also benefit from television coverage on the NBC Sports Network. In 2014, there were some changes to the series:
The fourteen-race schedule kicked off at Saint Petersburg and concluded in August at Sonoma Raceway.
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. COOPER/INDY LIGHTS racing tires are mounted on 15-inch diameter x 10 front and 15-inch diameter x 14 rear wheels. The car is powered by a 3.5-liter Infiniti Q45 engine, producing approximately 420 horsepower at 8,200 rpm and can reach speeds of 190 horsepower on superspeedways. The power is transferred to a Ricardo six-forward gear transmission with a sequential shifter. Rounds ten and eleven of the Indy Lights championship were held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Drivers would compete in two contests around the thirteen-turn 2.258-mile road course. The first race was forty-minutes in length and the second would be forty laps. Mid-Ohio was one of four venues that would host doubleheaders.
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The contenders for this year's championship appeared to be Gabby Chaves and Zach Veach. However, by the end of the Mid-Ohio weekend, there was a third challenger. Jack Harvey entered round ten in third place, forty-eight points behind Chaves. However, Harvey would dominate the proceedings and collect two wins. The result moved him to second in the standings, just eighteen markers out of the lead. |
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The Indy Lights points leader, Gabby Chaves, entered round ten with a twenty-one-point gap over Zach Veach and ended the weekend eighteen markers ahead of Jack Harvey. Chaves qualified fourth fastest for race one at Mid-Ohio but could not match the pace of Harvey and finished second. The following day, he started fourth and inherited a third-place result when Matthew Brabham and Luiz Razia had contact. |
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Brazilian Luiz Razia had some solid runs earlier in the year and was victorious in the second race at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. However, accidents at Pocono Raceway and Toronto's Exhibition Place removed him from contention for this season's crown. Razia bounced back with a third-place finish in Saturday's race at Mid-Ohio. His bad luck returned in race two when contact on lap-1 caused him to finish eleventh. |
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Second-year Indy Lights competitor Zach Veach had a solid start to the season with victories at Saint Petersburg and Barber Motorsports Park. Veach led the championship until round eight when Gabby Chaves 'got the upper hand.' Veach qualified third for the weekend's first race at Mid-Ohio and battled with Matthew Brabham before finishing fourth. He ended the weekend with a second-place result after starting fifth. |
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Rookie Matthew Brabham won the weekend's first race at the Indianapolis Grand Prix in the No. 83 Andretti Autosport Dallara IPS. Last season's Pro Mazda Champion started fifth race one at Mid-Ohio and was in fourth place when he had transmission issues; he dropped back to finish fifth. He was gridded third for the finale; however, he spun off on the opening lap with a flat tire and could not continue. |
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| FINISH | START | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Jack Harvey | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 2 | 4 | Gabby Chaves | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 3 | 2 | Luiz Razia | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 4 | 3 | Zach Veach | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 5 | 5 | Matthew Brabham | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 6 | 6 | Axcil Jefferies | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 7 | 7 | Zack Meyer | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 8 | 10 | Scott Anderson | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 9 | 8 | Juan Piedrahita | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 10 | 12 | Juan Pablo Garcia | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 30 | - |
| 11 | 9 | Jimmy Simpson | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 29 | - |
| 12 | 11 | Ryan Phinny | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 29 | - |
| FINISH | START | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | RETIREMENTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Jack Harvey | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 2 | 5 | Zach Veach | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 3 | 4 | Gabby Chaves | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 4 | 6 | Axcil Jefferies | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 5 | 7 | Juan Piedrahita | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 6 | 12 | Juan Pablo Garcia | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 7 | 10 | Ryan Phinny | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 8 | 8 | Jimmy Simpson | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 9 | 11 | Scott Anderson | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 40 | - |
| 10 | 9 | Zack Meyer | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 39 | - |
| 11 | 2 | Luiz Razia | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 39 | - |
| 12 | 3 | Matthew Brabham | Dallara IPS / Infiniti | 0 | Accident |
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