| 2014 Indy Lights season | |
|---|---|
| Indy Lights | |
| Season | |
| Races | 14 |
| Start date | March 30 |
| End date | August 24 |
| Awards | |
| Drivers' champion |  Gabby Chaves |
| Teams' champion |  Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
| Rookie of the Year |  Jack Harvey |
The 2014 Indy Lights season was a season of open wheel motor racing. It was the 29th season of the Indy Lights series and the 13th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. It began March 30, 2014 in St. Petersburg.[1] The 2014 season was the first promoted by Andersen Promotions, who also promotes the other steps on the Mazda Road to Indy.
It was the final season for the Dallara IPS/Infiniti V8 chassis and engine package that debuted in 2002. A new chassis, to be built by Dallara, will be introduced for 2015[2] along with an AER turbocharged 4-cylinder engine. 2014 was also the first season with Cooper Tire as the sole tire supplier, replacing Firestone who had supplied tires to the series for its entire previous existence.[3]
Colombian-American Gabby Chaves, driving for Belardi Auto Racing captured the championship on the second tie-breaker over Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Jack Harvey.
Early on, the season appeared to be a two-horse race between Chaves and Andretti Autosport's Zach Veach. However, a late-season charge by Harvey put him within striking distance of the championship. Harvey did not capture his first win until the tenth race of the season. However, Chaves managed a second-place finish in the final race of the season behind Harvey in first. Chaves and Harvey tied on points and on the first tie-breaker number of wins with four each. Chaves captured the championship by having five second-place finishes to Harvey's one.[4] Despite a season of low car-counts where only eight drivers competed in all 14 races, six different drivers captured victories. In addition to Chaves, Harvey, and Veach, other winners included Matthew Brabham and Luiz Razia who each captured their first and only wins of the season on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Belardi's Alexandre Baron – a race-winner in Toronto – who was in the championship hunt until reported visa issues forced him to leave the series.[5]
Team and driver chart
- All drivers competed in Cooper Tire–shod Dallara chassis.
| Team | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andretti Autosport | 26 | Zach Veach[6] |
All |
| 83 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Matthew Brabham[7] |
All | |
| Belardi Auto Racing | 0 | Chase Austin |
7 |
| 4 |  Alexandre Baron[8] |
1–7, 9 | |
 Axcil Jefferies |
10–11 | ||
| Ryan Phinny[9] |
13–14 | ||
| 5 | Gabby Chaves[8] |
All | |
| Bryan Herta Autosport Jeffrey Mark Motorsport |
28 | Lloyd Read[10] |
1–6 |
| Ryan Phinny[11] |
9–11 | ||
| Fan Force United | 24 | Scott Anderson[12] |
All |
| MDL Racing | 56 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Matthew Di Leo |
9 |
| Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | 7 |  Luiz Razia[13] |
All |
| 10 |  Juan Pablo García[14] |
All | |
| 42 | Jack Harvey[15] |
All | |
| 77 | Juan Piedrahita[16] |
All | |
| Team Moore Racing | 2 | Zack Meyer[17] |
1–7, 9–11, 13–14 |
| 22 |  Vittorio Ghirelli[13] |
1–4 | |
| Jimmy Simpson |
10–11 |
Schedule
Andersen Promotions announced the 2014 Indy Lights schedule on October 24, 2013.[1] The season consisted of 14 races held over 10 race weekends, consisting of three street circuits, three ovals, and four permanent road courses. All race weekends on permanent road courses were double-race weekends. The series returned to Sonoma Raceway for the first time since 2010. It also raced on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the first time since 2007 in support of the new Grand Prix of Indianapolis, although the track was in a different configuration than the one raced in 2007. The series did not return to Iowa Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, or Houston despite IndyCar returning to those tracks in 2014 and did not race at the Baltimore Grand Prix as that race was cancelled for 2014.
| Rnd | Date | Race Name | Track | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 30 | St. Petersburg 100 |
Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 2 | April 13 | Long Beach 100 |
Streets of Long Beach | Long Beach, California |
| 3 | April 26 | Legacy Indy Lights 100 |
Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 4 | April 27 | |||
| 5 | May 9 | Liberty Challenge |
Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course | Speedway, Indiana |
| 6 | May 10 | |||
| 7 | May 23 | Freedom 100 |
Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval | Speedway, Indiana |
| 8 | July 6 | Pocono Indy Lights 100 |
Pocono Raceway | Long Pond, Pennsylvania |
| 9 | July 20 | Grand Prix of Toronto |
Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario |
| 10 | August 2 | Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio |
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
| 11 | August 3 | |||
| 12 | August 17 | Milwaukee Race |
Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin |
| 13 | August 23 | Grand Prix of Sonoma |
Sonoma Raceway | Sonoma, California |
| 14 | August 24 |
Race results
Championship standings
Drivers' championship
- Points system
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 50 | 40 | 35 | 32 | 30 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 18 | 16 |
- Drivers had to complete 50% of the race distance in order to score full points, otherwise 1 point was awarded.
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- Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.
Teams' championship
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports |
403 |
| 2 | Andretti Autosport |
370 |
| 3 | Belardi Auto Racing |
357 |
| 4 | Fan Force United |
122 |
| 5 | Team Moore Racing |
111 |
| 6 | Bryan Herta Autosport/Jeffrey Mark Motorsport |
56 |
| 7 | MDL Racing |
11 |
References
- 1 2 Mazda Road to Indy 2014 Schedule Confirmed Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, Andsersen Promotions PR, October 24, 2013, Retrieved 2013-11-05
- ↑ Dallara confirms new Indy Lights deal, Racer, October 31, 2013, Retrieved 2013-11-05
- ↑ DiZinno, Tony. Cooper to replace Firestone as new Indy Lights tire from 2014, NBC Sports, August 23, 2013, Retrieved 2013-11-05
- ↑ DiZinno, Tony. Gabby Chaves wins 2014 Indy Lights title on second tiebreaker, NBC Sports, August 24, 2014, retrieved 2014-08-25
- ↑ Belardi's Chaves Scores Two Podiums at Mid-Ohio, Indy Lights, August 6, 2014, Retrieved 2014-08-25
- ↑ Zach Veach set to return to Andretti Autosport, motorsport.com, October 20, 2013, Retrieved 2013-11-05
- ↑ Pro Mazda champion joins United Fiber & Data for 2014 Indy Lights entry, motorsport.com, October 20, 2013, Retrieved 2013-11-05
- 1 2 DiZinno, Tony (March 12, 2014). "Gabby Chaves confirmed for full Indy Lights season with Belardi". MotorSportsTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved March 12, 2014.
Belardi Auto Racing has confirmed Gabby Chaves as the team's second driver [...] alongside rookie Alexandre Baron.
- ↑ DiZinno, Tony (August 20, 2014). "Indy Lights: Ryan Phinny, Casamigos switch to Belardi for Sonoma". MotorSportsTalk. NBC Sports. Retrieved August 22, 2014.
- ↑ Read to Race for Bryan Herta Autosport Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine, eFormulaCarNews, November 18, 2013, Retrieved 2013-11-18
- ↑ "Phinny joins Herta squad for Indy Lights, testing program". Racer. Haymarket Publications. July 11, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-07-29. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
- ↑ Fan Force United Returns to Indy Lights with Scott Anderson, Fan Force United, December 16, 2013, Retrieved 2013-12-16
- 1 2 "St. Petersburg 100 Entry List" (PDF). Indy Lights. IndyCar. March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- ↑ Garcia Joins SPM Indy Lights Program Archived 2014-02-26 at the Wayback Machine, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, February 21, 2014, Retrieved 2014-02-21
- ↑ Marshall, Dave. Racing driver Jack Harvey reveals Indy Lights deal and prepares to move to USA, ThisisLincolnshire, December 13, 2013, Retrieved 2013-12-13
- ↑ Colombiano Juan Diego Piedrahita firmó con el equipo campeón de la Indy Lights, El Spectador, February 14, 2014, Retrieved 2014-02-14 (in Spanish)
- ↑ Team Moore Racing Signs Meyer, eFormulaCarNews, November 5, 2013, Retrieved 2013-11-05