2017 Indy Lights season
Indy Lights
Season
Races16
Start dateMarch 12
End dateSeptember 3
Awards
Drivers' championUnited States Kyle Kaiser
Teams' championBelardi Auto Racing
Rookie of the YearUnited States Colton Herta
Matheus Leist, winner of the 2017 Freedom 100

The 2017 Indy Lights season was the 32nd season of the Indy Lights open wheel motor racing series and the 16th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. A 16-race schedule was announced on September 14, 2016.[1] The schedule included a stop at Gateway Motorsports Park for the first time since 2003. This replaced the race at Phoenix International Raceway after it returned to the schedule for only a single season. The Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round to end the season was omitted, as it was for the other Road to Indy series.

American Kyle Kaiser driving for Juncos Racing led a steady campaign where he finished every lap of the season in a season where no particular team or driver was dominant and in doing so essentially clinched the championship with one round remaining (he only had to start the final round). Kaiser won three races with an additional three podium finishes. Santiago Urrutia struggled during the first half of the season but logged six podium finishes in the last seven races, including two wins, to vault his way to second in the championship. Colton Herta won six poles, but was only able to convert that to two wins and he finished third in the championship. Brazilian rookie Matheus Leist had a brilliant stretch of races in the middle of the season, capturing three wins, but was otherwise unremarkable and wound up fourth. Zachary Claman DeMelo won a single race and finished fifth in points while 2016 Pro Mazda Championship winner Aaron Telitz bookended the season with his only two wins and finished sixth. Nico Jamin won three races but also suffered four DNFs and fell to seventh in points. Juan Piedrahita captured his first Indy Lights pole at Gateway Motorsports Park, his 57th Indy Lights start.

Team and driver chart

Team No. Drivers Rounds
Andretti Autosport 27 France Nico Jamin[2] All
28 Canada Dalton Kellett[3] All
48 United States Ryan Norman[4] All
Andretti Steinbrenner Racing 98 United States Colton Herta[5] All
Belardi Auto Racing[6] 5 Uruguay Santiago Urrutia[7] All
9 United States Aaron Telitz[8] All
51 United States Shelby Blackstock[9] All
84 United States Chad Boat 15
Carlin[6] 11 United States Garth Rickards[10] All
13 Canada Zachary Claman DeMelo[11] All
22 United States Neil Alberico[12] All
26 Brazil Matheus Leist[13] All
Juncos Racing[6] 18 United States Kyle Kaiser[14] All
31 Argentina Nicolás Dapero[15] All
Team Pelfrey[6] 2 Colombia Juan Piedrahíta[16] All
3 Mexico Patricio O'Ward[17] 1–4

Schedule

Rd. Date Race name Track Location
1 March 11 United States St. Petersburg 100 Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida
2 March 12
3 April 22 United States Legacy Indy Lights 100 Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama
4 April 23
5 May 12 United States Grand Prix of Indianapolis Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Speedway, Indiana
6 May 13
7 May 26 United States Freedom 100 Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval Speedway, Indiana
8 June 24 United States Grand Prix of Road America Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
9 June 25
10 July 9 United States Mazda Iowa 100 Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa
11 July 15 Canada Grand Prix of Toronto Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario, Canada
12 July 16
13 July 29 United States Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
14 July 30
15 August 26 United States Illinois 100 Gateway Motorsports Park Madison, Illinois
16 September 3 United States Grand Prix of Watkins Glen Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York

Race results

Round Race Pole position Fastest lap Most laps led Race Winner
Driver Team
1 St. Petersburg 1 United States Aaron Telitz United States Colton Herta United States Aaron Telitz United States Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing
2 St. Petersburg 2 United States Colton Herta United States Colton Herta United States Colton Herta United States Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
3 Birmingham 1 United States Kyle Kaiser France Nico Jamin France Nico Jamin France Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport
4 Birmingham 2 United States Colton Herta1 Uruguay Santiago Urrutia United States Colton Herta United States Colton Herta Andretti Steinbrenner Racing
5 Indianapolis GP 1 France Nico Jamin Brazil Matheus Leist France Nico Jamin France Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport
6 Indianapolis GP 2 United States Kyle Kaiser Canada Zachary Claman DeMelo United States Kyle Kaiser United States Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing
7 Indianapolis Brazil Matheus Leist Uruguay Santiago Urrutia Brazil Matheus Leist Brazil Matheus Leist Carlin
8 Road America 1 Brazil Matheus Leist United States Kyle Kaiser Brazil Matheus Leist Brazil Matheus Leist Carlin
9 Road America 2 United States Colton Herta Canada Zachary Claman DeMelo Canada Zachary Claman DeMelo Canada Zachary Claman DeMelo Carlin
10 Iowa United States Colton Herta Canada Dalton Kellett Brazil Matheus Leist Brazil Matheus Leist Carlin
11 Toronto 1 United States Kyle Kaiser United States Colton Herta United States Kyle Kaiser United States Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing
12 Toronto 2 United States Colton Herta United States Kyle Kaiser United States Colton Herta United States Kyle Kaiser Juncos Racing
13 Mid-Ohio 1 Uruguay Santiago Urrutia United States Shelby Blackstock Uruguay Santiago Urrutia Uruguay Santiago Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing
14 Mid-Ohio 2 United States Colton Herta Uruguay Santiago Urrutia France Nico Jamin France Nico Jamin Andretti Autosport
15 Gateway Colombia Juan Piedrahíta Canada Zachary Claman DeMelo Colombia Juan Piedrahíta Uruguay Santiago Urrutia Belardi Auto Racing
16 Watkins Glen United States Colton Herta United States Aaron Telitz United States Aaron Telitz United States Aaron Telitz Belardi Auto Racing
1Qualifying canceled due to weather and grid was set on points

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   20th 
Points 30 25 22 19 17 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
  • The driver who qualified on pole was awarded one additional point.
  • An additional point was awarded to the driver who led the most laps in a race.
  • The driver who obtained the fastest lap in a race was awarded one additional point.
Pos Driver STP ALA IND INDY RDA IOW TOR MOH GAT WGL Pts
1 United States Kyle Kaiser 6 4 2 2 3 1* 9 3 2 5 1* 1 12 12 4 7 330
2 Uruguay Santiago Urrutia 13 2 15 13 7 2 5 2 11 2 3 11 1* 2 1 2 310
3 United States Colton Herta  RY  2 1* 10 1* 12 10 13 12 3 4 4 10* 2 6 3 3 300
4 Brazil Matheus Leist  R  15 11 4 7 5 3 1* 1* 4 1* 13 5 11 10 10 4 279
5 Canada Zachary Claman DeMelo   8 7 5 14 2 11 6 10 1* 6 2 3 5 4 6 6 274
6 United States Aaron Telitz  R  1* 5 13 5 6 13 2 11 5 9 5 2 8 5 15 1* 271
7 France Nico Jamin  R  7 14 1* 3 1* 4 10 6 14 7 14 12 3 1* 11 5 269
8 United States Neil Alberico 3 15 3 4 4 6 4 7 8 11 8 14 6 9 12 11 225
9 Colombia Juan Piedrahita 14 10 11 11 DNS 5 8 5 10 10 6 4 10 11 2* 9 208
10 United States Shelby Blackstock 4 6 7 8 9 14 11 8 6 13 11 13 4 3 9 12 207
11 United States Ryan Norman  R  10 9 12 9 8 7 14 4 7 8 10 6 9 7 8 10 200
12 Canada Dalton Kellett 12 12 6 10 13 9 3 9 9 3 12 9 7 13 7 13 198
13 Argentina Nicolás Dapero  R  9 8 9 6 11 8 12 14 12 12 7 7 14 8 5 8 187
14 United States Garth Rickards  R  11 13 14 12 10 12 7 13 13 14 9 8 13 14 13 DNS 146
15 Mexico Patricio O'Ward  R  5 3 8 15 58
16 United States Chad Boat  R  14 7
Pos Driver STP ALA IND INDY RDA IOW TOR MOH GAT WGL Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
Light Blue 6th–10th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
Purple Did not finish
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
(1 point)
Italics Ran fastest race lap
(1 point)
* Led most race laps
(1 point)
1 Qualifying cancelled
no bonus point awarded
Rookie
  • Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.

Teams' championship

Pos Team Points
1 United States Belardi Auto Racing 393
2 United States Andretti Autosport 389
3 United Kingdom Carlin 365
4 United States Juncos Racing 282
5 United States Team Pelfrey 162

References

  1. ↑ "2017 Mazda Road to Indy schedules revealed". September 14, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Andretti Autosport | JAMIN TO JOIN ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT 2017 INDY LIGHTS LINE UP". November 29, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Kellett Returns to Andretti Autosport for 2017". Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Andretti Autosport | RYAN NORMAN NAMED THIRD DRIVER TO ANDRETTI INDY LIGHTS ROSTER". December 5, 2016.
  5. ↑ "Colton Herta quits Europe to race Indy Lights in 2017".
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Mazda Road to Indy Teams, Drivers to Gain Head Start on 2017 Season". Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  7. ↑ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop".
  8. ↑ "Belardi signs Pro Mazda champ Telitz for 2017". Archived from the original on November 10, 2016. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
  9. ↑ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop".
  10. ↑ "Rickards moves up to Indy Lights with Carlin - Carlin". Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Claman DeMelo ready for Indy Lights assault". February 6, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  12. ↑ "Alberico returns with Carlin for 2017 season". February 14, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Leist joins Carlin for Indy Lights". February 3, 2017. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  14. ↑ "American Kyle Kaiser Looks to Lead Juncos Racing in 2017 Indy Lights Championship". December 10, 2016. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Dapero graduates with Juncos to Indy Lights". www.motorsport.com.
  16. ↑ "Piedrahita to Rejoin Team Pelfrey IL in 2017". Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  17. ↑ "The Official Site of the Road to Indy, Drivers, Schedule & Shop".
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