The 2018 Indy Lights season was the 33rd season of the Indy Lights open wheel motor racing series and the 17th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. A 17-race schedule was announced on October 17, 2017.[1]
| 2018 Indy Lights season | |
|---|---|
| Indy Lights | |
| Season | |
| Races | 17 |
| Start date | March 10 |
| End date | September 2 |
| Awards | |
| Drivers' champion |  Patricio O'Ward |
| Teams' champion | Andretti Autosport |
| Rookie of the Year | Patricio O'Ward |
Patricio O'Ward dueled the entire season with his Andretti Autosport teammate Colton Herta, ultimately clinching the title by winning the penultimate race of the season. O'Ward had nine wins with four other podium finishes while Herta captured four consecutive wins in the first half of the season, including the Freedom 100, but also finished second seven times. Belardi Auto Racing's Santiago Urrutia captured two race wins and finished third in the championship. Andretti's Ryan Norman and Juncos Racing's Victor Franzoni each had a single win and finished fourth and fifth in the championship respectively. There were only seven full-time entries. Andretti Autosport soundly won the team championship.
Team and driver chart edit
| Team | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Andretti Autosport | 27 | Patricio O'Ward[2]
|
All |
| 28 |  Dalton Kellett[2]
|
All | |
| 48 |  Ryan Norman[3]
|
All | |
| Andretti Steinbrenner Racing | 98 | Colton Herta[4]
|
All |
| Belardi Auto Racing | 5 |  Santiago Urrutia
|
All |
| 9 | Aaron Telitz[5]
|
All | |
| Juncos Racing[6] | 7 | Alfonso Celis Jr.[7][8]
|
3–4 |
 Heamin Choi[9]
|
16–17 | ||
| 23 |  Victor Franzoni[6]
|
All | |
| Team Pelfrey | 2 | Neil Alberico
|
1–2 |
| Davey Hamilton Jr.
|
7 | ||
| 3 | Shelby Blackstock
|
1–2 |
Schedule edit
| Rd. | Date | Race name | Track | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | March 10 | St. Petersburg 100
|
Streets of St. Petersburg | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 2 | March 11 | |||
| 3 | April 21 | Legacy Indy Lights 100
|
Barber Motorsports Park | Birmingham, Alabama |
| 4 | April 22 | |||
| 5 | May 11 | Grand Prix of Indianapolis
|
Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course | Speedway, Indiana |
| 6 | May 12 | |||
| 7 | May 25 | Freedom 100
|
Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval | Speedway, Indiana |
| 8 | June 23 | Mazda Grand Prix of Road America
|
Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin |
| 9 | June 24 | |||
| 10 | July 8 | Mazda Iowa 100
|
Iowa Speedway | Newton, Iowa |
| 11 | July 14 | Grand Prix of Toronto
|
Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| 12 | July 15 | |||
| 13 | July 28 | Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
|
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | Lexington, Ohio |
| 14 | July 29 | |||
| 15 | August 25 | Illinois 100
|
Gateway Motorsports Park | Madison, Illinois |
| 16 | September 1 | Grand Prix of Portland
|
Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon |
| 17 | September 2 |
Race results edit
Championship standings edit
Drivers' Championship edit
- Scoring system
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | 11th | 12th | 13th | 14th | 15th | 16th | 17th | 18th | 19th | 20th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points (R) | 30 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Points (O) | 45 | 38 | 33 | 29 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
- 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.
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams' championship edit
- Scoring system
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 22 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
- Single car teams receive 3 bonus points as an equivalency to multi-car teams
- Only the best two results count for teams fielding more than two entries
| Pos | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andretti Autosport
|
614 |
| 2 | Belardi Auto Racing
|
455 |
| 3 | Juncos Racing
|
291 |
| 4 | Team Pelfrey
|
59 |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Mazda Road To Indy reveals all three 2018 schedules, altered points". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Andretti Autosport to Field Pato O'Ward for 2018 Indy Lights Campaign". Indylights.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ "Norman feels confidence growing for second Indy Lights season". Indycar.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ "Herta driven to smooth out rough edges in 2018 Indy Lights season". Indycar.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ "Telitz Returns to Belardi Auto Racing in 2018". Indylights.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ a b Racing, By RACER staff / Image courtesy of Juncos. "Juncos planning for 3-car Indy Lights team". Racer.com. Archived from the original on 2018-04-30. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- ^ "Alfonso Celis Jr. joins Juncos Racing for 2018 Indy Lights championship". juncosracing.com. 2018-02-23. Archived from the original on 2018-02-24. Retrieved 2018-02-23.
- ^ "Stars of the Races – St. Petersburg". roadtoindyinsider.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
- ^ "Juncos adds Korea's Choi for Portland Indy Lights". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
External links edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2018 in Indy Lights.