Grand Prix of Indianapolis (Indy Lights)
 | |
| Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Indianapolis Motor Speedway |
| First race | 2005 |
| Distance | Varied (see results table) |
| Previous names | Liberty Challenge (2005–2007) |
The Grand Prix of Indianapolis is a pair of twin races in the Cooper Tire Indy Lights Series, held on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is held as a support race to the Grand Prix of Indianapolis of the Verizon IndyCar Series.
The race was previously known as the Liberty Challenge from 2005–2007. It originally was held as a support race to the United States Grand Prix.
Race history
For the first three years of its existence, the Indy Pro Series was contested on oval tracks only. This was also true of the parent IndyCar Series, at the time. All Indy Pro Series races were run as support to IndyCar Series events. Road course and street course events were added to both series in 2005, and the series became known as Indy Lights in 2008.
In 2005, the series added the Liberty Challenge, as a support race to the Formula One United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. This move allowed the Indy Pro Series drivers valuable exposure in front of the Formula One teams and fans. Some drivers, such as Graham Rahal, ran this race as a one-off, while running other series (such as the Champ Car Atlantics).
The Liberty Challenge was the only Indy Pro Series race at the time which was not run as support to an IndyCar Series weekend. Also, the Indy Pro Series became the only racing series to hold races on both the oval and road course tracks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Freedom 100 has been held on the oval since 2003. In 2007, a twin race format was introduced. After 2007, the U.S Grand Prix left Indianapolis, and the Liberty Challenge race was put on hiatus.
In 2014, the race was revived as part of the new Grand Prix of Indianapolis weekend, where all four IndyCar-sanctioned divisions participate in races on the road course during the first weekend of the Indianapolis 500 race meeting. In addition, the Indy Lights began utilizing the newer road course layout used by the IndyCar Series.
Race results
| Year | Date | Day | Winning Driver | Race Distance | Time of Race | Winning Speed | Starting Cars |
Lead Changes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miles | Laps | ||||||||
| 2005 | June 18 | Saturday |  Marco Andretti |
65.1 | 25 | 00:35:57.3780 | 108.465 mph | 14 | 0 |
| 2006 | July 1 | Saturday |  Alex Lloyd |
59.9 | 23 | 00:35:53.516 | 100.159 mph | 18 | 1 |
| 2007 | June 16 | Saturday |  Hideki Mutoh |
46.9 | 18 | 00:26:09.8910 | 107.320 mph | 25 | 0 |
| June 17 | Sunday | Bobby Wilson |
46.9 | 18 | 00:28:40.9170 | 97.901 mph | 25 | 0 | |
| 2014 | May 9 | Friday |  Matthew Brabham |
63.4 | 26 | 00:40:12.7538 | 94.618 mph | 11 | 0 |
| May 10 | Saturday |  Luiz Razia |
97.56 | 40 | 00:56:23.3259 | 103.808 mph | 11 | 0 | |
| 2015 | May 8 | Friday | Jack Harvey |
73.2 | 30 | 00:39:13 | 111.924 mph | 12 | 0 |
| May 9 | Saturday | Sean Rayhall |
85.4 | 35 | 00:48:08 | 106.401 mph | 12 | 0 | |
Qualification Results
| Year | Date | Day | Pole Sitter / Fast Qualifier |
Pole 1-Lap Qualifying Time |
Pole Speed | Number of Qualifiers |
Slow Qualifier Speed |
Mean Qualifying Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | June 17 | Friday | Marco Andretti |
01:26.2360 | 108.539 mph | 14 | 98.033 mph | 105.234 mph |
| 2006 | June 30 | Friday | Graham Rahal |
01:25.5810 | 109.580 mph | 18 | 105.203 mph | 107.959 mph |
| 2007 | June 15 | Friday | Hideki Mutoh |
01:25.2810 | 109.966 mph | 25 | 102.883 mph | 107.541 mph |
| 2014 | May 9 | Friday | Matthew Brabham |
01:18.4256 | 111.958 mph | 11 | 108.655 mph | 110.811 mph |
Event Records
| Year | Driver | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fastest Race | 2005 | Marco Andretti |
Time: 35:57.3780 | Speed: 108.465 mph | 65.1 Miles | 25 Laps |
| Fastest Qualification Run | 2007 | Hideki Mutoh |
Time: 01:25.2810 | Speed: 109.966 mph | 2.605 Miles | 1 Lap |
| Fastest Race Lap | 2005 | Marco Andretti |
Time 01:25.9110 | Speed: 108.950 mph | 2.605 Miles | 1 Lap |
| Most Starts by a Driver | 2005–2007 | Jaime Camara;  Wade Cunningham; Chris Festa |
4 Starts each | |||
| Most Participants | 2007 | 25 Starting Drivers | ||||
Drivers
In the three years that this race was contested, 43 drivers participated:
| Driver | Starts | Best finish | Laps led | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | Years | Position | Year | ||
| Mishael Abbott | 1 | 2005 | 12 | 2005 | 0 |
| Marco Andretti | 1 | 2005 | 1 | 2005 | 25 |
| Richard Antinucci | 2 | 2007 | 6 | 2007 (Race 1) | 0 |
| Doug Boyer | 2 | 2007 | 14 | 2007 (Race 1) | 0 |
| Jon Brownson | 2 | 2007 | 17 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Nick Bussell | 2 | 2005; 2006 | 4 | 2005 | 0 |
| Jaime Camara | 4 | 2005; 2006; 2007 | 3 | 2007 (Race 1) | 0 |
| Ed Carpenter | 1 | 2005 | 11 | 2005 | 0 |
| Larry Connor | 1 | 2005 | 14 | 2005 | 0 |
| C.R. Crews | 1 | 2006 | 6 | 2006 | 0 |
| Wade Cunningham | 4 | 2005; 2006; 2007 | 2 | 2005 | 0 |
| Jay Drake | 1 | 2005 | 10 | 2005 | 0 |
| Chris Festa | 4 | 2005; 2006; 2007 | 3 | 2005 | 0 |
| Phil Giebler | 3 | 2006; 2007 | 7 | 2006 | 0 |
| Micky Gilbert | 2 | 2007 | 15 | 2007 (Race 1) | 0 |
| Logan Gomez | 3 | 2006; 2007 | 6 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Travis Gregg | 1 | 2005 | 7 | 2005 | 0 |
| Sean Guthrie | 2 | 2007 | 12 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Jon Herb | 2 | 2005; 2006 | 8 | 2006 | 0 |
| Daniel Herrington | 2 | 2007 | 10 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Jay Howard | 1 | 2006 | 18 | 2006 | 0 |
| Brad Jaeger | 2 | 2007 | 16 | 2007 (Race 1) | 0 |
| Ryan Justice | 2 | 2007 | 4 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Jonathan Klein | 3 | 2006; 2007 | 3 | 2006 | 0 |
| Alex Lloyd | 3 | 2006; 2007 | 1 | 2006 | 2 |
| Ken Losch | 2 | 2007 | 16 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Arie Luyendyk Jr. | 1 | 2005 | 6 | 2005 | 0 |
| Scott Mansell | 1 | 2006 | 14 | 2006 | 0 |
| Raphael Matos | 1 | 2006 | 4 | 2006 | 0 |
| Hideki Mutoh | 2 | 2007 | 1 | 2007 (Race 1) | 18 |
| Eric Paradis | 1 | 2006 | 12 | 2006 | 0 |
| Robbie Pecorari | 2 | 2007 | 19 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Mike Potekhen | 3 | 2006; 2007 | 8 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Andrew Prendeville | 2 | 2007 | 20 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Graham Rahal | 1 | 2006 | 2 | 2006 | 21 |
| Marty Roth | 1 | 2005 | 8 | 2005 | 0 |
| Joey Scarallo | 2 | 2007 | 13 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Jeff Simmons | 1 | 2005 | 13 | 2005 | 0 |
| Stephen Simpson | 2 | 2007 | 5 | 2007 (Race 1) | 0 |
| Brett Van Blankers | 1 | 2006 | 17 | 2006 | 0 |
| Tom Wieringa | 2 | 2007 | 18 | 2007 (Race 2) | 0 |
| Marc Williams | 2 | 2007 | 20 | 2007 (Race 1) | 0 |
| Bobby Wilson | 3 | 2006; 2007 | 1 | 2007 (Race 2) | 18 |
Previous course layouts
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Course layout from 2005-2007