2007_in_IPS

2007 Indy Pro Series

2007 Indy Pro Series

Developmental open-wheel racing season

The 2007 IRL Indy Pro Series was the sixth season of the developmental open-wheel racing series under the Indy Racing League ownership, and the 22nd in Indy NXT combined history, as officially recognized by IndyCar. All teams used Dallara IL-02 chassis, which was fitted with a new wing package,[1] as well as unbranded TWR engines and Firestone tires.

In his second season in the series, Alex Lloyd became the runaway champion with Sam Schmidt Motorsports, clinching the title with two races remaining at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. Lloyd won the first five races of the season, tying Greg Moore's start of the 1995 season for the all-time consecutive wins record in Indy Lights history. Aided by an expanded schedule, Lloyd won eight races including the Freedom 100, and became the third driver to reach that number after Paul Tracy's nine wins in 1990 and Moore's ten wins in 1995.

Three cars racing at the 2007 Freedom 100
Indy Pro Series Logo
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Japanese driver Hideki Mutoh, driving for the returning Panther Racing and backed by Honda through an association with Super Aguri, finished second in the standings despite missing the final round due to his IndyCar debut. He also won Rookie of the Year honors, with wins at the Indianapolis road course and Kentucky. Former champion Wade Cunningham finished third ahead of Bobby Wilson, with one win apiece, while Richard Antinucci scored two wins in a road course-only campaign for his uncle's team Cheever Racing.

Indy Pro Series teams and drivers competed for 3.7 million dollars, a 24 percent increase from 2006.[2] This resulted in a sizeable influx of new or returning teams, led by Chip Ganassi Racing, Panther Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing, all of them also benefiting from a rule that gave extra test days to IndyCar teams competing in the Indy Pro Series. AFS Racing blended their efforts with Andretti Green Racing, while Rahal partnered with newcomers Andersen Racing. Other new teams were Team Moore Racing (a spin-off of Kenn Hardley Racing), Team KMA Racing, Mile High Racing and Apex Racing. Speedworks entered the series by buying the equipment of Dave McMillan Racing, while Playa Del Racing embarked on its own after fielding the Racing Professionals effort in 2006, and Part Sourcing International was renamed into SWE Racing after entering halfway through 2006.

The car counts increased dramatically as a result, with 25 entries for the Miami 100, a first for the series since 1998, and a record 24 drivers at the Freedom 100. At least 20 drivers were present at every round, a number not reached in any of the previous seven seasons, and thirteen drivers competed in every race. In total, 43 different drivers competed during the year, which is the all-time Indy NXT record as of 2024. The last race of the season featured the closest finish in motor racing history as claimed by IndyCar, when Logan Gomez beat Alex Lloyd to the line by just 0.0005 seconds.

Drivers and teams

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Schedule

The schedule expanded to a record 16 races for 2007, with the addition of two new venues and more double-headers. All racetracks from 2006 stayed on the schedule, as Indy Pro Series joined IndyCar at the newly constructed Iowa Speedway and the returning Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which had hosted the original Indy Lights series in its final 2001 season. The Liberty Challenge at Indianapolis was split into two shorter races, and the round at Watkins Glen was also converted to a double-header format, with Mid-Ohio being the only single-race road course.

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O Oval/Speedway
R Road/Street course

Race results

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Race summaries

Round 1 of 16: Miami 100

  • Saturday March 24, 2007
  • Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida
  • Race weather: 78 °F (26 °C), fair skies
  • Pole position winner: #9 Chris Festa 28.5455 sec 187.280 mph (301.398 km/h)
  • Race Summary: The race which saw a Pro Series record 25 entries was marred by two major incidents. The first occurred when Wade Cunningham lost control of his car. Ryan Justice made contact with a large piece of debris from Cunningham's car and made hard contact with the wall at the exit of turn 2. He was unconscious as he was removed from the car but regained consciousness on the way to the infield care center. The next incident came just two laps after the end of the lengthy caution following the first incident. Sean Guthrie and Pablo Pérez Companc made contact between turns one and two and Perez's car launched over Guthrie's and into the catch fence. Perez was transported to the hospital with leg injuries. The race was prematurely ended after 57 laps due to damage to the catch fence from the second incident with Alex Lloyd leading and gaining his first IPS victory on an oval.
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Round 2 of 16: St. Petersburg Grand Prix 1

  • Saturday March 31, 2007
  • Streets of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida
  • Race weather: 80 °F (27 °C), mostly sunny
  • Pole position winner: #7 Alex Lloyd 1:07.1404 sec 96.514 mph (155.324 km/h)
  • Race Summary: Alex Lloyd dominated the first race at St. Petersburg leading all 40 laps of the race and winning from pole position. Lloyd held off Super Aguri Panther Racing's Hideki Mutoh for the final 22 laps. Mutoh had the best chance to take the win away from Lloyd but it just was not meant to be. Lloyd now has 3 wins in a row dating back to the final race of 2006.
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Round 3 of 16: St. Petersburg Grand Prix 2

  • Saturday April 1, 2007
  • Streets of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Florida
  • Race weather: 79 °F (26 °C), sunny
  • Pole position winner: Bobby Wilson Top 6 finishers from Race 1 inverted
  • Race Summary: Alex Lloyd had the car to beat in St. Petersburg, winning both races of the double-header. Lloydhad to start race 2 from 6th place because of the inverted field after race 1, but that didn't stop him from getting to the front. On lap 21 of 40 Lloyd took the lead and was never to lose it, winning now the first 3 races of 2007.
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Round 4 of 16: Freedom 100

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Round 5 of 16: Road Runner 100

  • Saturday June 2, 2007
  • Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisconsin
  • Race weather: 76 °F (24 °C), partly cloudy
  • Pole position winner: #7 Alex Lloyd 146.077 mph (235.088 km/h)
  • Race Summary: On turn 2 of the first lap Hideki Mutoh spun in front of most of the field, collecting 5 cars including Jaime Camara and Chris Festa. Jon Brownson shortly after the restart on lap 11. On lap 17 the race restarted and ran green until lap 81, during which time leader Alex Lloyd was able to pull out a 4-second lead on his closest pursuer Mike Potekhen and lap all but 3 of his competitors, cruising to his 5th straight victory to start the season. Lloyd now holds the league record for consecutive wins and sits second on the series all-time wins list.
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Round 6 of 16: Liberty Challenge Race 1

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Round 7 of 16: Liberty Challenge Race 2

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Round 8 of 16: Iowa 100

  • Saturday June 23, 2007
  • Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa
  • Race weather: 68 °F (20 °C), overcast, humid
  • Pole position winner: #27 Wade Cunningham 19.9522 sec 161.306 mph (259.597 km/h)
  • Race Summary: Wade Cunningham started from the pole and led the first 104 of the 115 laps, but was passed on the bottom by Alex Lloyd, who pulled away to capture his sixth victory of the season. On lap 79, Sean Guthrie lost control on the front straight while running fourth and lapping Mike Potekhen and shot across the infield and slammed into the inside wall. He walked away from the incident on his own power, but underwent X-Rays and was diagnosed with a displaced fracture of his left foot. Lloyd now has more Pro Series wins than any other driver.
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Round 9 of 16: Corning Twin 100's Race 1

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Round 10 of 16: Corning Twin 100's Race 2

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Round 11 of 16: Sun Belt Rentals 100

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Round 12 of 16: Mid Ohio 100

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Round 13 of 16: Kentucky 100

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Round 14 of 16: Carneros 100

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Round 15 of 16: Valley of the Moon 100

  • Sunday August 26, 2007
  • Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California
  • Race weather: 71 °F (22 °C), mostly sunny
  • Pole position winner: #38 Ryan Justice (8th place in Race 1)
  • Race Summary: The first eight positions from the first race were inverted to determine the grid for race 2. Alex Lloyd's car had engine trouble on the pace lap and he failed to start the race. Richard Antinucci steadily climbed through the field from the seventh starting position, eventually finding his way past polesitter Ryan Justice on lap 18 to take the lead and capture his second win of the season.
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Round 16 of 16: Chicagoland 100

  • Sunday September 9, 2007
  • Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Illinois
  • Race weather: 75 °F (24 °C), sunny
  • Pole position winner: #7 Alex Lloyd 28.7799 sec 190.133 mph (305.989 km/h)
  • Race Summary: The Sam Schmidt Motorsports cars of champion Alex Lloyd and Logan Gomez battled for the lead with Robbie Pecorari throughout the race, which was slowed by two extended caution flags, the first caused by a major crash involving Chris Festa and Jaime Camara and the second involving Travis Gregg and Wade Cunningham. Gomez led his teammate entering the final lap. Lloyd mounted a challenge and the two cars briefly touched exiting turn four and Gomez was able to hold off Lloyd for his first Pro Series victory by a mere 0.0005 sec. The league claims that this finish is the closest in motor racing history.[3]
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Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system
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  • The driver who starts on pole is awarded one point (except for Race 2 of doubleheader weekends)
  • The driver who leads the most laps in a race is awarded two additional points.
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  • Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.

Footnotes

    1. No qualifying sessions were held for Race 2 of doubleheader weekends. The grid was decided by the results of Race 1, with the top 6 finishers in reverse order, and no bonus point was awarded for pole position.
    2. No qualifying sessions were held for Race 2 of doubleheader weekends. The grid was decided by the results of Race 1, with the top 8 finishers in reverse order, and no bonus point was awarded for pole position.

    References

    1. [1]
      "New aerodynamic package for '07 :: Indy Racing League Indy Pro Series". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-01-24.
    2. [2]
      "Purse upped to almost $4 million :: Indy Racing League Indy Pro Series". Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2007-01-25.
    3. [3]
      To the fourth degree[permanent dead link], IndyCar.com, Sept 13, 2007
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