2018 Indy Lights
SeriesIndy Lights
Series nameIndy Lights
Year2018
Races17
Start dateMarch 10
End dateSeptember 2
Season champPatricio O'Ward
Champ teamAndretti Autosport
Rookie of yearPatricio O'Ward
Previous2017
Next2019

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]

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

TeamNo.DriversRounds
Andretti Autosport27Patricio O'Ward[2]All
28Dalton Kellett[2]All
48Ryan Norman[3]All
Andretti Steinbrenner Racing98Colton Herta[4]All
Belardi Auto Racing5Santiago UrrutiaAll
9Aaron Telitz[5]All
Juncos Racing[6]7Alfonso Celis Jr.[7][8]3–4
Heamin Choi[9]16–17
23Victor Franzoni[6]All
Team Pelfrey2Neil Alberico1–2
Davey Hamilton Jr.7
3Shelby Blackstock1–2

Schedule

Rd.DateRace nameTrackLocation
1March 10St. Petersburg 100Streets of St. PetersburgSt. Petersburg, Florida
2March 11
3April 21Legacy Indy Lights 100Barber Motorsports ParkBirmingham, Alabama
4April 22
5May 11Grand Prix of IndianapolisIndianapolis Motor Speedway road courseSpeedway, Indiana
6May 12
7May 25Freedom 100Indianapolis Motor Speedway ovalSpeedway, Indiana
8June 23Mazda Grand Prix of Road AmericaRoad AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin
9June 24
10July 8Mazda Iowa 100Iowa SpeedwayNewton, Iowa
11July 14Grand Prix of TorontoExhibition PlaceToronto, Ontario, Canada
12July 15
13July 28Grand Prix of Mid-OhioMid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, Ohio
14July 29
15August 25Illinois 100Gateway Motorsports ParkMadison, Illinois
16September 1Grand Prix of PortlandPortland International RacewayPortland, Oregon
17September 2

Race results

RoundRacePole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace Winner
DriverTeam
1St. Petersburg 1Aaron TelitzColton HertaPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport
2St. Petersburg 2Patricio O'WardPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardSantiago UrrutiaBelardi Auto Racing
3Birmingham 1Colton HertaColton HertaPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport
4Birmingham 2Patricio O'WardPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport
5Indianapolis GP 1Patricio O'WardColton HertaColton Herta
Santiago Urrutia		Colton HertaAndretti Steinbrenner Racing
6Indianapolis GP 2Patricio O'WardVictor FranzoniSantiago UrrutiaColton HertaAndretti Steinbrenner Racing
7IndianapolisDalton KellettDavey Hamilton Jr.Dalton KellettColton HertaAndretti Steinbrenner Racing
8Road America 1Victor FranzoniColton HertaColton HertaColton HertaAndretti Steinbrenner Racing
9Road America 2Patricio O'WardVictor FranzoniVictor FranzoniVictor FranzoniJuncos Racing
10IowaPatricio O'WardVictor FranzoniPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport
11Toronto 1Colton HertaColton HertaPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport
12Toronto 2Santiago UrrutiaAaron TelitzSantiago UrrutiaSantiago UrrutiaBelardi Auto Racing
13Mid-Ohio 1Patricio O'WardColton HertaPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport
14Mid-Ohio 2Patricio O'WardColton HertaPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport
15GatewayColton HertaRyan NormanColton HertaRyan NormanAndretti Autosport
16Portland 1Patricio O'WardPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport
17Portland 2Ryan NormanPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardPatricio O'WardAndretti Autosport

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 ()3025221917151413121110987654321
Points ()4538332926232120181715141211986542
  • 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.
PosDriverSTPBARIMSINDYROAIOWTORMOHGMPPORPoints
1Patricio O'Ward1*7*1*1*472241*1*21*1*31*1*491
2Colton Herta38231*111*2276222*24447
3Santiago Urrutia21352*4*447321*64443395
4Ryan Norman63575556543453158345
5Victor Franzoni444263831*66746635341
6Aaron TelitzDNS9843265374377562316
7Dalton Kellett8666763*7655535777299
8Shelby Blackstock5242
9Neil Alberico7531
10Heamin Choi8628
11Alfonso Celis Jr.7827
12Davey Hamilton Jr.721
PosDriverSTPBARIMSINDYROAIOWTORMOHGMPPORPoints
ColorResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
Green4th & 5th place
Light Blue6th–10th place
Dark BlueFinished
(Outside Top 10)
PurpleDid not finish
RedDid not qualify
(DNQ)
BrownWithdrawn
(Wth)
BlackDisqualified
(DSQ)
WhiteDid not start
(DNS)
BlankDid not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
BoldPole position
(1 point)
ItalicsRan fastest race lap
*Led most race laps
(1 point)
1Qualifying cancelled
no bonus point awarded
Rookie
Rookie of the Year
  • Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.

Teams' championship

Scoring system
Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th+ 
Points221815121086421
  • 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
PosTeamPoints
1Andretti Autosport614
2Belardi Auto Racing455
3Juncos Racing291
4Team Pelfrey59

See also

References

  1. ^ "Mazda Road To Indy reveals all three 2018 schedules, altered points". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "Norman feels confidence growing for second Indy Lights season". Indycar.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Herta driven to smooth out rough edges in 2018 Indy Lights season". Indycar.com. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  5. ^ "Telitz Returns to Belardi Auto Racing in 2018". Indylights.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ "Stars of the Races – St. Petersburg". roadtoindyinsider.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  9. ^ "Juncos adds Korea's Choi for Portland Indy Lights". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. August 21, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.