Junior Open Wheel Talent

Leilani Münter will make her return to the Indy Lights series this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway. The 33-year-old race driver was very impressive in her Indy Pro Series debut back in 2007. Since that time, she has been focusing on the environment and educating others about creating a greener planet.

In an effort to further promote environmental awareness, Münter will set up a recycle bin outside the Team 3G tent at this weekend's event in Chicago. The recyclable plastic obtained at the race will be used to create t-shirts for Leilani... courtesy of her new sponsor Ecobabble.

Ironically, her last race in the Indy Pro Series also took place at Chicagoland Speedway. She finished 13th out of 22 drivers. Her most notable performance came in her series debut when she qualified 5th at Kentucky Speedway. Prior to her time in the Indy car feeder series she drove late model stock cars.

(photo: Von Swank Photography/LeilaniMünter.com)

J.R. Hildebrand did everything correct in today's Firestone Indy Lights race as he won by a 15.8918 second margin on his home track; Infineon Raceway. The 21-year-old California native led every lap of today's race enroute to his fourth win of the season in the Indy Lights series. He currently holds down the overall championship lead by a large margin. Felipe Guimaraes posted another top-five finish with a very impressive performance to finish 2nd on the day. Guimaraes has finished all three of his Indy Lights races within the top-five this season. James Davison, who won the series' previous race at Mid-Ohio, rounded out the top-three by claiming his 6th top-five finish of the year.

Sebastian Saavedra earned the hard charger title as he improved 12 spots in today's race. Saavedra, who is currently second in the overall standings, had to start from the rear of the field in 19th position (after qualifying 2nd) due to an engine change by the team post qualifying. He put in a very impressive drive to finish 7th.

Complete Results

(photo: www.jrhildebrandracing.com)

After a few weeks of rumor circulation, it was confirmed today that Mexican driver Juan Pablo Garcia has signed with HVM Racing to run this weekend's Indy Lights race at Infineon. This will be HVM's debut in the Indy Lights series and Juan Pablo Garcia's first event in North America. For now, this looks to be a one-off event for Garcia.

The 21-year-old Mexican driver has experience in A1GP (Team Mexico), British F3 (National Class), and Formula Renault 2.0 (PanAm, Eurocup, NEC). His results have been mediocre at best, but British F3 and FR 2.0 Eurocup draw large fields, which means a fairly talented driver could easily run mid pack and go unnoticed. I'm not sure how much testing Garcia has put in with HVM, so it will be interesting to see how quickly he adapts to the car. Working with Michael Crawford should aide the transition time.
(photo: www.autoevolution.com)

Even if James Davison's wet-weather victory at Mid-Ohio in 2008 could be termed "a bit of a fluke".... He proved to everyone today, that he is a very capable race winner in the Indy Lights series. Davison won today's Firestone Indy Lights race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for the second consecutive year. The 22-year-old Australian qualified on pole and led every lap of today's event. The win also gives Vision Racing their first Indy Lights victory.

James Hinchcliffe ran a very solid race and finished 2nd, 4.0420 seconds behind Davison at the flag. The end result marks Hinchcliffe's best finish of the season. He has finished on the podium five times in 2009, which translates to 41.7% of his race starts. Championship leader J.R. Hildebrand finished the race in 3rd.

The hard charger of the race was Stefan Wilson who improved 9 positions in 40-laps. Wilson drove from 17th on the grid to finish 8th.

Honorable mention should go to Felipe Guimaraes who just missed his second podium (finishing 4th) in as many races. Guimaraes improved 5 positions to finish 4th after starting 9th. Martin Plowman rounded out the top-five with a solid run that saw him improve 3 positions (8th-5th). The result ties his best finish in the Indy Lights series as he also finished 5th at Kansas.
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Indy Lights
Mid-Ohio 100
Complete Results > >

(photo: Shawn Payne/indycar.com)

IndyCar.com has put together "their top-five" moments in Indy Lights history. They completed the write-up just prior to last weekend's historic event at Kentucky Speedway-- which marked the series' 100th event. You can read their "top-five moments" here. (ed. note: scroll down and click #5 to start and then go back through the countdown to #1).

Congratulations to Wade Cunningham for winning the series' 100th event at Kentucky Speedway. Wade has now led the most laps of any Indy Lights driver under the IndyCar sanctioning. Honorable mention should go to Mike Potekhen for improving nine positions. Potekhen drove from 17th on the grid to finish 8th after 67-laps. Martin Plowman set the fastest lap of the race with a 192.154mph or 27.7277 seconds.

Complete Results

Star Mazda
Peter Dempsey completed the perfect Friday at Iowa Speedway by leading both practice sessions, qualifying on pole, and winning the 100-lap race under the lights. The win moves him into the championship lead. Conor Daly had an excellent run to finish 2nd after starting 8th. Formula BMW graduate, David Ostella had his best finish of the year by rounding out the top-three.

The hard charger of the event was Michael Furfari who drove an incredible race. The 16-year-old race driver improved 13 positions to cross the stripe in 8th after starting 21st. This is Furfari's second hard charger nomination in as many race events.

Star Mazda
Iowa Speedway
Round 7- Complete Results
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Indy Lights
Sebastian Saavedra drove a near perfect race north of the border as the Indy Lights made their way around the streets of Toronto, Canada. Saavedra is now sitting in second place in the overall championship with 2 victories and 5 top-five finishes. Championship leader, J.R. Hildebrand added another solid finish to his resume by crossing the stripe second. Toronto native, James Hinchcliffe rounded out the top-three. This is Hinchcliffe's fourth podium finish in 2009.

The hard charger of the race was Daniel Herrington, who drove from 18th on the grid to finish 9th.

Indy Lights
Grand Prix of Toronto
Complete Results
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J.R. Hildebrand took his second win of the season, moments ago, in the Corning 100 at Watkins Glen International. The 21-year-old American had a really solid car and managed to improve 3 spots in today's race.

James Davison had a great run to finish 2nd after putting the car on pole in yesterday's qualifying session. Felipe Guimaraes was perhaps the most impressive driver in the field as he made a last lap pass on Sebastian Saavedra to finish 3rd in his first Indy Lights race after qualifying 6th. The Brazilian driver definitely turned some heads today, it will be interesting to see if he can come up with the necessary funding to run a few more races with Bryan Herta Autosport. Charlie Kimball had a breakthrough day by finishing fourth, his first top-five in the Indy Lights series. The track seemed to really suit his driving style and his performance today was rewarded by a solid finish. Sebastian Saavedra narrowly rounded out the top-five after losing two spots on the final lap, following a restart. He was lucky to have finished fifth after turning into Kimball (in an effort to avoid being passed) heading up-the-hill on the last lap. Saavedra is incredibly fast, but needs to learn to settle down in the car and make better decisions. As he develops his race-mode maturity, he will be nearly unstoppable. Saavedra set the quickest lap of the race with a 1:37.6704.

The hard charger of the day was Gustavo Yacaman, who improved 11 positions. The eighteen-year-old Colombian put in an incredible drive to finish 8th after starting 19th.

**update** Richard Philippe was promoted to fifth after Sebastian Saavedra was penalized 30 seconds for his move on Kimball during the last lap of the race. The penalty moves Saavedra to 18th in the final standings.
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Indy Lights
Corning 100
Complete Results
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(photo: Ron McQueeney/ indycar.com)

Bryan Herta Autosport has signed Brazilian Felipe Guimaraes to drive the #29 BHA Indy Lights car at Watkins Glen this weekend.

Guimaraes drove the Brazilian A1 car this season in A1GP. His best finish was 2nd after starting 8th at the Kyalami Circuit in South Africa. His previous experience includes karting, South American F3, and Formula 3000.

His name might be familiar to a few karting fans as Guimaraes won the 2008 Florida Winter Tour Rotax championship in dominant fashion by topping the timesheets in every session. He led every lap of the final event to become the 2008 champion, despite missing the opening rounds in Homestead. It will be interesting to see how he adapts to a Indy Lights car this weekend.
(photo: http://www.a1gp.com)

After parting ways with Genoa Racing in the Indy Lights series due to financial woes, it is being reported that Richard Philippe will return to a Firestone Indy Lights car with Team PBIR. Richard will partner Charlie Kimball under the team tent.

The current contract is a 5-race deal. It will be interesting to see how this relationship develops. Look for an official release from the team shortly.

I spent the majority of last weekend at Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA. for the Indy Lights race. Hence the lack of post updates throughout the weekend. Once again, I was very impressed by the facilities at Iowa Speedway. It was nice to make the trip and watch the Indy Lights drivers compete under the lights in front of an amazing crowd.

I balanced my time between the hot pit, the paddock, and the grand stands in an effort to take in all aspects of the event. I have quite a few pictures from the infield that I will post below.

The biggest problem of the weekend came from a "weeping" track surface. Due to the heavy rainfall leading up to the weekend's races in Iowa, water began to seep through the cracks in the track surface on the back straightaway and in Turn 4. The Iowa Speedway crew did an excellent job of attending to the situation and didn't quit until the racing surface proved safe. The actual start time of the Indy Lights race was delayed about one hour.

The race itself proved quite exciting and didn't disappoint those in attendance. The results were quite historical in several ways.... (read on). Due to the "weeping" track conditions, the series decided to abandon their traditional start and begin the race under a mandatory caution. After the cars began to roll, 3rd place qualifier, Sebastian Saavedra pulled his entry back onto pit lane due to a suspension issue. After the team replaced the faulty hardware, Saavedra returned to the race several laps down.

Wade Cunningham had been the driver to beat all weekend, despite losing the pole at the last possible second to J.R. Hildebrand in qualifying. The two ran several laps side-by-side until Cunningham stole the spot. Cunningham appeared to have things under control after getting past Hildebrand in the opening laps. He led 103 laps of the 115 lap event, despite being reeled in by caution flags. The race featured 4 caution flags for 24 laps, making up nearly 21% of the race.

In the back of the field, the driver to watch was Mario Romancini. Romancini earned the hard charger title by improving 9 positions. The Sao Paulo, Brazil native finished the race in 4th place after starting back in 13th. It looked as if he would finish even higher as he closed a huge gap on the leaders under green flag conditions. Unfortunately, a broken weight jacker on Lap-90 would ruin his ability to make in-car handling adjustments and his pace seemed to fall off slightly. Regardless, it was an impressive drive to say the least.

Before I go any further with this race report, it should be noted that Sebastian Saavedra's suspension was successfully repaired by the AFS/AGR team and he was sent out mid pack despite being several laps down. He was extremely quick, turning the fastest lap of the race with a 20.0883 on Lap-15. It wasn't long before Saavedra was battling (literally) with the race leaders despite being several laps behind. It was really disappointing to see Sebastian fighting so hard for position with race leaders. I admire his aggression and desire to race, but, you would think the team would have come over the radio and told him to back down when putting himself and others into dangerous situations. He had already set the fastest lap of the race and proven his speed. I will say, his aggression added a lot of excitement to the race. It's just unfortunate that a few of the leaders were forced to back down and let him pass rather than the other way around. I think Wade Cunningham would agree with me... (read on).

In the final laps, the leaders were all running very close together... which is no surprise, for anyone that's been watching Indy Lights races this year. Saturday's race featured another exciting conclusion. With about 10-laps remaining, Cunningham had a sizable lead and looked poised to take his second win of the year. After battling with Saavedra for several laps, Wade decided to let Sebastian pass rather than risk a race-ending collision with a driver off the lead lap. Once Sebastian was out front he developed a slight gap only to dramatically slow on Lap-106 heading down the back straight. The reduction in speed caused Cunningham to lift which allowed Ana Beatriz to close the gap and make a pass for the lead. Ana had been running a very solid race and was able to take advantage of the situation in a near perfect manner. Once in the lead, Ana never looked back and claimed her second career Indy Lights victory. This was a huge race for Beatriz who started back in 6th. After a huge crash at Indianapolis in the Freedom 100, Ana had to sit out at Milwaukee due to funding issues. Fortunately, she was able to put everything together and return to the United States from Brazil and win Saturday's race in Iowa. She is a true talent and it would be unfortunate to see her season end prematurely. Wade Cunningham finished the race in second place and was clearly not happy about the race craft of Saavedra. This is the second time that Wade has finished runner-up at Iowa Speedway. James Hinchcliffe, who I've yet to mention, drove a very solid race... crossing the stripe in third place after several hard fought battles for position. Hinchcliffe was very impressive in only his fourth career oval race.

Ana's victory was historic in that she became the first female driver to win a race at Iowa Speedway. It was also historic in the fact, that Sam Schmidt Motorsports claimed all three spots on the podium. This was the first time that the team had filled the podium with their own entries. In 2006, at Nashville, the team ran two cars for AGR and had Jay Howard (SSM) finish on top, with the two AGR cars (being run by SSM) filling the remaining podium spots (Jaime Camara-2nd, Jonathan Klein-3rd).

Indy Lights
Miller Lite 100
Full Results

For a semi-live recap of things, including the fear of race cancellation, you can view my Tweets from the event. (editor's note: just scroll down on the Twitter page to view live updates).
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Honorable Mention

James Davison had a tremendous qualifying effort that saw him set the fastest first lap--- only to lose the rear of the car exiting Turn-4 on his second lap. He had an incredible save and kept the car off the wall but lost enough speed to drop him to the rear of the field for the start of the event. Heading into the event, Davison was the only Lights driver to finish all of the 2009 races. His streak ended one-lap short when he made contact with the lap car of Pippa Mann. Pippa's car ended up flipping upside down, which led to a caution flag that ended the race. Fortunately, she walked away unscathed.

Daniel Herrington was very impressive this weekend. He was able to run at the front of the pack for nearly the entire race until contact with a lapped car caused him to drop back. He was still able to bring the car home in ninth place. It was just an unfortunate end to a very impressive drive.

J.R. Hildebrand was quick the entire weekend and claimed the pole position. Unfortunately, during the race he blocked Herrington who was challenging for the second spot. The move wasn't looked upon kindly and Hildebrand was forced to make a drive-through penalty. He still brought the car home in 6th place.
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Star Mazda- Milwaukee Mile

Dave Kallmann of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reminds stock car fans to keep an open mind for open wheel.

Indy Lights- Iowa Speedway

Dave Lewandowski of IndyCar.com writes a preview entitled Another Short Challenge.

Dan Davis of the Newton Daily News put together a nice piece on the history of the Indy Lights series.

Indy Lights driver Charlie Kimball talks about his return home after racing in Europe as well as his diagnosis of Type-1 diabetes in 2007 in this week's Des Moines Register. You can listen to the live chat with Kimball here.
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Well that's all for now. I'm off to play a quick round of golf and pack my bag for Iowa. Have a great weekend everyone.

I just received an official confirmation that shifter kart stand-out Gary Carlton will be testing an HVM prepared Indy Lights car at Putnam Park. The test is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Carlton has been incredibly impressive in karts, unfortunately... he has never shown that much interest in a car racing career. Perhaps, this experience will change his mindset. This would be an excellent signing for HVM--- should the duo decides to pursue a 2010 Indy Lights program.

His previous car experience includes:
A Ford Focus Midget test (October 2008).
A Star Mazda test (December 2008)

Pablo Donoso has signed on with Andersen Racing to run this weekend's Indy Lights race at Iowa Speedway. Donoso has been taking this year race-by-race due to funding issues. Andersen Racing will be the third team to give him a shot this season alone.

Two other Andersen Racing drivers are out for the Iowa Speedway race. Jonathan Summerton has decided not to run this weekend's event, due to funding woes. If he is able to attain proper funding, you can expect him back in the car shortly. If not, he will likely pursue the Atlantic Championship title exclusively. Alistair Jackson wasn't able to re-enter the United States for this weekend's race due to a delay in obtaining proper documents. He plans to return to Andersen Racing and the Indy Lights series for the Watkins Glen event over the Fourth of July.

Several Indy Lights drivers/teams spent yesterday testing. Here is a look at "who's testing where and with who".

Watkins Glen International

• AFS/AGR- J.R. Hildebrand and Sebastian Saavedra
• Team PBIR- Charlie Kimball

Mid-Ohio

• Team Moore- Andrew Prendeville
• Andersen Racing- Mario Romancini
• Panther Racing- Pippa Mann, Martin Plowman
  
• Sam Schmidt Motorsports- James Hinchcliffe, Gustavo Yacaman, and Wade Cunningham)
• Brian Herta Autosport- Daniel Herrington
• Vision Racing- James Davison

It sounds like both groups had to battle rain showers yesterday---which limited their test day.

Rob Mccurdy of the Mansfield News Journal wrote an article on yesterday's Mid-Ohio test. You can view it here.

Over the last few months, I've had several people ask me about the status of last year's Indy Lights runner-up; Richard Antinucci. Finally, after a few months of asking around, I have some good news to relay back. The 28-year-old race driver will make his IndyCar debut with Team 3G at Watkins Glen International on July 5th for the Camping World Grand Prix.

Last year, while running in the Indy Lights series, Antinucci finished inside the top-ten in 68.8% of his race starts. Thanks to his consistent finishes, he topped the Eformulacarnews junior formula driver rankings to start the 2009 season.

His first test with Team 3G will take place tomorrow at The Glen. In less than 24-hours, Antinucci will no longer be considered a junior formula pilot. Job well done.
(photo: www.richardantinucci.net)

Brazilian driver Mario Romancini won his first Indy Lights race moments ago at the Milwaukee Mile. Without any previous testing experience in Milwaukee, the 21-year-old driver adapted to the track extremely well and drove to victory without any serious threat. Today's win comes in only his third career oval start. J.R. Hildebrand remained close due to several caution flags, but was unable to make a move on Romancini. Hildebrand crossed the stripe in second place, marking his fourth top-three finish in six races. Sebastian Saavedra ran a competitive race to finish third. He was battling for position throughout the 100 lap event and passed Gustavo Yacaman on lap 99 to claim the final podium spot.

American driver Charlie Kimball ran a solid race to finish in the top-ten. After an incident in practice, Kimball and Team PBIR narrowly got the car back together before yesterday's qualifying session. Using the qualifying session as a shake-down, Kimball qualified the car in 15th. He improved five positions in today's race to finish 10th...earning him the hard charger title.

Indy Lights-Milwaukee Mile
Full Results

(photo by Dan Helrigel)

According to The Daily Item out of Sunbury, PA., Lucas Wolfe has signed with PDM/Racing Associates JV for the 2010 Indy Lights season. The 22-year-old driver has been driving quarter midgets, micro sprints, and sprint cars since 1992. He currently runs in the World of Outlaws sprint car division, where he has three top-five finishes in 2009.

The hard charger of the Freedom 100 is Mario Romancini, who put in the drive of the day at Indianapolis. He improved 15 spots in today's race. Making some of the most daring passes I have seen in a long time, he finished 3rd after starting 18th. Today's result ties his career best Indy Lights finish, he finished 3rd at Kansas Speedway late last month. In five starts, he has 4 top-ten finishes.
(photo by Dan Helrigel)

Wade Cunningham deserves some press for obtaining his second Freedom 100 victory. The 24-year-old Kiwi ran an impressive race that saw him conserve his tires for the majority of the event, without ever losing the lead group. Cunningham pulled the trigger with two laps remaining and passed J.R. Hildebrand for the lead. He led the most important lap of the race to take the checkered flag in Indianapolis.
(photo by Dana Garrett)

This was one of the most exciting Indy Lights races in recent memory. I provided live coverage of the event here at Junior Open Wheel Talent earlier today. The live blog seemed to be quite a hit, so look for similar coverage here in the future. If you're not into reading, you can view highlights of the race here.
(photo's from IndyCar.com)

Freedom 100 Full Results

Mike Potekhen will make his return to the Indy Lights series in Indianapolis with Alliance Motorsports. The 29-year-old driver ran five races last season with SWE Racing. His best finish was 9th. In 26 career Indy Lights starts, he has 3 top-five finishes and 17 top-ten finishes. His career best finish is 2nd--which occurred on June 2, 2007 at the Milwaukee Mile.

It will be interesting to see if this partnership with Alliance turns into a multi-race deal. His first race of last season was also at Indianapolis.
(photo: www.mikepotekhen.com)